Chapter 26

BalthazarTheAngel: Glad you enjoyed it friend.

Pyre101: Thank you! I thought for quite a while on whether to give Naruto Mokuton or go for something else such as Hyōton, I even considered Shōton but the dynamic I can get between Naruto and Rezano proved too tempting, a young Jinchuriki with a brother who possesses a Kekkai Genkai that can suppress Bijū chakra. And in regards to Jiraiya I think I see what your getting at.

Moe: Ah, a fine example of a comment that puts a smile on my face, thank you!. Don't worry, I don't intend to leave this fic unfinished and did you say you wanted more Naru/Kuro? Well you timed that magnificently! Have a chapter featuring some of just that.

Escort duty, meeting the team and setting the stage

"We're all set to cross the border into Hi No Kuni in the next hour or two."

Naruto couldn't help but grin, he was staring down at the words etched onto the two-way communication scroll in his hands before they faded away. Thankfully it was still early, the sun hadn't come up yet so none of his team could see the goofy grin plastered on his face.

Naruto and his squad were waiting at the Konoha-Taki border to receive the Iwa entourage and safely escort them to Konoha. Naruto wrote his reply before setting the scroll down.

"We're here and ready to receive you."

With the scroll put aside Naruto let his mind ponder over the events of the past week and a half or so, ever since the friendly and not so friendly bouts. As was to be expected the four fights were the talk of the town, Naruto had had many conversations on just that with fellow Jōnin at the standby station.

Now that he thought about it why did he waste away several hours a day at the Standby Station, he was never going to be sent on a mission, not with the one he was now on coming up.

Despite no missions he at least still had a few things to occupy himself, Rezano had asked if Naruto could teach him the Kage Bunshin, which with Tou-sans blessing he did. Naruto had asked that he keep it to himself for now especially when you considered just how many clones Rezano could spawn.

Tri could manage about sixty or seventy at maximum. Rezano managed the same number almost effortlessly, sure he was an Uzumaki but even for an Uzumaki he had abnormally large chakra reserves. It was a credit to his tutors and Rezano himself that his chakra control was as good as it was. Then Naruto had told him about the training applications that Kage Bunshin could be utilised in.

Now as far as Naruto could tell Rezano enjoyed training anyway but the zeal he attacked his training sessions in the immediate aftermath of this revelation astounded even a trainaholic like Naruto. His Otouto had never really enjoyed chakra control exercises or reading scrolls but now he didn't even have to do them himself, he could have clones do it instead.

His time wasn't just devoted to Rezano, he'd overseen another handful of training sessions with Rezano's friend Hinata. His time at the Standby Station had revealed to him that very few in the Hyūga clan though much of young Hinata and expected her younger sister Hanabi to assume the girls place as clan heir.

Frankly Naruto found it laughable, what he'd gotten from the training sessions with Hinata was that she was a bright, intelligent girl who had more than enough talent if you could coax it out of her. Naruto loathed to think what the environment was like in the Hyūga clan but it must have been crushing, Hinata was utterly devoid of self-esteem. She constantly doubted herself and needlessly apologised if she didn't get something exactly right immediately.

But she did respond well to positive reinforcement, she beamed from ear to ear when she was congratulated for something, especially when it was Rezano. Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that Hinata had a crush on his youngest brother.

His attention was drawn back to the scroll as more text began to reveal itself.

"You know, some very intriguing rumours reached us a few days ago. Something about some blonde showing off a long thought extinct Kekkai Genkai."

Naruto silently laughed, it was inevitable that the tales of what had transpired in Konoha's arena would travel across country borders eventually. Picking up the inkless brush he wrote his reply.

"I've heard similar rumours, I'd be more than happy to discuss such rumours with you at a later date."

His answer was deliberately vague but Kurotsuchi was intelligent enough to spot his real meaning, 'We'll discuss it in private.'

Again he put the scroll down as he awaited any reply, the transfer of messages took a little while dependent on distance, the further away the two scrolls were, the longer it took but at this distance it would only take a minute or two. And as Naruto expected he got his reply momentarily.

"Ok, I underst"

The message just stopped, 'Huh, not like her to not finish a message.' He waited, seeing if the rest of the message would arrive. It didn't. 'Perhaps she had to hide the scroll so one of the other Iwa representatives didn't see it?' he wondered. After all only four people knew the scrolls existed.

He put it out of his mind and half dozed, despite being awake he wasn't on guard duty, that was left to Hana and her three canine companions. So he leant back against the trunk of the tree he was currently sitting in as he rolled the scroll back up and placed it back in one his storage seals.

