I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

After pondering for a while, the Nine-Tailed Fox said, "It should be possible. I have eaten people before, but I was eaten in the end."

Naruto paused, then said, "Tailed beasts are really strange life forms, somewhere between chakra and flesh and blood. But what exactly is chakra?"

Kurama clasped his hands in front of his chest and said, "Chakra is just chakra, nothing special."

Naruto smiled without saying a word and left the sealed space. Although Kurama and he had a good relationship, Kurama would selectively conceal things when it came to real secrets, and he did the same.

Back in the real world, Naruto glanced at Shisui, who was now powerless to resist, and, feeling uneasy, tied him up with a rope.

He then picked up Uchiha Shisui and fled towards the Forest of Death, where he dug a temporary base, perfect for guarding Shisui.

He wouldn't let Shisui die easily until he had squeezed out every last bit of value from him.

Upon arriving at the temporary base, Naruto casually tossed Shisui inside, then left a shadow clone to guard it, while his main body quickly returned to the village.

Having narrowly defeated the Kage-level powerhouse Shisui, he still needed to attend school on time the next day.

……

Meanwhile, on the cliffs near the Nanhe River.

Uchiha Itachi stood there for a long time, but Shisui never appeared, and he began to feel anxious.

The clan is holding a meeting to launch a coup. If Zhishui doesn't appear soon, the coup they fear might become a reality.

A fierce conflict will erupt between the family and the village, and whoever wins will not be the true victor.

The other major ninja villages, upon receiving intelligence of the internal strife in Konoha, will only seize the opportunity to launch a war against Konoha.

Just then, Itachi Uchiha noticed something strange floating in the river beneath his feet. Upon closer inspection, his eyes widened. Floating on the river was a headless corpse wearing a Konoha Jonin vest, its shape resembling Shisui's.

Uchiha Itachi immediately felt uneasy, and jumped down the cliff to the riverbank, where he retrieved the headless corpse.

Although the headless corpse was similar in build to Shisui-ge, its physical characteristics were clearly different. This was not Shisui-ge's corpse, and his worst fears did not come true.

However, Brother Zhishui has not appeared yet, as if he has disappeared.

Chapter 42: There is never a shortage of Uchiha who understand the Will of Fire.

A few days later, news of Shisui's disappearance spread throughout the Uchiha clan territory.

With the loss of Shisui, the strongest member of the Uchiha clan, the police force's coup plan naturally fell through. If even the strongest member of a clan could mysteriously disappear, a coup would be impossible to succeed.

Compared to death and the extermination of one's clan, accepting the reality of being treated differently is not so difficult to accept.

But the Uchiha ninjas were more concerned about something else: where did Shisui go? Did he defect and leave the village, or was he assassinated? Why couldn't they even find his body?

After several days of fruitless searching, the Uchiha Jonin turned his attention to Itachi.

When the clan meeting for the coup was convened that day, only Itachi and Shisui did not attend. Itachi must have known the inside story, or he himself may be the murderer of Shisui.

Under these circumstances, several Uchiha Jonin blocked the entrance to Fugaku's residence, waiting for Itachi to appear.

Surrounded by his own subordinates, Fugaku pushed open the door with a grim expression, glared at the menacing Uchiha Jonin, and demanded, "Yachishi, Inahisa, what exactly do you want?"

Uchiha Yatsuhoku stated bluntly, "Captain, we suspect Itachi murdered Shisui!"

Fugaku, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty, said, "Shisui and Itachi were best friends. How could Itachi possibly kill Shisui?!"

"Shisui was indeed Itachi's best friend, but what if Itachi coveted Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan? That's a legendary eye. To take the Mangekyou Sharingan, Itachi would kill Shisui!"

Upon hearing this, Fugaku fell into deep thought. Itachi might really have killed Shisui.

Itachi, who was in the study, listened to the conversation outside the courtyard without missing a word. A lingering gloom settled on his face. He found the suicide note left behind in Shisui's room.

