Chapter Seven - Phase One

The two of them were seated on wooden chairs they hauled from the dining room, directly in front of Kushina. Kushina sat in the middle of the couch, her violet eyes flitting back and forth between the two of them. Arms crossed over her chest, when Kushina leaned forward ever so slightly, Kakashi automatically leaned backwards.

Even after all these years, his sensei's wife never failed to intimidate him.

The atmosphere crackled with tension as Kushina continued to stare both of them down. Shisui cleared his throat, a sign that he was ready to speak, but a quick nudge in the arm from Kakashi put a stop to that.

Kakashi should have known that it was a bad idea to bring Shisui to Kushina. When Minato failed to help fulfill their request, Kakashi knew there was only one more fuinjutsu user in the village that was better than his sensei. And while Kushina might have liked Kakashi, everyone knew that she wasn't particularly fond of the Uchihas, not when they ravaged her homeland and took occupation of it for nearly fifteen years. Unfortunately, Shisui managed to talk Kakashi into bringing him here.

With the Uchiha crest displayed proudly on Shisui's back, it was like a recipe for disaster the moment they walked through the door.

Kushina was a ticking time bomb. Kakashi mentally began counting down the seconds until her wrath exploded and threw both of them out of her house. It was already a miracle that she allowed Shisui into the house in the first place.

Her jaw clenched, lips pressed tightly together as her eyes narrowed in on Shisui. Shisui didn't flinch in the slightest, but out of Kakashi's peripheral vision, he spotted beads of sweat forming on the side of his head, partly obscured by his messy black tufts of hair. With his back ramrod straight, even Shisui couldn't relax in Kushina's presence despite being blissfully unaware of her true wrath.

Too bad Kakashi couldn't say the same.

And finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Kushina finally spoke. Her sharp voice cut through the thick tension in the air, relieving some of the heavy atmosphere.

"An Uchiha, huh. How old are you?"

Shisui cleared his throat. "Twenty one, Uzumaki san."

Kushina nodded, whether in approval or disapproval, Kakashi didn't know, but at least she was willing to talk to Shisui. This was a start.

"I assume that you know who I am." At this point, Shisui nodded in confirmation, mouth parted to say something, but Kushina didn't allow him that opportunity. "Then you must know how I feel about the Uchihas."

This time, Shisui spoke. "Yes. Kakashi san has informed me."

"And yet you still show up at my door."

Once again, Shisui nodded.

"Well let me tell you something. Between the two of us, Minato is the one who sympathizes with the opposition. He latches onto this ludicrous notion that the Senjus and the Uchihas have the potential to merge as one village and coexist peacefully side by side and that's fine. But let me tell you, I'm jaded and pessimistic. I think such a thing is nothing more than a far fetched dream."

Kushina paused for a moment, gauging Shisui's reaction to her words.

"Achieving peace between the villages? Sure, I'm all for it," Kushina continued. "And I'm glad that we were able to end the war, but that doesn't mean I have to like you or your allies. The audacity that you have to appear before me after your alliance decimated my homeland into nothing but rubble. You know that everyone there was a civilian, right? You know that your people have taken the children and enlisted them as slaves, right? You know that my clan is on the brink of extinction, right?" Kushina's voice grew louder and louder towards the end of her speech as the words brought back unbridled emotions.

"And I'll never forgive the Uchihas for that." And with that one poignant statement, it seemed to dash away all of their hopes for enlisting Kushina's help.

"It's not your fault, I know. You are far too young to have been involved in the matter and that is part of the reason why I can civilly speak to you today. I want you to be able to understand my perspective. Whatever it is that you came for today, just know the answer will be no."

"I understand, but I'm hoping that you will be kind enough to allow me the time to share my perspective with you."

Kushina stared at Shisui for a few moments, before she conceded. "Alright."

"Thank you." Shisui cleared his throat. "I acknowledge everything you just said and it is true that the Uchihas have done that to not only your village, but others as well. And it is true that all of it happened before I knew any better or was old enough to do anything about it, but now that I am in a position of power, I want to rectify all of that.

