Chapter 169: Shisui: "Itachi, What Have You Done?"
"Is it… already over? It had only just begun, and now it's finished… Hah! I'm sorry, Shisui, I've failed you. I couldn't cut the tumor from the Leaf."
"The tumor on the Leaf has grown to a point where I cannot remove it alone. I had actually found an ally, but I didn't expect to be too late…"
"So, the ninja world really does have a Pure Land of the Underworld. I can feel my soul being summoned by a place, and it's leading me in that direction."
Uchiha Itachi mumbled to himself, his gaze wandering blankly in all directions. He found that he was alone in a place of complete emptiness.
He looked down at his own hands, and the faces of his father, his mother, and Sasuke flashed through his mind.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I had wanted to teach you how to throw shuriken again when all this was over. I wanted to hear you call me 'brother' one more time."
"Sadly, there's no chance now. Maybe in a few decades or a hundred years, we will meet again."
As he walked, Uchiha Itachi was suddenly startled and looked up. Not far in front of him, there was a figure standing there.
Uchiha Itachi's eyes widened, and a name escaped his lips, a look of shock undeniable on his face: "Shisui?!"
The figure standing in front of him was none other than Uchiha Shisui.
"Itachi, I thought I'd have to wait here for you for at least a few decades."
In reality, Shisui had lost both of his eyes a year ago one was taken by Danzo, and the other he had given to Uchiha Itachi. But here, Shisui's eyes were perfectly intact, and he was smiling as he looked at Uchiha Itachi.
"It seems you, too, have failed, just like me."
As he spoke, Shisui watched Uchiha Itachi walk toward him. He didn't say anything harsh. Instead, he patted Itachi's shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry, even without us, others will step up. That's how the Leaf works. We fallen leaves will become nourishment for the new generation, and they will inherit our will. Sometimes, you have to believe in the wisdom of the next generation."
Uchiha Itachi felt the touch on his shoulder. He slowly took a deep breath, hiding the sting in his nose.
He asked Uchiha Shisui, "Have you… been waiting for me here all this time?"
"Yes!"
Shisui sighed. "I couldn't feel at ease with you. After all, you were only ten or eleven when I left? You were too young. How could I possibly not worry about you?"
"But I didn't expect… you would meet an even earlier end than I did." Shisui scratched his head remorsefully. "Ah, maybe it's my fault for giving you my eye on a whim… It was a bad idea."
"By the way, can you tell me what happened? It's hard for me to see what's going on from here."
Uchiha Itachi fell silent.
After a moment, he spoke. "I believe the tumors that have made the Leaf what it is are the Uchiha clan and Uchiha Ikeizumi. I tried to save the Leaf in my own way, so I decided to cooperate with a man in the Akatsuki who calls himself 'Uchiha Madara'."
When he heard this, Shisui's face visibly showed a look of shock.
"I formulated two plans. The first was to kill Uchiha Ikeizumi and completely destroy his Absolute Justice. Because the threat of Absolute Justice to the Leaf is no less than that of the radical ninja within the Uchiha clan."
"The goal of the second plan…" Uchiha Itachi paused, then continued, "was to annihilate the entire Uchiha clan. The Uchiha clan is either consumed by radical ideology or washed over by Absolute Justice."
"Furthermore, the very way the Uchiha awaken their Sharingan is inherently radical, making the clan itself the biggest unstable element in the Leaf."
"Only by eliminating both of these can the two biggest tumors be completely removed, and true peace can be achieved for the village."
"Unfortunately…"
Uchiha Itachi shook his head. "I was no match for Uchiha Ikeizumi. Before I could make my move… he killed me."
Uchiha Shisui stood completely frozen. He stared blankly at Uchiha Itachi.
"Then…" Shisui stammered, "What about the Mangekyō I gave you? What about my Kotoamatsukami?"