The orange hue on the horizon signalling the imminent arrival of the sun made for a pleasant sight and there was a gentle south-easterly breeze that would take the edge off the ever rising temperature until about midday where it wasn't enough anymore.

Hana was bored, yes she should have been paying better attention to her surroundings but it was kind of difficult not to switch off when you have three Ninken with more acute senses than she did. Although it was possible they weren't paying much attention either. She could tell Naruto was awake despite it being her shift as guard, she'd heard he'd pushed hard to be assigned this mission so maybe he couldn't sleep?

The young Inuzuka heir, now a Chūnin of nearly two years pondered her CO, if it wasn't for the distinctive blonde hair and bright blue eyes she wouldn't have recognised him when he'd first returned from the capital. Gone was the chipper pre-teen to be replaced by a far more serious-faced teenager, sure he was still cheerful but he'd mostly buried that part of him the moment they'd left the village two days ago.

'We're all adults now, we're all grown up,' she thought running her hand over the Chūnin jacket she'd been using as a pillow of sorts to make leaning against the tree trunk more comfortable. She looped her arms back through her flak vest and zipped it back up, the zip only got halfway.

Hana let out a quiet but exacerbated sigh, while those who once comprised her Academy class might have mostly finished developing physically, her chest had decided otherwise. She'd already changed the vest once before and if her breasts grew much more she'd have to change it again. She sucked her torso in and finally got the zip three-quarters of the way up as she liked it, any higher and she may as well have worn a corset.

She looked around her position, her three Ninken were at the base of the tree she was in, the rest of the squad spread around in the nearby trees. There was her, Naruto, a highly experienced Chūnin called Suzushii who was definitely one of the more… bearable members of the Hyūga clan and their final member, a young Chūnin like herself called Shinsuke.

She stared off into the distance as she continued grumbling under her breath about stupid vest designs when she heard her Ninken start to quietly growl. Immediately she leant over to look down at them and sure enough all three were growling and looking in the same direction. Quietly she dropped down next to them, she looked in the direction they did but couldn't see anything. It was then a scent hit her nose.

It was a scent she was unfamiliar with but it was definitely human. The growling from her dogs was enough to wake the others as Suzushii appeared next to her. "I can smell someone on the breeze, they're unknown to me," she informed the Hyūga. Catching her meaning the veins bulged around his eyes as he turned his Kekkai Genkai in the same direction.

"There's a single person coming towards us, male, maybe 25. They're moving quickly too," he relayed as Naruto appeared next to them. "Can you make out a Hitai-ate?" he asked. Suzushii nodded, "Hai, Iwagakure."
"Wake Shinsuke," Naruto ordered, "And be ready to move out asap."

The following minutes were rather hectic as equipment was packed and Shinsuke kicked awake much to his annoyance. So when the Iwa nin arrived the Konoha team was ready to receive him.

"Who's in charge," he said, gasping for air. "I am Iwa-san, what's happened?"
"W-We were ambushed by a group of nuke-nin near the border. I was ordered to find you and request your aid," the final few words Naruto could tell were spoken through clenched teeth. "Of course Iwa-san. You are our guests and guests are afforded appropriate protection," he calmly replied.

Turning to his team he made a series of hand gestures that the Iwa Shinobi didn't understand. His three team members nodded their understanding. "Let's move," he declared and the eight of them vanished into the trees.

"Suzushii, as soon as you see someone take point," Naruto shouted over to the Hyūga. "Hai," he curtly replied.

They continued in formation with Hana taking point, her Ninken spread in a semi-circle in front of her. Naruto took the left and Suzushii the right with Shinsuke bringing up the rear. The unnamed Iwa nin was in the formations protected centre.

It was nearly ten minutes before Suzushii's voice was heard again. "I can see them Naruto. The Iwa Shinobi appear to be conducting a fighting withdrawal towards us, around two dozen hostile combatants," he said as he moved to the front of the formation, Hana seamlessly falling back to take his former position on the right.

It was only ANBU squads that were officially kept together long-term but groups of four Shinobi that had good chemistry and worked together well were more often than not sent on missions with each other.
Naruto's team was just such an example. He and Hana were Academy friends, Suzushii while at times bit stiff personality wise was quite an agreeable person while Shinsuke, a year younger than he and Hana provided the light-hearted element. They were a strange mix but then again you could describe all Shinobi squads with similar terms.