"I cannot give back the lives that were taken or the time stolen away from the children while they were locked in captivity or rebuild the villages with my bare hands or ease away the pain and nightmares associated with the traumatic experience. I cannot change the past. The only thing that I can do right now is to prevent it from happening in the future."

Kushina hummed in agreement.

Shisui went straight for it. "Our village is corrupt. Although we put up a united front, even among our own, there is much dissent. For the longest time, the people in positions of power catered to Madara's ideologies. For generations even long after his death, we continue to carry out his vision without stopping to think for ourselves if that's what we really want. Since Itachi was young, he vowed to change the ways of the Uchihas. The day we convinced the council to sign the peace treaty, Itachi made a promise to all of us that he was going to dismantle the system from inside and out."

"I need your help," Shisui implored. "Four days ago, the council has forcibly removed Itachi from his position and thrown him in jail. Three days from now, they will publicly execute him. If he dies, then any hope for change extinguishes right along with him."

"It's easier said than done," Kushina remarked. "Lots of pretty words won't change the obvious inaction on your part."

Shisui shook his head. "No. Itachi kept his word. In the two hundred and fifty three days since the peace treaty was signed, there was not a single day where Itachi didn't devote his time to trying to change the system. There were lots of pushback from the council because they wanted to stick to the status quo so nothing got done, but I can assure you that he had been trying. We all were trying to the point where now all of us have a target on our backs because of it."

"That's not surprising. You're going against old geezers who would love nothing but to have another war with us. I can see your plight, but I don't see how this concerns me. If anything, you and your supporters should figure out how to save Itachi from his death rather than wasting time speaking to me."

While Kushina spoke, Shisui dug into his pocket to pull out a storage scroll. Unravelling the scroll, Shisui placed the palm of his hand on the kanji, pushing a bit of chakra through it. A box appeared, taking its place. Shisui opened the flaps of the box. Out of curiosity, Kushina's eyes followed to land on the contents of the box.

"Papers?" Kushina questioned with one eyebrow raised.

"Documents detailing all of the changes that we wanted to enact and evidence of the village's corruption, including Danzo, one of our former allies that ran the Root Foundation, the group stationed in Whirlpool." Shisui handed over that particular document, figuring that it would be of interest since it was her homeland. Kushina accepted the document wordlessly. Apathy was etched on her face while she skimmed through the documents.

"Stealing Sharingans? That's fucked up," Kushina commented. "But I still don't see how any of this concerns me in any way."

Shisui gestured towards the box of documents. "Feel free to look through any of the stuff if you still doubt that we are working to make a difference."

"I left on the night of Itachi's capture," Shisui continued. "At this point, all I know is that Itachi was to be publicly executed within the week and that Oto has taken over our village. A form of martial order as you will. And just like every village, we have civilians. Innocent people that should never be caught in the crossfire of our conflicts, just like your clan. There are still many of those civilians enslaved by Daisuke, and maybe among them, some Uzumakis as well. As long as the corruption exists, these innocent people will continue to suffer.

"I want to change that. We want to change that, but without our leader, we cannot rally a strong enough force to fight back against the village. A civil war will break out and if corruption prevails, then I have no doubt that they, along with Oto's forces, will try to pick another fight with the Senjus. Many are dissatisfied with the outcome of the war and believe that we should have won instead.

"Your generation grew up in war. The generation before yours grew up in war and every generation before that too. My generation grew up in war. We've suffered enough; it has gone on long enough. The next generation deserve to know what peace is like."

"And you want my help," Kushina echoed.

"I need your help."

"Think about Naruto," Kakashi added. "The next time there is another war, not only will Minato sensei be sent out again, but Naruto will as well. Itachi is trying to prevent all of that from happening again."

Kushina's gaze swung onto Kakashi. "Why do you trust him? I understand that his clan members can put their blind faith into him, but you're not an Uchiha. Itachi was your enemy at one point. How do you trust him?"

"Because I've seen the change myself," Kakashi responded firmly. "When I first joined the Uchihas, I was heavily discriminated against for my background. For the sole fact that I was not born into the Uchiha clan, no matter how skilled I am, I would have never amounted to anything in their village. But Itachi saw me and took a chance on me and many others. When he took leadership, all of the commanders were Uchihas from the main family. By the end of the war, there were Hyugas, Inuzukas, Aburames, and even those not among the four big clans in positions of leadership.

