Escaping the Mist Ninja starts with backstabbing your teacher.

Chapter 175 The Evil Uchiha Brat!

Shisui raised his hand and pressed it against his left eye. Through the thin eyelid, he could feel the warmth of the Sharingan. He suddenly thought of Itachi; that child was very talented. Although he didn't need to face these things yet, sooner or later—

The moonlight moved inch by inch in the room, creeping up the walls from the floor to the ceiling. Zhi Shui neither turned on the lights nor slept.

He recalled the expression on the third generation's face after he finished reading the scroll. The old man's eyes showed worry and solemnity, but not "surprise".

When he heard the words "surveillance point" and "informant," his eyes didn't flash with anger or surprise, but rather—"Just as I thought."

He already knew.

He already knew those surveillance points existed, and that Root's spies were monitoring the Uchiha clan's territory.

He knew what Danzo was doing, but he didn't stop him.

This was the village he trusted. A group of adults covered all the eyes on the Uchiha's surveillance network and then told him, "Shisui, you are the Uchiha we trust."

Shisui lowered his hand from his eyes and let it hang at his side.

"Trust—" he repeated the word in a low voice, so soft that only he could hear it.

He recalled the first time he met the Third Hokage when he was a child, shortly after graduating from the Ninja Academy and joining the Anbu.

The Third Hokage patted him on the shoulder and said, "With the Uchiha here, I can rest assured."

At the time, he felt it was a trust, a responsibility, that the bridge between the village and the Uchiha clan had been handed over to him.

Looking back now, another meaning of "rest assured" is "no longer need to worry about the Sharingan going out of control".

It's not about giving him a bridge, but about turning him into a dam, using him alone to block the ever-widening crack between the Uchiha clan and the village.

The dam just needs to stand there; no one needs to ask it if it wants to.

Zhi Shui leaned against the wall, tilted his head back, and looked at the ceiling.

The crack that stretched from the lamp base to the corner of the wall was still there, exactly the same as when he saw it that night.

He didn't repair it or report it for repair, as if he deliberately left it there to remind himself that it had once cracked.

He recalled the look in Izumi's eyes when he gave him the skeletal spider; the other seemed to think he would need it sooner or later.

Shisui unconsciously pressed his hand to his chest; the seal scroll was still there.

He held it close to his body, and through his clothes and skin, he could feel a faint chakra fluctuation that didn't belong to him.

The skeletal spider was among them; it was his secret, and the only thing he hadn't yet given away.

It wasn't because he wanted to cooperate with Izumikawa, but because it was his last resort.

When the village no longer believed him, when Danzo wanted to take action against him, when the Third Hokage's "trust" became empty words, he always had to find a way to go.

Shisui lowered his head and stared at his hands resting on his knees. His hands were very steady; they had never trembled when the Dark Guard was on a mission. But now they felt a little cold.

He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it. The night breeze blew in, carrying the unique scent of Konoha at night.

The fresh scent of leaves, the smoke from distant firewood burning, and the slight dampness of dew.

He gazed toward the Uchiha clan's territory, where the low houses slept peacefully in the moonlight, their roof tiles gleaming with a bluish-gray sheen.

There are far fewer lights in the village than a few years ago. When we moved out of the village center after the Nine-Tailed Fox Night, there were many lights on at night, but now they are sparse.

Some people moved away, some were transferred, and some people's whereabouts are unknown.

Where did they go after they left? Zhi Shui never asked, nor dared to ask.

He took the sealed scroll from his chest and placed it on the windowsill.

Untie the sealing rope, unfold it, and the skeletal spider lies quietly on the paper, the purple light in its eye sockets flickering slightly under the moonlight.

After confirming that the water has stopped, reseal the roll, tie the sealing rope, and place it back on your chest.

The moonlight shone on his profile, revealing a face etched with weariness, a face long concealed by the ANBU mask.

He closed the window.

He lay back on the bed, closed his eyes, and knew that he would have to carry out a mission for the Anbu tomorrow, and he would have to act like a good ninja who knew nothing in front of those people.

They also have to smile, say "yes," and listen to the elders complain about the village's unfair treatment of them at the clan meeting, and then say, "I will communicate with the third generation."

He has said "I will communicate" too many times, as if as long as he communicates enough, the cracks will close on their own.

But tonight, he didn't want to think about it anymore.

The chirping of insects outside the window was intermittent, like someone sobbing softly.

Shisui placed his hand on the scroll on his chest, feeling the spider's faint pulse.

He didn't sleep; he just closed his eyes and listened to his relatively steady breathing in the endless darkness.

He couldn't understand why, despite doing everything he could and giving everything he could, he still couldn't earn unconditional trust.

Perhaps it wasn't a matter of trust at all; it was that he was never treated as "one of our own."

