The cold moonlight spilled before the Uchiha Clan Leader's residence. Uchiha Itachi stood on the steps, her black hair gently ruffled by the night wind, and the two tear troughs on her face appeared even deeper under the pale moonlight.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Itachi's voice was like poison, each word laced with bone-chilling coldness. Below the steps, three men in Uchiha clan attire stood in a semi-circle, their hands casually resting on their ninja tool pouches.
"What do you think?" The Sharingan of the leading man glowed crimson in the darkness. "Regarding Uchiha Shisui's sudden disappearance..."
"To this day, he's neither alive nor dead. According to mission records, the last person he saw... should have been you, Uchiha Itachi?"
Itachi could clearly see the suspicion and hostility swirling in the three men's eyes. "So, you suspect I harmed Shisui?"
Her fingers, hidden in her sleeve, clenched suddenly, her nails digging deeply into her palm. But this pain was nothing compared to the raging fury in her chest.
It was you!
It was your plan that killed Shisui! If you hadn't been so eager to control the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, why would Shisui have confessed Kotoamatsukami to Danzo? Why would he have lost his eyes? Why would he have...
"That's right, you brat." The Uchiha clan member standing at the back suddenly stepped forward. "Listen, even if you are the Uchiha Clan Leader's daughter..."
He deliberately lowered his voice, a naked threat in his tone. "If you dare to betray the clan, we will absolutely not spare you."
"Bang—!"
A dull thud exploded in the night. The leading Uchiha clan member didn't even have time to react before his body was violently slammed against the stone wall carved with the clan's emblem. The air in his lungs was squeezed out by the heavy impact, and a painful groan escaped his throat.
So fast...
He hadn't even seen Itachi's movements.
Uchiha Itachi's hand was clenched tightly on his collar, pinning him against the clan emblem. In her crimson Sharingan, three tomoe spun wildly, almost tearing into more complex patterns.
"Clan, clan, clan..." Her voice was terrifyingly low, each word seemingly forced out through gritted teeth. "You who say such things..."
The clan emblem on the wall cracked under the impact, the Uchiha fan symbol distorted by his back. The other two clan members lay on the ground, struggling to get up.
"How do you know... what was sacrificed behind your backs because of you?!"
"Sister!"
A tender voice suddenly came from behind her.
Itachi's fingertips trembled slightly.
Uchiha Satsuki stood at the entrance of the residence, her small hands clutching the doorframe, her obsidian-like eyes filled with terror. She had never seen her sister like this—the sister who was always gentle, now like a demon, pressing a clan member against the wall, her eyes swirling with a darkness Satsuki couldn't comprehend.
Satsuki...
Itachi's breath hitched for a moment.
But the next moment, the memory flooded back—Shisui standing on the edge of the cliff, his empty eye sockets streaming blood, giving her one last smile, and then...
Falling.
"Itachi! Stop it!"
Uchiha Fugaku's voice came from inside the house, footsteps rapidly approaching.
But in Itachi's vision, there was only the face before her, still filled with arrogance and hostility. The look in this man's eyes was identical to those hawks who clamored at clan meetings about "controlling the Nine-Tails and staging a coup."
It's you...
Her fingers tightened for a moment, and the clan member's face turned red from suffocation.
But in the end—
Itachi suddenly let go, allowing the man to slide to the ground, coughing violently as he clutched his throat. She took a step back, the blood-red color slowly receding from her eyes, but the coldness remained undiminished.
Under her father's stern gaze, she mechanically lowered her head and apologized to the three men.
But when she looked up again—the coldness in those Sharingan remained piercing.
— — — — — —
Before the old torii gate of the shrine, the night wind stirred a few withered leaves, which swirled and fell between the two.
Uchiha Itachi's black hair was gently ruffled by the wind, highlighting her crimson Sharingan—the killing intent within them almost solidified.
Across from her, Danzo Shimura leaned on his cane, his voice hoarse and slow, as if deliberately suppressing some emotion.
"Regarding Shisui's matter..." He sighed faintly, as if truly regretting it. "This old man didn't want to go that far."
"But those eyes—'Kotoamatsukami'... This old man truly couldn't trust them. My original intention was only to take the eyes, not to take his life."
Itachi stared intently at Danzo's right eye, hidden beneath the bandages—there, perhaps, lay Shisui's Mangekyo.
But she didn't act, because acting now would completely invalidate Shisui's last wish.
"What do you want to say?"
Danzo's cane tapped the ground gently, emitting a dull sound. "Regarding the Uchiha's internal plan to move against the Nine-Tails... How many more years do you think Fugaku can suppress it?"
"The current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is only nine years old. Fugaku is using excuses like 'Satsuki and Naruto befriending each other in the future to enter the Konoha leadership' to delay—but that's at least decades away."
"If one day... the Uchiha hawks no longer obey the Uchiha Clan Leader's orders and kidnap the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki on their own..."
His single eye stared directly at Itachi, enunciating each word.
"How many people do you think would die if Konoha experienced another Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Incident?"
The night wind brought a bone-chilling coldness. Itachi's Sharingan slowly rotated in the darkness, reflecting Danzo's wrinkled face—and the naked threat hidden behind his words.
Danzo leaned forward slightly. "Don't be fooled by the Third Hokage's pretty words. 'Peace talks,' 'trust'..."
"He is the Hokage, and at all times, the safety of the village must come first," Danzo continued. "Hiruzen's proposal doesn't solve the Uchiha's problem at all. He's just burying the bomb deeper, waiting for it to explode more violently in the future."
"So... I want you to make a choice."
"...A choice?"
Danzo slowly nodded. "Is it to wait until the Uchiha coup, stand with your family, and then be annihilated with them."
"Or... stand with Konoha, and before the rebellion happens—" His voice paused, as if deliberately wanting every subsequent word to deeply pierce Itachi's ears.
"Save your sister, and then... kill all Uchiha clan members."
"...Kill... all Uchiha clan members?"
Itachi's voice trembled slightly. She looked up, the three tomoe in her Sharingan almost merging into one. She had never imagined that Danzo's plan would be so extreme—slaughter.
Danzo's expression didn't waver in the slightest.
"This is a mission, a mission I give you from the perspective of a Konoha elder."
"This is a necessary measure to protect the village. Only you, being an Uchiha and deeply trusted by Konoha, can shoulder this mission."
The night wind blew Itachi's long hair, revealing her pale profile.
"Itachi..." Danzo's single eye stared directly at her. "No one else can do this besides you."
"Are you willing to accept this mission?"