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath. "I was going to use it to place Kotoamatsukami on Sasuke, so that for the rest of his life, he would be loyal to the Leaf. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I planned to leave Sasuke behind to rebuild a new Uchiha clan."
"The new Uchiha clan, built by him with the brand of Kotoamatsukami, would be one that is forever loyal to the Leaf and the Hokage, just like the Hyūga clan."
Shisui's mouth hung open. "Kotoamatsukami… on… Sasuke? On a child… who's only six or seven?"
"Itachi…"
Shisui was stunned. "What are you doing? I left that eye with you so you could use it to protect the Leaf, to change the Uchiha's will to coup. Not so you could annihilate the Uchiha clan, implant it into Sasuke's body, and use it to control a six-or-seven-year-old child…"
The smile on Uchiha Itachi's face froze.
Shisui murmured, "How can you be so certain that Sasuke, as a child, can revitalize the Uchiha clan when he's the only one left? Why would you make Sasuke endure such pain? Itachi, what in the world are you doing?!"
Shisui found that he couldn't keep up with Itachi's thought process. He racked his brain but couldn't understand why he wanted to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan. Why he wanted to target Ikeizumi's Absolute Justice.
What kind of mind, what kind of world-shattering wisdom, could come up with such a plan to save the village?
"Itachi, are you…"
Shisui's mouth opened. He was utterly baffled, and with a touch of concern, he asked, pointedly.
"…Did something happen to you?"
Uchiha Itachi was stunned.
Why, he thought, did Shisui not approve of his grand plan? His father had fully approved of it, and he was even pleased with his choice.
Had Shisui… changed?
In the Present Day, Leaf Village
"Susanoo!?" Seeing the gigantic, red Susanoo, seemingly made of lava, Uchiha Fugaku gasped sharply.
His stern face involuntarily showed a look of horror. "It has a lava aura. This is Ikeizumi's Susanoo! A fully armored Susanoo? What stage is this?"
"Has Ikeizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan grown to this extent? Is he trying to surpass Uchiha Madara from back then?"
Then, the horrified Fugaku thought of a more serious question.
"Then who was the other Susanoo that was just split in two?!"
In Uchiha Fugaku's memory, only a few people in the entire Uchiha clan had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in the last decade.
One was himself, one was Shisui, and one was Ikeizumi.
The other Susanoo couldn't have been his, and Shisui had died years ago. Ikeizumi's was this gigantic Susanoo.
"…Itachi!!!"
Fugaku was shocked. He suddenly slowed down his run. A look of blankness and bewilderment appeared on his face.
Was that really Itachi?
If it was really Itachi, what was Itachi's condition after his Susanoo was split in two by Ikeizumi's Susanoo? Or rather… could he still be alive?
Fugaku's heart sank.
"What is that…" On the other side, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was rushing to the scene with his ANBU ninja, also stopped. His cloudy eyes were filled with deep shock.
"Husband, if I'm not mistaken, isn't that a secret technique of the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan?"
A sudden voice made Sarutobi Hiruzen look around. He saw Jiraiya standing not far away! The "person" who spoke was none other than Sage Shima, who was perched on Jiraiya's shoulder.
Sage Shima continued, "I think it's called Susanoo? I saw a ninja named Uchiha Madara use it before."
Jiraiya's grave voice also rang out. "If it's truly a Mangekyō Sharingan secret technique, then this must be Ikeizumi's. The armor on that giant figure and the huge ninja blade in its hand both have lava flowing on them. His dōjutsu has perfectly fused with his kekkei genkai."
Then, Jiraiya turned his head and looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and the ANBU ninja.
Jiraiya's voice grew louder. "Old Man, I thought Ikeizumi had his eyes on you, but it turns out I was overthinking it."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent for a moment. He took a deep look at the towering Susanoo and couldn't help but take a breath.
If Ikeizumi were to truly use this ability against him, the Third Hokage, in a one-on-one fight… Sarutobi Hiruzen realized that he didn't have many ways to counter it. This gigantic being was already beyond the scope of a normal ninja. Ikeizumi had definitely entered the "Kage" tier.
