"Some people in the village suspect that Uchiha Ruri, before renegading from Konoha, had already planted secret hands within the Uchiha Clan to monitor the movements of both the village and the clan. After the Nine-Tails Rampage, some speculated that she returned to the village, colluded with certain clan members, and plotted against the Fourth Hokage. After all, the Nine-Tails rampage was too strange, with too many questionable points."
Of course, Shisui dared not tell Itachi his darker suspicions.
That is, some of the upper echelon not only doubt the Uchiha Clan—it's more than that.
For instance, Root Leader Shimura Danzo, whose position had been restored.
The one who bears all the darkness of Konoha.
"Is that so?"
Itachi understood everything.
In other words, because of the internal spy problem, the Uchiha Clan was already in the crosshairs of the village.
And some radical members within the clan seized the chance to stir things up, wanting to escalate the situation, but his father Fugaku suppressed it.
But how long it can be suppressed—that was anyone's guess.
"Yes, the relationship between the village and the clan is very tense now."
Shisui let out a sigh.
"Just for one person, is it worth the upper echelons being so cautious?"
Itachi asked in confusion.
Shisui shook his head and said, "It's not as simple as you think. If the one who manipulated the Nine-Tails to attack the village this time was still Uchiha Ruri, then it's not the first time she targeted the Nine-Tails. Five years ago, when she left Konoha, she also controlled the Nine-Tails to destroy the village, leading to heavy casualties."
"Such a dangerous existence really should be treated cautiously."
"Yeah. Her Sharingan donjutsu is powerful enough to control a Tailed Beast by herself. Before she left Konoha, she was the clan's most gifted ninja. I'm afraid her Sharingan now has already…"
Shisui didn't finish, but he began covering his own eyes, an inexplicable depth flickering in his gaze.
"Afraid what?"
Shisui's fragmented words seemed to cover something up, unwilling to let him know.
Itachi vaguely sensed that the "afraid" Shisui was hiding was likely an enormous clan secret.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's begin today's training. About what you mentioned before—the shuriken technique—we can try…"
Shisui interrupted Itachi's thoughts, turning his focus to training and discussing new shuriken methods with Itachi.
◎
"Hokage-sama."
Inside an inconspicuous house.
After finishing his training and parting with Itachi, Shisui came here to privately meet with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Ever since the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, passed away, the retired Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had once again taken charge of everything in the village, adjusting various situations throughout the village.
Hiruzen, meeting Shisui here, was actually already quite exhausted in body and mind, yet he still had to summon his spirits, not letting anyone see anything amiss.
No matter how he pretended, he couldn't change the fact that his body was deteriorating.
Taking back the Hokage's power wasn't as sweet as imagined; many matters felt even more beyond his capabilities than before.
"Is there anything to report, Shisui?"
Hiruzen rallied himself to ask.
Shisui was his old friend, descendant of Uchiha Kagami.
Back then, Kagami died on a mission; the murderer still hasn't been found—this is a sore spot for Hiruzen.
The six of them back then were supposed to work together, turning the village into a fortress; Uchiha was the most crucial part of that plan.
Sadly, Kagami's sudden death rendered that plan pointless.
He thought there'd be no hope for Uchiha affairs, but to his surprise, years ago Uchiha Ruri's defection dealt a heavy blow to Uchiha Shikora, leader of the radicals, who stepped down due to poor health, letting the conservative Uchiha Fugaku take over.
This relieved the tension between the village and Uchiha Clan.
But with the recent Nine-Tails incident, Uchiha issues resurfaced, bigger than ever.
Though he managed, in the name of Hokage, to shift the main blame for the Kyuubi Rampage onto three renegade ninjas who'd already defected, he still couldn't clear the Uchiha Clan's name.
Because of the Mangekyo Sharingan…
He had not only seen with his own eyes the red eyes in the Nine-Tails, but Minato's final words forced him to believe that there was a serious problem within the Uchiha Clan.
How to handle Uchiha problems was a headache for Hiruzen.
Fortunately, Shisui's appearance solved the issue.
He was willing to be the eyes monitoring the Uchiha Clan, reporting every move to them.
From the current situation, although the Uchiha Clan was dissatisfied with the village, they weren't at the point of outright rebellion. With Shisui keeping him informed, Hiruzen could promptly adjust strategies and stabilize the clan, preventing an upheaval at this critical time.
So Hiruzen always paid extra attention whenever Shisui sent word.
"A few days ago, I made a friend in the clan—his name is Uchiha Itachi."
"Uchiha Itachi?"
Hiruzen felt the name was familiar; he seemed to have heard it somewhere before.
"He is Clan Leader Fugaku's son, and possesses a talent far surpassing mine."
Shisui said so.
Hiruzen was mildly surprised—Shisui's talent was already unmatched in the village as far as he was concerned.
A talent far above Shisui's? If he didn't know Shisui wasn't exaggerating, Hiruzen would have suspected him of boasting.
"I think he's a moldable prospect. He can become someone on our side."