"Not only does that tell me that Itachi wants to seek change, but also that he wants to unite the entire village. Unlike in our village, theirs is heavily segregated. Each clan keeps to themselves and perceives each as inferior to themselves. Even among their own, the Uchiha have separated themselves as the main and side families. However in recent years, the corruption in the Uchiha clan has led them to become power hungry. The other clans are becoming fed up and once they reach their tipping point, we can come together to oust the corruption."

"And you believe Itachi will be able to accomplish that change?"

"Wholeheartedly."

Silence stretched between them. Kushina's eyes flickered between Kakashi and Shisui's eyes, seeing nothing but brimming conviction swimming in those dark orbs. She nodded.

"I'll help you, but on one condition."

Shisui nodded, gesturing for Kushina to continue.

"When you free those children from Daisuke, bring back the Uzumakis."

When. Not if. Glancing at Shisui who was responding with an affirmative to her condition, Kakashi smiled. Never in a million years did Kakashi think Shisui would be the one to break through Kushina's tough exterior.

All of their efforts paid off when they left her house, with the seals needed to complete their plan. All that was left was to sneak into the Uchiha territory, somehow find a way to embed one of these seals on Itachi and then reverse summon him out of there.

It was easier said than done, but with time pressing on their backs, they had to get moving.

Kiba popped his head into her room, informing her that their mother was looking for her before scrambling away, at the prospect that he would be stuck playing messenger. Hana shook her head at her younger brother's antics before rising from the floor. Her bare feet padded softly across the wooden floorboards to the kitchen table, where she knew her mother would surely be. As expected, Hana spotted her mother leaning over the dining table. Papers were strewn all over, a haphazard mess, to the point where Hana couldn't even see the surface of the table anymore.

Hana pulled out a chair in front of Tsume. The sound of the legs scraping against the floor alerted her mother of her presence. Her head jerked up while Hana took a seat. At her vantage point, Hana had gotten a good look at her mother for the first time. Dark bags appeared under her eyes. Cheeks sunken in. Worried lines etched on her forehead. Hair in a disarrayed mess. Her characteristic face painting was notably absent.

"What's wrong?"

Tsume sighed loudly. "Everything, Hana." The level of weariness in her mother's voice concerned her. Never in her life had Hana heard her mother like this: boned tired, despondent, and lifeless.

"Maybe you were right," Tsume confessed. "Maybe I shouldn't have been a coward and backed Itachi when he needed the support. If I did, then we wouldn't be stuck in this predicament in the first place."

"Are you talking about the Oto shinobis?"

"Yes," Tsume hissed angrily. "Them and the Uchihas for allowing them in. It's like they completely disregarded our generations long partnership and completely disregarded us. It has been a long time since I felt like they have treated us as equals, but then Itachi came along and tried to fix that."

Tsume's shoulders sagged. "I suppose I thought he was so invincible that he could accomplish anything even without our help. And now it's like this, I know how wrong I was."

Hana reached over, taking her mother's hand in hers. "Kaa san, it's not your fault. I know that you were just looking out for the clan and you didn't want to stick our necks out there after we just finished a war. We needed the time to recover."

"But you didn't agree with my decision." It was a statement, not a question.

Hana nodded. "We needed the time to recover, yes, but change cannot wait. The council was already not pleased with Itachi san, so it was only a matter of time before they tried to replace him. And now they finally did."

"What can we do now?" At Hana's questioning look, Tsume scoffed. "Don't give me that look. I know that you've been sneaking out to meet someone even though I didn't approve of it. If I had to guess, you were out meeting Itachi and the rest of his group, weren't you?"

Hana flashed her a guilty smile. "I was," she admitted. "But you can't let anyone know that. They're trying to hunt down the rest of us so they can quell the movement."

Tsume shook her head. "That won't be happening. I've been speaking with some of the others in the clan and we all agree that we have had enough of this. Whatever it is that you are planning, the entire Inuzuka clan will stand full force behind it."

