Shisui and Itachi

Uchiha Itachi moved quickly. Under cover of darkness, he quietly bypassed the Uchiha Clan's sentries and reached a cliff by the river in about ten minutes.

He did not want to draw the attention of anyone in the clan, especially when the atmosphere within the clan was so oppressive and strange.

This cliff was the secret base he shared with Shisui. Only here could Uchiha Itachi speak freely and vent the true feelings buried in his heart.

Looking out, he saw a figure sitting cross-legged at the edge of the cliff, quietly watching the river flow away. A smile could not help but appear on Uchiha Itachi's face when he saw him.

"Shisui!" Uchiha Itachi beamed with delight, then leaped toward Shisui's position.

"You're here, Itachi." Shisui smiled as well, then slowly rose from the edge of the cliff.

The cliff was extremely high. Simply standing at its edge would make most people dizzy.

Yet Shisui seemed utterly unconcerned, as though the towering cliff did not exist at all.

Uchiha Itachi quickly arrived at his side, but curiosity soon appeared on his face.

He looked Shisui up and down. He felt that this older brother of his seemed somewhat different.

The last time they met, Shisui had been smiling as well, but the helplessness and repression between his brows had been unmistakable.

Today was different. Shisui still wore a smile, but this one truly came from the heart. The helplessness and repression from before were gone.

This change made Uchiha Itachi deeply curious. In the end, he could not help asking, "Shisui, you look very happy today. Did something happen?"

"You could say that. It's fairly good news." Shisui nodded. Though he was somewhat impressed by Itachi's sharp perception, he had no intention of hiding anything.

He truly was happy now, because the changes within the clan filled him with immense joy.

Not long ago, his conversation with Habara had made him realize that they were only one step away from truly changing the clan.

He was not particularly interested in the position of Vice Clan Head, but he knew it was a position from which he could truly help Habara.

It would allow him to see the clan's transformation more clearly, so he did not refuse in the slightest.

As for supervising Habara, he felt there was no need for that at all.

Habara was so rational and so powerful that Shisui simply did not believe Habara could lead the Uchiha astray.

He felt that all he needed to do was support Habara, help him, and witness alongside him the changes in the clan and its relationship with the village.

But as he looked at Uchiha Itachi before him, Shisui suddenly felt a headache coming on. He recalled Habara telling him that some matters could not be explained too clearly.

Though Shisui did not quite understand why Habara had made such a request, nor why Habara did not particularly trust Itachi, he had promised Habara and would naturally follow through, even if the person before him was Uchiha Itachi.

"What news?"

Uchiha Itachi found it very strange. Shisui's expression had changed when he mentioned good news, and Itachi quietly took note of it.

"Well..."

Shisui suddenly did not know how to explain it or where to begin. He needed to organize his thoughts carefully, but this only made Uchiha Itachi even more uneasy.

After a long while, Shisui let out a quiet sigh. He roughly knew how to put it.

"It's like this. There may have been some changes within the clan. Both Elder Zong and Takechi have realized that what they did in the past was not quite right.

"So the clan has begun casting aside the voices of the past and is preparing to unify everyone's will. That way—"

"Unify their will? Unify what will? What are they trying to do?"

Before Shisui could finish, Uchiha Itachi directly interrupted him. His expression also looked rather wrong now.

To Uchiha Itachi, this news was not only shocking but utterly bewildering.

How could he not know that the two factions within the clan had been arguing without end?

As someone who longed for peaceful coexistence between the clan and the village, he could not imagine those on his side unifying their will with the Hardliners.

Once their wills were unified, could those who longed for peace truly continue to coexist peacefully with the village?

Could the ideals they had upheld until now still be upheld under such circumstances?

Would they be inevitably changed by the Hardliners' way of thinking, causing the entire clan to descend into extremism?

These were things Uchiha Itachi could neither imagine nor dare imagine. What he found most unimaginable, however, was Shisui—the person he regarded as an older brother!

From the way Shisui looked, he seemed to think this was a very good thing. Uchiha Itachi truly could not understand it.

It had been Shisui who told him that the clan and the village needed to trust and depend on one another, that the clan needed to reintegrate into the village so everyone could become better.

Uchiha Itachi had always kept that belief in his heart, but whenever he considered matters, he made himself view everything from the Hokage's position.

And once he viewed the Uchiha from the village's perspective, he discovered that the Uchiha had become a source of instability for the village.

He had considered why things had become this way, but his conclusion was always: The clan is not content with the current state of affairs. The clan always clings to unrealistic fantasies.

This made him long even more for the clan to settle down. Only then could his younger brother have a better environment to grow up in within Konoha, and Konoha itself would become stable.

But now, Shisui's words made his heart turn cold. He did not know why things had become like this, but he truly could not accept it.

"Itachi, don't rush. Listen to me first."

Seeing Itachi like this, Shisui could not help frowning. He did not know what Itachi was thinking, much less how strongly Itachi opposed such changes.

He merely assumed that Itachi had just heard this for the first time, and that the things he had always upheld made it difficult for him to accept. With a sigh, he slowly spoke.

"Actually, the direction we have been striving toward has always been wrong. That's right, I mean it was wrong!

"We longed for peace. We longed to earn peace with the village through our own efforts, so that we could integrate into the village as a whole.

"But we never considered one question: would the village actually allow us to integrate?

"And through our constant compromises, concessions, and efforts, we have already received the answer to that question. It would not!

"The Third Hokage was the Second Hokage's disciple, and the Uchiha Clan's changes began with the Second Hokage.

"The Third Hokage inherited the Second Hokage's will. Not only him—even those advisors were the same. Some things truly would not change easily.

"While I was in the Anbu, I secretly looked through some records. I can tell you that everything I have said is true.

"Itachi, you have been intelligent since childhood. Tell me, under these circumstances, how can we continue to survive?"

Thanks to Jisu Guangyu and Yiyan for the rewards. Thank you, thank you~!

PS: This newbie is asking for bookmarks and continued reading. Continued reading is especially important right now. Thank you, everyone~!