Chapter 10. Shisui's death

Itachi was going to enter his mansion but was stopped by Saruto who just arrived.

"Itachi, Shisui's in trouble. Come with me!"

They started moving. While they were hopping over the buildings, Saruto explained the situation to Itachi.

'Hang in there Shisui, I am coming for you', Itachi thought.

Once they arrived near the foundation building, Saruto stopped Itachi. "Itachi, do you trust me on this?"

Itachi thought for a moment. Unlike his previous superiors, Saruto was a serious leader. "I trust you captain"

"Do not move! Just stay here and observe whatever happens here!"

Saruto disappeared. 'A shadow clone?', thought Saruto. Itachi was hiding in the bushes and observed the entrance of the building from distance. That's when he saw Danzo trying to steal Shisui's eyes. Shisui took care of him but he appeared behind him and attacked Shisui. Itachi was going to move but he remembered Saruto's words. He sat down on his knees and observed. Itachi clenched his fist with anger. He saw Shisui losing both his eyes and dying. Tears came out of Itachi's eyes then his Sharingan's pattern changed. He was trying to move but was stopped by some vines attached to his legs. 'What the…'

He cut down the vines but he was too late. Danzo had left already and Shisui was dead. Itachi ran towards Shisui. He held Shisui's body and then fainted. After he fainted, smoke came out of Shisui's body, revealing it to be Saruto's original body. He stood up and touched Itachi's forehead. He was absorbed by Saruto's writings. "That's the new Jutsu you told me about?"

Saruto turned his head around, Shisui was standing there. "Let's go there too! Once he wakes up he'll need some answers"

Saruto put his hand on Shisui's shoulder, his writings covered both their bodies. They then disappeared just like that.

_____________________

Days ago, when team Saruto was returning from iwagakure, they were taking a break. Saruto told his subordinates to stay and went to search around. He saw a river. 'Let's try this one'

Connecting both sides, a bridge made of wood appeared. "A mokuton user, huh?"

Saruto turned his gaze. A thirty-year-old with a beard was standing behind. "Yoton no Roshi"

"I heard from a fellow jinchuriki that some Shinobis from Konoha are asking for an alliance among jinchurikis"

"That's fast communication"

"Your village is not the only advanced village in communication system"

"So, your answer?"

"I must refuse too. My abilities are dangerous. I am trying to control them. I don't want to put others in danger"

"It's okay but be careful, people are hunting down Jinchurikis"

"As if it hasn't happened before, don't worry I got used to it"

Suddenly, Roshi's eyes widened. He put his finger on his chin, caressing it. Saruto was confused. "Those writings on your arm, do you know what are those?"

"These? I have no idea. There's someone who knows about them but they want me to find it on my own"

['Coughs']

"My beast wants to talk to you but I don't want to let him control"

"Don't worry Roshi-san! Just close your eyes and infuse a little amount of Yonbi's chakra with yours!"

He sat down on the ground. He tried to channel yonbi's chakra with his chakra. Saruto closed his eyes, and then opened them. He was surrounded by water around his feet, an environment covered in the blue air. {Those eyes! Human, how did you come here?}

'I learnt it from somewhere. You must be Son Goku'

{You know my name? Are you from that place?}

'That place?'

{Those writings on your body. I understand them}

'You know what it means?'

{Those are names of people from suirendo, my home}

'Huh!'

{They will guide you to suirendo}

'Thanks for the information, Son!"

{Now tell me how did you know my name?}

'Hey, it's a famous name'

Son laughed. {I hope we meet again human. Humans like you are rare}

Saruto smirked and said, 'You'll see a human like me soon. Just wait for him!'

Saruto closed his eyes again and came back in front of Roshi. Roshi opened his eyes and asked, "I have never heard of a human, having a casual conversation with a tailed beast"

"Hey, Son only has you to talk to. You should talk to him more often!"

He smiled and left. Saruto looked at his arms. 'A pathway to suirendo, huh'

He then joined his team.

________________

Back to the present time, Itachi woke up in a mysterious place. He saw five cocoons hanging on a tree in front of him. "You're finally awake"

Shisui was walking towards him. Itachi was in shock, "Am I dead?"

"No, why would you say that?"

"Because I saw you dying"

"Oh, that. You were under my kotoamatsukami"

"What?"

"Let me explain!"

He sat beside him and spoke, "Saruto-san's clone came to me and explained that Danzo-sama wanted my eyes. I believe that Danzo-sama doesn't trust me because I am an Uchiha or he was afraid of my kotoamatsukami. So, we used it to trick him. To the outside world, I am a dead person. Saruto-san found a loophole without even using his loophole technique"

"But why did you use it on me? You could have just used it only on Danzo-sama"

Shisui pulled a mirror from his bag and gave it to Itachi. He had his Sharingan activated with a different pattern.

"My death should be enough for you to get mangekyo Sharingan, so we faked it"

"But how's that possible?"

"Kotoamatsukami has this ability but unfortunately I used everything I had to change this fate of mine. Now I am sick and dying"

"What?"

They heard footsteps approaching. "Don't worry he will be cured here"

It was Saruto who came back after looking around this place. He continued, "This place is…let's call it my pocket dimension. It is filled with sage chakra. I made this environment to cure your eyes"

"Overuse of mangekyo Sharingan will result in blindness or death. I worked with Saruto-san to find a solution to that. His medical ninjutsu and my knowledge of our clan made it easy to find the solution here. The treatment we got from Saruto-san will be enough for us to cure the side effects of our dojutsu" said Shisui.

"Unfortunately, to the world Shisui is dead. That's what we're going to tell. Only the two of us should know that he's alive. I made a fake body to trick others", said Saruto.

Itachi listened to every detail carefully and asked, "Shisui what are you going to do then?"

"I am going to do what I've always done. I am going to protect the village from the shadows"

"Right" Itachi sighed. Saruto spoke, "Well I'll leave whatever you need here in this dimension. With that marking I placed on your hand you have access to this dimension. So,…"

Shisui had to leave his team and the village. According to Saruto, Danzo had to live for Saruto's plans to work. Shisui's death would encourage his clan. They made up a fake letter with his dying wish. With Shisui outside the village and Danzo believing he has kotoamatsukami, Saruto can execute his plans.

"…Goodbye kid!",said Saruto.

Shisui grinned and used the writings on his arm to teleport away. Itachi stood up and examined his body. "I feel weird", said Itachi.

"You can use mokuton now. That's why you're feeling that"

"How?"

"It's an advantage of this treatment. Shisui can do it too. Don't use it except if it is necessary! This kekkei genkai is rare and I don't want people to know there are other users among the shinobis of Konoha than Hashirama senju"

"Alright!"

"Let's go back to the village!"

They came back to the village. Itachi took his way home.

[Do you think they can get it?]

'They were able to survive Hashirama cells that I injected. It is possible'

[That was a risk, ya know?]

'I did multiple tests to assure their safety. They don't even know that we've been there for 14 hours'

[Is this the only way to move on?]

'It's the only way that I can think of. If either of them can awaken rinnegan, we will succeed voice guy'

[Stop calling me voice guy!]