Hana perked up. "For real?"

Tsume nodded. "We were foolish to not act earlier, but I don't believe it's too late to remedy that."

For the first time since Itachi's capture, Hana smiled as she began to tell her mother all about their plans as far as she knew.

On the other side of the village, in a different compound, Shibi Aburame was having a similar conversation with Muta.

"Are you sure?" For what seemed like the tenth time since they left the village, Shisui had asked him that question. And no matter how many times the raven haired boy asked him that question, Kakashi's answer would remain the same.

"Yes."

"But why would you? What's happening in the village doesn't really concern you."

"It doesn't concern me," Kakashi admitted. "But it concerns the people that I care about. You forget that I lived in your village for half of my life. Whether I admit it or not, I've made some valuable friendships. And well, Itachi spared my life once so I think it's time I repay the favor by saving his."

They continued to traverse through the makeshift tunnel. Shisui took the lead, flashlight in his hand to illuminate the path before them. At the rate they were going, they would soon reach the end of the tunnel and that meant stepping into Uchiha territory. By that point, it would be too late for Kakashi to change his mind and turn back, so Shisui wanted to be absolutely sure that the silver haired man was committed.

"You don't have to do this," Shisui reminded him once again. If only Shisui could see the pointed look that Kakashi was drilling into his backside, maybe he would relent on trying to make Kakashi change his mind.

"You need me. Your allies will not be able to break from their position to carry out this operation without risk, but I can, so stop trying to argue with me. Nobody has gotten me to change my mind about anything before. Not even Minato sensei could convince me to return to the village a few years ago."

Shisui coughed. "Yeah I was wondering about that. Why did you leave in the first place? You weren't always working as a Senju spy, were you?"

"No. I was loyal to the Uchihas until the fourth war," Kakashi answered. "As for why I left, it's personal. It had something to do with my own misgivings towards the village at the time; I don't want the same thing to happen to yours and drive you away from your home." Kakashi's voice fell low. "Not being able to call a place home was one of the most miserable experiences in my life. For over twelve years, I didn't have a purpose in life. Didn't have anything to ground me in. Didn't really feel like I was living. Just felt like a soulless puppet going through the motions. I don't want that to happen to you or anyone else."

"And you think your village has changed?"

"At the time, I didn't really know. I still had my doubts," Kakashi confessed. "But I suppose that I just took a leap of faith and went back anyway. And sometimes in life, that's what you have to do and it'll all work out in the end."

Shisui nodded, soaking in all of his advice. "You sound just like Itachi."

The corner of his eye crinkled in amusement. "You say that as if you don't sound exactly like Itachi. Maybe you've been spending too much time with Itachi."

"If only I can get the opportunity to spend more time with him," Shisui remarked, dampening the light-hearted atmosphere. "Sorry about that."

"That's okay. I remember feeling as anxious as you are when Obito went missing after a skirmish ten years ago. At the very least, we still have two and half more days."

They reached the end of the tunnel. After getting one more look of reassurance from Kakashi, Shisui shut off the flashlight and tucked it away into the side pocket of his backpack. Pushing chakra to his feet, he began to scale up the side of the tunnel to where he remembered the entrance being. His fingers felt around for the false covering and pushed it open. Shielding his eyes with the crook of his arm, he allowed a few moments to allow his eyes to adjust to the sunlight that streamed into the dark tunnel.

Shisui hauled himself out of the tunnel, wiping his hands against each other to brush the dirt off of his sweaty palms. Kakashi was right at his heels, pulling himself out only a few moments after he did. While Shisui scanned the area for any signs of shinobis, Kakashi replaced the false covering.

"All clear?"

"All clear," Shisui responded. "Listen, here's what we're going to do…" Once again, Shisui took the lead to explain how they were going to sneak back into Uchiha territory even though Kakashi himself was familiar with the terrain as well. Kakashi allowed him, knowing that it served as a way to distract him from his anxiety.

