Cold night air bit at my skin, but it was nothing to the arctic chill in my gut. My footsteps, Itachi's footsteps, were unnervingly silent on the damp earth. Leaves rustled. The village loomed, feeling more like a gallows than home.A weary sigh, not entirely my own, escaped me. Looked down at my left hand. Blood, already tacky. Shisui's eye, nestled there like a cursed fucking marble.'What the hell am I supposed to do with this?'Bigger question: What the hell was I supposed to do, period? One second, I'm me. Next, I'm Itachi, and my body – his body – just murdered Shisui. I was a goddamn passenger, strapped in for a snuff film I didn't buy a ticket for. My hand, his hand, gripped the tanto, drove it into Shisui's back. Effortless. Just like OG Itachi.And poof. One of the most gifted Uchiha ever, dead like a stray dog under a waterfall. Why? Brainwashed by a geriatric monkey preaching the "Will of Fire." If Madara saw this shit, he'd slap Shisui's mother and then Shisui. And that rat Obito? No better. Fucking hypocrites.I exhaled sharply.The instant the Mangekyō Sharingan flared to life in these eyes, molten iron poured into my skull. Vision pulsed – blur, sharpen, distort. Reality itself fracturing. Air felt heavier. Heart thundered. The raw power was… known. An instinctive, terrifying understanding of the darkness they held.World looked sharper. Colors deeper. Wind visible. Peeling back a layer of reality.And beneath it? Emptiness. A cost.The Mangekyō wasn't a gift. It was a curse, etched by loss.Not just his vision changed. He changed.Now I changed."This is such a drag…" I muttered. Hollow words.Itachi's memories of Shisui's final moments, vivid, unwanted. The original's grief, a phantom ache.
Flashback – Shisui's Last Stand (Itachi's Memory)Cliff edge. Howling wind. Waterfall roar. Setting sun, blood-red."Itachi…" Shisui's voice, calm, final. Trembling, blood-slicked hand pressing his eye into Itachi's palm."This is as far as I go," Shisui said, faint, tired smile. "The Uchiha Clan… the village… war is inevitable."Itachi's hand (my hand now) clenched. "No… another way.""There isn't." Shisui shook his head. "Danzo took my other eye. He'll come for this one. I won't give him the chance."Throat tightened. "Shisui—""My remaining eye to you, Itachi. Awaken powers beyond. Protect the village… in the way I no longer can." His smile widened, sorrow in his eyes. "Protect the village… and protect Sasuke."Then—he let go.Itachi lunged. Too late. Shisui plummeted, swallowed by mist and water.Wind carried his last whisper: "Live on… Itachi."Silence.Frozen at the edge, bloody hand clutching the eye. Weight of it all. Something shattered.
End FlashbackThe Uchiha Compound glowed ahead, lanterns blissfully unaware of the blood on my hands. Father, Fugaku, probably awake, scheming. Sasuke, asleep, dreaming of… whatever seven-year-olds dream of. Dinosaurs? Being Hokage?And me? I just (or Itachi just, semantics) killed my best friend.Flexed my fingers around the eye. No time for a breakdown. Uchiha massacre incoming, and I'm playing the lead psycho.One last look at the eye, closed my hand.'First things first. Need a plan.'Konoha higher-ups: "Kill your clan, Itachi-kun, it's the only peaceful way!" The fact they thought he'd do it shows how fucked both he and Shisui were. Psycho assassin mindset. My clan? Dumbasses too. Father? Pacifist, probably knew they'd lose a coup.Simple math, for the morons in the back: Konoha's weak now. No Minato, Kushina, Sannin (mostly), Sakumo. Danzo and Hiruzen are past their prime. Still, Uchiha lose.Fourth War: 80,000 shinobi total. Konoha, biggest military, maybe 15,000 active shinobi (Kishimoto's numbers are bullshit but work with me). Hyūga, biggest clan, not even 3,000. Uchiha? Maybe 2,000 total, civilians included. Fighting force? 500-1,000 max.Outnumbered 10 to 1. Sure, one Uchiha Jonin is worth three others, but still. Hyūga, Sarutobi, Akimichi could still fuck us up. Choji and Choza beat back the Ten-Tails, for Christ's sake. Shisui died to Danzo and some Aburame bug-fucker with insta-kill poison.Father's coup plan: target higher-ups. Sarutobi, Homura, Shimura, Utatane, ANBU, Hiruzen, Danzo. Fugaku vs Hokage. Shisui vs Danzo. Me vs Kakashi & ANBU. Other Uchiha vs Asuma, Kurenai, etc. Rest grab Naruto, threaten Nine-Tails release.Good plan? Almost. One problem: Might Guy. Could probably pop 6-7 Gates easy. Rock Lee hit 5 Gates in two years. Guy's had the technique for ages.Guess who'd fight him? Me.'Fuck. That. Noise. No coup for this Uchiha.'