Chapter 76: Hokage Mentality
Cold moonlight splashed across the Uchiha clan head's residence. Uchiha Itachi stood on the front steps, black hair stirring slightly in the night wind, her twin tear troughs appearing even deeper in the pale moonlight.
"What exactly do you mean by this?"
Itachi's voice carried venom, each word laced with bone-deep chill. Below the steps, three men in Uchiha clan clothing stood in a semi-circle formation, hands casually resting on their weapon pouches.
"What do you think?" The lead man's Sharingan glowed crimson in the darkness. "Regarding Uchiha Shisui's sudden disappearance..."
"Even now, he's neither confirmed alive nor found dead. According to action records, the last person he met with... should have been you, right, Uchiha Itachi?"
Itachi could clearly see the suspicion and hostility churning in all three pairs of eyes. "So you're suggesting I made a move against Shisui?"
Her fingers clenched violently within her sleeves, nails digging deep into her palms, but this pain couldn't compare to the rage boiling in her chest.
'It was you!'
'Your plan killed Shisui! If you hadn't rushed to control the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, why would Shisui have confessed Kotoamatsukami to Danzō? Why would he have lost his eyes? Why would he have...'
"That's right, brat." The Uchiha at the back stepped forward. "Listen carefully, even if you're the clan head's daughter..."
He deliberately lowered his voice, adding naked threat. "If you dare betray the clan, we absolutely won't forgive you."
SLAM—!
A dull impact exploded through the night. The lead Uchiha didn't even have time to react before his body crashed hard against the stone wall carved with the clan symbol. The air was squeezed from his lungs by the devastating blow, a pained grunt escaping his throat.
'So fast...'
He hadn't even seen Itachi's movement.
Uchiha Itachi's hand gripped his collar in a death grip, pinning his entire body against the clan crest. In her crimson Sharingan, the three tomoe spun wildly, nearly tearing apart into more complex patterns.
"Constantly spouting 'clan this, clan that'..." Her voice came terrifyingly low, each word squeezed through gritted teeth. "You who say such things..."
The clan symbol cracked under the impact, the Uchiha fan design warped by his back pressed against it. The other two clan members lay on the ground, struggling to rise.
"How could you possibly understand... what was sacrificed because of you?!"
"Big sister!"
A childish voice suddenly called from behind.
Itachi's fingertips trembled slightly.
Uchiha Satsuki stood at the residence entrance, small hands clutching the doorframe, her obsidian eyes filled with alarm. She'd never seen her sister like this—that gentle sister was now pressing a clan member against the wall like a demon, darkness she couldn't comprehend churning in her gaze.
Satsuki...
Itachi's breathing hitched for a moment.
But the next instant, memory's images assaulted her again—Shisui standing at cliff's edge, blood streaming from empty sockets, giving her his final smile, then...
Falling.
"Itachi! Stop this immediately!"
Uchiha Fugaku's voice came from inside the house, urgent footsteps approaching.
But in Itachi's vision, only the face before her remained—still bearing arrogance and hostility. This person's expression was identical to those hawk faction members who clamored "control the Nine-Tails, launch the coup" at clan meetings.
It was you...
Her fingers tightened for an instant, the clan member's face flushing red from oxygen deprivation.
But ultimately—
Itachi abruptly released her grip, letting him slide to the ground, clutching his throat in violent coughing. She stepped back, the red slowly fading from her eyes, though the chill remained undiminished.
Under her father's stern gaze, she mechanically bowed her head, offering apologies to the three men.
Yet when she raised her eyes again—the ice in those Sharingan remained merciless.
---
Before the shrine's ancient torii gate, night wind lifted several withered leaves, spinning them down between the two figures.
Uchiha Itachi's black hair stirred in the breeze, framing her crimson Sharingan—the killing intent within had nearly crystallized.
Across from her, Shimura Danzō leaned on his walking stick, his voice hoarse and deliberate, as if consciously suppressing some emotion.
"Regarding Shisui's matter..." He sighed slightly, as though genuinely regretful. "I didn't want to go that far either."
"But those eyes—Kotoamatsukami... I simply couldn't trust them. I only intended to take the eyes, not claim his life."
Itachi stared fixedly at Danzō's right eye hidden beneath bandages—there, perhaps, lay Shisui's Mangekyō.
But she didn't strike, because acting now would completely invalidate Shisui's final wish.
"What are you trying to say?"
Danzō's cane tapped the ground lightly, producing dull sounds. "Regarding the Uchiha's internal plan to target the Nine-Tails... how many more years do you think Fugaku can suppress it?"
"The current Nine-Tails jinchūriki is only nine years old. Fugaku uses excuses about Satsuki and Naruto's future friendship bringing the Uchiha into Konoha's leadership to delay—but that's decades away at minimum."
"If someday... the Uchiha hawk faction no longer obeys the clan head's orders and independently kidnaps the Nine-Tails jinchūriki..."
His single eye gazed directly at Itachi, each word deliberate.
"How many people do you think would die if Konoha suffered another Nine-Tails rampage?"
Night wind brought bone-chilling cold. Itachi's Sharingan slowly rotated in the darkness, reflecting Danzō's wrinkled face—and the naked threat hidden behind his words.
Danzō leaned forward slightly. "Don't be fooled by the Third Hokage's pretty words. All that talk of negotiation, trust..."
"He is the Hokage. No matter what, the village's safety must come first."
Danzō continued. "Sarutobi's proposal fundamentally can't solve the Uchiha problem. He's just burying the bomb deeper, waiting for it to explode more violently later."
"So... I want you to make a choice."
"...Choice?"
Danzō nodded slowly. "Wait until the Uchiha coup, stand with your family, then be eliminated alongside them."
"Or... stand with Konoha, and before the rebellion erupts—" His voice paused, as if deliberately ensuring each following word would pierce deep into Itachi's ears.
"Spare your sister, then... kill every other Uchiha clan member."
"...Kill... every Uchiha clan member?"
Itachi's voice trembled slightly. She raised her head, the three tomoe in her Sharingan nearly blending together. She'd never imagined Danzō's solution would be so extreme—massacre.
Danzō's expression showed no wavering.
"This is a mission—a mission this old man gives you from his position in Konoha's leadership."
"This is a necessary measure to protect the village. Only you—an Uchiha who has earned Konoha's deep trust—can shoulder this mission."
Night wind stirred Itachi's long hair, revealing her pale profile.
"Itachi..." Danzō's single eye gazed directly at her. "Besides you, no one else can handle this."
"Will you accept this mission?"