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Such a threatening fellow, after fighting fiercely for so long, he hadn't even seen his face.
This was simply a humiliation for Danzo!
"Keep a close eye on the Uchiha compound. If anything unusual happens tonight, just kill Itachi along with the others."
That strange person… fortunately, it seemed his goals conflicted with Itachi's. Just let those two kill each other.
Tonight was destined not to be a smooth night.
Inside the Uchiha compound, lights blazed brightly.
Within the rooms, heads bobbed among the crowd.
The voices of dissent grew louder; the clan's trust in Itachi diminished daily.
Although Fugaku didn't want to start the revolution prematurely, the matter of the coup was no longer something he alone could decide.
There were too many radicals within the Uchiha, looking down on everyone, eager to pick a fight with anyone.
This mindset spread continuously, pushing the clansmen forward, and also influencing Fugaku.
As the clan head, he possessed decisiveness, yet he was constantly being pushed along by his people.
Fugaku stood beside the brightly lit candles, raising a hand towards the clansmen seated before him.
"My son, Itachi, will coordinate with everyone from the Hokage Building tonight."
"Do not harm civilians. Complete the bloodless revolution as swiftly as possible."
The fervent radicals cheered below. Their pent-up feelings desperately needed a war to vent upon.
Even though Fugaku spoke of a bloodless revolution, once the fighting truly began, who would pay attention to that?
Within the Land of Fire, near the border of the Land of Grass, in a hidden forest.
The Land of Grass was small and relatively peaceful; most shinobi rarely came near here.
A large clearing had been completely opened up in the center of the forest, dotted with empty wooden houses.
Tenzo stood on high ground, surveying his handiwork from the past few months with satisfaction.
When Hatake Kuroshi had been staying at the Hatake residence, he had secretly instructed him to build houses here.
"Don't tell anyone, not even my brother."
At that time, Hatake Kuroshi had instructed Tenzo with a serious expression.
Although Tenzo couldn't figure out what architectural hobby Hatake Kuroshi had, making him build such things in such a remote place.
However, if that person wanted it done, he must have his reasons.
Tenzo placed complete trust in all of Hatake Kuroshi's decisions.
The ANBU still had the mission to monitor the Uchiha tonight.
However, Kakashi had said it wasn't crucial; they wouldn't intervene, so it was sufficient for Tenzo to go after finishing his work.
Even though that was said, it was probably better not to delay too long.
Tenzo pondered briefly, then his figure swiftly vanished into the night.
......................................
Itachi looked up at the entrance to the Uchiha compound, took a deep breath, and put on the mask in his hand.
He didn't have much time; he had to finish before Sasuke returned from being kept after school—
Clang—!
Just as Itachi was about to charge in, a kunai suddenly flew from behind him, stabbing straight into the ground by his feet.
The sharp object embedded itself, the kunai trembling continuously, emitting waves of resonance.
His Sharingan spun rapidly. Itachi gripped the katana tightly in his hand and abruptly turned to glare at the person behind him.
No one could stop him now!
That's what Itachi thought before seeing the person behind him.
Itachi's pupils constricted violently; his eyes widened in disbelief.
Hatake Kuroshi pushed his mask up to the side of his head, let out a long breath, and complained casually to Itachi.
"Wearing this thing feels really stuffy~ Is there something different about the ones you guys wear?"
"I wear an eye patch every day, and it's not this uncomfortable."
And beside Hatake Kuroshi stood that taciturn youth, still sporting a band-aid on his nose.
However, his hair had grown quite a bit and was now tied into a low ponytail at the back of his head.
Itachi looked surprisedly between the two. He had considered that ANBU members might be standing here, or perhaps Root members.
But definitely not these two seemingly ordinary people.
Itachi's expression stiffened slightly, his thin lips pressed together, drained of color.
He had no choice but to act against his clansmen; he didn't want to add two more corpses.
Especially since Hatake Kuroshi was also his dear friend.
"What... are you doing here?"
Itachi's throat felt dry and tight. The purpose of these two was practically written on their faces.
But he didn't want to believe it, nor did he want to face it directly.
Annihilating the clan was already painful enough; did he now have to raise his hand against his best friend too?
Shisui had committed suicide in front of him, and now he had to kill Hatake Kuroshi?
Moreover, why on earth would Hatake Kuroshi bring an ordinary person here? It looked quite strange.
"Isn't it obvious! Of course, I'm here to stop you from doing something you'll regret for the rest of your life!"
Hatake Kuroshi still wore his usual smile, as if nothing could ever trouble him.
