Shhhk!A kunai slipped from his hand and struck dead-center on the target.
Thud, thud, thud…
The sounds from his side immediately wiped away Uchiha Shion's brief pride. Seriously? Do all the shinobi in this world come with built-in targeting systems?
One hand, three kunai, all hitting the bull's-eye at once? And from different angles?
He couldn't help but think ahead to twelve years later—the Chūnin Exams—when Rock Lee would pull off that reverse triple kick. If that didn't make his ancestors roll in their graves, nothing would.
"Whew… so that's what a genius is—someone whose existence exists just to crush your self-confidence."
Itachi, beside him, didn't reply. Instead, he drew more kunai and began training in his ricochet technique—using rebounds to redirect projectiles mid-flight.
Shhhk!
Shisui appeared in a flicker of movement, smiling. "You didn't want to learn this when Itachi asked before. But now that your confidence is shattered, are you regretting it?"
Shion shook his head lightly. "No. Without freakish calculation skills like yours, it wouldn't help me much. By the time I finished calculating a trajectory, my head would already be used as a football."
What's the point of learning this? Danzō, that fool, once tried stabbing Susanoo with kunai. He could've stabbed all day and still never broken through the defense.
Ordinary shinobi are glass cannons—high attack, low defense. Top-tier shinobi? They're walking Gundams. Susanoo, tailed beast hosts, living weapons. Against that, what's a shuriken worth?
And who knows, maybe the rebellion on the moon had already happened by now. Back then, the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion could slice the moon in half. Monsters everywhere.
Later, standing on the highest branches at the edge of the training grounds, Shion, Shisui, and Itachi gazed toward the Hidden Leaf Village in the distance.
"Life dies. Life fights. And life… always gathers."
Itachi muttered as though slipping into another of his spells of melancholy. Shion glanced at him and said:
"When Fugaku died last year, I heard you awakened your Sharingan. Five and a half years old, and you open your eyes that early? How about you dig them out and hand them to me?"
Shisui blinked, taken aback. Even stoic Itachi turned his head and stared like Shion had gone insane.
"Everyone has their gifts," Shion went on. "But human weakness is this: we only notice what others gain, while ignoring what they've lost."
"Once differences appear, envy follows. Life is about living. Death is inevitable. And people gather together because they want a better life."
He turned to Itachi. "Didn't you recently ask what a ninja is? What a village is?"
"After the Warring States era, the First Hokage founded the village to prevent war. And the great clans—the Hyūga, Sarutobi, Shimura, the Ino–Shika–Chō trio—why did they join Konoha?"
Shisui thought for a moment. "Because nobody wanted to keep fighting, right? I read about it once. The Warring States period had a terrifyingly low average lifespan. Everyone must've been tired of war."
Itachi nodded solemnly. "To end hatred through dialogue, to unite clans into one village… the First Hokage truly deserved the title 'God of Shinobi.'"
Shion, legs aching from clinging to the trunk, plopped down and shook his head. "No. They just wanted to survive."
Survive?!
He continued: "When someone can destroy a village with one strike, or erase a nation in half a day—even factoring in travel time—joining wasn't a choice, it was survival. Half a day to annihilate a country… heh."
"The so-called God of Shinobi was an idealist. But Uchiha Madara, his equal, was no man of compromise."
"One hand offered shuriken. The other held dango. One side asked politely. The other threatened genocide. Obey, and you got dango. Refuse, and you were beaten until you obeyed."
"After the village formed, a few years of peace passed, and the lower-ranking shinobi grew weary of war. Slowly, people began adding the word 'Konoha' to their clan identities."
Shion looked at Shisui. "Do you know why the First Great Ninja War started so soon after Konoha's founding, but the gap between the First and Third Wars was much shorter?"
Shisui shook his head. Itachi fell silent, deep in thought.
"Because while the First was alive, his sheer power was the pillar of peace. If he said 'no fighting,' everyone had to sit down and talk."
Shion fixed his eyes on Shisui. "Strength is the first condition for equality in dialogue. The Uchiha clan still exists partly because of the Fourth Hokage, and partly because of you, Shisui Uchiha, who awakened power akin to our ancestor Madara—the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Shisui's eyes swirled, the three tomoe spinning slowly. "The Fourth wants to open talks with the Uchiha. But the tension between our clan and the villagers…"
Shion shook his head. "Managing the village's police force was never a glamorous duty. For the Uchiha to monopolize it? Even worse. Our proud name, paired with our natural arrogance, only pushes us further from Konoha."
"The Police Force became our private domain. And since it didn't touch anyone else, nobody cared about our struggles. The Uchiha never placed themselves alongside the great Konoha houses, nor under the Hokage's mantle. And meanwhile, we made enemies daily among the common people."
He stopped. Shisui and Itachi sank into heavy thought.
Shisui weighed every point Shion had made. Truly, the Uchiha's current plight was rooted in the Second Hokage's design. The Third inherited that will. And another student of the Second—Shimura Danzō—now embodied the village's shadow.
That left only the Fourth…
Itachi glanced at them both. The clan and the village… is it really as Shion says?
"Though you're only six," Shisui finally said, "I've been astonished by your insight these past six months. Shion… if it were you, what would you do?"
Shion smirked. "Is that a request? If so, then both of you owe me one."
Shisui chuckled. "If you ever need my help, I'll gladly repay you. Is it some ninjutsu you want to learn?"
Even aloof Itachi gave a nod. Their clanmate wasn't gifted in battle, but his perspective was worth learning from.
Shion shook his head. "This isn't about ninjutsu. It's about the future of the entire clan."
"Shisui… you should become the clan leader. Only as clan head can you represent the Uchiha in joining forces with the Fourth. He, alone among the Hokage, never inherited the Second's will."
"Abandon the Police Force—or better yet, integrate it with the entire village. Bring the Uchiha back into Konoha's great houses. Stand behind the Fourth not as outsiders, but as allies."
"That's my solution."
Shisui shook his head slightly. "It's not that simple. The second and third elders still hold power…"
Shion cut him off. "The Mangekyō Sharingan. You're famed for genjutsu and body flicker, but tell me—what is the true ability of your Mangekyō?"