Waiting

Having Shisui attempt to persuade Itachi was something Habara had pondered for a long time before deciding on.

Habara truly disliked that self-righteous and arrogant fellow—everything he did was what he himself believed to be the best choice for Konoha and the clan.

Even with Sasuke, he had acted according to his own understanding, never truly considering Sasuke's feelings or thoughts before doing what he believed was right.

If that sort of personality and conduct could not be called self-righteous and arrogant, Habara did not know what else could describe it.

Although in the Original Work, Uchiha Itachi eventually came to his senses and even expressed his remorse to Sasuke.

But the Uchiha Clan had already been wiped out completely. Whether his remorse was truly of any use, Habara did not know.

In any case, putting himself in the Uchiha Clan's shoes, he felt it was utterly useless, which was why Habara had always had a poor impression of Uchiha Itachi!

Of course, perhaps it was also because, before his transmigration, he had lived in a country steeped in a thousand-year tradition of filial piety.

As for the tangled grievances between Konoha and the Uchiha, Habara did not think they were impossible to resolve.

Although the Uchiha Clan had indeed had enormous problems with how they expressed their political demands, their core principle was ultimately nothing more than pursuing fairness.

As one of the two founding elder clans of Konoha, the Uchiha Clan could be said to have received fair and transcendent treatment only at the very beginning, while Senju Hashirama was in office.

But after Uchiha Madara left and Senju Hashirama died, their clan truly grew further and further apart from Konoha.

They never had any possibility of becoming Hokage. Under Senju Tobirama's influence, they were feared by Konoha's residents—feared to the point of being excluded.

All of this was the greatest harm done to the Uchiha Clan that had chosen to remain.

It was in such an atmosphere that the Uchiha developed two extreme lines of thought: one of extreme compromise, and one of extreme hardline resistance.

But no matter which one it was, their goal had been to reclaim what rightfully and legally belonged to them. They probably never dreamed that someone like Uchiha Itachi would emerge.

Habara had not wanted to bother with Uchiha Itachi either. When he was young, considering his own interests, he had tried to get close to him and ride his coattails, but Uchiha Itachi had ignored him completely.

On top of that, as a Transmigrator who knew what Uchiha Itachi would do in the future, Habara had gradually focused only on building a good relationship with Shisui, and nothing more.

Now that Habara could basically confirm he would become Clan Head, he needed enough people to help him as well.

Although Uchiha Itachi's personality and way of thinking were both terrible, it was undeniable that he possessed the potential for the Mangekyō Sharingan.

And even though Habara was displeased with Uchiha Itachi because of things that had yet to happen, he had to admit that those things had not happened yet.

Since they had not happened, and since everything Habara was doing was meant to salvage All of This.

Then the best thing he could do was set aside some personal feelings, consider matters from the clan's perspective, and see whether he could win that Kid over.

"If we can bring him over, great. If not, then forget it. Come to think of it, Uchiha Itachi did all this for Sasuke, but Konoha also held a transcendent place in his heart.

"For someone like that, not being able to walk the same path as us is perfectly normal."

Habara silently muttered to himself, then could not be bothered to think about it anymore. He had handed the matter to Shisui, so there was no need for him to worry so much.

Besides, Shisui was far more invested in handling this matter than Habara was. He truly hoped that Itachi could stand with them.

Shisui and Itachi had an extremely good relationship. Even before Habara had "brainwashed" Shisui, the bond between the two of them had been deeper than the one between Habara and Shisui.

Before his death, Shisui had given his sole Mangekyō to Itachi, while Itachi had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan because of Shisui's death.

It could be said that their bond truly was like that of brothers by blood, despite not being actual brothers.

Without exaggeration, even though Shisui now had new aspirations and hopes, and had resolutely embarked upon a Brand New path.

The feelings between them were still there, after all. Having Shisui win over Uchiha Itachi, Habara was also looking forward to seeing what would happen.

"Still, it would be better to focus on myself for now. Everything that needs to be done is continuing in an orderly fashion.

"And I have time to properly deal with my own matters, such as studying the ninjutsu I should be learning.

"At the same time, I should find a way to see whether I can further strengthen my Susanoo. I have the ability to reduce the difficulty of using Susanoo, as well as the ability to increase its power.

"If I don't make good use of those advantages, that would really be inexcusable."

There were indeed too many areas where Habara needed to make up for his shortcomings, especially in ninjutsu, where the improvements he could gain were truly enormous.

Back when he had been a Mission Ninja, without joining any faction within the clan, he naturally could not receive much investment in resources.

But now that he had persuaded both sides, the resources available to him would definitely not be scarce.

He could now properly learn the Great Fire Annihilation he had long been yearning for. He was very much looking forward to the day when, like Uchiha Madara, one Fire Release could intimidate the entire Shinobi World!

"Still, I've been meeting with the people below alongside the Elders from both sides for so many days. Uchiha Fugaku can't possibly be unaware of the news.

"I just don't know what he's thinking now, or whether he can sense our hostility toward him?"

Whether Uchiha Fugaku could detect everything they had done was, honestly, no longer important.

What mattered was that Habara had already completed the initial integration. Whether Fugaku knew or not, none of this could possibly be changed!

"Now, all we can do is wait for the next Clan Meeting to begin. When that time comes, everything will be completely changed."

While Habara quietly waited for the Clan Meeting to begin, Uchiha Itachi had also returned to the clan after completing his mission.

There was another reason he had returned: the clan's Clan Meeting was about to begin, and he needed to attend it in order to gather more intelligence.

Although Shisui was also involved in this matter, Uchiha Itachi did not care about that at all.

In his view, it was perhaps simply a way to "gather better and more comprehensive intelligence."

But after returning, Uchiha Itachi took one look at his Younger Brother Sasuke upon arriving home, then quietly left once again and headed toward the place where he and Shisui met in secret.

He had not seen Shisui for some time. Anbu missions were truly busy, and their confidentiality was extremely strict.

Even though they were both in the Anbu, they had very little time to meet. He had many things he wanted to tell Shisui and many questions he wanted to discuss with him.

To him, Shisui was his Older Brother—an Older Brother who had cared for him since childhood and taught him many things.