Mastermind of the Akatsuki

In Sage Mode, Jiraiya's strength was terrifying. In the original timeline, even when facing the Six Paths of Pain, who were at a super-Kage level, he managed to hold his own for quite a while and almost succeeded in turning the tables.

At the Kage level, Jiraiya had few true rivals.

Even so, defeating Shisui Uchiha wouldn't be an easy task.

Shisui, known as Shisui of the Body Flicker, was extraordinarily fast. If he truly wanted to escape, very few people in the current shinobi world could catch up to him. Realizing this, Jiraiya began contemplating how to take Shisui down.

Unless something unexpected happened, he would likely only get one shot at subduing Shisui. If Shisui became wary, capturing him again would be extremely difficult.

At that moment, nearby Konoha shinobi also noticed the disturbance and rushed over.

With the recent death of the Third Hokage, any signs of trouble in Konoha would immediately raise alarm. The village was still in a weakened state, and its ninja feared that enemy forces might try to take advantage of the situation.

Seeing Jiraiya at the scene, both Kakashi and Might Guy, who had rushed over, breathed a sigh of relief. To them, Jiraiya was like an immovable pillar; as long as he was around, nothing too chaotic would happen. As they arrived at Jiraiya's side, they looked toward Shisui in the distance.

Guy thought the person looked familiar, like he had seen him somewhere before. Kakashi, on the other hand, immediately recognized him and said in shock, "Isn't that Shisui Uchiha, who's been missing for years? Why is he attacking Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya shook his head and replied, "I don't know why he attacked me either. But there's another chakra within him. It seems like he's being controlled by someone's genjutsu."

"Someone used genjutsu to control Shisui?"

Kakashi and Guy exchanged incredulous looks, unsure if they had heard correctly.

The Uchiha clan, with their Sharingan bloodline, were naturally gifted at genjutsu. Even without specializing in it, the Sharingan granted them immense resistance to illusionary techniques.

And Shisui had once been the strongest Uchiha. Not only had he mastered the Body Flicker Technique to an extraordinary level, his skill in genjutsu was terrifying, so much so that enemy jōnin would retreat upon merely sensing his chakra.

During the war with Kumogakure, he and Byakuya had even defeated the Two-Tails' jinchūriki. Though his power might not have matched the Five Kage completely, it wasn't far off.

For someone like that to be controlled by genjutsu? It was nearly unthinkable.

Noticing the expressions on their faces, Jiraiya understood what they were thinking. Truthfully, he also found it hard to believe. But there were indeed two distinct chakra signatures within Shisui.

After a moment of silence, Jiraiya said to Kakashi and Guy, "Tsunade was attacked. You two should help me deal with Shisui, let's end this quickly."

Kakashi and Might Guy both nodded and moved to encircle Shisui from different directions.

Seeing Kakashi and Guy enter the scene, Shisui was inwardly startled. This wasn't what he had expected, why were Kakashi and Might Guy the ones to respond?

Kakashi's reputation spoke for itself: a veteran elite jōnin and a pillar of the younger generation.

Guy might not seem wise, but his strength was terrifying. Even Byakuya had ranked him among the top three strongest ninjas in Konoha today.

Being surrounded by these three, even if he gave it his all, Shisui faced the risk of failure.

If he truly failed this mission, it would mean betraying Byakuya-sama's trust, and losing the chance to help the Uchiha rise again.

He had to give it everything he had. The next performance was about to begin.

As soon as he entered the fight, Kakashi removed his forehead protector, revealing his eerie three-tomoe Sharingan, and immediately charged at Shisui with a flash of lightning in hand.

Might Guy shouted loudly and opened the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation, his body glowing green.

Last to act was Jiraiya, who formed a massive Rasengan in his hand. All three launched simultaneous attacks on Shisui, putting him under immense pressure.

Faced with the coordinated assault, Shisui quickly fell into a disadvantage.

In less than thirty seconds, he was subdued. Bound by sealing techniques, he could no longer fight back.