Shisui committed suicide, hoping to stop the clan's coup through suicide and leave behind the Mangekyou Sharingan and the ideal of peaceful coexistence between the clan and the village.

The suicide note and ideals remain, but Brother Zhishui's body has vanished without a trace.

If he hadn't been familiar with Zhishui's handwriting, he would have begun to suspect that this was a forged suicide note.

However, Itachi was annoyed by the current state of the clan. Shisui had saved the coup with his life, but the clansmen were ungrateful and even suspected that he had killed Shisui and sabotaged the coup.

Do people like this really deserve to be saved? They will be destroyed by their arrogance sooner or later!

Emotions stimulated his brain, and a large amount of Yin-attribute chakra gathered in his eyes. Unconsciously, Itachi's face had become ferocious, and his Sharingan, which was shaped like three tomoe, had turned into the shape of shuriken.

At the same time, the methods for using Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu also came to Itachi's mind.

"Kaleidoscope Sharingan!"

Itachi was somewhat surprised, but his eyes quickly regained their resolve, and he was no longer confused about the future. The Sharingan is the eye that reflects one's inner self, and the Mangekyou Sharingan has already told him where the future will lead.

After disappearing from the study, leaving behind a few crow feathers, the weasel appeared on the street outside the courtyard.

Using both fists and feet, Itachi easily repelled several Jonin before grabbing Yatsuhoshi by the neck and slamming him against the wall, his Sharingan radiating an eerie light.

"How could people like you possibly know about Zhi Shui and my magnanimity? If you want to point fingers at me, you'd better get eyes like mine first."

After saying that, Itachi threw Yashiro to the ground and left without looking back.

Half a minute later, the Eighth Generation got up from the ground, looked at Itachi Uchiha's back, and said with lingering fear, "Itachi also awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, and it's an eye completely different from Shisui's."

The other Jonin were also shocked when they heard this; that was the Mangekyou Sharingan!

Fugaku, standing to the side, was lost in thought. Itachi had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan. If Shisui hadn't died, the Uchiha clan might have been able to become Hokage.

……

More than ten minutes later, Itachi Uchiha appeared at the Hokage Building and met with a group of Konoha's high-ranking officials.

Faced with the doubts of the Konoha leadership, Itachi Uchiha explained that Shisui had chosen to commit suicide to prevent a coup in order to maintain peace between the Uchiha clan and the village.

Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage and the advisors were all deeply saddened and felt sorry for Shisui.

The Third Hokage looked at Itachi Uchiha before him with a complicated expression: "It's a pity about Shisui's passing. The Uchiha and the village have lost another bridge of communication. Itachi, are you willing to act as a new bridge?"

Uchiha Itachi nodded: "I am willing to act as a new bridge, but Shisui's body is currently missing. I hope the village can provide assistance."

“I will send people to look for him. After all, Zhishui is a hero of the village, and his body must not be left to rot in the wilderness.”

The Third Hokage sighed. It would be a lie to say he wasn't heartbroken to lose Shisui as a subordinate, but Shisui's Kotoamatsukami did pose a great threat to him, and he was secretly relieved.

At this moment, Danzo suddenly said, "We must find Shisui's body. Kotoamatsukami must not fall into the hands of other ninja villages; it is a treasure belonging to the village."

Itachi glanced at Danzo and then said, "My lords, I shall take my leave now. The clansmen are in a rather unstable mood, and we need to prevent them from harboring thoughts of a coup again."

After Itachi left, the Third Hokage looked at Danzo and scolded him, "Danzo, are you trying to destroy the only bridge between us and the Uchiha? Shisui just died!"

Danzo said dismissively, "Hiruzen, don't forget Shisui's eyes. Kotoamatsukami is very likely in Itachi's hands, which is a huge threat to us."

"We still haven't found the real reason for Shisui's suicide. Perhaps you were involved. Aren't the recent personnel changes at Root a bit strange?"

The Third Hokage's gaze was icy, and he retorted without hesitation, but because the advisor elder was still around, he did not expose Danzo.