Sneaking into the Uchiha territory was a lot easier than Kakashi recalled. It might have something to do with the fact that it wasn't war time so there were a lot less security measures put into place, but the security was abysmal to the point where it was almost pitiful. Not even a single detection barrier to alert them of foreign presence in the village.

When Kakashi pointed out the flaws in the security system, Shisui could only shrug.

"They believe they're so invincible that it isn't necessary."

"Yet they still feel the need to have outposts filled."

"The purpose of the outpost is not to defend, but to cause trouble. Incite another conflict." Truer words had never been spoken.

Not a single soul picked up on their presence as they entered the village. When Shisui spotted the commotion going on in the village streets, namely the Oto shinobis that lined the streets as if it was their home, he felt compelled to kick them out of the village. For now, it was something that he could overlook, but he couldn't certainly overlook when an Oto shinobi stopped to harass one of the villagers. The straw broke when he saw him knock the innocent villager off of his feet.

A hand clamped on his shoulder, halting his movements.

"You forget that you are the most wanted criminal," Kakashi murmured lowly into his ears. "It's painful to witness, but don't forget what your purpose is. If we succeed, their suffering will end soon, but if we fail, this may become their new normal."

Shisui knew that Kakashi was right and was grateful that the other man had been there to knock some sense into him. As much as it pained him to do so, Shisui didn't intervene.

The closer they made their way to the hideout, the easier it was because they were further from the village. That meant Shisui didn't have to witness anymore of the brutality and mistreatment towards the villagers. It didn't make the fact any easier to digest, but he consoled himself by repeatedly reminding himself that it would soon be over.

Shisui had reached to open the front door of the hidden house in the woods when he heard some movement in the house. Motioning to Kakashi that there was someone in the house, who was standing a little ways from the front door, Shisui cautiously reached for the door knob. Slowly twisting it while making as little noise as possible, Shisui pushed it open. The door creaked in the process, Shisui wincing as it revealed to the unknown person of his presence.

Chakra flared dangerously from inside the house. Shisui let out a sigh of relief upon recognizing that particular chakra signature, but he had forgotten that his was completely suppressed; therefore, the person in the house wouldn't be able to identify him. Shisui stepped into the house, ready to call out his name, when a blur came at him. Immediately, Shisui's Sharingan was activated. Dodging to the left to avoid a fatal cut and pulling out a kunai from his pocket, Shisui spun around to meet his next blow.

The sound of metal clanging against each other rang out in the silent house.

Obito's eyes widened as he got a good look at him for the first time. "Shisui?"

Both of them withdrew their weapons. Kakashi languidly walked into the house while the two of them continued the staredown, like they were just seeing each other for the first time in years when in reality, it had been only a few days. Kakashi shrugged and turned to shut the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Both of them questioned at the same time. Obito gestured for Shisui to go first.

"Well I told you that I was coming back, didn't? I? Didn't Akemi make it back yet?"

Understanding dawned on him. "Oh yeah, you did, but I wasn't expecting you so soon. I figured that you wouldn't arrive until tomorrow, at the earliest."

"No, we need time to plan. I can't accomplish this alone."

Obito flashed him a sheepish smile. "Well about that, did you get Momo's message?"

Shisui frowned, having no recollection of meeting his gray nineko. "No. You have more information?"

Obito sighed. "Yeah, but it's not anything good. Izumi was also taken. Itachi is blind. Toshiro managed to get a location, they're held somewhere in the Naka Shrine, but the place is fortified with seals. None of us are really good with seals, so our best bet is to save him when they bring him out for execution, but even then, it's risky."

Kakashi cleared his throat, grabbing both of their attention. "I told you that you need me." This part was directed towards Shisui. "I might have picked up a few things about seals from my sensei."

"Kakashi?" Obito cocked his head to the side, quizzically. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with the Senjus? Actually, what the hell is up with that? You didn't even have the guts to tell me the truth? I felt so dumb finding out afterwards and by then, you disappeared so I didn't know where to find you so I can give you a good punch in the face-"

Shisui stepped in between the two of them, using his body to block Obito's path when he actually started moving closer to Kakashi. He didn't think that Kakashi would allow him to hit him if Obito really threw that punch, but he needed to defuse the situation. They were on the same side after all.

