Chapter 61 - Shisui and Itachi Part Ways, the Gears of Fate Begin to Shift!
"Shisui, what on earth happened? How did you suddenly change like this?"
Itachi looked at Shisui in disbelief. Just a moment ago, Shisui had been so firm in his beliefs, yet after just one afternoon with Renji, he had completely changed sides.
He was now openly standing with Renji.
Wasn't Shisui the one with Kotoamatsukami? Or was it actually Renji's eye technique?
At this point, Itachi couldn't even tell who was using Kotoamatsukami on whom.
Things weren't like this before!
"Itachi, what do you think the Will of Fire is?"
Shisui suddenly asked, catching Itachi off guard. He was surprised, but still responded, "Where the leaves dance, the fire burns brightly."
He believed Shisui understood the Will of Fire as well—why ask something like this?
"Then tell me, Itachi—is sending children to the battlefield part of the Will of Fire? The Will of Fire is supposed to be about sacrificing oneself to protect the next generation. Since when did it become using children's lives to protect the power of the older generation?"
Shisui's words stabbed right into Itachi's heart like a sharp blade.
Since when had that started?
A flicker of memory flashed through Itachi's eyes—probably around the end of the Second Great Ninja War.
At first, Konoha had plenty of talent, but after the Second War ended, the Third Great Ninja War erupted shortly after. Konoha was besieged on all sides, and with no more able-bodied ninja, even academy students began graduating early to join the battlefield. In the end, Itachi had gone to war too, alongside Uchiha Fugaku.
"Itachi, you already know the answer in your heart, don't you? And one more thing—our Uchiha clan has always been on the front lines during war, but when we return, we're met with hostility. We receive less than even those who handled logistics, like the Mito and Koharu clans. Do you think our clansmen wouldn't notice?
Just like everything we're doing now—when the clan doesn't acknowledge it, don't you think they'll also have thoughts of their own?"
Shisui had surpassed even his past self.
He hadn't just memorized Renji's reasoning—he'd internalized it and transformed it into his own language.
After parting with Renji, the more Shisui thought, the more he realized something was wrong. It really did seem like what Renji said was true—that he had been deceived all along.
It wasn't that the Uchiha had wanted to rebel from the beginning.
It was because Konoha's treatment had forced their dissatisfaction to grow. The cause and effect had been reversed. After reorganizing the facts, Shisui saw clearly: the Uchiha had been constantly compromising, constantly trying to integrate, but Konoha had never truly accepted them.
"But Shisui, have you forgotten? The Hokage has always said he's been working hard to ease tensions. If you side with Renji now, doesn't that make all our past efforts meaningless?"
Itachi still wasn't ready to give up. Deep down, he believed in the Hokage's sincerity and effort.
Sure, the Uchiha did have their faults, and that had led to the current stalemate and tension.
But even so, now was not the time to join the radicals!
"Itachi, the Hokage has been saying—just saying—but never doing anything. Why? Because he doesn't want to. He keeps telling us he's solving it, but then he lets Danzo target us behind our backs. He's the Hokage—don't tell me he can't rein in Danzo? He simply doesn't want to. He just wants to use us!"
Once Shisui stepped out of that illusion, his intelligence kicked back in, and it all became clear.
Hiruzen had promised them so many things—always promises, never action.
He claimed he wanted to ease tensions, but he never agreed to any of the Uchiha's demands. He never spoke with internal factions or the clan head. He only told them to gather intel, then brushed them off, saying he was trying.
But did that help?
No. The clan became more stifled. Relations with the village worsened. Meanwhile, under Renji's leadership, though tensions with the village remained, at least within the clan, things felt free and joyful. This afternoon alone, Shisui had seen many people who once scowled at him now greet him with warm smiles.
Wasn't that already a sign of change?
The conservatives, the neutral faction, and the radicals—these three camps used to argue endlessly in endless meetings. But lately, there was a strange sense of balance.
Why?
Because Renji had truly brought change to the Uchiha. Real, tangible benefits.
The past grudges seemed to be fading into dust.
Now, with a clan head who could clearly analyze the village-Uchiha conflict, who understood exactly who was responsible, who had a better vision than the Hokage—wasn't it better to follow Renji?
Hiruzen never gave them any actual benefits.
But Renji? At the very least, he improved their living conditions. This very land beneath their feet—if they'd tried to buy it before, Shisui wouldn't even know how many missions it would've taken to afford it. And it was land that originally belonged to them!
Now they were being asked to pay to get back their own land?
But Renji reclaimed it at minimal cost, just a bit of money given to the Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, and Hyuga clans—and it was returned.
Wasn't that enough?
"Shisui, don't you understand the vast power gap between the Uchiha and Konoha? Sure, Renji has gained us some benefits, but he's only widened the rift with the village. Things will only get more tense. If we go to war, Renji will drag the whole clan into a bottomless abyss. Instead of joining him, why aren't you trying to change his mind?"
Itachi didn't understand.
This morning, Shisui had been calm and rational. Now he was suddenly irrational.
Why couldn't he look at things from the Hokage's perspective?
Clan, clan, clan… Always the clan. Now even Shisui was trapped in that mindset?
Itachi felt a hint of disappointment. He had once admired Shisui, believing him to be the one Uchiha with independent thought, different from the rest.
But now, even Shisui felt unfamiliar.
"But do you know what Clan Head Renji told me? He said Konoha's goal is to make us rebel. What's happening now is like boiling a frog in warm water. Haven't you noticed?
We've been working hard.
