Konoha Year 58.
Inside Konoha Village, a secluded spot.
Cliff top.
Few people knew about this place, so when he felt a presence behind him, the slender teenager didn't need to guess who it was, especially since it had been agreed upon earlier.
"Shisui..."
He called out the person's name, his voice tinged with joy. He turned around, but when he saw the person's condition, his expression completely changed.
"I'm sorry, Itachi..."
Shisui, a few years older than him, had a bloodstain on the right side of his face, extending down to his chin. From the fresh, un-dried blood, it hadn't been long since this incident occurred.
Itachi stood silently, waiting for his friend to speak.
Soon, Shisui began, his eyes clouded with deep shadows: "I'm sorry, Itachi, I failed..."
When Shisui mentioned failure, Itachi naturally thought of their prior agreement at the Naka Shrine meeting, where Shisui had promised him to take the first step towards peace between the Uchiha clan and the village.
But more than that, Itachi was more concerned about Shisui, whom he respected like an older brother: "What happened to your right eye?"
Shisui didn't answer immediately, silently gazing at the other side of the cliff, his eyes seemingly having lost their light, becoming dim.
Itachi had never seen Shisui with such an expression. Shisui, who always wore a confident smile in the past, was now showing such a dispirited look.
He could no longer suppress the anxiety in his heart: "Who did it?"
Under his friend's questioning, Shisui heavily revealed the truth: "Danzo."
Itachi's breathing hitched. A man with a bandaged head and gloomy eyes appeared in his mind.
As he was thinking, Shisui, in front of him, suddenly bled from his mouth.
Itachi rushed forward worriedly.
Shisui wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand, raised it, indicating not to worry, but his words were despairing: "I've been poisoned by Danzo's subordinate. There's no saving me."
Learning that his friend's life was coming to an end, Itachi's mood became exceptionally heavy. He muttered, "How could this happen...?"
Not long ago, the two of them were still together, envisioning the Uchiha integrating into the village. He never expected to now witness the death of his close friend. Fate was playing a cruel joke on him.
"Just as I was about to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the coup, Danzo found me, ambushed me when I wasn't prepared, and took my right eye."
Shisui recounted the cause and effect, his voice growing weaker: "He didn't trust me, didn't trust me as a member of the Uchiha clan..."
After speaking, he looked into the distance: "Although I've always been unwilling to believe it, the rumors in the clan might be true. That person back then might have indeed died at the hands of the higher-ups."
That person?
A name involuntarily surfaced in Itachi's mind.
Uchiha Tōshirō...
The first time he heard that name, he was only 4 years old, and his younger brother was still in their mother's womb.
His father took him to the battlefield to experience its cruelty. A few days later, while training, he had a question about how to hold a kunai and wanted to ask his father immediately.
He walked into his father's room and heard agitated voices from behind the sliding door.
"Why is the Fourth Hokage that Minato Namikaze?! I refuse to accept it."
After that statement, another voice quickly followed: "Lower your voice, Yashiro."
The steady voice belonged to his father. Even at home, his father maintained the cautious demeanor of a ninja.
"But I just can't accept it. Why, when choosing the Fourth Hokage, were there Minato Namikaze, Orochimaru-sama, Dan Kato, and a few other ninjas, but precisely not Fugaku-sama?"
Listening to this voice, and his father calling him by that name, the young Itachi's mind conjured the man's appearance: squinting eyes, white hair, a few years older than his father, but indeed his father's subordinate.
After this man finished speaking, another voice chimed in, different from the previous two: "Yashiro is right. I can't agree either."
His father's voice called out this person's name: "Inabi..."
Perhaps that person was expressing indignation, and his father found it difficult to say much, only calling his name.
Itachi tried hard to recall information about this name.
This man had sharp eyes and shiny black long hair. Like Yashiro, he was a capable subordinate of his father.
"I admit that Minato Namikaze is very strong, but being Hokage requires not just strength but also experience.
"On the battlefield, the name 'Fiendish Eye' was enough to strike fear into the hearts of ninjas from all nations. In terms of strength, Captain Fugaku might not be weaker than Minato, and in terms of experience, when Captain Fugaku was active on the battlefield, Minato was probably still playing in the mud..."