Kakashi merely rolled his eyes at Obito's accusation.

"The two of you can work out your issues later," Shisui stated firmly. His body didn't relax until Obito backed down. "To answer your question, Kakashi is here to help us."

"Help us?" Obito grumbled. "What is he going to do? Betray us again?"

"Well there's nothing that I don't already know about your situation," Kakashi responded. "I don't care whether or not you want my help, you're getting it anyways. Are you going to let your personal grievances cloud your judgment of what is truly at stake here?"

Obito shot him a pointed look, one that clearly informed him that they weren't finished with the conversation, before turning to Shisui.

"Are you sure we can trust him?"

Shisui nodded. "We need him. Once we retrieve Itachi and Izumi, we will need to retreat to the Senju village. There's no better place to receive medical treatment, especially for Itachi's eyes." Shisui sighed. "Although, if things are like you say, they aren't looking too good. We only made plans to account for one."

"What do you mean?"

"Kakashi and I managed to figure out a failsafe in case we cannot sneak Itachi out or if our window is too narrow." Shisui held up a single piece of paper jammed between his pointer and middle finger. The intricate seal design faced Obito. "This is a reverse summoning seal. If we manage to get it on Itachi's body, we can reverse summon him from anywhere."

"And there's only one? Can't you recreate it?"

Shisui's gaze flickered over to Kakashi, who merely shrugged. "Possibly, but it will take a while and the longer I take, the less time that you have to get this in their possession. Riskier."

Shisui accepted his counterpoint. "But try working on it anyway. In the meantime, we'll see if we can figure out another alternative. And Obito, I've been meaning to ask why you are here. Shouldn't you be at the compound right now?"

Kakashi accepted the proffered slip. Taking a seat in the nearest chair, he went straight to work analyzing Kushina's handiwork, deciphering the sealing formula bit by bit.

Obito flashed him a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Well you see, I might have accidentally done something?"

"Like?" Shisui prodded, eyes narrowing as his head began to race through all of the possibilities of Obito's half statement.

"So I might have made myself a wanted person after I stopped Oto shinobis from beating an old man to death."

"And?"

"I don't know. Something really strange is going on. Somehow when I was saving the old man, my body wasn't solid anymore! All of their weapons passed straight through my body. I've been thinking about it, but I don't really know what happened and I'm just so confused right now and-"

Shisui cut him off from his tirade. "You said you saw Oto shinobis beating an old man? You wouldn't happen to know the old man, would you?"

Obito shot him a questioning look, wondering how Shisui knew that. He nodded.

"Obito, activate your Sharingan," Shisui instructed. He squatted down so that he was eye level with a seated Obito, eyes staring intently into his black orbs until they slowly bled red. Three tomoes, just like normal, but Shisui suspected there was more.

"Why did you want me to activate my Sharingan?" Obito asked.

"Activate your Sharingan again." When Obito moved to deactivate his Sharingan to follow Shisui's instructions, Shisui stopped him. "No, I want you to do what you would normally do to activate your Sharingan while your Sharingan is on."

Confusion was written all over his face. "What?"

"Just do it. Trust me. There's something I want to confirm."

Obito nodded and did as Shisui instructed. He didn't feel like anything was different, except his vision was slightly clearer than before, but Shisui was staring at him with his mouth slightly parted.

"Amazing," Shisui commented, while his eyes took in the Mangekyo pattern of Obito's eyes. Unlike his own four point pinwheel design, his was only three points, shaped more like a three bladed fan in movement. "What are your abilities?"

"What?"

Shisui shot him a skeptical look. "You didn't notice that you've unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Obito's fingers reached up, almost as if he was about to touch his eye to confirm it, but stopped short of actually doing so. "It doesn't feel much different. Are you saying my intangibility thing from earlier could be a result of my Mangekyo Sharingan?"

"That's what I figured," Shisui told him. "If that's the case, then it's one of your abilities. As far as I know, both eyes can perform similar abilities, but usually differ in some way. Like I have Kotoamatsukami in both eyes, but my left eye can also use Amateratsu. I've heard of other Mangekyo Sharingans giving completely different abilities with each eye."

