Inside the Root headquarters, Danzo paced restlessly. Despite having already formulated his plan for Shisui tomorrow, his anticipation for the Mangekyō Sharingan made sleep impossible. He touched his right eye, covered by bandages. "Just wait for a day; I will have the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan in my eye sockets." Danzo pondered, "Hiruzen's incompetency is harming the village. Once Kotoamatsukami is in my grasp, both Hiruzen and the Uchiha will be taken care of." He then settled into his personal Hokage chair, planning his next moves. "With the Mangekyō, I will take control of the Nine-Tails and become Hokage."
"My researcher will soon be able to give me Wood Release, and with the Sharingan, it won't be long until I, Danzo will unify the whole shinobi world," Danzo muttered under his breath, chuckling hysterically as he lost himself in fantasies. Unbeknownst to him, Shisui and his team had already silently neutralized many Root Anbu. By the time Shisui felt that most were taken down and Root forces were diminished, he signaled his team to attack openly.
"Weasel and I will go and neutralize Danzo and his guards," Shisui ordered. "While you all will take care of the others and try to locate the research area here, and free any abducted civilians as prisoners. Now move." Moments later, an explosion ripped through the base. The sound shattered Danzo's daydream. He abruptly stood up and bellowed, "Who dares to attack my Root base?" He called out, ordering his subordinates, "Go and find out who it is and immediately capture and neutralize the source of trouble. No matter who it is, I need them here in front of me." Five kneeling figures before him replied in unison, "Yes, Danzo-sama."
The Root members bowed to Danzo, preparing to rush forward. However, in the next instant, the heads of all five Root ninjas were severed, falling at Danzo's feet. Danzo's single visible eye widened in shock. He looked at two figures in black, standing where the five Root ninjas had been just moments before. Danzo instantly recognized both of them.
"Shisui? Itachi? What are you two doing here? Don't tell me you two have betrayed Konoha?" Danzo blurted out. "Hiruzen is truly incompetent; I told him many times to get rid of you traitorous Uchihas." Shisui glanced at Danzo, then at Itachi, and both removed their masks, as they were useless anyway since Danzo had information about every Anbu ninja.
"Danzo, you recognize us, but don't you recognize these two?" Shisui said in a calm voice, raising his left arm, where he carried two severed heads—one of Yoji and the other of Torune. Blood streamed from their severed necks. Shisui thinks that there insects would be troublesome, of they sneak attack, they will be at disadvantage, so it's better to take them out first, before going to face danzo. Danzo's eye widened once again in shock. 'When did these two get inside and kill them? Why wasn't I notified? But how could these two dare to attack my base? Is it Hiruzen's order, or have they really betrayed Konoha?'
Even though he was shocked to see that his most trusted and oldest Root members were killed, he did not truly care about them; for him, every Root ninja was a disposable pawn. The next moment, a huge explosion occurred from the left side of the base. Danzo was bewildered; that was the location of Root's research area. But his attention was drawn back to Shisui. "Well, looks like you recognize them," Shisui said, throwing their heads towards Danzo. "Well, don't worry, I will send you to the Pure Land with them tonight."
Danzo smirked upon hearing Shisui. "Haha, you are foolish enough to walk into my territory. I had just planned to take your eyes, but it seems I don't need to wait for tomorrow; you came to deliver them to me, with another extra pair." Shisui did not react even a little, but looked at Itachi and spoke, "Did you just hear him? Strengthen your resolve, because every single one of them is like him, Itachi." Itachi himself was dumbfounded. Though he always had a feeling that Danzo was not trustworthy, what Shisui said made him feel that he truly didn't know much.
Danzo's expression soured upon seeing that Shisui was ignoring him and not taking him seriously. "You foolish Uchiha, you don't think you can easily get out of here, do you?" Danzo scoffed. "SURROUND THEM!" The moment he shouted, about fifty Root Anbu surrounded them. Soon, two of Shisui's five squad members also appeared beside Shisui and Itachi. Viper had one arm severed, and both were injured and slightly out of breath. Danzo's expression furrowed. He asked, "Where are the others?"
"Danzo-sama, we were attacked; many died and are unable to continue," a Root member replied. Shisui was also shocked; he hadn't known that his teammates were so effective. Nearly one hundred Root anbu remained, excluding the one they had initially killed, and now only half remained, and that too, after a silent infiltration. "Did the other three die?" Shisui asked. "And did you people find any research labs?"
Viper nodded and replied, "Yeah, we did, but we weren't able to save anyone. Everyone there in the research lab was used for human experiments." Badger added, "The other members indeed died, Captain. We were attacked, but we killed many researchers and Root ninjas." Shisui nodded and said, "Well done." Danzo, hearing their conversation, frowned and asked, "You are here to investigate me? Did Hiruzen tell you to do it? No, no, he can't. I know him; he wouldn't do that. That incompetent person even let me go when I tried to assassinate him."