Inabi's tone was extremely displeased, growing more agitated as he spoke.
Yashiro chimed in agreement: "If the Fourth Hokage this time had been Orochimaru, I'd have nothing to say. But the higher-ups chose Minato Namikaze instead.
"Not all of our Konoha ninjas are dead. Why should a guy barely 24 years old become Hokage?"
Inabi continued: "Yashiro is right. I think this is a despicable scheme by the higher-ups."
Fugaku interjected to stop them: "Enough..."
Having harbored resentment for a long time, Inabi was filled with grievances. Even when Fugaku told him to stop, he persisted: "No, I have to speak! Anyone who's been on the battlefield knows Captain Fugaku's active performance there. Yet, the ordinary villagers know little about Captain Fugaku. Clearly, the higher-ups are deliberately overlooking your achievements, keeping them private, all to make you lose an advantage in future Hokage elections.
"You've seen the result: when it actually came to the Hokage election, Captain Fugaku wasn't even nominated. They're not even pretending anymore!"
After Inabi finished, Yashiro also exploded: "If preventing Captain Fugaku from becoming Hokage was just one of the higher-ups' schemes, then preventing Orochimaru from becoming Hokage was their second scheme. After all, everyone knows that Orochimaru-sama and Tōshirō-sama were close friends in the past. If he had become Hokage, under his leadership, our Uchiha clan would not have been without hope of moving closer to the center of power in the future.
"But what happened? Even Orochimaru-sama was overlooked. The Konoha higher-ups are driving our Uchiha clan to extinction!"
Inabi slammed his fist on the floor, venting his frustration: "If Tōshirō-sama were still alive, the Uchiha clan would never be in this situation..."
The two continued to argue fiercely until Fugaku's voice grew several times heavier than before, saying "Enough," which finally silenced them both.
Fugaku closed his eyes. Hearing the name "Tōshirō," memories flooded his mind. He glanced at his son, who was eavesdropping by the door, and said faintly: "Itachi, is something wrong?"
Itachi, who was eavesdropping outside the door, was startled. It seemed he had been caught.
Indeed, he was still too naive...
Since he was discovered, there was nothing he could do.
He entered the room, using his desire to ask about shuriken techniques as an excuse to explain.
Fugaku, with his usual stern expression, said: "I'm busy now. We'll talk later."
Itachi understood. He respectfully bowed in apology and exited the room.
Yashiro and Inabi looked at Itachi, who had left the room, their eyes slightly narrowed.
Captain Fugaku's child had been eavesdropping the whole time, and they hadn't even noticed.
Admittedly, they were both distracted by their emotional outburst over the unfair treatment suffered by Fugaku and the entire Uchiha clan, leading to their oversight. But they still shouldn't have failed to notice a mere 4-year-old child eavesdropping.
Fugaku said in a deep voice: "Next time, let's discuss this at the Naka Shrine."
As his two subordinates had said, perhaps he shouldn't continue to adopt a gentle attitude.
The village's higher-ups were constantly suppressing the Uchiha clan, leading to the Uchiha clan suffering more and more injustice.
He could personally endure all of this, but he could not endure his children, and even his future grandchildren, suffering unjust treatment.
As Tōshirō had told him in the past: one generation handles the affairs of its own generation.
The injustices of the Uchiha clan must be completely resolved in their generation.
Fugaku's eyes turned into a tomoe shape, flashing red, and he secretly swore.
After leaving his father's room, Itachi went to his mother, Mikoto.
Mikoto saw Itachi return and seemed to guess something. She said softly, "If you want to learn about shuriken, I can teach you, you know."
Itachi looked up at his mother, who was heavily pregnant, appearing frail.
In reality, his mother was a highly skilled Jonin.
Jonin were rare talents everywhere, even in a powerful village like Konoha, let alone a woman. His mother's skill level was more than enough to teach him shuriken.
But right now, more than learning shuriken, Itachi was more interested in something else, like a certain name.
He asked, "Mom, who is Tōshirō?"
(End of Chapter)
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