But Naruto as the Jōnin, gave the orders, Suzushii, a Chūnin in his late teens provided experience and advice as Naruto's number 2. While Hana and Shinsuke, both relatively young Chūnin provided the banter, constantly throwing double entendres and at one another and managing to balance light-hearted and outrageous together with they're what might be considered flirting. But when it came time to get serious they were all highly capable. All in all Naruto had grown very fond of 'his' team.

"Suzushii, time to contact?" Naruto called over to him. "Twenty seconds." Lifting his right hand to the hilt of Kuchibashi he ran his thumb along the cross-guard, drawing blood. "Alright squad, put all hostiles down quickly, maim, knock out or kill, I care not which," he instructed as he went through five hand-seals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Kurotsuchi and the rest of the Iwa Shinobi had been fighting near nonstop for nearing half an hour now. She'd sent one of her Shinobi to retrieve the Konoha squad waiting for them across the border. 'Nice to know that Taki squad that was shadowing us have suddenly vanished,' she bitter thought as she caught a kunai out of the air, spun and threw it back.

The assailant she'd thrown it at ducked under it as another made a lunge at her with a sword but was brought to a halt by an ear-splitting screech that made everyone cover their ears.

For several nuke-nin it would be an action that cost them their lives. Three suddenly found themselves being mauled by huge dogs, the one that had dodged the kunai Kurotsuchi had thrown found herself impaled on a glowing blade while the one who'd tried to run her through suffered a miserable fate.

Kurotsuchi watched on with wide eyes as they were lifted clean off the ground by a huge bird.

For Suuki it was a dreadful way to die. He had been about to drive his sword through the Iwa bitch's chest when the bird got him. It's talons tearing through the flesh and tendons of his shoulders as it lifted him up. His arms fell limply by his sides, the sword slipping from his slack fingers as he cried in agony, all feeling in his arms gone. His senses were overloaded and he was panicked as he desperately tried to shake free of the creatures vice-like grip.

He was nearly twenty feet off the ground, still desperately trying to get free when the bird let go. His sense of elation was brief in the extreme and was quickly replaced by terror as the ground approached far too fast.

*Snap*

Suuki wailed in agony as his right leg broke the moment he hit the ground. His cries of pain were muffled as he landed face down in the grass and dirt. The ground shuddered underfoot as the great Falcon landed next to him. Suuki couldn't move, with one leg broken and both arms rendered useless.

It meant he was helpless as a great talon stood on an arm, the other on his unbroken leg. With him held in place the creatures beak bit into his flesh below the shoulder blades and with one firm pull tore the lower half of Suuki's spine out, Suuki's overwhelming misery came to an end.

Kurotsuchi had watched on, engrossed and horrified by the extreme display of violence. She felt queasy when the spine was ripped out.

She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her head she saw it was Naruto. "Are you alright?" he asked. She looked around to see that the fight was over, 'I froze up,' she mentally winced. She glumly nodded as she watched one of the other Konoha ninja pull another of the assailant's heads back by the hair and cut their throat with a kunai, the body simply kicked away as the blood spurted into the air.

It seemed it was over, all the assailants seemed to be dead as Naruto's team and some of the Iwa shinobi began piling up the bodies.

One of the 'bodies' proved to not be as dead as first thought as they tried to make a break for it. Naruto's head spun around, "Horus!" he shouted to his large summon. The great Falcon trained its eyes on the back of the young woman running. It let out another ear-piercing shriek that instantly dropped them to the floor where they stayed as Suzushii went to retrieve them.

"Is she?"
"Dead? No, just incapacitated," Naruto said, answering Kurotsuchi's question. "But she is deaf now though," he added. "What?"
"The shriek, when it's directed like that it incapacitates and permanently deafens them," he explained as Suzushii dragged them over. "What do you wish done with her Naruto?" the Hyūga asked with a kunai in hand, ready to open her jugular if ordered. "Restrain her, we'll hand her over to the T&I division." He nodded as he withdrew a reel of steel wire.

"Not going to get many answers out of her are you if she's now deaf," one of the Iwa contingent spat. Naruto turned to face him before diplomatically answering, "We'll just let a Yamanaka take a stroll through her mind, words are unnecessary. Now do any of your group need medical attention?"

Naruto's answer had headed off any arguments superbly, "Thankfully just cuts and bruises. It could have been much worse" he admitted. Naruto nodded his agreement, "Shinsuke, see to the bodies." The Chūnin duly followed through, a quick Katon Jutsu soon setting the corpses on fire.

