Shin, Whom Even the Sage of the Six Paths Couldn't Save

"It was a teammate..."

Shin voiced a bold guess: "Only a teammate could let Senior Kagami, a seasoned ninja, let his guard down..."

"And afterward, the real culprit could cover up the cause of death."

After a deep breath, Fugaku steadied himself: "Shin, this is a serious matter. Do you have evidence?"

"Evidence? How could the killer leave any unless he was an idiot?"

"But one thing's certain—he must usually target the Uchiha Clan. That's the killer's arrogance..."

"He thinks he's covered his tracks flawlessly. That foolish arrogance..."

With a grave expression, Shin patiently explained further: "It reveals his cunning, his paranoia, and his ruthlessness."

Cunning referred to the ambush on Kagami Uchiha.

Paranoia was the killer cleaning up traces and then hiding the truth from Konoha.

Ruthlessness was his motive.

Fugaku understood all of this.

Shin's hints could only go so far; saying more would cause a huge disaster.

Who else could the killer be but the Konoha Pot King?

Backed by Root, the Pot King was second only to one man in this era's Konoha, above all others.

If this were spoken aloud, no one would believe it.

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, no matter his motives, would never move against the Uchiha.

Even if it were because Shin's eldest nephew massacred the entire clan, wouldn't the other ninja clans in Konoha ponder the reasons?

So the Pot King and the two Advisors were painted as scapegoats.

Uchiha Itachi, due to his immense popularity, was forcibly whitewashed by AB, leaving his plot full of holes.

His laughing expression at Sasuke was eventually whitewashed as acting.

In the end, the Uchiha Clan gained the legend of the Four Laughing Legends, which became a fond tale.

So the dark histories of the Third Hokage and Itachi were left for these Pot Kings to bear.

(Naruto is just a hot-blooded manga; overanalyzing still needs to follow the basics.)

"Brother Fugaku, my guesses end here. From now on, we can only hope the killer exposes himself..."

"I'll go check if Mother's lunch is ready." After laying out the key points to Fugaku, Shin ignored the other's hesitant expression.

Could he change the Uchiha Clan's fate of annihilation?

He had a clear sense of that; at worst, he'd just personally teach his eldest nephew and Shisui.

He refused to believe those two could still be brainwashed by the Will of Fire.

Right now, that was still a long way off.

"Mother, is lunch ready?" Shin switched back to an innocent, childlike expression.

For someone who'd played the part of a five-year-old for five years, this level of small talk was second nature.

When Aoko turned around, she felt her youngest son seemed a bit troubled.

Sure enough, in front of someone equally skilled at acting, it was easy to slip up.

She looked him over from every angle.

This behavior made Shin's heart uneasy, and he dared not meet her gaze.

Aoko could be certain he had something on his conscience.

"Did you do something bad? Last time you looked like this was when you secretly took the clan's jutsu scroll."

Panicking inside, Shin realized his mother was truly formidable.

Every "little thing" he'd done since childhood had never escaped her notice.

"What do I do? Was it the conversation with Brother Fugaku just now?"

"No! I was afraid there might be Anbu nearby, so I kept my voice as low as possible..."

"Or did some trouble at school spread this fast?"

After thinking it over, Shin came up with a response.

He put on a fawning smile and sweet-talked: "Mother, your eyes are truly sharp. Even this little secret in my heart can't hide from you..."

"My admiration for you flows like an endless river..."

Aoko scooped up five-year-old Shin and gave him a gentle smile.

Exposing his little scheme: "Dear Shin, don't try to change the subject."

In Shin's eyes, that smile was anything but gentle.

The implication in her words was clearly, "Spit out the truth right now, for your mother."

Shin trembled in his mother's embrace.

Unable to face his mother's gaze, he now sincerely hoped someone would come to rescue him immediately.

Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Chiken, who had just finished the clan meeting, was in a fairly good mood.

Because today, one of the two children from the clan entering school was his own—that headache-inducing youngest son.

Clan Head Chiken walked home, only to be suddenly pulled into a side path.

Looking up, he found it was the father of the other child who had enrolled today.

Aoko's father glanced left and right outside the path, confirmed no one was around, and said he wanted to tell Chiken a "big secret."

One about his youngest son, Shin.

At first, Chiken thought Aoko had been "bullied" by his son, and the parent had come to complain.

But when Aoko's father laid out Shin's performance at school today, one by one, "truthfully," he completely exploded.

Trembling all over, he thanked Aoko's father and then rushed home like the wind.

"Uchiha Shin!"

A loud roar rescued Shin from Aoko's arms.

Stepping down from his mother's embrace, he saw his old father panting heavily while glaring at him in fury.

Seeing this, Aoko had no idea what could have made her husband so angry.

But a mother's instinct still made her instinctively shield her son: "What's wrong, dear? What did Shin do to make you so angry?"

"He's just a child. Don't scare him."

"Scare him? Do you see your son looking scared?" Chiken ignored Aoko in front of him and raised his hand to strike Shin, who was hiding behind her.

"Not even the Sage of the Six Paths can save him today, I said it!"

"Go on, hit him! Hit him!"

Aoko lifted her chin, her demeanor shifting from her usual gentleness, and instantly suppressed Chiken's momentum entirely.

Shin behind her was stunned.

It was the first time he knew his mother could unleash such an aura.

Even Fugaku, who had heard the noise and come in to watch the drama, was frozen on the spot.

Chiken was now truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

If he hit, the days ahead would surely be tough.

If he didn't hit, could he still call himself the head of the household?

So, weighing the pros and cons, he ultimately decided to back down.

Calming himself slightly, he recounted everything he had heard about Shin, heavily embellished with exaggeration.

Listening to his old father's "truth," filtered through three layers of embellishment, Shin rolled his eyes internally.

Had he ever thought about becoming the Ninja Academy principal?

It was just that, from now on, the Ninja Academy would be run by his say-so.

Thinking about it that way, it didn't seem wrong?

Aoko, on the other hand, grew happier the more she heard, her expression turning proud.

She felt her youngest son had done nothing wrong at all.

Listen—"beating up" the Senju Clan's eldest son, declaring he'd be the school's boss—what a face-glorifying achievement.

Chiken was simply making a mountain out of a molehill.

She turned to look at Shin, growing more satisfied with this youngest son who had inherited her excellent genes.

"Shin, you've really brought honor to the Uchiha. Don't worry about school—your father will handle it perfectly!"

Aoko's smiling face left Chiken utterly helpless.

His child was clearly challenging the school's authority, yet in his wife's mouth, it became bringing glory to the Uchiha?

He looked at the mother and son before him, feeling the disparity of this world.

Fugaku was even more helpless. At home, even the tiniest mistake would get him criticized for ages.

It had kept him diligent and cautious all along—so why was it a good thing when it came to his little brother?

He now seriously suspected he was adopted.

What happened to treating everyone equally, no favoritism?

"Mother—no, Mother—the key point is I can't stay at school anymore. I want to with—" Shin didn't finish before he was glared at fiercely.

He had no choice but to forcefully swallow the word "draw" back into his stomach.

Aoko smiled warmly and asked him softly, with a soul-piercing question: "My dear Shin, what do you want to withdraw from?"