Viper said, "Hmph, Elder Danzo, Hokage-sama already knows that you were with missing-nin Orochimaru, abducting and experimenting on the village's people. He has sent Anbu forces to take you down." Itachi exchanged glances with Shisui, both shaking their heads. "And you want me to believe that?" Danzo said, not believing him for a moment. "Where are the other Anbu teams, then? I don't see any besides yours?"
Badger replied coolly, "Soon other Anbu squads will also be here, Captai—" He stopped mid-sentence, seeing that Shisui was looking upward, not making eye contact with them. "C-captain, it was the village's s-secret mission, right?" Badger asked, stammering slightly, doubt comes in his mind. "Hokage-sama personally gave this, right, Captain?"
Shisui sighed, shaking his head. "No, it isn't the village's secret mission, rather my personal mission. Well, you could also say it's my personal revenge mission." Hearing this, both Viper and Badger were shocked; they thought of their dead teammates. This time, Itachi spoke, "Don't let this bother you. Shi-san did lie to you, but he did it for the village. You have seen how Danzo has treated the people of our own village."
Hearing Itachi, they recalled the scene of the research area—many people in water tubes in terrible condition, some with branches in place of their limbs, some looking like trees. God knows what kind of experiments Danzo had been performing on his own people. Viper said to Shisui, "Captain, we don't hate you for lying to us. We know you did it for the village. Even though it isn't a secret mission, it is all for Konoha." Badger also nodded and said, "Even though we know we might not survive today, we now have no regrets. Captain, we are with you until the end."
Shisui, seeing their determination, now felt a little guilty. His mind had been so consumed with taking Danzo out that he hadn't even thought about others at that moment. It wasn't that he was ruthless, but all the plot knowledge and his current situation prioritized his own survival above anyone or anything else. Danzo, hearing them, felt even more confused. He could not comprehend why Shisui, a naive teenage Uchiha, would plan to attack him, even going to the extent of fooling his own team to keep their spirits up throughout the mission.
But he didn't dwell on it much, and the next moment he ordered Root, "Attack them, cut them all into pieces, but their Sharingan should not be harmed." Hearing Danzo's grating voice, they all got on their guard and rushed towards the Root members. Viper and Badger engaged a few Root ninjas, but their condition wasn't good, and they died after taking out a few.
Meanwhile, Itachi activated his Sharingan, three tomoe spiraling within his crimson eyes. He quickly formed hand signs and used ''Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu'', an immense volume of fire erupting from his mouth, engulfing several Root ninjas. He did not stop there and instantly, one by one, used other Fire Ninjutsu–Fire Dragon Bullet Jutsu'.
"Haaa..." Two ninjas with long sharp blades in their hands sneak-attacked Itachi from behind. Their blades pierced through Itachi, and in the next moment, Itachi's figure vanished with a puff of smoke. Itachi stood behind them, looking into their eyes. "Genjutsu: Sharingan!" He placed them in Genjutsu, controlling their senses, and the next moment they rushed towards other Root ninjas.
"Hey, we aren't enemies!" one shouted, blocking the sword of the ninja under Itachi's Genjutsu. Itachi also wasted no time and, with his katana, began taking the lives of Root ninjas himself. His resolve was firm; he was currently unsure about the other three higher-ups, but within just a few minutes, what he had heard from Danzo and about the experiments on villagers made Itachi disgusted with Danzo. He felt it was better to eliminate him and his army, as that would be good for Konoha's safety. Shisui, on the other side, was also reaping the lives of Root ninjas like a soul reaper.
Shisui had initially created two Shadow Clones. They engaged Root ninjas on one side—one used Fire Release, and the other enhanced it with Wind Release, scorching and burning enemies to death. Meanwhile, he himself, with his katana coated with Lightning chakra enhancement, and using Body Flicker, attacked the other side. With his unseeable speed, he swiftly appeared behind enemies, his sword smoothly cutting their heads like knife cutting butter. Amidst this, Danzo's eye was entirely fixed on Shisui, or rather, on his Sharingan, which were in their three-tomoe stage, spinning in each eye.
Danzo signaled a Root Anbu, and the next moment, Shisui felt as if someone was trying to enter in his mind. 'Yamanaka clan mind transfer jutsu, huh! Tch, does he think it would be this easy?' Shisui snorted internally. Shisui instantly used his Sharingan to predict the Yamanaka's movement and counter with a Genjutsu.
"Aaaaggghh..." a scream of agony could be heard from that Root Anbu. 'That was stupid to think that a Yamanaka's technique could work on me, who even has the Mangekyō Sharingan,' Shisui scoffed internally. 'After all, mind transfer jutsu is Yin Release, and the Uchiha are masters of Yin Release.' He quickly looked at the place where Danzo was, and he saw that Danzo had vanished. He noticed the next moment that Danzo was coming for his eye. "Tch, this old fart and his obsession with eyes!" Shisui cursed and quickly used Substitution Jutsu, changing places with his shadow clone.
-- To Be Continued --