At this moment, the two advisors stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, stop arguing. Let's think about how to deal with the security forces. Shisui's death can only delay the coup at most. The Uchiha will launch another coup sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage and Danzo immediately fell silent; the advisor elder was right.

After a moment of contemplation, the Third Hokage said, "I believe that with Itachi around, the village can coexist peacefully with the police force. The Uchiha clan has never lacked people who can understand the Will of Fire."

Danzo said with a gloomy expression, "I think we should strike first and take advantage of the Uchiha's lack of preparation to wipe them out in advance and completely eliminate this hidden danger."

The Third Hokage glanced at Danzo: "Elder Danzo is taking the lead? The Uchiha are members of the village, not our enemies. If he strikes first, how will the other ninja villages view the Hokage Building?"

"The Uchiha are already enemies of the village."

Danzo looked serious and then left the Hokage's office, intending to summon Itachi Uchiha from Root.

Chapter 43 The Taste of the Sharingan

"My brother has been acting very strange lately, like he's become a different person."

“In the past, when faced with my requests, he would say no, but he would always make time to spend with me the next day. But now he only says next time and never keeps his promise.”

"I originally wanted to go find Brother Zhishui to ask about the situation, but it seems that Brother Zhishui has disappeared."

"Everyone in the clan says that Brother Zhishui is dead, that he died on the way to a mission, but I can tell they're all hiding it from me and won't tell me the truth..."

In class, Sasuke was troubled by something and quietly complained to Naruto.

This puzzled Naruto, who looked at Sasuke with a surprised expression. Was this the same aloof Sasuke he knew?

Under Naruto's gaze, Sasuke reverted to his usual aloofness, continuing to listen to the lesson as if nothing had happened. He regarded Naruto as a competitor and was unwilling to lose to him in any way.

Sakura, who was standing nearby, also noticed Sasuke's strange behavior and wanted to go up and ask him, but she was given a cold look.

Sakura, not understanding what had happened, withdrew her hand, her face showing some grievance. She didn't understand what she was lacking compared to Naruto.

Iruka, standing on the podium, was somewhat relieved to see this; Naruto had become much more normal lately.

He no longer treated his classmates harshly, but took the initiative to make friends with them and get along well with them, without causing any trouble for the other teachers.

All of this seems to be because of the Uchiha clan and the police force.

The police force has replaced Naruto as the hot topic. Compared to the Nine-Tails Night that has already passed, the villagers are more concerned about the police force's violent attitude, as this is truly related to their vital interests.

However, what Iruka, Sasuke, and the others didn't know was that Naruto, who was sitting in the classroom, was already a shadow clone.

……

In the forest of death.

As a restricted area open only to ninjas, the Forest of Death is home to many wild beasts with strength comparable to genin. If left outside the ninja village, they could easily threaten the lives of ordinary people.

But for Naruto, who already possesses the strength of a Jonin, this place is undoubtedly paradise.

Without the complexities of human nature or the surveillance of secret agents, one only needs to reveal a portion of their strength to avoid being disturbed by wild beasts and still be able to reap the spoils of their prey in actual hunting battles.

After the hunt, Naruto returned to the secret base with bloody raw meat.

Naruto casually stewed some vegetables and meat, enjoying the wild game while feeding the blind Shisui, ensuring he had at least the minimum amount of energy needed to survive.

Having lost his eyesight and with his sensory abilities limited, Shisui can only obtain information through his sense of smell, hearing, and touch.

Judging from the air humidity, he should be underground and still within the Land of Fire. The ninja who captured him was undoubtedly a skilled chef, as his food smelled incredibly delicious.

Apart from that, Shisui had very limited access to information.

All that can be confirmed is that the other party is a Jonin who has inherited the legacy of the Hyuga and Uchiha clans, and that they do not intend to kill him for the time being.

But the Hyuga and Uchiha are rivals in the village, so how could someone master the techniques of both major ninja clans? I've never heard of any Hyuga or Uchiha being friends in the village. Could it be someone from the Anbu or Root?

As for the Anbu, I'm not familiar with them; I can only ask Itachi about the Root members.