"The future of the clan… please!"
Fugaku's plea echoed in Itachi's mind. For the first time, his father had cast aside his stern pride and begged him with raw desperation.
It was the voice of blood ties, of family.
Did Fugaku already know the truth—that his son was a Konoha spy planted within the Uchiha?
At that moment, Fugaku wasn't a clan head, nor a Hokage challenger. He was just a father pleading with his child.
"He wants me to choose… between the clan and the village?"
The thought staggered Itachi.
For a moment, he didn't feel crushed under the weight of despair, but the pressure was still suffocating. His chest felt so heavy he could hardly breathe.
His mind spun with dread.
The mission ahead—slaughtering the entire Uchiha clan, man, woman, and child—burned in his imagination, and it tore at him with every passing second.
"What should I do?"
"According to plan, I'm supposed to report to the Third Hokage about the clan's unrest. But do I really want to tell him?"
"For the village? Or…"
"But who cares about me? Who asks if I'm willing to carry this weight?"
"And Sasuke… even if he's spared, even if it's all staged… how much will it scar him? Is this really right?"
Itachi stood frozen, stiff as stone.
"Captain… your orders?"
The voices of his ANBU subordinates drifted in faintly, like echoes from the clouds.
"…Continue the patrol."
His tone was distant, hollow.
Then his eyes hardened.
Hesitation wasn't his way. He had chosen this path—now he would walk it.
"The Uchiha have decided to begin a revolution."
Inside the Hokage's office, Itachi knelt on one knee, face expressionless as he delivered the report.
Shimura Danzō's cold voice cut through the silence. "Then we must strike first."
The Third Hokage raised a hand. "Uchiha are our comrades. I'd rather solve this with dialogue than force. Let's be patient. I'll think of a solution."
Itachi lowered his head, lips pressed tight, his thoughts laced with bitter mockery.
Every time…
Dialogue.
Peace.
Countermeasures.
The Third Hokage always spoke of compromise and understanding. And yet… every time, Danzō acted in secret, pushing the situation to the brink. When disaster followed, the Hokage would only scold him afterward with soft words. Nothing ever changed.
Danzō did the dirty work.
Hiruzen kept the white lotus image.
And again… it would end the same.
The Uchiha would be massacred.
The Hokage would feign regret.
Danzō might be "punished," stripped of his title, asked to "reflect."
Then, after a while, he would return and continue his schemes.
Over and over.
The pattern made Itachi sick. His body trembled, not with fear—but with disgust.
The sky darkened with storm clouds. Thunder rolled across the heavens.
At a secluded shrine, two figures faced each other—Uchiha Itachi and Shimura Danzō.
Lightning flashed, twisting their shadows across the stone floor like demons roaring in the storm.
"I hope you're ready to choose, Itachi," Danzō said coldly.
"Stand with your clan in their betrayal, and die with them…
Or side with Konoha. Leave only your brother alive, and slaughter the rest."
Itachi's eyes widened.
It's happening. Just like the President said…
More than two years ago, Naruto had predicted this exact moment—that Danzō would corner him and use Sasuke as leverage.
Itachi's admiration for Naruto surged uncontrollably. If the President had foreseen this, then his promise to save the Uchiha must be ironclad.
His heart steadied. His mind sharpened.
"In order to protect Konoha, we must act before it's too late," Danzō pressed, voice thunderous. "Only one man can bear this burden: a double agent of both sides. Only you, Itachi."
Lightning lit the shrine, casting monstrous light across Danzō's face. Behind him, the Buddha statue warped in shadow, its features twisted into something sinister.
"Will you accept the mission?"
The storm raged. Thunder roared.
Itachi bowed his head, silent for a long time.
Here, in the temple ground, before the Buddha itself, he felt the deepest malice in the world pour off Danzō like poison.
Words caught in his throat.
Finally, from the depths of despair, his answer slipped out, hollow and broken:
"I… will."
Danzō's lips curled in satisfaction.
He laughed.
Everything was proceeding as he planned.
The Uchiha massacre had entered its final countdown.
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