After her usual pouring out of grievances, Itachi stood up to leave.
Yasuka could tell she still hadn’t taken any of it to heart, and he couldn’t help but sigh.
She was an even more obstinate fool than Shisui.
Yasuka watched her departing figure, then glanced at Shisui beside him.
“Are you still not planning to show yourself?”
“I’m sorry…
I…
really don’t want to get involved in this anymore.”
Shisui was thoroughly exhausted, both physically and mentally, by the affairs of the village and the clan.
Furthermore, she firmly believed that a dead Shisui was the only good Shisui.
“You really are…”
Yasuka raised his hand and patted Shisui’s head.
He didn’t agree with her choice, but he understood it by now.
As things stood, as long as someone was a normal person, they wouldn’t dare move against the Uchiha.
“Instead of that, Yasuka, what are we eating today?”
After leaving the medical clinic, Itachi was summoned by the Anbu to the Hokage Building.
This struck Itachi as strange because at this specific timeline, Danzo was serving as the Acting Hokage.
And Danzo hated the Uchiha more than anyone; how could he possibly summon her?
But with her Mangekyō providing a foundation of absolute confidence, Itachi did not fear Danzo taking action.
She simply followed the Anbu to the Hokage Building.
“You’ve arrived…”
The originally bright Hokage office had been altered by Danzo into a dark, gloomy style.
Even though he had become the Acting Hokage, he ultimately couldn’t change his preferred living conditions.
“Is there a matter, Lord Acting Hokage?”
Itachi silently prepared herself.
She knew Shisui had almost had her eye stolen before.
If Danzo dared to make a move against her, she would absolutely use Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu to counter-kill him.
“…”
Danzo remained silent, his exposed solitary eye staring behind Itachi.
The masked man who had previously attempted to scavenge bodies materialized, stepping out to stand quite openly beside Itachi.
“It’s you…”
Itachi no longer concealed her power, her Mangekyō glaring fixedly at the masked man.
“Itachi Uchiha, this is our…
third meeting, isn’t it?”
The masked man’s voice was deep and neutral, exposing a single Mangekyō.
He wasn’t afraid of Itachi in the slightest—it was just a Mangekyō, as if he didn’t have one himself.
Danzo silently unwrapped his bandages, revealing Kagami’s other eye.
If he didn’t possess a Mangekyō of his own, he wouldn’t dare cooperate with this bunch of red-eyed lunatics.
All at once, two pairs of Mangekyō and three individuals began a tense standoff.
“What on earth do you want?!”
“Hmph!
At a time like this, the old man will not hide it from you.
Today, Konoha will launch a purging of the Uchiha.”
Danzo openly stated his plan.
Originally, his desire to exterminate the clan stemmed not only from jealousy toward the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai, but more so from wanting to stockpile Sharingan.
However, as Shisui displayed a power comparable to a god, it made Danzo acutely realize that the inherently evil Uchiha would sooner or later overturn the natural order.
Precisely because of this, he chose to cooperate with this mysterious figure claiming to be Madara Uchiha, agreeing to split the eyes fifty-fifty.
He had already deployed the Anbu and Root.
Relying on his authority as Acting Hokage, he could absolutely slaughter the Uchiha down to the last person before the Third Hokage recovered.
Yet Madara Uchiha mentioned that Itachi Uchiha similarly possessed a Mangekyō, which was why they had no choice but to call her over.
Of course, Danzo didn’t believe he could single-handedly kill Itachi, but he knew perfectly well what Itachi’s weaknesses were: her younger sister, and that doctor named Yasuka.
“…”
Itachi was thoroughly enraged, the skeletal frame of Susanoo beginning to manifest around her body as she threw a punch at the masked man.
However, the attack passed straight through the masked man’s body, and the individual himself merely shook his head slightly.
He began to explain from Konoha’s perspective why the Uchiha had to be destroyed—and all of these points were learned from eavesdropping on what Yasuka had told Itachi.
Compared to Itachi, who was fanatical and a bit of a lovesick fool, the masked man had genuinely taken in everything Yasuka wanted to tell Itachi, even feeling…
it made an incredible amount of sense.
