"But your brother—Itachi Uchiha—understood something very clearly…"
The masked man's voice was cold, almost omniscient.
"The Uchiha coup… could never succeed."
"And once civil war broke out, Konoha would inevitably be gravely weakened."
"At that point, the other great nations—already watching like predators—would never miss such an opportunity…"
"The Fourth Great Ninja War…"
"would very likely erupt because of it."
In his tone was the cruel certainty of someone who had already calculated every outcome.
"In Itachi's eyes, one side was a clan doomed to fail—one that would drag the village into flames."
"On the other side…"
"was so-called 'peace'."
"And the 'stability' of the village."
"So tell me—"
"what choice do you think he made?"
"Or rather…"
"what choice do you think the Konoha leadership forced him to make?"
The Shinobi World Erupts
The real shinobi world exploded into chaos.
Uchiha Shisui was killed by Konoha's higher-ups?
The Uchiha were forced into planning a coup?
Itachi Uchiha wiped out his clan to prevent war?
Each revelation shattered long-held beliefs about Konoha—and about Itachi himself.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was ashen.
He knew it.
The core truth—the most unforgivable part—had been exposed.
Sasuke's World Begins to Collapse
At the Ninja Academy, Sasuke stood frozen, listening.
The target of his hatred blurred.
A vast, suffocating sense of conspiracy wrapped around him.
The masked man's words—
"Uchiha Shisui died at the hands of Konoha's leadership, and one of his Mangekyō Sharingan was torn out"—
were not just thunderclaps to the shinobi world.
They were a silent nuclear explosion inside the Hokage's office.
Tsunade's Fury
"Shisui…"
"Was killed by you as well?"
Tsunade's voice was colder than it had ever been—like a gale from the polar wastes.
She turned slowly.
Her sharp, normally fierce or lazy eyes were now blades of ice, locked onto Hiruzen Sarutobi.
For the first time, there was something unmistakable in her gaze toward her former teacher—
Killing intent.
Uchiha Shisui.
That name was not unfamiliar to her.
He was a shinobi who truly loved the village.
A once-in-a-generation prodigy.
Someone whose loyalty to Konoha was unquestionable—even to Tsunade herself.
And such a man…
Killed by his own village's leadership?
Had his eye ripped out while he was still alive?
How could something be so cruel—so filthy?
Jiraiya's Disappointment
Jiraiya's usual levity vanished completely.
What replaced it was deep pain—and incomprehension.
"Old man…" he said quietly.
"I've met Shisui."
"He was a good kid. Pure-hearted. A Uchiha who truly believed in Konoha."
His voice carried restrained anger and sorrow.
"If you couldn't even tolerate someone like Shisui—someone who genuinely lived the Will of Fire—"
"then tell me…"
"Who can you tolerate?"
The Hokage's Silence
Faced with the tangible weight of his two students' gazes, Hiruzen opened his mouth—
And found no words.
He wanted to say it was Danzō alone.
That he only learned of it afterward.
But even he didn't believe that.
As Hokage—as the true authority of Konoha—
how could Danzō's actions have occurred without his tacit approval?
At the very least…
It was indulgence.
Blaming everything on Danzō was nothing but self-deception.
Hiruzen collapsed back into his chair, as if all vitality had been drained from him.
He didn't even have the strength left to defend himself.
The air in the office congealed.
The trust between master and disciples—once firm even amid disagreement—fractured deeply, perhaps beyond repair.
The Devil's Whisper Continues
On the Sky Screen, the masked man's voice continued—soft, insidious, like a demon's whisper—peeling back the final layers of truth.
"Faced with the 'choice' given by Konoha's leadership…"
"Itachi Uchiha…"
"made his decision."
"He struck a deal with them."
"He himself…"
"would become the rogue ninja who bore all the sins."
"He would personally…"
"wipe out the Uchiha clan."
"And Konoha's leadership would then…"
"ensure you were raised."
"And afterward…"
"you would kill him."
"And finally…"
"you would return to Konoha."
"To rebuild the Uchiha clan."
Each word was a sledgehammer.
Smashing into Sasuke's heart.
Shattering everything—
his understanding,
his hatred,
his emotions.
"With that outcome…" the masked man continued calmly,
"Konoha gains a brand-new Uchiha clan—obedient, clean—without suffering a coup."
"And you…"
"the brother he loved most…"
"…would live."
The Collapse
That final sentence crushed the last pillar holding Sasuke upright.
"Uh… ah…"
A broken sound escaped his throat.
His mouth hung open, but it felt as though all the air had been sucked from the room.
He staggered backward until his back slammed into the cold wall, barely keeping him from collapsing.
His mind went blank—
Then exploded into countless jagged fragments.
The blood-soaked night.
His parents' sorrowful eyes.
Itachi's cold fingers pressing against his forehead.
Years of hatred gnawing at his soul.
The storm at the Valley of the End.
And the hollow emptiness he'd felt after "killing" Itachi…
So that was it.
All of it.
The pain.
The struggle.
The hatred.
The slaughter.
All of it—
Had been arranged.
A transaction.
So that he could live.
"No… impossible…"
"You're lying…"
"You're lying!!!"
Sasuke clutched his head and screamed, trying to drown the truth in rage before it tore his sanity apart.
But reason screamed even louder.
The logic was airtight.
It explained every inconsistency.
Why could Itachi wipe out the clan alone?
—Because Konoha's leadership allowed it… or assisted.
Why did the village notice nothing?
—Because this was a sanctioned purge.
Why didn't the clan escape?
—Because they were restricted, surrounded, or already controlled.
Why did Itachi die so easily at Sasuke's hands?
—Because he wanted to die.
Because it was all to complete his brother.
A World Without Words
The real shinobi world fell into deathly silence.
No one could speak.
For the sake of "stability," a founding clan was exterminated.
A thirteen-year-old child was forced to murder his parents and entire clan.
All罪 were pinned on one man, while a brother was molded through hatred into a "clean" bloodline heir.
This…
This was Konoha?
The village that claimed to embody the Will of Fire?
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789