A small border town along the edge of the Land of Fire.
Night had settled over the rooftops when a thin cloud of sleeping powder drifted through a modest wooden house. Three armed mercenaries collapsed silently where they stood. The door slid open, revealing two Uchiha and a single small silhouette trailing behind them. The taller figure bore a single-tomoe Sharingan; the shorter, unmistakably the leader, carried the full whirl of three tomoe.
Shisui moved first. With a flick of his wrist, three senbon pierced the mercenaries' pressure points, plunging them into an unbreakable sleep—enough to reveal whether any of them were merely pretending.
Only after the room was secured did he turn toward the children: eight of them, wrists bound with rough rope, lined up like livestock awaiting transport.
"Yoru," Shisui murmured, voice tight. "These three were traffickers. According to intel, these children were bound for the Land of Iron."
Yoru nodded, gaze steady.Beside him, six-year-old Uchiha Itachi stared in mute confusion. He had seen battle at four years old. He had survived the Nine-Tails assault at five. But he had not yet learned how to interpret the cruelty in front of him.
Shisui knelt at Itachi's side. "These kids were taken from villages… or from the streets. All of them can mold chakra. That's why smaller nations pay for them. They need new shinobi to replace the ones swallowed by war."
Itachi's brows pinched together. His young mind wanted to reject it. Wanted to believe this world had rules.
Yoru exhaled sharply. "Shisui, don't water it down. The Five Great Nations buy more of these children than anyone else."
Silence filled the cabin.
Yoru sat by the firepit, pulled the mercenaries' travel rations toward him, and started warming them over the flames. The casualness of the motion contrasted sharply with the ropes still cutting into the children's wrists.
He stood, clapped dust from his hands, and formed a string of seals.
Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram.
"Summoning Jutsu."
A thick-scaled brown serpent exploded from a swirl of white smoke. Its golden eyes gleamed hungrily at the children.
Yoru stared down at it. "They're over there. Take all eight to Orochimaru-sensei. If you so much as swallow one…"His chakra surged, sharp as a blade."…I'll roast you myself."
The serpent recoiled, cowed, then slithered toward the children.
Itachi flinched, torn between horror and questions. He finally whispered:
"Shisui-niisan… why are we collecting children who can use chakra?"
It wasn't a naive question. It was a boy searching for an anchor before the world shaped him into something hollow.
Yoru saw the flicker of uncertainty behind Itachi's eyes and felt his stomach twist.This… this is where the rot starts, he thought.The original Itachi had walked into the Academy with a heart full of doubt and a mind hungry for answers. The village had been more than happy to provide its own.
Yoru refused to let that happen again.
He waited until the serpent's grotesque swallowing sounds faded into the forest, then spoke.
"Itachi," Yoru said quietly, "Shisui isn't wrong. But you're not an ordinary child. You saw war at four. You understand what most adults refuse to admit."
Itachi stepped closer, drawn in by something he didn't yet have words for.
Yoru let out a dry laugh—one without warmth."The truth is simple. Those children's futures were already stolen. If we don't move first, another nation will. And when that happens? The consequences fall on our villages. On our families. On us."
Shisui winced. "Yoru… he's still—"
Yoru shot him a glare sharp enough to cut."You took him to the battlefield at four. Don't pretend he can't handle the truth at six."
Shisui lowered his head.
Yoru turned back to the fire, embers reflecting in his Sharingan."That calm look on your face, Itachi… that's the look of someone who's already seen too much. The look of the Clan Head's heir."
Itachi didn't speak, but his attention sharpened.
Yoru's tone softened just enough to avoid cruelty."Understand this: if you enjoy the privileges of being Uchiha, then you must also carry the weight that comes with it. Power demands clarity, not innocence."
He lifted his eyes toward Shisui.
"When we return," Yoru said, "teach him everything. The politics between nations. The cost of peace. The true shape of the world he's supposed to protect."
Because if Itachi didn't build his values now, someone else would do it for him.
And the clan would pay the price.