Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-3297904-20150325023132/@comment-4912646-20150325055420

I don't see why Shisui couldn't have simply gone into hiding rather than killing himself, since there's no indication in that scene that he had been mortally wounded during his altercation with Danzō. Personally, I get the impression that Shisui's death seemed so unnecessary because he was said to have died hundreds of chapters before Kishimoto actually thought up the exact scenario that resulted in his death. It's the same thing that happened with Minato. We had been told since chapter 1 that he died during the Nine-Tails' attack, so when it came time to actually depict that event, there had to be some reason for him to heroically sacrifice himself, even if it ended up being something as trivial as sealing away only half of the Nine-Tails' chakra. When Kushina says what the audience may be thinking and asks why he would do that his own son, the tailed beast balance is given as an attempt at justification.

Honestly, both suicidal deaths would have felt more justified if Shisui and Minato had just suffered mortal injuries beforehand.