"Years ago, it was Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara who joined forces to create the village of Konoha—so that children would no longer have to slaughter one another, so they could speak heart-to-heart, and treat each other as brothers. Doesn't that sound exactly like what we're doing now?"
Senju Haruto looked directly at the figure perched in the tree—Uchiha Itachi—spreading his hands as if ready to persuade him.
"Clinging to the past will only keep a person from moving forward."
Itachi's hand reached back, gripping the hilt of his blade as he firmly stated his identity.
"I am not a ninja of the Uchiha clan. I am a ninja of Konoha."
Though Itachi was about the same age as Haruto, he possessed a mindset rare among those of his generation. He could understand everything the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, had tried to achieve—including his decision to have his people stop using the "Senju" surname, to encourage intermarriage across clans, and to weaken the idea of family divisions in favor of bonds as one village.
The Uchiha clan, however, could not see this—nor could they understand it. They remained closed off, clinging to the hollow prestige of the Uchiha name.
In Itachi's eyes, Haruto—who still carried the Senju name despite Hashirama's will—was no different from those very people, placing clan pride above the village itself.
Itachi could not deny it—he did not like Senju Haruto.
Seeing the hostility radiating from him, Haruto only became more certain of his judgment.
At this point in time, Uchiha Itachi stood entirely on the side of the village. The massacre of his clan was only a matter of time.
And that was exactly why Haruto had come.
Shaking his head, Haruto said,
"You misunderstand me. I'm not emphasizing our identities as Senju and Uchiha. I'm saying that we are just like Hashirama and Madara once were—sharing the same dream of using the village to protect children and keep everyone safe."
"I'm here to work with you—to stop the Uchiha clan's coup."
Haruto's words rang with conviction, his confidence radiating outward.
From the shadows, Hatake Kakashi's eyes widened in shock at what he'd just heard.
A coup… from the Uchiha?
But how did Haruto even know about this?
And Itachi—if this intelligence was real—what role was he playing between the Uchiha clan and Konoha?
Itachi himself was stunned. As far as he knew, only three people were aware of this matter: himself, the Third Hokage, and Shimura Danzō.
Could Haruto be one of Danzō's operatives?
"Looks like I guessed right," Haruto murmured softly, noticing the flicker of surprise on Itachi's face. "Now… can we talk?"
Itachi quickly masked his shock. In the dark of night, he activated his Sharingan, intent on casting a genjutsu to extract whatever information Haruto knew.
But to do that, he needed eye contact.
And that was when Itachi realized—Haruto wasn't looking at him at all, despite speaking directly to him.
This man… knew far more than Itachi had imagined.
"What do you want to talk about?"
After a moment of silence, Itachi asked while waiting for an opening to trigger his genjutsu.
"I told you—I want to work with you to stop the Uchiha coup."
Haruto repeated himself, then laid out his plan: to use the upcoming confrontation with the Hidden Cloud as a way to weaken the Uchiha's strength so they'd be incapable of launching a coup.
It was only a delaying tactic, but for now, it was the most effective option.
"You're far too naïve," Itachi said, shaking his head in quiet disappointment. In his eyes, Haruto was nothing more than an idealistic dreamer who had no idea how difficult this would be.
"Konoha's threats don't come from the Land of Lightning alone. The village in the desert covets water. The village on the islands covets land. The village clinging to the cliffs covets fertile soil. Your plan would only reignite wars that have just been quelled."
Itachi's words were sharp and to the point.
If Konoha went to war with the Hidden Cloud, other forces could easily join in. The already weakened Konoha could never fight on multiple fronts.
Pushing ahead blindly would only lead to total defeat.
Haruto couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration. Despite being his peer in age, Itachi had instantly spotted the flaw in his plan after hearing it only once.
But that was all.
Haruto had not come here on a whim—he was fully prepared.
If Itachi could see the flaw, then so could the Third Hokage. And yet the Hokage had still chosen to support him.
That was because the Hokage knew something Itachi didn't—Haruto's true strength.
During the Third Great Ninja War, the Legendary Sannin hadn't participated at all, and Konoha's "weakness" was largely due to the absence of Namikaze Minato, their only Kage-level powerhouse at the time.
But Haruto now surpassed even Minato.
So he outlined the rest of his plan: befriend the Hidden Sand, then use the Land of Rain to block the Hidden Stone's advances.
Itachi sighed.
While allying with the Hidden Sand was difficult, it wasn't impossible—their weaknesses had already been exposed during the last war: infertile soil that couldn't grow towering trees, and the weakest tailed beast among all villages.
The Land of Earth, however, was a different matter. Their strength was formidable.
And Haruto's idea… was to use a small country like the Land of Rain to hold them back.
Itachi found the notion laughable.
"You really think the weak Land of Rain can stop the mighty Land of Earth? Just because of Hanzō the Salamander? Sure, he's a strong shinobi, but against the Stone…"
"Hanzō? He's nothing but a little brother. That waste can't do anything."
Itachi froze.
The man who had fought the Sannin to a draw, whose name had echoed across the entire shinobi world—a "waste"?
Wait… if not Hanzō, then what was Haruto counting on in the Land of Rain? Could it be there was another… someone even more dangerous?
"Even if the Lands of Wind and Earth stay out of it, what makes you think you can control the Uchiha clan as they are now? What makes you think you can repel the Cloud shinobi? War isn't some children's game."
To Itachi, Haruto was no different from an armchair strategist, firing off sugar-coated words with no real grasp of war or its costs.
But then Haruto simply pointed at himself.
"Because I will make sure Konoha stands undefeated."