Chapter Sixty-Four: Let’s Watch a Play

“Itachi, help me arrange a meeting with Shisui,” the Third Hokage said after a long moment of contemplation.

“Yes,” Itachi replied without much expression. He acknowledged the order, then left the Hokage’s office and made his way back toward the clan’s compound.

Soon, he arrived near Shisui’s home. Though Shisui had already bested Fugaku, he wasn’t the clan leader yet; he would have to wait for Fugaku to recover and for the formal abdication and succession ceremony before he could rightfully claim the title. So after the recent battle, he had discussed a few matters with the elders and then returned home to rest—after all, the fight had taken its toll.

When Itachi arrived, Shisui was applying a warm towel to his eyes. Hearing the knock at the door, he took off the towel and went to open it.

“Itachi!” Shisui’s brows lifted slightly, but he quickly composed himself. He knew things were no longer as they once were between them.

“…” Itachi was silent for a moment before finally saying, “The Hokage wants to see you.”

“The Hokage…” Shisui repeated the title, then nodded. “Alright, I’ll go now.”

Hearing Shisui’s answer, Itachi said nothing more. He turned and vanished with a flicker, using his Body Flicker Technique.

Shisui stood at the doorway for a while, lost in thought, faces of Itachi, the Third Hokage, and countless familiar Uchiha flashing through his mind. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, collected himself, and then tidied up before heading toward the Hokage’s office.

……………………………

“Ahhh~” Yu Higashino yawned languidly, feeling a bit bored.

He had already written several thousand words this morning and was now feeling too lazy to continue. As for comics, he’d caught up with almost everything recent, and even chatting with Naruto was out of the question—Naruto had gone out for a run.

“Sigh, maybe I should just keep writing,” Yu muttered to himself.

At that moment, there was a sound at the door. Yu looked over and saw a familiar face.

“Yu.”

“Shisui? What brings you here?”

It was Shisui Uchiha who had come in. On his way to the Hokage’s office, he happened to pass by Yu’s place. Sensing that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki wasn’t here and there were no ANBU watching, he thought he’d drop in for a visit.

“Just stopping by since I was passing,” Shisui replied.

Since he was bored, Yu perked up with some interest and asked, “How have things been? Is everything going well with the Uchiha?”

“More or less,” Shisui smiled. “Today, I initiated an impeachment against the clan head. It seems to have worked. Before long, I’ll be the Uchiha chief.”

“That was fast,” Yu remarked with some surprise.

Since giving Shisui advice last time, he hadn’t paid much attention to the situation and hadn’t expected things to progress so far.

“It couldn’t be slow. No one knows how much time the Uchiha have left,” Shisui replied.

“True,” Yu nodded, then asked, “You said you were just passing by—where are you headed?”

“The Third wants to see me.”

“I see,” Yu said, looking thoughtful.

“Yu, I should get going,” Shisui said.

“Alright,” Yu responded, then added, “Be careful.”

Shisui paused, realizing the concern. The smile faded from his face, replaced by a grave seriousness. “I will,” he replied.

With that, he left Yu’s general store and continued on toward the Hokage’s office.

Just as Shisui stepped out the door, Yu tossed a psychic mark—conjured using his [Genjutsu] skill—onto Shisui. With this mark, even outside his own sensory range, Yu could still sense Shisui’s situation, and it would be difficult for any ninja to detect it.

Just as well—he was bored. Time to watch a show unfold.