Jiraiya approached and formed a hand seal, murmuring, "Genjutsu Release."

After dispelling the chakra that had taken root in Shisui's body, Shisui frowned briefly. Then his eyes became dazed and confused. He muttered, "Wasn't I being controlled? How did I end up here?"

Soon, he noticed Jiraiya-sama standing nearby. His expression turned defensive as he said, "Jiraiya-sama, Kakashi-senpai, and Might Guy-senpai? Why are you all here?"

Jiraiya didn't answer right away. He looked at Kakashi and Guy, and the three exchanged glances, as if something had dawned on them. They turned their gazes back to Shisui.

Whatever had happened to Shisui, the final answers would have to come from him.

At that moment, Shisui seemed to recall something and shouted toward Jiraiya, "Jiraiya-sama! I need to see the Hokage immediately! Danzō attacked me and tried to steal my Mangekyō Sharingan!"

But halfway through speaking, Shisui's expression darkened. He sighed and said, "My Sharingan must have already been taken. Maybe even the Hokage was involved in this. Since the Hokage's faction controlled me, why let me wake up again? Was it to humiliate us?"

Shisui's words carried a massive amount of information, leaving Jiraiya, Kakashi, and the others momentarily stunned.

Once they calmed down, they began focusing on the key points.

Shisui said he was attacked by Danzō, who stole his Sharingan. That meant even before the Uchiha Massacre, Danzō had already planned to strike against them, and he had gone straight for the most dangerous target.

Second, Danzō's attack seemed to be an individual act, not something planned by the Third Hokage.

But the most critical piece of intel was this: if Danzō had attacked Shisui back then, was he also the mastermind behind Shisui's recent appearance?

Could it be that Danzō had joined forces with Orochimaru to attack Tsunade?

Jiraiya felt overwhelmed. If Danzō really had colluded with Orochimaru, then wasn't the death of the Third Hokage also linked to him?

The Konoha Crush a month ago… was actually a civil war within the Hokage's own faction.

Kakashi and Guy didn't have as much information, but seeing the look on Jiraiya's face, they sensed something major had happened to the village. To avoid disturbing Jiraiya, Kakashi and Guy began casually chatting with Shisui.

Shisui looked at Kakashi, his expression complicated, and said, "Go ahead, how do you plan to humiliate me? Humiliate the Uchiha clan? I should never have trusted the Third Hokage or any of the Hokage's men."

Kakashi was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Shisui, the Third Hokage sacrificed his life a month ago. He died in Orochimaru's attack while protecting Konoha."

"The Third Hokage… is dead?" Shisui was stunned, then asked, "What about the Uchiha? Did any of my clansmen take part in this plan? They've always dreamed of becoming Hokage."

Kakashi shook his head and said, "The Uchiha have long since been annihilated. The one who wiped them out was your friend, Itachi Uchiha. He killed every single Uchiha."

"That's impossible!"

Shisui stared at Kakashi. "Itachi would never raise his hand against our clan. He was the bridge between the clan and the village. Anyone else might do such a thing, but not him."

Kakashi understood how Shisui felt, but still said calmly, "This is the truth. Itachi Uchiha chose an extreme path to prevent conflict between the village and the clan. He killed all the Uchiha… except for one, his younger brother, Sasuke."

"The Third Hokage is dead… the Uchiha Clan is gone…"

Shisui sat down on the ground and muttered to himself, "I need some time alone to think. The shinobi world has changed too fast. It feels like I just had a terrible dream, and now that I've woken up, I'm forced to accept an even crueler reality."

His eyes wavered, "I'm the only Uchiha left in the village… except for Sasuke."

Kakashi sighed and offered some comfort, "Shisui, maybe the Uchiha aren't completely wiped out. Back when I went to the Uchiha district to investigate, I noticed that more than half of the bodies were missing. There's a chance some might still be alive."

Hearing this, Shisui grew more alert and looked sharply at Kakashi.

For Kakashi to deduce part of the truth from back then… should he say it's just what you'd expect from the Leaf's top tactician? His analytical skills were truly exceptional.

