Chapter 268: Is It a Ninja World Trend to Fight First and Then Talk?
Kenichi rested his chin on his hand and studied Itachi and Sasuke in front of him. Both of them looked terrible, but Itachi was clearly in the worst state.
The moment he learned his father, the clan head, was dead, Itachi's emotions snapped. He lost control and used Amaterasu, setting a nearby dango stall on fire.
Thankfully, Kenichi reacted fast and used the Sealing Fire Suppression Seal to seal the black flames away.
As for the terrified stall owner, Shisui paid compensation on the spot, and the man immediately "forgot" what he had seen.
Still, Kenichi had to admit something. Amaterasu's reputation was not nearly as frightening as the stories made it sound. People called it an eternal flame, but there were plenty of ways to deal with it. Like the Uchiha's Great Fireball Jutsu, it was a visual technique where the hype often outweighed the real value.
No wonder Itachi rarely used Amaterasu. Most of the time, he relied on Tsukuyomi instead. Tsukuyomi's genjutsu effect was excellent, and the control it provided was even more deadly.
In a high level fight, even a few seconds of disorientation was usually enough to decide everything.
"…Is the clan head really dead?" Shisui asked, unable to stop himself.
He knew Kenichi would not joke about something tied to his clan's survival, but Shisui still wanted it to be a lie.
"Yes." Kenichi nodded. "His eyes were gouged out, and he was hanged at Konoha's entrance."
Kenichi understood what Shisui wanted to hear, but reality could be cruel and cold.
Shisui's eyes looked dead.
Kenichi had seen eyes like that before.
In his previous life, he once went to a hospital with a classmate. When she saw the test report, terror flooded her face. The next time Kenichi saw her, her eyes looked just like Shisui's now, exactly the same.
Kenichi scratched his head. Saying all this to Shisui and Itachi felt brutal, but there was no point hiding it. Even if he stayed silent, they would learn the truth sooner or later.
Besides, these Uchiha truly seemed determined to cling to their quiet, harmonious life.
That would not do.
Itachi finally seemed to shake himself out of his daze. He suddenly stood up and rushed away, nearly frantic, not even sparing Sasuke a glance.
"Itachi!" Shisui shouted, immediately chasing after him.
Yes, Shisui did not spare Sasuke a glance either.
The poor kid sat there blankly, clearly not even realizing that both of his older "brothers" had just left him behind.
Kenichi could only sigh. He scooped up the dazed Sasuke and followed quickly.
After this, Itachi and Shisui would probably wake up for real.
Then, whether they wanted it or not, they would step back into the shinobi life they might have hated.
The shinobi world was a meat grinder. No matter how much a shinobi wanted to escape, something always dragged them back. It forced them to rush into it without hesitation, fighting to the death, and pulling others in along the way.
In the end, countless tragedies were born.
"…Come to think of it, I'm one of the people who pushed things into this, too," Kenichi muttered as he watched Shisui and Itachi ahead.
Back then, he could have saved Fugaku. At the very least, Fugaku could have left safely. Kenichi simply did not do it.
Of course, Kenichi also had not expected Fugaku to be so decisive, destroying his Mangekyo Sharingan on the spot.
Kenichi had assumed that if Fugaku had Mangekyo Sharingan, escaping would always be possible. He never expected Fugaku to die, and for his eyes to become unusable.
It was the first time Kenichi realized Mangekyo Sharingan could be completely destroyed in one go.
"…So we're supposed to swallow our anger?!" Itachi's roar exploded the moment they arrived.
Sasuke trembled in Kenichi's arms, clutching his clothes and shrinking against him in fear.
He had never seen his brother like this.
Kenichi looked down at Sasuke, smiled, and ruffled his hair.
It felt good.
"It's not about swallowing our anger, Itachi. We just…" Shisui tried to calm him down, still treating Itachi like the clan member he admired most.
But it clearly did not work.
Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. Susanoo rose from the ground, glowering at the "enemy" in front of him.
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
Good heavens. Is this how you waste your Mangekyo Sharingan? Instead of using it against the Third Hokage and Konoha, you are starting infighting?
"No matter what, I will kill the Third Hokage and Danzo!" Itachi roared.
Shisui's worry deepened. This was the first time he had ever seen Itachi so emotionally out of control.
Shisui went silent for a moment.
The pain of losing parents was agonizing, yes. But if Itachi rushed to Konoha like this, how would Shisui explain it to Fugaku?
If Itachi went now, he would not cause much of a stir.
Itachi's talent was terrifying, but even a genius needed time to turn that talent into real strength. His stamina, chakra reserves, and mastery of jutsu still had a huge gap compared to the Third Hokage, the Hero of the Leaf.
If Itachi went now, he would be throwing his life away for nothing.
"Itachi, it looks like I'll have to fight you and force you to calm down," Shisui said.
He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan as well.
Two Susanoo appeared, facing each other. Their colors differed, but the pressure was the same.
Kenichi suddenly remembered the fear of being dominated by giants.
Yes, even incomplete Susanoo was more than enough to crush ordinary shinobi.
"Enough." Kenichi strode forward, exasperated, and stood between them. "Since when did it become a trend in the shinobi world to fight first and ask questions later?"
Shisui did not want to fight. He had no desire to clash with Itachi.
And Itachi, who had not planned to listen to Kenichi at all, finally hesitated when he saw Sasuke trembling behind Kenichi.
Their parents were dead.
