The truth, like a sudden clap of thunder, struck Shisui hard.
His vision blurred for a moment, the world spinning around him.
Wrong...
It had all been wrong from the start...
He had stayed away from Naruto Uzumaki because he thought he was just the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki.
But he never expected—Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage?!
The truth behind everything surfaced in an instant.
All the strange inconsistencies now made sense.
Naruto Uzumaki was the child of the Fourth Hokage.
During the Nine-Tails' attack, the Fourth Hokage and his wife sacrificed themselves to seal the beast into their own child.
At some point, rumors of the "Demon Fox Boy" began circulating throughout the village—almost as if planted deliberately… Danzo. It had to be Danzo's doing!
Shisui, always wary of Danzo, instantly saw through it.
Everyone had been deceived by him!
They had all fallen into Danzo's trap, pushing Naruto away.
That way, the reputation of the Fourth Hokage's son would be destroyed, his heart plunged into darkness, never to rise again!
As Shisui's face turned pale and sweat poured from his forehead, Fugaku frowned.
"What's wrong? Did the Mangekyō Sharingan take too much of a toll?"
"M-Maybe..." Shisui muttered, wiping his brow with his sleeve.
Thankfully, it wasn't too late to make things right.
If he could just treat Naruto properly from now on...
But Shisui didn't know—his fate had already been sealed.
---
The turmoil caused by Mōryō had finally ended after intense diplomatic activity.
Konoha declared that the Daimyō of the Land of Demons had gone missing, and that Mōryō's whereabouts were unknown.
Not knowing the real story, other nations sent spies into Konoha to investigate...
On the day the Miko Shrine was completed, the upper echelon of Konoha, led by the Hokage, attended the dedication ceremony.
The new shrine was majestic and grand.
With the Miko's power, Konoha's strength rose once again.
The village, having suffered through the Third Shinobi War and the Nine-Tails' attack, began to flourish anew...
---
At Night.
The Uchiha Compound, Naka Shrine.
The second revision of the power-seizure plan had begun.
After the Mōryō incident, the Uchiha clan was at its peak, but they still had to tread carefully.
The initial plan was to simultaneously impeach Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
But that would raise suspicions among Konoha's leadership.
So—
They would first try to force out Koharu, who was the weakest and most temperamental among the four elders.
Then, one step at a time, they would replace them.
"That's the revised plan," said Fugaku Uchiha.
The gathered clan members below him flushed with excitement, murmuring with joy.
"Itachi! Itachi!"
Suddenly, Yatsushiro called out to him.
Itachi slowly rose from the floor.
"You've been in the ANBU for a while now, but you haven't brought us any useful information..."
Faced with Yatsushiro's question, Itachi remained silent.
What could he say?
That Konoha was monitoring the Uchiha 24/7?
"You brat, do you not intend to serve the village loyally?!"
Yatsushiro began scolding him for his incompetence.
"We need to learn more about the village to serve it better. Don't you understand that?"
At some point, their once-brash talk of revolution had turned into sneering double-speak.
Looking around at the faces of the clan members...
Nearly all of them wore twisted expressions... their words dripping with bitter sarcasm.
They couldn't even speak straight anymore.
Yatsushiro's "loyalty" to the village was merely a front for Uchiha's own ambitions.
Itachi's disgust deepened.
"ANBU intelligence cannot be shared with unauthorized personnel..." he replied, his voice heavy with helplessness.
"What?! The Uchiha Police Force was founded by the great Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, as a pillar of justice for the village! How can they be 'unauthorized'?!"
Yatsushiro's sarcasm reached a new level.
Now even the previous Hokage was being mocked.
To Itachi, it was a grave insult.
To insult a Hokage was to insult the Will of Fire.
And yet—he had no rebuttal. He couldn't even catch Yatsushiro in his own contradictions.
His fists clenched unconsciously, his knuckles audibly cracking.
"Itachi..." Shisui looked on with deep concern.
"I believe..." Yatsushiro suddenly scowled, "You have no Will of Fire at all! What nonsense—thinking like a Hokage at age 7? The Hokage truly misjudged you!"
"!!!"
That comment sent a rush of blood straight to Itachi's head.
In one sentence, Yatsushiro shattered his composure.
"That's enough, Yatsushiro," said Fugaku sternly. "Maybe Itachi's just tired from a mission."
At least Fugaku wasn't as sarcastic as the others.
But his thirst for power made him no different.
That, more than anything, filled Itachi with despair.
"The plan will go into motion... next month," Fugaku declared.
During the village's Founding Festival.
While everyone celebrated, they would publicly denounce Koharu's capabilities.
At that time, all the dirt they had gathered on her would be exposed, disgracing her and forcing her resignation.
Then, the Uchiha would seize a spot among the leadership and gain real power.
Next would be Homura, then Danzo... and even the Third Hokage himself.
---
Shortly after...
Late night in the Hokage's office.
Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi were still in deep discussion.
"The Uchiha have decided to act. They'll move during next month's festival."
Danzo had just received this intel from a spy embedded in the Uchiha.
Using her had been the right call.
Had he not summoned her back to Konoha, they would have never known Uchiha's exact moves.
"I see..." Hiruzen's face darkened with worry, though he still tried to see the good in things.
"The Uchiha are one of the village founders. They do deserve a seat among the leadership..."
Hiruzen, you truly are a fool.
Watching his old friend defend the Uchiha even now...
Danzo couldn't help but recall the time Hiruzen had led the mission to kill Orochimaru—only to let him go.
Some called it kindness, others weakness.
Just like at the end of the Third War, when Hiruzen chose not to demand reparations from Iwa despite their betrayal.
"This news hasn't been shared with Koharu and Homura yet..."
Danzo smirked. "If I told them... do you really think they'd agree with your view?"
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