Obito's eyes widened. "Wow, that sounds so cool. How did I even unlock it?"

"Traumatic experience most likely. You must have thought the old man was going to die," Shisui explained. "The timing will be a bit tight, but we need to figure out what your eyes can do. It might prove to be useful when it comes time to save Itachi and Izumi. If you really have intangibility, you can slip past all of the barriers to get these seals on Itachi and Izumi."

"What do I do?"

"Try repeating what you did earlier. Make yourself intangible. Figure out which eye has that ability. Start by channelling your chakra to one eye first."

Obito did as instructed, building up chakra in his core before pushing it into his left eye. Nothing happened to his body. He only succeeded in causing a sharp pain in his eye, a liquid trickling down from his eye in the process. Obito wiped it away. Blood.

"Is it supposed to hurt this much?" Obito muttered.

"Usage of the Mangekyo Sharingan causes extreme strain on our optical nerves, so over usage tends to lead to blindness. But do that again, I could have sworn I saw you manipulate space for a split second." Without his own Sharingan activated, Shisui would have never caught the tiny movement in the air, like it was being sucked in before it reverted back to normal when Obito let out a cry in pain.

"I thought we were trying to figure out my intangibility?"

"Just humor me for a bit, Obito. Try aiming your eye on the box in the corner." Shisui's finger pointed to the lone, worn box, lying upside down. "Kakashi, I want you to watch too. I want to make sure I'm not hallucinating."

Once again, Obito built up the chakra in his core and directed it through his chakra network to his left eye. With a better grasp of the pain to expect, Obito activated his Mangekyo. Eye directed at the box, Obito gasped when he saw a black hole form out of nowhere.

Was his eye really doing that?

His eye throbbed from the exertion. A tear of blood leaked out of the corner of his eye, sliding down his cheek. Despite the excruciating pain, Obito pressed on, pouring more chakra into his eye as he witnessed the hole becoming larger and larger. The space moved, shimmering as it became more warped as the air was sucked into the hole. The box was on the verge of being pulled into the dimension, but Obito couldn't keep it up any longer. The jutsu broke. The flap of the box was ripped off and sucked into the hole before it disappeared altogether.

Obito fell back against the chair, panting from the exertion. Wiping the blood from his face, Obito squeezed his eye shut as he was hit with a wave of dizziness.

"You saw that, right?" Shisui asked excitedly, turning to address Kakashi. Kakashi nodded, his eyes still fixed on the damaged box.

"Warping away objects," Kakashi remarked. "A form of space manipulation ninjutsu, like the teleportation jutsu, except it is used to transport other objects."

Shisui snapped his fingers. "Other objects, Kakashi. This is perfect."

Understanding dawned on Kakashi as he caught on to what Shisui was thinking. "Is it really possible?"

Obito groaned. "What are you talking about?"

Shisui grabbed onto Obito's shoulders, shaking him in excitement. "Obito, I think I just figured out how we're going to save Itachi and Izumi! Your Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities are awesome."

"How?"

"Do exactly what you just did on the box, except on Itachi when they bring him to the execution stand."

Obito immediately sat upright. "You must be kidding me. I'm not trying that on a human! You've seen how I ripped apart that box. What if I do the same to Itachi?"

Shisui rolled his eyes. "That's why you're going to practice your aim over the next two days. Your eye will do so much better than this reverse summoning plan that I came up with. It's less risky since we don't have to try to sneak the seal on him."

"Are you sure there's no other way?" Obito asked, a tortured look on his face. "Using the Mangekyo hurts like a bitch."

Shisui laughed. "You'll get used to it, don't worry."

"Yeah if I don't go fucking blind from using it first," Obito muttered under his breath.

"We barely have two days left. We don't have many options left. Are you in or are you out?"

"Fine, I'll do it."

Shisui smiled. "Great! Let's get to training!"

A/N: Hi again!

Obito's abilities do come really in handy for this plot haha. When I first started writing, I kept wondering what sort of plan that they would craft to save Itachi and it turned out Obito is the answer. Perks of not being evil in this realm lol.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

-MM