“It won’t be necessary, Brother.” Shinsuke didn’t even slow his steps.
He cut him off expressionlessly, his voice devoid of warmth.
“I still have things to do, so I won’t trouble you.” With that, he walked straight through the courtyard without looking back.
Inside the living room, Fugaku watched Itachi with an increasingly complicated expression.
How could he not know the relationship between the two boys?
Years ago, Shinsuke had repeatedly exposed Konoha’s hypocritical claims of peace right in front of Itachi, hoping to pull his nephew back from his almost blind faith in the Hokage.
Every discussion ended on bad terms.
In Itachi’s eyes, Shinsuke was a complete extremist, the root cause of the growing divide between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha.
The two of them couldn’t even sit down for a meal together.
Even when they crossed paths, they rarely exchanged an extra word.
And now, after returning from the Hokage Building, Itachi had suddenly asked Shinsuke to stay for dinner?
Fugaku had been the Uchiha Clan Head for many years.
If he couldn’t see through something this obvious, the village would have swallowed him whole long ago.
“Father, the clan…
seems to have been selling off quite a few of its businesses recently,” Itachi said first, breaking the silence.
“The clan has been declining for years.
Our registered shinobi number isn’t even thirty percent of what it was at its peak.” Fugaku withdrew his gaze and took a sip of tea, his tone calm and unreadable.
“Selling a few idle properties in exchange for resources to help the younger generation with their training isn’t a problem.” Itachi nodded and didn’t press the issue, but he quickly changed the subject.
“Father, I just remembered I need to speak with Shinsuke about something.
I’ll head out first.” “Itachi.” Fugaku suddenly raised his voice and slammed the document in his hand onto the table.
He looked up at his son, his face turning cold as disappointment and warning surged through his eyes.
Itachi simply stood there in silence, calmly meeting his father’s gaze.
His expression didn’t change, nor did his eyes waver in the slightest.
Fugaku’s heart slowly sank, as though it had been thrown into a frozen lake in the middle of winter.
In the end, all that remained was a powerless sigh.
He waved his hand and said nothing more.
Itachi gave a slight nod before turning around and leaving the living room, quickly heading in the direction Shinsuke had gone.
On the stone paved street, Shinsuke was making his way back to his residence when a familiar trace of chakra drifted toward him on the wind, carrying the cold aura unique to the ANBU.
He stopped and turned around.
Uchiha Itachi stood not far behind him, his eyes as cold as ice, staring directly at him.
“Everything that’s been happening in the clan lately…
you’re the one behind it, aren’t you?” Itachi asked first, his voice filled with undisguised accusation.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Shinsuke curled his lips slightly, speaking as casually as if they were discussing today’s weather.
Those words seemed to ignite a fuse.
A crimson glow instantly surged into Itachi’s eyes as the Three Tomoe Sharingan emerged.
Even his chakra carried an unconcealed killing intent.
“Uchiha Shinsuke, consider this your warning.” His voice was low, every word carrying an icy chill.
“If I find out you’re provoking conflict between the clan and the village, I’ll kill you with my own hands.” “I’ll say it one more time.
I have no idea what nonsense you’re talking about.” Shinsuke met Itachi’s murderous gaze without the slightest fear.
Instead, his own voice grew even colder.
“I’m just a mere Chunin.
Major clan affairs are decided by the Clan Head and the elders.
It’s not my place to interfere.” (By the way, Uchiha Shinsuke possesses the strength of a Jonin, but his official Konoha rank is only Chunin.
Rank does not equal strength.) For the past two years, he had never stopped investigating the truth behind his parents’ deaths.
They had been assigned an S Rank top secret mission.
Aside from Fugaku, only the Hokage’s senior leadership knew the mission’s route and details.
In the end, the mission failed, and not even a complete body was returned to the clan.
Other than that rat hiding in the shadows, Shimura Danzō, who else could have been responsible?
In Shinsuke’s eyes, the Itachi standing before him was nothing more than an ungrateful traitor.
He constantly preached about protecting both the village and the clan, yet in the end, he sided with Konoha’s leadership, becoming their sharpest blade and turning it against his own people.
To Shinsuke, he was no different from the higher ups of Konoha.
He had long since written down the blood debt owed for his parents’ deaths.
Sooner or later, he would collect every last bit of it, with interest, from Konoha’s leadership and from this so called brother.
One day, he would make the whole of Konoha experience what it felt like to fall into an endless hell.
Seeing the cold, violent intent surging in Shinsuke’s eyes, Itachi narrowed his own, and the killing intent radiating from him grew even stronger.
But at that moment, members of the Uchiha Police Force patrolling both sides of the street, along with passing clansmen, sensed the tense confrontation and began casting curious glances in their direction.
Itachi abruptly withdrew his chakra, and the crimson in his eyes vanished in an instant.
He gave Shinsuke one final cold look, said nothing more, then turned and walked away.
Watching his departing figure disappear into the distance, Shinsuke remained expressionless.
He merely let out a scornful chuckle before turning around and continuing toward his residence.
He still had far too many things to oversee.
The progress of the barrier, the inventory of supplies, and the preparations for the teleportation gate beneath Naka Shrine.
Every one of them was urgent.
He had no time to play cat and mouse games with a fool who had been brainwashed by Konoha.
— Late Autumn, Year 54 of Konoha.
Exactly one month had passed since the day Shinsuke laid everything on the table with Fugaku.
The maple leaves throughout the Uchiha Clan compound had turned a brilliant red, covering half the sky.
Fallen leaves drifted across the stone paved streets in the autumn wind.
Everything looked as ordinary as ever.
The pharmacies and ninja tool shops along the streets remained open, while patrolling clansmen continued following their usual routes.
Only those living within the compound knew the truth.
Beneath the calm surface, the entire clan had become like a fully drawn bow, waiting only for the moment the string was released.
During that month, every asset the Uchiha Clan had accumulated over more than fifty years in the Land of Fire had been thoroughly liquidated.
From vast mines and fertile farmland along the borders of the Land of Fire, to restaurants and shops in the capital, to storefronts inside Konoha, medicinal herb stores, and even ninja tool forges that exclusively supplied shinobi.
Every asset that could be converted into cash had been secretly transferred by Fugaku through the hidden channels of the Ninja Cats, connecting directly with merchants who served the Fire Daimyō.
Every contract was signed at prices thirty percent below market value.
Only one strict condition was added to every agreement.
Ownership of every property, along with the replacement of its personnel, would officially be completed one month later.
Until then, the Uchiha Clan would retain full operating rights.
That single clause completely shut Konoha’s spies out.
On the surface, every shop remained open for business, and money continued flowing in and out exactly as before.
No one would ever imagine that these Uchiha businesses, passed down through generations, had already changed owners.