Ink-dark night; the Naka River's rush rang clear through the hush of the forest, scouring stone as though washing away some unspeakable weight.
Hyuga Hinata stood atop a leafy ancient tree far from the bank, her figure fused flawlessly with shadow.
She had followed Shisui all the way here.
The Breath Concealment Technique running at full power, she reined in every ripple of Chakra and reduced even her own life-force to its lowest ebb.
Her untainted Byakugan pierced night and distance, bringing the tragedy about to unfold on the riverbank into perfect view.
Inside, she was perfectly calm.
To her, who knew the plot, this was no sudden tragedy—only an inevitability long since inked upon the timeline.
Until she possessed strength enough, she would not step in to change it.
"It's almost time."
Her spiritual sense, like invisible tendrils, probed the flow of energy around her with exquisite detail.
Compared with Chakra, spiritual force held an innate edge in delicate perception.
Shisui stood alone at the cliff's edge, moonlight sketching the lonely outline of his frame.
To Hinata's Byakugan and senses his life-force still blazed, yet Shisui no longer wished to live.
"Choosing to end this way—does he want to force Itachi's eyes open, or chase the phantom peace of the Village?"
Hinata analyzed coolly.
"Trusting the violent swing of another's feelings and a pair of unstable eyes is building castles in the air; only power grasped absolutely, power freed from emotion, is eternal."
She did not wait long before another anxious figure arrived at break-neck speed.
Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi reached Shisui; his gaze fell on the gouged sockets, blood trailing down Shisui's cheeks.
Shisui turned slowly to face him, his voice eerily calm.
"The Uchiha coup can no longer be stopped."
"Once Konoha slips into civil war, other nations will strike; war will be certain."
"I meant to halt the coup with Kotoamatsukami, but Danzo stole my eye."
Shisui looked back.
"Danzo trusts no one; he'll protect the Village his own way, and he'll come for my remaining eye."
"So I leave it to you."
Shisui plunged his fingers in and tore out his own eye; blood gushed.
"Shisui…"
"Only you, my closest friend—protect the Village and the name of the Uchiha."
Itachi closed his eyes; a crow burst forth, brushing the eye before vanishing with it in a swirl of feathers.
"I accept. What will you do now?"
Shisui stepped back twice.
"If I die, the board will shift; I've left my note."
Panic flashed across Itachi's face.
"Wait! Shisui—"
"Don't stop me, Itachi."
With that he toppled backward, murmuring,
"If… you're still my friend."
"Shisui!!"
Itachi rushed, flinging himself to the edge, clawing at nothing but cold empty air.
Watching his best friend plummet into the churning spray, Itachi squeezed his eyes shut in agony.
Grief, rage, despair—tsunamis of emotion crashed through him.
He knelt at the cliff, body curling under the onslaught.
His three-tomoe Sharingan whirled faster than ever; the tomoe warped, linked, forging a pin-wheel pattern.
Blood seeped from his eyes as he opened them again—
now Mangekyo… Hinata watched the curtain fall from afar.
"Before absolute interest and power, trust is the flimsiest thing; Danzo is proof, and so is the Uchiha Clan. The chain of suspicion between Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha is a knot no blade can cut."
She almost laughed: these Ninja wielded superhuman strength yet wallowed still in the mire of human politics.
Once the Mangekyo bloomed, Hinata could feel its force—
a cold, mighty Chakra steeped in hatred and ill omen; even at this distance she sensed the qualitative leap.
Her Byakugan recorded every detail of the new eye's pattern and energy signature.
"A loved one's death provides the emotional spike to catapult one's power, yet the result is cursed and twisted."
She muttered a single critique:
"Heretic cultivator."
[Ding! Witnessing and recording key historical node: "Uchiha Shisui entrusts his best friend, Uchiha Itachi awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan." points gained: 5,000!]
[System evaluation: host did not interfere, but your superb concealment slipped past every eye—prime material for a back-stabber.]
The System's chime ended the observation.
Hinata expressionlessly withdrew her gaze—then noticed Itachi's eyes flick toward her.
"Hoh—System spoke too soon; he spotted me."
She regarded Itachi's brand-new Mangekyo.
"Shiny new eyes, but you'll be almost blind soon enough."
If Nizhu Zi burns even passing dogs with Amaterasu, big brother, you won't be far behind.
Enjoy your healthy vision while it lasts.
Hinata pivoted lightly, a night-wandering cat, and melted soundless into the deep woods.
She summed up tonight's watch in her mind:
Both Shisui's sacrifice and Itachi's Awakening were struggles inside destiny's cage.
The prologue to the Uchiha extermination had officially begun with this death.
Time to prepare for the night of massacre—and maybe catch sight of Obito.
After tonight Itachi would drift into confusion.
Shisui's death would stun the clan; his might was undisputed, their acknowledged strongest.
Some would suspect Itachi—he was last with Shisui and walked close to Danzo in the Anbu.
Likely conclusion: Itachi and Danzo conspired to assassinate Shisui.
They would warn Itachi that betrayal would cost him.
Hearing this, Itachi would erupt; his patience with the clan had snapped—he was sick of their mindless war-cries.
He would kill those who slandered him, and not even Fugaku could stop him—until little Sasuke's cry of "big brother" pulled him back.