Morning—Konohagakure, Training Ground 4.
The warm sunlight shone down on Mitarashi Anko. But at that moment, the purple-haired girl felt no warmth at all—only a bone-chilling cold inside her.
"Wh-why…"
Anko's eyes were fixed on the stone platform ahead. On it lay a lifeless, pale-white corpse.
Her pupils shrank, and she muttered in disbelief, "Sosuke… kun?"
The familiar brown hair, the familiar black-rimmed glasses, the familiar gentle face.
The boy who had always worn a warm smile in her memories… was now nothing more than a cold, lifeless body.
Thud.
Her knees gave out, and Mitarashi Anko collapsed to the ground. She could no longer hold back her emotions as she let out a heartbreaking scream.
"Aaaahhh!"
Swish, swish, swish.
Hearing the commotion, the Konoha shinobi quickly rushed to the scene.
Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, Sarutobi Asuma, Uzuki Yugao, Gekko Hayate, Kurenai, and Uchiha Shisui all arrived one after another.
"This… this has to be a joke, right? Aizen… he actually…"
"Damn it! Who the hell did this?"
"Sosuke-kun? No, that's impossible! We had an agreement… Why… why did this happen?"
Kurenai seemed unable to handle the shock of what she was seeing. Her body swayed, on the verge of collapsing. Luckily, Yūgao Uzuki, who was beside her, reacted quickly and caught her just in time.
"Kurenai, are you okay? Kurenai!"
"She's fine… just passed out."
"No matter what, we need to get her to the Konoha hospital first."
The sudden event left the surrounding shinobi in a state of chaos, scrambling to react. The only one who remained frozen in place was Uchiha Shisui. He stood there like a statue, staring at Aizen's lifeless body, completely motionless.
"No… it shouldn't be like this." His pupils were unfocused as he muttered to himself, "This isn't how things were supposed to go… This is my fault. It's all my fault."
He should have known. When Aizen was taken away by Danzo, there was no way things would end well. But because he trusted Konoha's higher-ups, he had done nothing. If he had acted sooner, Aizen wouldn't be lying here, cold and lifeless.
Rage, pain, guilt, and regret—so many emotions swirled inside Shisui, suffocating him.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Just then, a steady, deliberate sound of footsteps echoed through the air. The shinobi gathered at the scene instinctively made way as the figure approached.
"Heh, looks like something interesting happened here," a cold, amused voice spoke.
Hearing that voice, Uchiha Shisui's head snapped up. His eyes burned with twisted hatred. "Danzo!" His pupils spun wildly, the black tomoe in his Sharingan rapidly shifting—until they finally merged into a shape resembling four blades.
Mangekyo!
The death of his best friend, the overwhelming rage toward Danzo—at this moment, Uchiha Shisui had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan!
Clang!
Shisui drew the short sword from his back. With a burst of speed, he lunged at Danzo like a madman. "You bastard! I'll kill you!"
It was as if Danzo had expected this. He didn't even flinch. Just as Shisui was about to reach him, two Root shinobi appeared out of nowhere, one on each side. In an instant, they intercepted his attack, stopping him cold.
What?!
Shisui's eyes widened in shock. Even with his Mangekyo Sharingan, he could barely track their movements. It was as if they had truly teleported.
These two… they aren't ordinary shinobi!
As his thoughts raced, Danzo spoke in an icy tone. "Not only have you killed Aizen, but you also dare to attack me, Konoha's advisor? Take this traitor to the interrogation chamber immediately!"
Shisui… was Aizen's killer?
The surrounding shinobi looked stunned. They couldn't believe what they had just heard.
Everyone here knew how close Aizen and Shisui were. Saying that he killed Aizen? That was impossible!
Just as the two Root shinobi prepared to carry out their orders, a deep voice rang out.
"Hold it."
The crowd parted, revealing Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, wearing his Hokage hat.
Hiruzen's eyes swept over Aizen's tragic corpse, a trace of sorrow flickering across his face. Then, he turned to Danzo. "You claim Shisui killed Sosuke? Do you have any proof?"
"Hmph." Danzo let out a cold snort before pulling a letter from his sleeve. "See for yourself, Hiruzen."
Sarutobi Hiruzen took the letter and read it carefully. His expression darkened. Then, he turned his gaze toward Shisui and spoke in a heavy tone.
"Uchiha Shisui, do you admit to this crime?"
"Hokage-sama!" Shisui's eyes were wide with disbelief as he shouted, "It was Danzo! Danzo killed Aizen!"
"Look at this yourself. Is this not Sosuke's handwriting?" Hiruzen's face remained stern as he held the letter up to Shisui.
It wasn't a long letter.
The general idea was that Aizen had discovered Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan had awakened, but he sensed that this power was too dangerous.
For the sake of Konoha, and out of concern for his friend, Aizen had decided to meet with Shisui at the Fourth Training Ground that night to convince him to seal away his Mangekyo powers.
Just in case anything went wrong, he had written this letter as a precaution.
The logic was sound. The handwriting matched Aizen's perfectly.
But Shisui knew—he knew for a fact that this was Danzo's setup.
Last night, he had stayed at home, thinking about Aizen's final words to him. He hadn't met with anyone.
And more importantly, he had seen Aizen being taken away by Root yesterday afternoon with his own eyes. That was an undeniable fact!
But when he opened his mouth to speak, he realized something terrifying—he couldn't explain it.
Everyone had seen his Mangekyo Sharingan.
He was the only witness to Aizen being taken.
No matter what he said now… it would all sound like empty excuses.
"Danzo, was this all your plan?" Shisui gritted his teeth, his face filled with anger.
"Trying to frame me?" Danzo sneered. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
And he really didn't—because the ones who took Aizen weren't his men at all. But in this situation, denying it wouldn't change anything. Shisui would never believe him.
"Enough!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, rubbing his temples as he looked at Danzo and Shisui. "Until we get to the bottom of this, Shisui will be temporarily held in the prison beneath the Hokage's office."
In truth, he leaned more toward believing Shisui. Danzo's actions made him a far more likely suspect. But as the Hokage, he couldn't show favoritism, so this was the best compromise he could make for now.
"Still playing favorites, even now?" Danzo scoffed, seeing right through him. "Your indecisiveness is going to be your downfall one day, Sarutobi."
"I have my own judgment," Sarutobi Hiruzen shot him a cold glance.
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