"Horus, are injured at all?" Naruto asked his summon. "I am unharmed Naruto-san, thank you. If that will be all I shall depart," Horus replied in his mind. Naruto nodded, "Thank you," he said as the Falcon was replaced by a puff of smoke.

"Do you want me to see to that cut on your arm?" Naruto asked the pink-eyed Jōnin as he turned his attention back to her. It was only his mentioning it that made Kurotsuchi realise she actually had a cut on her right forearm to begin with.

She answered by lifting her arm, allowing his glowing hands to gently wrap around the wound.

"We were most fortunate today, to only have cuts and bruises from such a large engagement is a testament to the abilities of our Iwa counterparts," Suzushii said to his two teammates. "You can say that again Suzu," Shinsuke remarked much to the Hyūga's annoyance. "I really wish you would refrain from calling me that," Suzushii sighed, the other two laughing at his expense.

"Oh come now Suzushii, everyone's gotta have a nickname, the only rule is that you can't give yourself one, someone else has to do it for you. Really I'm doing you a favour."
"He has a point Suzushii, someone could have been a right dick and given you a simply awful nickname," Hana chimed in as she continued wiping the blood from around her Ninken's mouths.

*Sigh*, "Can we talk about something else…" he asked more in hope than expectation. "Sure," Shinsuke said all too nicely as he stretched his arms above his head, getting a series of satisfying clicks and cracks from various joints. "Boy I can't wait until we get back to the village," he said. Hana rolled her eyes, "Of course, how could we possibly forget, you say the same thing on every mission that ends with us killing someone, you shag this mysterious pretty lady of yours," Hana sarcastically retorted. "Guilty as charged," Shinsuke replied with a grin.

"Ah, is this the same lady whose chest dimensions change by the week?" Suzushii teased. "Shush you," Shinsuke weakly fired back. "Besides, I wouldn't need to mention her at all if you'd only accept my invitation Hana-chan," he said. "And as tempting as your offer may sound Shinsuke-kun, my boobs are simply too great for mere mortals such as yourself," she replied, her voice at it's sweetest, most melodious.

"You two are simply terrible, Hana wins this round," Suzushii laughed as Shinsuke managed to pout and cry crocodile tears simultaneously.

"Are your team always like that?" asked a bewildered Kurotsuchi, listening to the conversation that had just transpired seemed surreal to her. "What going from killing people to talking about boobs?" Naruto asked as if he'd read her mind, she nodded.

He shrugged his shoulders, "It's just how they are, I want them to be able to freely express themselves so long as they don't offend or insult one another or anyone we interact with. I only ask that they be deadly serious when the mission itself gets serious and each of them do exactly that."
"But don't conversations like that weird you out?"

Naruto thought on her question a moment, "No, not really, not anymore anyway. I-We, all got used to it. Hana gives as good as she gets if that's what's bothering you." Naruto turned to face his team, "Suzushii, what's the score now?"

"72 to 49 in favour of Hana," the Hyūga replied. "Definitely gives more than she gets," Naruto chuckled.

"How long will it take us to reach your village?" one of the older Iwa Shinobi asked. "36 to 48 hours, depends on how quickly you want to go," Naruto replied as he finished healing the cut on Kurotsuchi's arm. "The decision lies with you Kurotsuchi-sama," another noted. The young woman thought about it for a few moments. "Let's pick up the pace, I'm not particularly enamoured with the endless trees."

Sixteen Hours Later

Their missing-nin prisoner was unceremoniously dumped on the floor by the two clones of Naruto who'd been carrying her. She'd woken up once or twice during the day but was quickly rendered unconscious again with a swift strike to the back of the neck.

"Hana, wake the prisoner and see to her needs. Shinsuke, make camp. Suzushii, scout and food duty," Naruto said dishing out orders to his team, all nodded and silently went to work. Kurotsuchi did similar with her larger number of Shinobi. It meant that the two young Shinobi were alone for a few brief moments. "Suzushii is on guard duty third," Naruto quietly said to her cryptically, she heard him and understood.

The following few hours was relatively calm, Naruto's and Kurotsuchi's teams for the most part ignored one another and left the intermingling to their respective Commanding Officers. The Iwa Shinobi quietly talked amongst themselves, not raising their voices higher than was needed, couldn't have the Konoha team eavesdropping after all. Conversely Naruto's trio were jovial, they weren't loud but they weren't quiet either as they laughed and joked the evening away.