Being an ordinary person is nice.
Itachi had once genuinely envied him for that.
Itachi lowered his head slightly, staring at the reflective blade in his hand, which mirrored his mask.
"I've already made up my mind. I won't regret it."
"Purging the Uchiha clan will bring peace to Konoha."
"This is something only I can do. I've already sent Sasuke away. After this, I'll have to entrust things to you."
Hatake Kuroshi rolled his eyes behind his eye patch and subtly nudged Shisui beside him with his elbow.
Shisui swayed awkwardly for a moment.
It had to be said, there was a reason he and Itachi got along so well.
Even their way of thinking—shouldering all the responsibility alone—was exactly the same.
Looking at Itachi now was like looking at himself when he jumped off the cliff.
Although stubbornly believing he wouldn't regret it later, when faced with the shattered reality… he would still remember the good times and feel endless unwillingness.
"There's no need. Aren't there better ways?"
"You say you won't regret it, but you'll walk the path of a missing-nin, make Sasuke target you, hate you, chase you."
"Fighting to the death, exhausting his life… not just you, Sasuke will also be trapped in darkness, living in agony worse than death."
"Is something like that really worth it? Your choice, does even a fraction of it truly allow Sasuke to live?"
"Is the brother you saved with the lives of your entire clan meant to live only to be tormented?"
Hatake Kuroshi reached out and pressed down on the katana in Itachi's hand, tilting his head closer to Itachi's mask.
His eyes couldn't be seen behind the black eye patch, yet Itachi could clearly feel a commanding gaze fixed upon him.
Hatake Kuroshi, serious now with his smile gone, questioned him sentence by sentence, each word striking Itachi's heart.
"...This is his fate as an Uchiha, and mine as well."
Itachi took a step back. It was an instinctive reaction to Hatake Kuroshi leaning in, or perhaps, a sign of wavering.
"Cut the crap. I don't care about your family's fatalism. If everything is predestined, what's the point of you even living?"
"Even if shinobi are tools, weapons, at their core, you are human."
"Do you really want to annihilate your clan? Regardless of the village, regardless of the clan, what are your true thoughts deep down?"
[Shixie: I like... me likey]
Itachi's clan annihilation was using a small chaos to achieve greater peace.
This matter was essentially the unsolvable trolley problem: do you sacrifice the few or the many?
Of course, Hatake Kuroshi's answer was: stop the train directly.
"...I..."
Itachi hesitated, looking away. He didn't want to meet that eye patch again, which seemed capable of seeing right through his heart.
A smile instantly spread across Hatake Kuroshi's face. Itachi's hesitation was enough.
Swiftly, Hatake Kuroshi decisively ripped the mask off Itachi's face, the thin cord snapping behind Itachi's head.
"Don't think so much! You definitely don't want to do this either, right!"
"Then let's use my method, okay? You'll have a way out."
With his mask torn off, Itachi looked up, stunned for a moment, his expression extremely forced.
"Shisui's other eye is still with Danzo."
"If you plan on using Kotoamatsukami..."
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that~ It's right there!"
Hatake Kuroshi cheerfully interrupted Itachi, pointing towards Shisui behind him.
Shisui held up a bottle towards Itachi, inside which floated a crimson Sharingan eye.
"Their forgery techniques are also very..."
"I just dug it out. If I had come to you sooner, it might still have been warm~"
Hatake Kuroshi pressed his lips together, revealing an obedient smile.
"????"
For the first time, a look of utter bewilderment appeared on Itachi's face.
What was this guy talking about? Someone could actually snatch something from Danzo's grasp!?
Although he had previously suspected Hatake Kuroshi had tricks up his sleeve he didn't know about... looking at it now, this guy was absurdly strong!?
"Tonight, besides our clan's coup, there are also many Root members lying in ambush inside, and my father's side..."
"If it's just the two of us, we might be spread too thin dealing with them."
Itachi felt like he was being forcibly dragged onto a pirate ship. Hatake Kuroshi's plan seemed ridiculous no matter how you looked at it, and upon closer thought, it was riddled with potential flaws.
Perhaps the biggest problem was insufficient combat power.
"Aren't you two the only geniuses in the Uchiha clan? Now that you're both here with me, that's enough."
"You just need to go in and persuade your family."
Hatake Kuroshi confidently pushed Itachi towards the Uchiha main gate.
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> Check my: p@treon.com/ShixT9 for extra 60 Chapters
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> Tier 1 = 20 Advance Chapters +1 Extra Chapter + Shoutout
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