Jiraiya, who had finally collected himself, walked over and placed a hand on Shisui's shoulder.

"I can more or less guess what you've been through all these years. Once all of this is over, I'll stand up for the Uchiha. Danzo will get the punishment he deserves."

As he said this, Jiraiya's eyes glinted with an uncontrollable killing intent.

Just moments ago, he had pieced together Danzo's motives. Danzo must have collaborated with Orochimaru to become Hokage.

Whether it was taking out the Third or launching an attack on Tsunade, everything Danzo did was to clear his path to the Hokage's seat.

As long as the Third was alive, Danzo would never be Hokage, no matter what he did. After the Third's death, the strongest candidates were Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Since Jiraiya didn't want the job, Danzo's only real obstacle was Tsunade.

Think about it, if Jiraiya refused the position and Tsunade were eliminated, Danzo would become the Fifth Hokage by default.

Facing someone like Danzo, who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, Jiraiya no longer saw him as a comrade but as an enemy. To maintain peace in the village, Konoha needed institutions like the ANBU and Root to handle the dirty work, covertly monitoring enemies and launching counterattacks against enemy villages. But using those methods against their own people was utterly forbidden.

For Danzo to betray the village and the Will of Fire just to become Hokage, he had to face justice.

After a short pause, Jiraiya said, "Kakashi, Guy, go inform the jōnin squads. Tell them to assemble. There's something important we need to discuss."

Receiving the order, Kakashi and Might Guy immediately left.

Jiraiya glanced at Shisui and said, "Shisui, wait here with me. While we wait, I'll fill you in on everything that's happened these past years."

Shisui nodded and gave a bitter smile. "Then I'll listen, Jiraiya-sama…"

---

At the same time, on the battlefield where Orochimaru and Tsunade were fighting.

After stalling for long enough with his silver tongue, Orochimaru finally saw Danzo appear, along with his Root operatives, launching an assault on Tsunade.

Weakened as she was, Tsunade wasn't Orochimaru's match and was quickly driven into a desperate situation.

Just as Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword was about to pierce Tsunade, Danzo hurled a Wind Release: Shuriken infused with chakra, aiming directly at Orochimaru's arm.

Sensing danger from the side, Orochimaru stepped back and parried the attack with his Kusanagi Sword.

With a metallic clang, Orochimaru's hand tingled from the force. Blocking a Wind Release technique with brute strength was no easy feat.

If not for the durability of the Kusanagi Sword, it might have been severed right there.

After rescuing Tsunade, Danzo coldly said, "Lady Tsunade, if you're not strong enough, don't push yourself. Someone with hemophobia like you is no match for Orochimaru."

"A traitor like him should be handled by Root."

Even before his words finished, the Root shinobi behind him vanished and surrounded Orochimaru, ready to strike at any moment.

Tsunade wasn't thrilled with Danzo, but since he had saved her just now, she decided to let it go for the moment.

After that intense battle with Orochimaru, it seemed like her fear of blood had lessened. If given a bit more time, she might even overcome her phobia entirely.

Wait a second… was she forgetting something?

Tsunade suddenly turned to look at Danzo.

This was supposed to be a secret mission. After rescuing Shizune, the first person Shizune should've gone to was Jiraiya. Why had Danzo shown up first?

Could Danzo have been watching her movements all along?

She slowly exhaled, choosing not to dwell on the implications. Knowing that old perv, Jiraiya probably wandered off to peek at the women's baths again. If Shizune couldn't find him, it would make sense.

For now, the priority was to team up with Danzo and defeat Orochimaru.

If they could take down Orochimaru, they wouldn't just be avenging the Third Hokage, they'd also be able to free her grandfather and granduncle, who had been resurrected through Edo Tensei.

Just as Tsunade was about to fight alongside Danzo against Orochimaru, Jiraiya arrived with reinforcements.

Seeing that Danzo was already engaged with Orochimaru, Jiraiya didn't strike immediately. Instead, he had his team lie in wait, biding their time for the perfect moment to strike.