"How did you meet your team?" Kurotsuchi asked him before she began chewing her way through another mouthful of cooked venison from a deer one of her Shinobi had caught. "I was given a mission some six months ago but I didn't have any squad members so I rounded these three up from the Chūnin station. We worked together really well so we took another together, then another and before long the three of them had pretty much become my first choice Chūnin."

Kurotsuchi nodded as she listened, "It's weird to see them so cheery while still on a mission, my teams were always jumpy, startled by the slightest rustle in a hedge."
"Not all Konoha teams are like this, most are as you put it, jumpy. But Hana's three Ninken are a superb early warning system, they realised your Shinobi was coming towards us before we did. So they feel a little more at ease."

"I find myself surprised by the lack of Honorifics, Naruto-san," one of the nearest Iwa nin said. "Standard procedure for my team Iwa-san. None of us uses Honorifics unless in the presence of the Hokage, but especially so when on a mission."
"Why so on missions?"
"How do you distinguish the squad leader? Or the chain of command in general," Naruto answered with a question of his own. "Ah," the Iwa Shinobi muttered in understanding. You could distinguish Commanding Officers by the Honorifics their subordinates gave them, Naruto simply removed that possibility.

The potential for further conversation seemed to stop there and before long most had found their way to bedrolls, or tree branches for those wearing Konoha Hitai-ate's.

Naruto dozed lightly after taking the first guard shift. It wasn't long before he felt someone appeared in his tree and sit down next to him. Opening his eyes it was as expected Kurotsuchi who leaned back on the tree trunk just as he was. She kept wriggling to get comfy before finally huddling up right next to him, she leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.

Nothing was said as Naruto leaned his head on hers. They sat there for near a minute before Kurotsuchi broke the silence. "Are we ever going to talk about what's going on between us?" Her voice was quiet, almost diminutive which was very unlike the Kurotsuchi Naruto had grown very fond of.

"If that's what you want to do then we'll have plenty of opportunities to do so in complete privacy during your stay in Konoha," Naruto replied. "Ok," she replied, she really wanted to get this talk over with but understood and agreed with his desire to do so privately.

She let the silence drag out again, "Thank you for saving me, us today." Any response from Naruto was cut off as she spoke again." When you arrived, two of them were focusing solely on me. Your summon got the one closest to me and I froze up as it tore them apart. If you hadn't killed the second one before hand I may have gone back home in a body bag."

Over the years Naruto had gotten to know the young woman next to him really well, he'd learnt her interests, her disinterests, her goals and what kind of a person she was. Which is why he was so surprised to hear her make admittance of weakness, even if that weakness was only for the briefest moment.

He took it as a deep sign of trust, truthfully he felt kind of flattered. "You don't need to thank me. To be honest, it's kind of my fault," he sheepishly said. "Huh? How is it your fault?"
"Err, well. Since my summon can't speak it instead shares a mental connection with me so we can communicate. While it's not symbiotic to the extent that we can feel one another's pain, we can feel when the other is emotionally distressed. So Horus was only so violent today because he could feel my concern and anxiety for your wellbeing," he explained.

His admission actually made Kurotsuchi feel a little better, without another word and a small smile on her face she snuggled a little further into his shoulder. They both stayed like that until Suzushii's stint as guard forced them to part.

"I see," a livid Minato said after Naruto and Kurotsuchi had finished relaying the events of the previous few days.

"ANBU!" the blonde Hokage barked. The mask-clad Shinobi usually hidden in the corner of the room immediately appeared on one knee in front of him. "Hokage-sama?"
"I want you to take the prisoner to Ibiki and Anko, I want her mind taken apart, if there are any more members of this little roving band of theirs I want them found. After you've done that I want you to find me three ANBU captains, squads and all."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," the masked Shinobi said neutrally before vanishing again.

He took a moment to compose himself, the Iwa contingent was eyeing the angered Kage nervously. After all they were in the same room as the man who single-handedly put an entire an entire division of their fellow ninja to the sword.

"First of all, let me extend my apologies to you and your entourage Kurotsuchi-san," he calmly stated. "I can assure you that for the return journey you will be escorted the entire way to the Iwa-Taki border since Takigakure seems incapable of fulfilling its obligations," again the anger returning to his voice.

He sank back into his chair and stared up at the ceiling a moment. "Perhaps it would be best to end things here until tomorrow," he suggested. "That would perhaps be best Hokage-dono," Kurotsuchi replied. "Naruto-kun here will show you to your accommodation and will collect you in the morning. If you've any questions direct them to him."
"Very well, Hokage-dono. Until tomorrow," the two nodded to each other. "Naruto-kun can you leave a clone here, there's one more matter I wish to discuss with you." Naruto saw the serious look in his father's eyes, a clone appeared in a puff of smoke next to him.

