Chapter 547: Itachi Awakens
Uchiha Itachi understood that Kisame hadn't come here to massacre everyone.
His original mission was to solve the problem.
According to the intelligence provided by Terumi Mei, the area where the Hoshigaki Clan lived on this island had developed a strong rebellious and nostalgic mindset.
What Terumi Mei wanted was for Hoshigaki Kisame to identify the instigator, eliminate the person responsible, and allow everyone else to return to normal.
As for why Terumi Mei wasn't handling it personally...
Naturally, it was because she had other matters to attend to and other ringleaders to deal with.
Don't think the opposition was a united front.
On the contrary, compared to the Hidden Villages, the reason the opposition had always remained weak and been forced to hide in the shadows was because they all acted independently and didn't trust one another.
If they really were capable of uniting...
They could simply find a place and establish a new village.
And don't forget what Kirigakure's opposition actually wanted.
They wanted the Bloody Mist to return.
They wanted to go back to the Bloody Mist era.
And what was the Bloody Mist?
At its most basic level, killing your own teammates was considered normal.
With that as its foundation, the various opposition groups could never naturally trust each other.
It was a paradox.
If someone was truly a steadfast opponent of Terumi Mei, then they should uphold the Bloody Mist doctrine and decisively betray him.
If an ally was destined to betray you anyway, what was the point of forming an alliance?
Just to make yourself miserable?
On the other hand...
If that person 'wouldn't' betray him, then it meant they weren't practicing the core principles of the Bloody Mist.
They weren't one of them.
They leaned toward Terumi Mei instead.
Sooner or later, they would still betray him.
Of course, the opposition never thought through all this logic.
They simply didn't trust one another.
Therefore, in an environment like this, Terumi Mei's strategy was simple.
Eliminate the ringleaders one by one and weaken their influence.
Under her leadership, Kirigakure itself was becoming better and better.
But no matter how much things improved...It couldn't withstand people constantly spreading rumors and slandering her.
If you didn't occupy the battlefield of public opinion...Someone else would.
Terumi Mei had devoted enormous effort to opening the Land of Water to the outside world and improving people's lives.
But every few days, the opposition would badmouth her.
To the people listening...
All of Terumi Mei's hard work amounted to nothing.
Because development naturally happened in stages, they could even exploit that to stir up new conflicts.
For example…'"Why did the tourist district get built near your island first instead of ours?"'
Among these rabble, Terumi Mei's reputation rose and fell endlessly.
It was like a pool of water with a faucet filling it while a leak constantly drained it away.
To solve the problem...
The leak had to be plugged first.
Kisame's current assignment was to find one of those leaks.
His job was to seal it.
As for everyone else, Terumi Mei had made herself perfectly clear.
If the mission required it, Kisame could injure or kill them.
But there was no need to deliberately target them.
Once the leader disappeared, those followers who had merely been led around by the nose would quickly become like headless flies.
At that point, Terumi Mei only needed to send her own people to approach them.
By becoming their new leaders, she could naturally and gradually win them back over.
So Kisame really wasn't here to wipe out a clan.
He was here to play detective.
"Itachi-san, I'm not very good at using my brain, so I'll have to rely on you quite a bit for this mission."
After explaining the details of his assignment, Kisame politely complimented Uchiha Itachi.
In truth, Kisame wasn't lacking in intelligence or combat instincts.
He simply wasn't among the absolute top tier.
After all, Kisame's official Intelligence stat in the databooks was only 7.
Itachi, however, didn't respond immediately.
His mind was completely occupied by everything Kisame had just described.
'Eliminate the leader, and everyone else will naturally settle down...'
Originally, Itachi had been wondering how to prevent Kisame from suffering the same fate he himself had.
Instead...
It was Kisame or rather, the current Mizukage, Terumi Mei, who had just taught him a lesson.
Itachi began doubting himself.
'Did I really possess the thinking of a Hokage at the age of seven?'
Even setting aside whether Kirigakure's methods could have been applied to the Uchiha Clan...
If he truly had that level of insight...
Why had the idea never even occurred to him back then?
Even if he couldn't identify the true ringleaders within the clan...
Why had he slaughtered the children and the elderly who had never taken part in any of it?
If he had already decided to shoulder the burden of exterminating the clan so Sasuke wouldn't hate the village...
Then why couldn't the other children have been spared as well?
There had even been infants.
The village could have raised them, instilled the Will of Fire into them from childhood, and regardless of how strong they eventually became...
Their personalities would almost certainly have turned out like Uchiha Kagami's or Uchiha Shisui's.
So...
Why had he killed every last Uchiha?
Had he simply gotten carried away and been unable to stop?
Uchiha Itachi had finally awakened.
And the reason he awakened was because he finally realized that he'd never truly been awake in the first place.
Itachi suddenly remembered the Second Hokage's earlier criticism of him.
Tobirama had said a few things but never continued the discussion.
Perhaps he'd thought Itachi was beyond saving.
Or perhaps Hashirama had been standing nearby, making it inappropriate to speak too harshly.
Now...
Itachi understood.
He had finally seen everything clearly.
Unfortunately...
He understood far too late.
His mind back then had been shrouded in chaos.
He had been too deeply involved to see the truth.
It wasn't until today, when he looked at Kisame's situation from the perspective of an outsider...
That he realized just how absurd his own actions had been.
So...
He had been the greatest madman in the entire Uchiha Clan.
"Kisame..."
After hesitating for a moment, Itachi changed what he had been about to say.
"This time, I'll help you if fighting is necessary, but I won't give you any advice. Make your own judgments."
After coming to his realization, Itachi had developed something akin to PTSD regarding situations like this.
He was genuinely afraid that if he got carried away again...
He might end up helping Kisame wipe out his own clan.
"Hm? ...All right."
Although confused, Kisame didn't press the matter.
In front of Itachi...
Kisame was simply an honest man.
The two of them then stepped into the village.
As members of the Hoshigaki Clan, Kisame's familiar fish-like appearance immediately drew the villagers' attention.
---
Meanwhile...
Kakashi's group arrived at the large open area under development beside the resort island's tourist district.
First, as a matter of routine, Kakashi explained the shortcut to cultivating Sage Mode.
After all, that was the main purpose of the visit.
Once that was finished...
Ao, Chōjūrō, and Kurosuki Raiga each left to find their own places to begin training.
There was no need to worry about privacy.
The surroundings were full of water and sand.
Even without using Water Release or Earth Release, it was easy enough to build a sand wall or even an entire sandcastle by hand.
After that came the Breathing Technique Shira wanted to develop.
Kakashi had no immediate solution.
So he simply told Shira and Guy to find a place to exchange ideas first.
Once he finished what he needed to do, he would join them.
After almost everyone who needed to leave had gone...
Kakashi finally turned his attention to the special kunoichi whom Terumi Mei had specifically assigned to accompany them—the Hoshigaki Clan's female shinobi.
"Could you give me more detailed intelligence?"
Kakashi asked with a serious expression.
(End of this chapter)