Mastermind of the Akatsuki

"It's been a long time since I fought him. I wonder how much he has grown."

Repeating Byakuya's earlier words in his heart, Shisui showed a look of surprise and cautiously asked, "Byakuya-sama, are you saying… you know the ninja influencing Itachi from behind the scenes?"

Byakuya nodded, looked at Shisui, and said, "There aren't many ninjas in the Ninja World who can freely bypass Konoha's barrier, and even fewer who would target both Konoha and the Uchiha. If I'm not mistaken, the one influencing Itachi is the masked man."

"The masked man?" Shisui seemed to have heard the name before but couldn't recall exactly who it referred to.

Seeing Shisui's confusion, Byakuya reminded him, "He's the masked man who attacked Konoha seven years ago, causing the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and the disappearance of the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki."

At those words, Shisui's face instantly turned serious.

During the Nine-Tails' Night, he had been out on a mission, but he was well aware of the chaos, the largest upheaval in Konoha's history. He understood the price the village had paid to quell it.

If the Fourth Hokage and his wife hadn't died in that incident... 

The relationship between the Uchiha and the village would never have reached the point of breaking. At worst, the Uchiha would have been heavily suppressed by the Senju faction, completely extinguishing any hope of becoming Hokage.

Byakuya didn't stop revealing secrets and dropped another bombshell, "After the masked man fled from Konoha seven years ago, he remained active in the underground black markets across the Ninja World. I've conducted a lot of investigations on him and discovered a shocking truth."

Pausing intentionally, Byakuya continued, "The masked man who attacked the village is an Uchiha ninja. He possesses a Mangekyō Sharingan with space-time abilities."

"A Mangekyō with space-time abilities?"

Shisui was stunned and muttered, "But aside from me, no one else in the clan should have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Even if someone else had awakened it, why attack the village? Doing so would only make the higher-ups of Konoha suspect the clan. What good could possibly come from this?"

Shisui hadn't met the masked man, but that didn't stop him from questioning his sanity.

Although many Uchiha were impulsive and prone to reckless actions, none of them would do something so utterly pointless—unless the masked man's sole goal was the destruction of Konoha.

Seeing Shisui's bewildered expression, Byakuya smirked and said, "From the looks of it, you know less about the masked man than I do. Have you ever considered that there might be Uchiha outside of Konoha?"

Shisui was taken aback and then cautiously asked, "Byakuya-sama, are you suggesting that the masked man isn't from Konoha, but instead related to Uchiha Madara?"

Byakuya nodded and continued, "During my time in Konoha, I specifically searched the library for records. After Madara Uchiha left Konoha, he spent two years outside. Two years is more than enough time for Madara to have descendants. I have reason to suspect the masked man is a descendant of Madara. As for their goals, I'm still uncertain.

But one thing is certain: their ambition isn't limited to Konoha. Otherwise, they wouldn't be manipulating Itachi's life trajectory in secret, pushing him to extremes just to cultivate a pair of capable eyes."

Pausing, Byakuya added, "When you move later, be careful of Itachi's Sharingan. His eyes are likely on par with yours."

Shisui's expression stiffened, and he looked up at the distant moon. He had originally thought resolving the conflict between the clan and the village was the hardest thing in the world. But it turned out the depths of the Ninja World were far murkier than he had imagined.

So the attack during the Nine-Tails' Night really might have been carried out by the Uchiha. And the power of the Uchiha was far greater than he and his clan had realized.

Yet those Uchiha who had drifted away didn't even consider them kin.

Shaking his head to dispel distracting thoughts, Shisui decided to focus on saving his clan. The future could wait until the Uchiha were secure.

After tonight, Konoha would no longer have any Uchiha. 

Bowing slightly to Byakuya, Shisui waved his hand and led the Root ninjas toward the Uchiha clan grounds.

Byakuya didn't linger either. Sensing Obito's chakra, he disappeared.

---

Not long after, Shisui arrived at the outskirts of the Uchiha clan grounds with the Root ninjas.

Having taken on Danzo's role, Shisui had also inherited everything Danzo possessed, including control over these dozens of Root ninjas.

Aside from a few jonin, the majority were tools marked with the Cursed Seal.

Though they had seen Shisui and Byakuya talking earlier, they didn't dare voice any doubts. Everything Danzo-sama did was for the sake of Konoha, and they were the roots that protected it.

As he entered the clan grounds, Shisui smelled the blood in the air and frowned.

After walking a few more steps, he saw Uchiha civilians lying in pools of blood. With a grim expression, he instructed his subordinates,

"Take these Uchiha to the Root base. The rest of you, find the surviving Uchiha. Remember, I want them alive. Only living Uchiha can provide Sharingan continuously."

"Yes, Lord Danzo!"

After sending most of the Root ninjas away, Shisui began to sense the residual chakra in the air and headed toward Itachi's location.

Although he had known for a while that he and Itachi had taken very different paths... 

He didn't expect Itachi to actually lay a hand on the clan. It was even crazier than he had imagined. He wondered if Itachi could make the final decision when facing his parents.

Infusing chakra into his legs, Shisui activated Body Flicker Technique and disappeared.

---

Barely ten seconds later, Shisui arrived outside the clan leader's residence.

Lying in pools of blood outside were several radical Uchiha, including elders with the Three Tomoe Sharingan who supported Clan Leader Fugaku. These individuals were jonin-level in strength.

Shisui didn't have much sympathy for the radical Uchiha, but he still created shadow clones to send them for treatment.

If he wanted to gain Byakuya-sama's favor in the future, he would need the strength of these people.

Refocusing, Shisui turned his gaze to the interior of the residence. Gripping the short blade in his hand, he prepared for battle.

For Itachi to defeat multiple jonin in such a short time, his strength was likely on par with Shisui's.

Although he wouldn't deal with Itachi here, he intended to give his little brother a deep lesson—one final act of education as an older brother.