Minato closed his eyes as Naruto escorted the Iwa delegation away. When the door closed the clone turned to face him as the door shut. "What's up Tou-san?"

Taking a deep breath he revealed to Naruto what Itachi had revealed to him over a week ago. "Just over a week ago Itachi-kun came to me and revealed that the majority of the Uchiha clan are planning a coup d'état." The clone of Naruto was stunned into silence. "Itachi-kun doesn't have an exact date yet but it will happen sometime during the Iwa delegations stay. It would seem they aim to take advantage of our attention been drawn to our talks with them."
"I-I, wow," it finally managed to say. "Be here at 10 pm in two days' time, it's then we'll put together our response."

"And what is our response to be?" Minato took a moment to reply, "Our response will be to purge the Uchiha clan of the poison that runs rampant through far too many of its members." Minato's voice was almost cold in the delivery of the words.

"Why now?"
"Itachi believes the fights the three of you fought brought forward their plans, it's worried them into action, in particular the revelation that you possess Mokuton. I presume they've been scared into bringing forward their timeline. After all the Uchiha clan doesn't have a good history at combating Mokuton," Minato said, referencing Uchiha Madara's inability to defeat the Shodaime Senju Hashirama.

"What do I tell our guests? They're going to notice somethings up if the Uchiha clan suddenly dies out overnight." Minato thought a few moments before answering, Naruto was right, they were jumpy enough already. "Ok, here's what you'll do, wait until after the first round of talks tomorrow then you'll inform Kurotsuchi-san of what's I've just told you, you will only tell her. Then the following night you'll bring her and only her here to the meeting so she knows she isn't being screwed around with."

The clone nodded, "Well the boss is gonna get one interesting set of memories," it noted to which Minato glumly nodded himself. It gave Minato a wave before dispelling.

Minato spun in his chair and stood so he was looking out the window that overlooked the entire village, *Sigh* "How different might this village look in a weeks' time," he quietly said to himself. He must have stared out that window for nearing ten minutes before his attention was drawn back into the room as three ANBU captains appeared before him.

While the Hokage had only been staring out across the village for ten minutes, Itachi had been doing so for several hours from his spot atop the vast wall surrounding Konoha. The last fortnight had been a whirlwind of anxiety and deep thought for the clan heir. Heir to a clan that was possibly days away from putting destroyed, at least that had been his thought process, a recent revelation however offered a glimmer of light.

Not all of the clan supported the coup, there was perhaps three dozen who were against it, he and his mother included and thankfully Izumi was against it, she was one of his closest friends and the thought of having to kill her made his chest tighten uncomfortably. But he also dreaded what would happen to the likes of Izumi if the coup was successful. She was already only half Uchiha, something the clan hardliners despised, she'd likely die in 'mysterious circumstances'.

He was just glad he'd suggested she keep her awakening the Sharingan a secret. Not just because as a 'half-blood' she'd have been extremely vulnerable to an opportunist like Danzo since most of the clan wouldn't care if she vanished. But because she had two Sharingan which would have brought into question why Tri only possessed one.

Itachi sighed, he'd already considered whether to position Tri to use Kotoamatsukami on the entire clan but dismissed the idea, sure his eye had 'recharged' but it came with too many risks. Danzo would quickly be able to piece together that Tri's Sharingan was in fact the left eye of Shisui, not to mention it would take another piece of the eye's already waning vision.

'It'd also bring my Mangekyō out into the open, I can't have Danzo discover the existence of the Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu and the third one.' The 'third one' as he'd dubbed it when he'd first discovered it was an ability he'd only managed to draw out once. He'd later discovered it in fact already had a name, Susano'o.

'I'm sorry Shisui-kun, I tried to find another way but there is no alternative. Loyalty to the village will always supersede loyalty to the clan, therefore there is no other option, the Uchiha clan must be purged lest Konoha be devastated by civil w...'

His thoughts were interrupted as he was forced to cover his mouth with his hand as his body was wracked by a short but intense coughing fit.

End Chapter

Well remarkably I managed to complete this chapter. No Omake this week though but you did get the most violent death scene I've written to date.

Another few milestones surpassed this past week too, 175 Favourites, 225 Followers and 30,000 views. Thank you all!