Shisui's expression was grim as he departed the Radical faction's compound.
The surrounding Uchiha district was desolate, its streets empty and houses dark. With Jin consolidating power, nearly the entire clan had relocated into the heavily fortified Radical sector, abandoning the outer perimeter. The eerie silence mirrored the turmoil in Shisui's mind.
He needed time to process Jin's terrifyingly logical deductions. He wanted to launch his own covert investigation to verify the claims. However, before he could even reach his home, an Anbu operative materialized in his path.
"Shisui. Lord Hokage summons you," the masked shinobi ordered.
Shisui suppressed a frown. 'I need distance right now, but my Anbu conditioning dictates immediate compliance,' he rationalized. Nodding to the operative, he took a deep breath, buried his conflicting emotions, and flickered toward the Hokage Tower.
***
"Lord Hokage," Shisui greeted, kneeling respectfully in the center of the office. He layered his face with his usual unwavering loyalty.
However, his eyes were different.
Trained as an elite Anbu scout, Shisui possessed exceptional observational skills. Previously, his absolute trust in Hiruzen had acted as a blinder, causing him to ignore certain details. Now, with Jin's words echoing in his mind, Shisui actively evaluated the Hokage's body language.
The evidence was damning.
Hiruzen sat behind his desk, but his Hokage hat was pulled unusually low, shadowing his face. As he smoked his pipe, his eyes remained firmly downcast, stubbornly refusing to meet Shisui's gaze. Furthermore, Shisui's senses picked up the subtle, rigid muscle tension in Hiruzen's posture—the universal physical tell of a shinobi bracing for an attack. Finally, two Anbu guards were positioned perfectly in the room's blind spots, ready to strike.
'He is terrified of looking me in the eye,' Shisui realized, a cold knot forming in his stomach. 'He is actively defending against Kotoamatsukami. Jin was absolutely right.'
The realization that his revered leader viewed him as a lethal threat was a bitter pill to swallow. Yet, Shisui forced himself to maintain his composure.
"Ah, Shisui," Hiruzen began, his voice exuding a practiced, grandfatherly warmth. "I know you are officially on leave today, but the situation with the Uchiha is critical. You accompanied Fugaku to the Radical compound. Tell me exactly what happened."
Shisui focused his mind. He needed to be strategic with his report.
'I must tell him about Jin's takeover and his strategy of Mutually Assured Destruction so the village understands the threat level,' Shisui calculated. 'However, I will hide the fact that Fugaku possesses a Mangekyo Sharingan to prevent the Hokage from feeling entirely cornered. I will also omit the historical rumors spreading through the clan; accusing the Hokage of assassinating his political rivals will only force an immediate, violent reaction.'
Having decided his boundaries, Shisui relayed the events. He detailed Fugaku's abdication and meticulously repeated Jin's promise: if the village used lethal force, Jin would abandon the clan, slaughter Fugaku's family, and wage an endless, invisible guerrilla war against the civilian populations of the administration's clans until Konoha collapsed.
'Smack!'
Hiruzen slammed his hand onto his desk, his face twisting in righteous anger. "Preposterous! How could Jin possibly believe I would watch you be assassinated? And accusing Danzo? Danzo is a village elder! He would never harm a loyal Konoha shinobi. Jin's paranoia is a threat to the village itself. You must not believe his lies, Shisui."
Hiruzen's outward display was flawless, but internally, a chilling wave of terror washed over the Hokage.
'He read my exact political playbook,' Hiruzen thought, his heart pounding. 'Jin perfectly deduced that Danzo would hunt Shisui for his eyes, and that I would allow it to happen so I could reprimand Danzo afterward. This boy's psychological profiling is monstrous.'
Hiruzen realized with dawning horror that Jin was an infinitely more dangerous adversary than Fugaku. Fugaku was a passive coward who could be bullied; Jin was a ruthless tactician perfectly willing to burn the entire board down to secure a stalemate.
"Please be at ease, Lord Hokage," Shisui replied quickly, playing his part. "I still place my faith in the village."
Hiruzen exhaled a manufactured sigh of relief. "I am glad, Shisui. Do not let his radicalism infect you."
The Hokage paused, narrowing his eyes slightly. "But there is one crucial detail. How did Jin know about your Mangekyo ability? You only reported it to me."
"I... I am not entirely sure," Shisui admitted, genuinely perplexed. After a moment of thought, he offered his only logical deduction. "Mangekyo abilities are unique to the user. Since he clearly did not gather the intelligence through espionage, it is possible his specific Mangekyo grants him some form of precognition or prophetic insight."
Hiruzen's face paled beneath his hat.
A precognitive Mangekyo? The implication was catastrophic. It meant that no matter what covert operations or political traps the administration devised, Jin would foresee them and launch preemptive counter-measures.
Struggling to maintain his composure, Hiruzen dismissed the young Uchiha. "Go home and rest, Shisui. You have done well."
Once the door clicked shut, the grandfatherly facade evaporated. Hiruzen's face contorted into pure, unadulterated fury.
"Bastard!" Hiruzen cursed, shattering his ashtray against the wall. "How is this child so impenetrable?"
He struck his desk sharply. An Anbu operative immediately dropped from the ceiling, kneeling.
"Compile Shisui's entire report," Hiruzen ordered, his voice cold and sharp. "Deliver it directly to Elder Danzo. Append a Level-S direct order from me: Under no circumstances is Danzo to make a move against Shisui. If Jin is using Shisui's death as his 'casus belli' to justify a massacre, Danzo must not take the bait."
"Yes, Lord Hokage." The Anbu vanished.
Alone again, Hiruzen massaged his throbbing temples.
'I cannot fight him right now,' Hiruzen analyzed grimly. 'If we attempt a purge, Jin will slip away and execute his guerrilla warfare strategy. Konoha has no defensive countermeasures against an invisible Mangekyo assassin targeting civilians. I must bide my time.'
His immediate strategy was to let the Uchiha sink into the political quagmire of the Police Force, hoping the daily friction with the village civilians would slowly erode their morale and resources.
However, delaying the purge brought a massive, looming crisis to the forefront: Konoha was effectively bankrupt.
During the Third Shinobi World War, the Fire Daimyo had allocated massive emergency funds to the village. However, the vast majority of those funds had been quietly embezzled by the Sarutobi, Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans to secure their own post-war prosperity. Root had siphoned off the remaining reserves for illegal research.
Now, the war was over, but the financial deficit was catastrophic. The village lacked the capital to pay veteran pensions, restock depleted armories with kunai and explosive tags, or even stockpile sufficient food reserves. Worse, the Fire Daimyo, aware of the corruption, refused to issue further grants.
'Where am I going to find the money to keep this village running?' Hiruzen thought, his anxiety spiking.
The Uchiha clan, with their centuries of accumulated wealth, was the perfect target for asset forfeiture. Exterminating them would have solved the village's entire financial crisis overnight. But with Jin holding a nuclear deterrent over his head, the Uchiha treasury was untouchable.
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, overwhelmed by a truly agonizing headache.