"Yo, Itachi—long time no see. Looks like while I was gone, you ran into a lot of trouble."
Shisui's voice was as gentle as ever, like warm sunlight cutting through the dark, tearing down every barricade inside Itachi's heart in an instant.
Staring at his living, breathing friend—at those perfectly intact Mangekyo Sharingan blazing with overwhelming ocular power—Itachi could no longer hold back the pain, confusion, and hope he'd buried for years.
He stepped forward with trembling arms and pulled Shisui into a tight embrace.
Even his usual composure cracked. He thumped a fist against Shisui's chest—so you really did come back—and, eyes brimming, gritted out, "You're here… that's… that's so good… so good…"
There was no wailing, no hysterics. Tears simply slipped in silence from behind his ANBU mask, soaking into Shisui's tunic.
This was the first true release of his emotions since the day he decided that, if the clan could not escape its plunge into the abyss, he would shoulder the sin of annihilation himself.
Feeling his friend's shuddering, Shisui lifted a hand and gently patted his back. He could tell Itachi had carried far, far too much all these years.
In Naka Shrine's courtyard, every Uchiha watched in silence. Shock, confusion, reverence—faces painted by a thousand tangled feelings. Their two brightest geniuses had reunited before them in a way none of them could understand.
Of course, some had never wished for Shisui's return—yet there he stood, undeniable and alive.
Fugaku looked from his son to the clan's once-dead prodigy and tasted five flavors at once. He didn't step in, only waited quietly.
Yatsushiro and the hawk elders sat ashen-faced where they'd collapsed. Staring at Shisui and Itachi, despair swallowed their eyes. With Shisui returned by a miracle—and standing beside Itachi—they had lost any leverage to oppose that mysterious youth.
In the end, only strength speaks. What they feared was not merely the person, but the strongest genjutsu—Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods). In their hearts, none of the hawks could even outline a path to "defeating" Kotoamatsukami.
Only after a long time did Itachi steady himself. He let go, wiped his cheeks, and returned to the composure befitting an ANBU captain.
Shisui smiled at him, then turned, sweeping his gaze across the gathered clan. When he saw the feverish refusal lingering on Yatsushiro and the others' faces, disappointment dimmed his eyes. He needed no explanation to grasp what had unfolded here.
He didn't scold them, nor did he question Fugaku. At this point it meant nothing. The Uchiha's true problem hadn't lain within for a long time.
Then Shisui did what no one—Itachi included—expected.
He faced the youth who had stood on the stone steps from beginning to end, calm and apart from it all.
He walked to Namikaze Shinju and stopped three paces away. The smile vanished; his expression turned solemn as iron.
Under the clan's wide, incredulous eyes, the prodigy called "Shunshin Shisui" dropped to one knee without hesitation.
He bowed his proud head and offered the most formal, humble vow of fealty.
"Shinju-sama."
Shisui's voice carried to every ear, brimming with gratitude and awe from the depths of his chest.
"Thank you for remaking me. I once swore to guard Konoha with these eyes, and ended up dead and blind. Clearly, I was wrong. My strength—and my resolve—were not enough to change anything. Thank you for giving me a chance to do it over."
"From this day on, this life and these eyes of Uchiha Shisui burn for you alone."
His words rang like hammered steel.
A legend, tempered by death and rebirth, had found a new and singular faith.
Watching his friend choose, Itachi hesitated no more. Shisui's choice was his choice. What Shinju had given him was not only a friend's return, but a road he had never dared to hope for.
Itachi stepped to Shisui's side, knelt on one knee, and bowed together with him.
He took off his ANBU mask, revealing delicate, resolute features.
"Namikaze Shinju-sama."
Itachi's voice was solemn beyond doubt.
"I, Uchiha Itachi, offer you everything."
Two geniuses speaking oath as one shocked the clan deeper than a lightning strike.
And it shattered their last, laughable pride into dust. If even the two strongest of the clan had chosen fealty, what right remained to resist, to cry for a coup? Even counting every rebel they might rally, they could scarcely stand against those two—and both bore overwhelming Sharingan abilities besides.
Fugaku looked at his kneeling son and Shisui and let out a long breath, bitter and helpless, yet more relieved than anything.
From this instant, the Uchiha's fate no longer sat in the clan head's hands, nor in those of frenzied elders.
It had been entrusted to that godlike, inscrutable boy.
Perhaps this was the only—and best—path left to the Uchiha. If the end could be made right, then as clan head he would gladly bargain for his people's sliver of life and a better tomorrow.
Shinju regarded the two kneeling before him in quiet satisfaction. At last, the clan's peak strength and its future were in his grasp.
He did not raise them at once. He let them kneel—so every Uchiha could see and understand that the era had changed.
After a time, he descended the steps and helped them up with his own hands.
"I accept your loyalty."
His voice was not loud, but it brooked no refusal.
"Itachi, your assignment hasn't changed. Remain in the ANBU—remain beside your father. I need you to be the sharpest eyes I've placed within the Uchiha."
"Yes," Itachi answered with crisp respect.
Shinju's gaze lingered on Shisui's flawless Mangekyo.
"Shisui, your greatest regret was failing to stop the tragedy."
There was a hint of playfulness in Shinju's tone.
"So now, I'll give you the chance to turn the heavens with your own hands."
He turned toward the heart of Konoha, where the Hokage Tower rose.
"My father, Namikaze Minato, already 'changed the administration' years ago—the Hokage and the advisor council. Those familiar faces, especially Danzo, you won't see them again. Itachi will fill you in on what's happened since."
"But you can still use your eyes on the old guard who remain in Konoha. Show them what the true Will of Fire really is."
(End of Chapter)
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