Furthermore, being a fellow Uchiha, the masked man knew Itachi’s thoughts perfectly well.
Itachi was by no means a normal Uchiha.
Undeniably, she was exactly the kind of evil Uchiha the Second Hokage spoke of, just like Madara.
Extremely obsessive, highly emotional, and a total landmine.
This kind of Uchiha was an unstable factor, but she could similarly serve as a sharp blade.
The masked man began to lecture that the Uchiha’s rebellion was an absolute certainty.
Even Shisui’s death and the Fourth Hokage’s guarantee had merely delayed the process.
As long as the contradictions between the two sides remained, this coup d’état would come sooner or later.
As he spoke up to this point, the masked man wanted to laugh a little.
Compared to Yasuka, an outsider, Danzo and the Third Hokage were the ones who truly distorted the Second Hokage’s will.
If it weren’t for their unceasing suppression, would the Uchiha have ever progressed toward a coup?
Therefore, the problem didn’t lie with the Uchiha; it lay with the Konoha higher-ups.
But none of that mattered to the masked man; he stood to gain benefits this time anyway.
After the truth was laid out by the masked man, Itachi’s face looked rather unsightly.
Compounded by Danzo seizing the momentum to state that Satsuki could live, Itachi began to waver.
In the evening, Yasuka began to enforce that Haku and Naruko must learn to sleep on their own.
However, as compensation, he would tell them bedtime stories.
No one could have anticipated that under these circumstances, Danzo would actually still dare to draw his blade against the Uchiha.
Shisui sat on the tatami mat.
For some unknown reason, she felt today that something was amiss somewhere—as if…
some major event was about to occur.
“If you truly can’t let it go, go back and take a look.”
Yasuka sat beside Shisui.
He knew Shisui’s internal conflict; she desired to break free from the past, yet she couldn’t stop worrying about her clan.
“Um…
Yasuka, I’ll be back as fast as I can.”
Shisui hesitated for a long time before deciding to head back to the Uchiha to check first.
It would take a few minutes at most anyway.
“Mm.”
Yasuka thus watched Shisui depart, preparing to take a bath and then head to bed.
But just as he finished changing his clothes and stepped out, he discovered Itachi had arrived as well.
“Itachi?
Why are you here?”
Yasuka found it a bit strange.
At this hour, Itachi shouldn’t be leaving her house; what was she doing running over to his place for no reason?
“Yasuka…”
Itachi’s mood was highly complex.
Looking at the Yasuka before her, she recalled everything from their first meeting to becoming well-acquainted.
From beginning to end, Yasuka had been trying to find a way to help her step out of the dark.
Yet in the end…
she had still disappointed Yasuka.
“What on earth happened…”
Yasuka was as patient as always, sitting beside Itachi to question and guide her.
He was a doctor, so he naturally had to invest care into his patient.
Furthermore, he had believed Itachi could become better, rather than becoming the clan-slaughtering maniac of the original plot.
“I’m sorry…
Yasuka, I…
hope you can look after Satsuki in the future.”
Itachi’s gaze evaded his, and Yasuka finally caught on, looking at Itachi in utter disbelief.
“You…
what are you going to do?”
“I’m sorry…
Yasuka…”
Itachi didn’t dare answer Yasuka, not even daring to face his gaze.
Her heart, which had originally been persuaded, seemed to begin wavering once more.
“Itachi!
Answer me, what on earth do you think you’re doing?!” Yasuka grabbed Itachi by the collar.
Time and time again, he had explained to Itachi how to resolve the issue of the clan’s extermination, yet in the end, this girl hadn’t listened to a single word.
“I’m sorry…”
Itachi had never seen Yasuka look disappointed in anyone, but today, that exact gaze fell upon her.
Yasuka had been so gentle, so patient, and had trusted her so much before, yet at this very moment, all of that seemed on the verge of vanishing.
Perhaps realizing she could no longer turn back, Itachi finally couldn’t endure it any longer.
Since she had to become a monster, she might as well carry it through to the absolute end!
“Yasuka…”
“Get out!!
Mgh…”