After Uchiha Tohuan left, Uchiha Shisui did not even bother to put on the pair of eyes Uchiha Tohuan had given him, but instead sprinted rapidly in the direction of the Hokage's Office Building.
Although Uchiha Tohuan had said that he would not use his eyes to control the Lord Hokage, Shisui still did not dare to take that risk.
[At the very least, I must make the Lord Hokage prepared.]
Clinging to this conviction, Uchiha Shisui endured the blinding pain in his eye sockets and stumbled right up to the Hokage's Office Building.
"Uchiha Shisui?" The two chunin guarding the front of the Hokage's Office Building were struck with dismay when they clearly recognized the newcomer and his miserable state. One had to realize that this was the renowned Body Flicker Shisui; why had he turned into such a state?
"I need to see the Lord Hokage! Quickly!" Shisui said urgently.
"What is going on?" At that moment, hearing the commotion, Sarutobi Hiruzen also walked out of his office. When he caught sight of Shisui's empty eye sockets, he was given a severe start as well. The task he had given Shisui today was to investigate the situation of the Uchiha clan meeting, but now Shisui had suffered heavy injuries—could the Uchiha clan truly be staging a rebellion?
"Shisui! Quick! Call a medical ninja over!" The Third Hokage hurriedly issued instructions.
"Lord Hokage, I have an emergency situation to report. We can talk about the medical ninja later." Upon hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice, Shisui said hastily.
"Very well." Seeing that Shisui was emotionally agitated, the Third Hokage had no choice but to bring him into his own office and simultaneously dismiss everyone present.
"Speak, Shisui. What on earth happened?" The Third Hokage spoke with some difficulty, while in his heart bracing himself for the worst possible outcome.
Uchiha Shisui took a deep breath and recounted everything that happened tonight, including the abilities of the pair of eyes taken from him by Uchiha Tohuan, without daring to conceal the slightest detail.
The more the Third Hokage listened, the graver his expression became. To be honest, he had already prepared himself mentally for a formal rebellion by the Uchiha clan, but the intelligence brought by Shisui was far more severe than that.
"Tohuan?" The Third Hokage had lit his pipe at some point. After blowing out a long stream of smoke, the figure of Uchiha Tohuan flashed through his mind.
In the Third Hokage's impression, this Uchiha—who was on par with Shisui and had made distinguished military achievements in the Third Great Ninja War—did not look down on others like ordinary Uchihas. Although he was a bit more solitary than Shisui and didn't like to talk much, the smiling enforcement policy he promoted in the Military Police Force had won high praise from the villagers, making a full contribution to easing the relationship between the villagers and the Uchiha clan. Sarutobi Hiruzen had originally thought that this was another Uchiha who held the Will of Fire in his heart, much like his former comrade Uchiha Kagami. Never did he expect that the man would harbor such a conspiracy in secret, and furthermore, the other party now possessed the power of a full two pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Lord Hokage, you must be careful! Do not give Tohuan an opportunity to exploit!" Shisui warned.
"I understand, Shisui. Put your mind at ease first; matters have not yet reached the worst possible stage." Sarutobi Hiruzen smoked his pipe and offered words of comfort to Shisui. "Go get your eyes fitted first."
"Lord Hokage!" Shisui said anxiously.
"Even if he uses your eyes to control me, his conspiracy will not succeed. Shisui, you must understand: the reason the Hokage is the Hokage is because everyone in the village acknowledges the Will of Fire. If he thinks that controlling me means controlling the entire Konoha, then he is gravely mistaken!" Sarutobi Hiruzen patted Shisui's shoulder and said, "So, go with peace of mind. We still need your strength to stop his conspiracy."
"Lord Hokage..." Sarutobi Hiruzen's words left Shisui somewhat choked up. "I understand! I will definitely stop him!"
***
After Uchiha Shisui was led away to undergo the eye-replacement surgery, a figure leaning on a cane slowly stepped out from the shadows of the Hokage's office.
"Hiruzen, what are you still hesitating for!" Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen sitting in the Hokage's desk chair without uttering a word, the newcomer immediately said anxiously, "Do you want to become a puppet of that inherently evil Uchiha brat?"
"Danzo, calm yourself." Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his gaze to look at his old partner. "Things have not reached that point yet."
"Uchiha Tohuan clearly had plans for rebellion long ago. If we continue to sit and wait for our doom, it will be too late!" Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen was still hesitating, Danzo immediately said angrily, "Besides, the Uchiha have long harbored rebellious intentions. The moment they find out that Uchiha Tohuan has awakened the Mangekyo, they will likely raise the banner of revolt today! We must take the initiative and strike first right now to apprehend Uchiha Tohuan!"
"Enough! Danzo! I am the Hokage!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said angrily.
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
"Bang!"
After Danzo slammed the door and left, Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath of smoke and looked out the window at the night.
Given his understanding of Danzo, the man would definitely lead men in secret to intercept and kill Uchiha Tohuan. Sarutobi Hiruzen was quite happy to see that happen; if Danzo succeeded, then everyone would be pleased, but if Danzo failed, it would merely be Danzo's personal action and have nothing to do with him as the Hokage. For so many years, this had also been the tacit understanding between the two of them.
"Truly an eventful autumn of late." Inside the smoke-filled Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a long sigh.
***
The next morning, the sun rose as usual.
Waking up from bed and washing up simply, Uchiha Tohuan set off to report for duty at the Military Police Force.
Just as Uchiha Tohuan entered his office and barely sat down, the captain of the Military Police Force—who was also the head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fugaku—walked in.
"Tohuan, get ready. There is an emergency mission in the village. This time, you, Inabi, and Tekka will go together, and you will lead the team." Uchiha Fugaku said with a gloomy face.
"I understand." Uchiha Tohuan nodded, not particularly surprised by this, but rather feeling that this mission had arrived a bit too early.
"Are the people on the Hokage's side really this impatient?" After Uchiha Fugaku left, Uchiha Tohuan gently drew the long blade at his waist, its chilly blade reflecting his face.
Sheathing the long blade, packing his gear, and picking up the mission scroll, Uchiha Tohuan waited at the gates of the Military Police Force for his teammates for this operation.
Uchiha Inabi and Uchiha Tekka were both outstanding members of the younger generation of the Uchiha clan. Although their strength fell far short of Shisui and Tohuan, they had nevertheless become chunin before the age of twenty and awakened two-tomoe Sharingan.
Yet their problem, much like that of most Uchihas, was that their meager brain capacity was completely occupied by the sense of pride belonging to a major clan. Therefore, the two of them held quite a few complaints against Uchiha Tohuan, who always advocated smiling enforcement. However, with the mission currently at hand, upon seeing Uchiha Tohuan, the two still gave a standard bow.
Uchiha Tohuan nodded, then spoke up: "Let's go."