Fugaku walked into a dark room, treading on several layers of dense sealing incantations, and came before the figure kneeling in the center, wrapped in several layers of talismans.
After observing him carefully for a while, he turned his head and asked the Clan Member who had followed him in.
"Still no good?"
"Yes, a cursed seal has been placed on him. If he reveals any information related to specific confidential matters, it will immediately activate, causing full-body paralysis. In severe cases, it could directly take his life."
"Not even nodding or shaking his head?"
"No."
"Hm," Fugaku mused, his brow furrowing even deeper, "Understood."
He turned and left the dark room, not allowing the Clan Member to realize that he, too, was equally helpless.
The human witness, brought back with such difficulty, could not be of much use. The Uchiha's situation was gradually worsening. Fugaku felt that he was always making the worst choices, leading everyone into the abyss.
The cold wind scraped across his cheeks, drilling into his ears and becoming a sound only he could hear, subtle and chaotic... What is the meaning of all this you are doing?
... The injustice was not redressed, but instead, the entire Clan became disliked... Mikoto still has children, what if something happens...
... Is it worth it?
... Wasn't it better to just muddle through as before?
A tide of confusion, with no starting point and no path forward, swept over him, enveloping Fugaku's soul, threatening to slowly drown him.
If it were before, he would have succumbed to this pain, buried his head, and pretended that all unfairness did not exist, letting life pass day by day.
But when he deeply exhaled the pent-up breath in his chest, the flame ignited by Naraku and Mikoto burned in his heart, occasionally bursting with sparks that seared his internal organs, reminding him that the only choice was to move forward.
—No.
Uchiha Fugaku murmured.
—Not good at all.
—The Uchiha have never lived like that.
The shadow walking in the darkness revealed a pair of blood-red, fierce eyes, overflowing with killing intent... Evening.
Uchiha Shisui was with his Teacher and classmates, doing outdoor training in the forest near the Village.
What was called training was actually bringing these newly enrolled children to recognize wild vegetables and herbs, learning skills like gathering firewood, starting fires by hand, and hiding. It was more like a Ninja version of a winter camp.
The graduating class, a few grades above Shisui, also happened to be active in this area, but their task was more demanding: they needed to hide in this forest for two days without being discovered, without water or food.
Shisui, who had been warned not to use Ninjutsu to start a fire, was squatting and concentrating on making a fire by rubbing sticks. He then saw one of the Teachers from the graduating class emerge from the woods, holding an older student.
The Teacher walked out, muttering that the student had too many flaws and was surprisingly not as good at hiding as Uchiha Obito.
"Teacher Hoshino, please give me another chance!"
"No, unqualified is unqualified."
Teacher Hoshino's tone was kind but firm, showing no leniency.
—Obito, you can do it. You'll pass in half a day.
Shisui silently cheered for his Clan Member, and his stick-rubbing movements quickened.
A puff of smoke "whooshed" out of the small hole. He quickly dropped the stick, covered the spark with cotton, and gently blew to ignite it.
The flame burned, engulfing the gray cotton.
Shisui looked at the flame he had painstakingly started. Even though it couldn't compare to the scale of the Great Fireball Jutsu, he still smiled with satisfaction.
This was different.
"Shisui, can you help me look?"
A childish, clear, but rude girl's voice sounded from behind. Shisui turned his head and saw Inuzuka Hana striding over, throwing the few pieces of wood she was carrying at his feet, complaining repeatedly, her white breath rapidly dissipating in the cold wind.
"I can't get it to light, it's so annoying. Teacher Takahashi is really something, who doesn't know a few Fire Release Jutsu? Why do we still have to learn how to start a fire..."
Inuzuka Hana had always been unconventional and boisterous, never caring what others said, but her relationship with Shisui had always been quite good.
Ignoring his friend's endless complaints, Shisui picked up the wood and examined it carefully, finding that these pieces of wood only had slight scorch marks on the surface from friction.
He used a bit more force to break one open, looked at the cross-section, and then looked up at Inuzuka Hana, who was standing straight beside him, and said,
"It's damp."
"Tsk." Inuzuka Hana irritably raised her hand and rubbed her face, like a little she-wolf baring her fangs when provoked.
"Alright, I know where there's dry wood. Come on, I'll take you to find it."
The two walked one after another deeper into the jungle. The trees gradually became denser, but fortunately, it was winter, and most of the branches were bare, so they didn't block too much sunlight.
Upon reaching an area thickly covered with fallen leaves, Shisui found a relatively thick branch under the withered yellow leaves. Just as he was about to hand it to Inuzuka Hana, he turned around and found no one behind him.
"Hana?"
A dark shadow flashed by. Shisui keenly sensed that something was wrong. A feeling of being targeted came from all directions, making the hair on his body stand on end.
He decisively threw away the stick, gripped his Kunai, and vigilantly looked around.
Something else flashed by again.
This wouldn't do; he couldn't even clearly see where the person was.
He blinked, lowered his head, hiding the upper half of his face in the shadows of his hair and hat, and quietly activated his Sharingan.
Then he finally saw the person rushing from his front right, dressed in clothes similar to Anbu, just about to draw a sword and slash.
For some reason, he thought of Naraku's fate.
Clang—
The short Kunai timely blocked in front of him, barely parrying the first attack.
Shisui could even see a few sparks spluttering at the moment of metal striking metal.
It was as if a spark had fallen into his eye; he felt his eyes burning, almost blazing with anger.
The opponent seemed a little surprised, but quickly intensified the attack, pressing closer step by step, not giving him a chance to use Ninjutsu to call for help.
Soon, the attacker, relying on experience and strength, knocked Shisui's weapon away and struck him on the back of the neck with a hand blade.
Before Shisui passed out, he vaguely saw a somewhat familiar shadow running towards them from not far away, and the person who knocked him out noticed the movement... The outdoor training ended, and Teacher Takahashi called the students to gather. He called out the names of Uchiha Shisui and Inuzuka Hana, but for a long time, no one answered.
He had another Teacher take the students back, while he split into two Shadow Clones and spread out to search.
Until the sun set in the west, he still couldn't find where the two children were.
Just as he was getting anxious, memories from his Shadow Clone suddenly came to his mind.
When he saw the traces in the memory, suspected to be from a fight and then covered up, he fully realized the worst possible scenario.
—An enemy had captured children from Konoha Village.