They've been working hard.
Yet things only keep getting worse.
Why?
Because we've been working in the wrong direction.
Itachi, trust me this once—this time, it really can be resolved!"
Shisui extended his left hand toward Itachi, hoping he would stand with them.
It would certainly be better than continuing to follow Hiruzen Sarutobi.
That man had done nothing but string them along with empty promises, never resolving any of their issues. And according to what Renji said, Danzo's entire right arm was embedded with Sharingan—each one stolen from the Uchiha.
But for now, Shisui didn't intend to tell Itachi that.
He wasn't sure yet whether it was true, so he planned to confirm it first. If it turned out to be real, he believed Itachi wouldn't continue siding with Konoha.
As he looked at the hand Shisui extended, Itachi's expression kept shifting.
At this moment, he could no longer maintain the same composure as before.
"Shisui, are you really going to do this? Are you really giving up on everything we worked toward? Giving up now means everything we've done up till this point will have been for nothing!"
Itachi still tried to convince him—he didn't want to give up.
"I've already made my choice."
Shisui nodded.
He wouldn't change again. Even if this path led to death, he would not turn back.
"Then... I'm sorry, Shisui. I can't continue walking this road with you. But I won't report this to the Hokage, not yet. I hope you'll reconsider."
Itachi looked at Shisui with a complicated gaze.
He couldn't accept Shisui's invitation.
Even if he had to walk this path alone, he would continue, because he couldn't bear to see the Uchiha clan fall into ruin.
They weren't a match for Konoha in a fight. And now, his closest friend—his teacher—had clearly been blinded by Renji.
"It's fine, Itachi. You should think it over, too. If you really reflect, you'll realize what I said is true."
Shisui waved his hand.
Though he was somewhat disappointed by Itachi's rejection, he didn't dwell on it.
After all, hadn't he also been unable to accept Renji's words at first?
But now, he had come around.
He believed Itachi would come around too.
"Then… Shisui, let's leave it at that for today."
Itachi lowered his head, a trace of sadness in his eyes.
He had planned to say so much today—but now, it seemed there was no point. This feeling of divergence… it was painful.
"I understand. Get some rest, Itachi."
With that, Shisui patted Itachi on the shoulder and turned to leave.
Itachi remained where he stood, gazing at the moon. After a sigh, he too walked away.
After both had left, a swirling vortex appeared at the spot where they had stood.
From the ground, a Venus flytrap-like plant slowly emerged halfway.
"Zetsu, looks like things are going just as we predicted. Uchiha and Konoha will go to war."
Back when Uchiha Fugaku was still in power, they had already expected that Konoha wouldn't be able to hold back for long.
Let's not forget—Danzo was still around.
And now with Renji in power, tensions had only grown sharper.
It seemed striking first was all but inevitable.
"Yeah, and that guy's methods really are something. He even turned Shisui over to his side?"
Zetsu scratched his head, feeling that things were getting out of hand.
Just what was this Uchiha Renji planning?
Shisui's Kotoamatsukami had once been accidentally overheard by Zetsu. Ever since then, Obito had been extremely cautious in Konoha—if he ever got caught by Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, he'd be doomed.
"That guy does have some skill. After all, he got the other clans to hand over the land they had taken from the Uchiha."
Black Zetsu spoke calmly.
Ever since Renji became clan head, he'd been keeping an eye on him—though not too closely. In Black Zetsu's eyes, most of these people weren't even worth monitoring.
He only needed to watch two people—Indra's and Asura's reincarnations.
The rest weren't even chess pieces.
"So… should we do something?"
Zetsu felt like this was the perfect opportunity to stir up some chaos.
Shouldn't they cause a little trouble?
"The Uchiha clan, huh..."
For Obito, the Uchiha brought up complicated feelings.
He had been born here—but his childhood had not been pleasant.
As the worst in the class, he was always at the bottom. And the Uchiha—if not the best—certainly couldn't tolerate dead weight.
So his time in the clan had never been happy.
But Obito knew all too well how terrifying the Mangekyō Sharingan could be.
Once the lowest of the low, after awakening the Mangekyō, he had reached the level where he could go toe-to-toe with Namikaze Minato in just a short time. He lost in the end—but still, he understood, and feared what kind of powers might emerge from the Uchiha next.
"Zetsu, I think we should eliminate a portion of the Uchiha clan… but we need to leave a few alive."
Black Zetsu's eyes flickered.
He wanted to wipe out part of the Uchiha, but preserve the current Indra reincarnation—just in case Madara's plan failed. That way, this generation's Indra could still be used.
Of course, in Black Zetsu's eyes, Madara wouldn't fail.
This was the closest they had ever been to success, and everything was proceeding according to his script.
"Right… Before we act, let's make contact with the people we'll need later. I can't come here easily anyway. And besides, I still have to manage Kirigakure—the final phase there is almost ready."
Inconvenience was just an excuse.
In truth, it was because of Shisui's powers—he was slightly afraid of them.
And also, he was preparing to pull out of Kirigakure soon to launch the next stage of the plan. He didn't want to fight on two fronts.
So for now, they would focus on scouting for the right candidates.
Zetsu had no objections. As long as it didn't interfere with the Eye of the Moon plan, Obito could do whatever he wanted.
After finishing their conversation, the two quickly disappeared.
Meanwhile, in the Uchiha compound, Renji listened to the system notification in his ear—and smiled.
[Ding! You have altered Shisui's fate. Reward: 1x lottery draw!]
(End of Chapter)
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