He was merely the lock used to secure the Uchiha clan; the key was in someone else's hands. All he needed to do was stay there obediently, without rusting or breaking.

As for whether he was willing to be the lock, no one asked.

Shizuku's breathing gradually became long and even. He was still not asleep, but at least he had stopped thinking about it.

I'm too tired, I don't want to move anymore.

The moonlight moved inch by inch in the room, like a silent pointer measuring the depth of the night.

And such nights have been repeating themselves for many days.

The surveillance continued, one day, two days, three days, a week.

The people at the root have changed several times, and the method of surveillance has changed from covert to semi-public.

As Shisui emerged from the shadows, he could sense a faint, yet palpable, gaze upon him.

He swung his knife on the training field, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a black hem flashing across a distant rooftop.

When he gets home, he pauses for a moment on the threshold before pushing open the door, and hears someone breathing softly under the eaves of the neighboring house.

They didn't try to hide it; in fact, they started to let him know on purpose.

This was Danzo's intention: to stop hiding and force him to act. When someone is being watched, they will always reveal a weakness.

If Shisui makes any unusual move, if he leaves Konoha, or if he does anything that "a monitored Uchiha" shouldn't do, Danzo will have a reason to take action.

Reasons are never the most important thing, but they are very useful.

Danzo sat behind a stone platform at the Root base, with his daily surveillance reports spread out in front of him.

The content is always the same: Shisui carried out its mission in the shadows as usual today and no unusual contact was found.

Shisui is training at the training ground today and has not left Konoha.

Shisui had a brief meeting with Itachi Uchiha today. The conversation consisted of routine training exchanges and there was nothing suspicious about it.

He read through the reports one by one, then tossed them onto the table one by one.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered, casting an uncertain glow on his single eye.

Danzo raised his hand and tapped the table twice with his bandaged fingertips, the rhythm very slow, as if he were suppressing something.

"He still hasn't taken any action?"

Nue stood in the shadows, head bowed: "No."

Danzo's single eye twitched slightly. Shisui's reaction was wrong.

A normal person would have several reactions after realizing they are being monitored.

Enraged, he went to confront the Third Hokage, demanding to know why he was treated as a suspect despite reporting the situation.

Fear—will cause one to act abnormally, trying to verify the identity of the monitor, or attempting to counter-track.

Compromise—One might proactively approach the monitor, demonstrate that they have no ulterior motives, and request the removal of surveillance.

Shisui did nothing. He carried out his mission as usual, trained as usual, talked to Itachi as usual, went home as usual, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.

Every movement seemed to have been measured, neither too much nor too little, perfectly balanced.

It's like a wall; you push it, it doesn't move; you kick it, it still doesn't move.

You're not even sure if there's anything behind it, or if it was a solid wall from the start.

Danzo waited so long, not for Shisui to behave himself, but to see the moment Shisui "moved".

I want to see him reveal that crack, I want to see him finally break down and do something that can be defined as "untrustworthy".

What he wanted was evidence, even just a little bit, as long as it was enough for him to say to Hiruzen, "Look, this is the Uchiha."

But the still water didn't move; not even the crack appeared.

Danzo broke the silence: "What about Hiruzen?"

Answer: "The Third Boss gave no new instructions, only that the secret service should strengthen border patrols and continue to track down Taketori Izumi.

Danzo sneered. Those people from the Anbu had been chasing him for months without even catching a glimpse of him. He never trusted their efficiency.

Another silence fell. Danzo tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice, even slower than before.

"Keep an eye on them for another week." His voice was low, as if squeezed from deep in his throat. "Speak to the people monitoring you; there's no need to hide your presence anymore."

"I want Zhishui to know that he's in my sight. I want to see if someone will reach out to push open that door when they're cornered."

He agreed and disappeared into the darkness.

The room fell silent again. The oil lamp flickered briefly before settling back to a steady position, emitting a soft hissing sound.

Danzo leaned back in his chair, his one eye half-closed. He believed in patience; time would both smooth out the rough edges of a person and make them smooth out.

Shisui wasn't without flaws; he was just enduring. But endurance always has its limits.

He's waiting for that day.

The more tolerant the other person is, the more terrifying and dangerous they seem to him.

Uchiha are still Uchiha after all; they are evil and insane.

Even if Shisui is a descendant of Kagami, so what? Kagami died so young, how could he possibly inherit his will?

"You evil Uchiha brat, one day you'll inevitably expose yourself, and that will prove me right."

O

Danzo snorted inwardly, while also remembering something else.

Orochimaru has yet to reply, and we don't know what he's up to outside.

The research on the first generation of cells and the Sharingan still needs his supervision.

Even if his team had the experience of Orochimaru, they couldn't achieve the same success as him; they're a bunch of useless people.