And.
Within the "Kage" tier, Ikeizumi was a top-level ninja. Only his younger self would have been able to face him head-on.
Now that he was old, he truly didn't have the full confidence to fight such a Uchiha Ikeizumi.
In other words, his repeated patience with Ikeizumi, and his constant suppression of the hatred for his two deceased sons… was the right choice.
Otherwise, if Ikeizumi, with a power like this, were to wreak havoc in the Leaf Village, the destruction would be no less than that of the Nine-Tails attack. It would be a second Nine-Tails rampage, and it might even cause more terror than the last one, as the Leaf was much weaker now than it was back then.
At this moment, everyone in the Leaf Village was looking at the Susanoo, which resembled a god descending from the heavens.
A few people recalled similar records in some ancient texts.
But the vast majority of people, including ninja, had no idea what it was.
"What kind of monster is that? Is another Nine-Tails rampage about to happen?"
An older Leaf Village chūnin was filled with a nervous expression. He was already recalling the horrifying scenes from the night of the Nine-Tails attack.
The person next to him swallowed hard. "Don't scare me! If it's a situation similar to the Nine-Tails, the village should have sounded the alarm, right? The alarm hasn't been sounded yet, so it should be fine, right?"
"I don't care anymore. I'm taking my family to a shelter just in case something really happens tonight!"
"Is that a jutsu a ninja can use? What kind of jutsu is that? The Akimichi clan's Multi-Size Jutsu?"
"Hiss! Multi-Size Jutsu can't be that big, can it?"
"Inoichi, that must be… a secret jutsu of the Uchiha clan, right?"
Nara Shikaku asked Yamanaka Inoichi.
Yamanaka Inoichi nodded slightly. "I think it's called Susanoo."
Akimichi Choza said, "It's called Susanoo. The Akimichi clan's records mentioned this dōjutsu. An ancestor of the Akimichi clan once saw an Uchiha ninja use Susanoo, but I remember the Susanoo described in the records wasn't this big."
Akimichi Choza exclaimed in awe, "This kind of power is enough to influence the outcome of a large-scale war, and such power is held by just one person."
With that, Akimichi Choza looked at Yamanaka Inoichi. "Inoichi, it seems you did lead us to make the right choice. Ikeizumi, who has demonstrated this power, is already qualified to run for the next Hokage."
"If we add the power of our three clans, it seems there won't be any difficulty for Ikeizumi to become the Fifth Hokage. The only obstacle might be whether the Third Hokage is willing to give up his power."
Yamanaka Inoichi shook his head. "Ikeizumi isn't the kind of person who would want to be Hokage. It's not that he's not qualified. If he were to become the Hokage, he would definitely make the Leaf Village even more brilliant, perhaps even returning it to the peak military strength it had during the First Hokage's era."
"But his ambition isn't here. The position of the Fifth Hokage would only restrict him. His eyes are not just on the Leaf; they are on the entire ninja world."
Akimichi Choza scratched his head apologetically. "I was thinking too small."
"Don't worry."
Yamanaka Inoichi said, "Given Ikeizumi's personality, if the Third Hokage were to retire and a Fifth Hokage were to be chosen, Ikeizumi would definitely interfere with this election. He would surely nominate someone who believes in Absolute Justice to be the Fifth Hokage."
"This way, Absolute Justice and the Will of Fire can truly be integrated. By then, Absolute Justice can use the power of the Leaf to quickly spread throughout the Land of Fire."
"It could even reach out with its tentacles to other ninja nations, other ninja villages, and the entire ninja world."
"This is Ikeizumi's true vision."
Nara Shikaku put his hands in his pockets and sighed. "We can only feel at ease with a person with such 'ambition' if that person is Ikeizumi. If it were someone else, we would have to worry about whether they wanted to use this opportunity to rule the ninja world and become the supreme being."
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