Itachi only had his brother now.
And Sasuke only had him.
Itachi silently dispelled his Susanoo. He dropped to the ground with his head lowered, saying nothing.
The air instantly grew heavy.
Under that crushing shock, Itachi seemed to turn into a "pressure boy," releasing everything in silence.
"Actually, your father's death was not completely meaningless," Kenichi said, setting Sasuke down and looking at Itachi.
Itachi did not respond. He only kept his head lowered.
"…I only learned this later. Konoha issued warrants for some Uchiha members, including Mikoto," Kenichi continued.
Itachi's body trembled, but he still did not look up.
"After thinking about it, I realized something. The most fundamental reason Fugaku activated his Mangekyo Sharingan that day was not to seize power. What he wanted was to let part of the clan survive, and to let your mother live."
Kenichi let out a quiet sigh.
He understood the full development later. A group of Uchiha took advantage of the chaos to leave Konoha, and Fugaku's wife, Mikoto, was among them.
Seen that way, everything Fugaku did had a reason. It could be understood.
Itachi still did not raise his head, but Kenichi noticed water droplets bending the grass where Itachi sat.
Boys often refused to show that vulnerable side.
Kenichi understood that, and he did not expose it.
He stood there silently.
To be honest, Kenichi had always thought Fugaku was a coward. In the original plot, when his son came to slaughter the clan, Fugaku did nothing and accepted death calmly after asking why.
But now Kenichi had seen another side of him.
Fugaku had chosen to die for his clan. Even knowing what would happen if Konoha captured him, he still stepped forward and protected his people as they fled.
From that perspective, Fugaku could be called a hero.
Death was only a moment of pain. For a shinobi like Fugaku, it might have been nothing more than an instant.
But being captured by Konoha meant pain that could be stretched without end.
Konoha had interrogation experts, after all.
Under that kind of inhuman torture, how many could truly endure it?
"Clan head… where is the clan head's wife?" Shisui seized the key point immediately.
Fugaku's death could not be reversed, but Mikoto's situation could. Mikoto was still alive.
If they could find Mikoto, then Itachi and Sasuke would surely feel better.
"I don't know," Kenichi said with a shrug. He really did not.
He had left Konoha right after that and did not pay attention to what followed. He only knew some Uchiha escaped, and Mikoto was among them.
As for where they went, Kenichi had no idea.
"I want to find Mom," Itachi said, lifting his head.
His eyes were red, but his face was dry. He had probably wiped the tears away already.
"I'll help you, Itachi," Shisui said at once.
As long as Itachi was not rushing to Konoha right now to cause trouble, Shisui supported him. Itachi was still too young. Going now would only get him killed.
Kenichi had no objections either.
Finding Mikoto would be best. And if they found Mikoto, they would likely find other Uchiha as well.
That meant more Uchiha, which meant faster money.
"I can help too," Kenichi said with a smile.
He had no real method for tracking people down, but saying the right thing cost nothing. And gaining goodwill was never a bad deal.
Neither Shisui nor Itachi refused.
Even if the shinobi world was not that large, finding a group of people intentionally hiding was still extremely difficult.
"Shisui," Kenichi asked again, smiling lightly, "how do you feel about your current life?"
Shisui did not answer right away.
He understood what Kenichi meant.
Was the Uchiha Clan really going to sink into this?
Become farmers?
When Shisui led them out, it had been to escape Konoha's furnace, yes. But many of them still had bonds in the clan, still had family and friends back in the village.
Once this news spread, the uproar was easy to imagine.
And now they were hearing news of their clan from an outsider, Kenichi.
It was bitterly ironic.
Shisui understood the message behind Kenichi's question.
"You mean…" Shisui said, expression uncertain.
"Think it through yourself," Kenichi replied.
He did not spell it out.
It was better for Shisui to decide on his own. Still, Kenichi felt Shisui would eventually agree.
Whether it was repayment for being led out, or hatred toward Konoha, the Uchiha Clan would have to re enter the vortex called war, even if they did not want to.
"Brother…" Sasuke tugged on Kenichi's clothes.
Kenichi looked down.
Sasuke was biting his lower lip, eyes full of anxiety. "Big Brother… will Mom… will Mom come back?"
For Sasuke, the idea of life and death was still hard to grasp. But he understood one thing.
His mother might still be alive.
So he asked, desperate and hopeful.
For children, not having their mother around always left them feeling unsafe. Shisui had told Kenichi before that Sasuke had cried many times because he had no parents, and only calmed down because Itachi was there.
"She'll come back," Kenichi said, ruffling Sasuke's hair.
It felt really good.
And thinking of the cold Sasuke of the future, Kenichi ruffled it even more happily. After all, this was not something he would get to do all the time.
"Thank you." Itachi stepped forward.
Then he bowed deeply, seriously, his head nearly parallel to the ground.
"It's nothing," Kenichi said calmly. "As long as I can help."
He had only come to check on the smoke. Instead, he discovered Sasuke and the others were living far too peacefully.
That would not do.
Kenichi did not want to raise Itachi and Sasuke into useless people.
"No matter what happens in the future, I will repay you," Itachi said, looking at Kenichi with absolute seriousness.
Kenichi had never mentioned payment. Even when they fled Konoha, he had not demanded anything.
If he did not want money, then the Uchiha Clan owed him something else.
And a debt of gratitude was the hardest thing to repay.
Kenichi was briefly stunned, then he smiled and nodded.
.....
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