The dusk is like ink, pressing heavily on the small courtyard where Shisui Uchiha temporarily lives,
He sat cross-legged on the cold verandah, his back straight, but like a sculpture that had been drained of its soul.
The lights of thousands of Star Citys in the distance blurred into a hazy halo, unable to reflect his new pair of slowly rotating Three-Tomoe Sharingans.
Uzumaki Fuka's words, like cold poison ivy, have already taken root deeply, and are now frantically absorbing his past beliefs, wrenching his heart to pieces.
Konoha Uchiha's destination?
He closed his eyes, and chaotic images rushed through the darkness.
Under the monstrous waterfall of Valley of the End is the world-shattering showdown between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
The two most powerful souls can only end up with one of them falling.
Is this the fate of co-creators?
Were the seeds of strife planted from the beginning?
The screen changes sharply.
In the stern Hokage office, Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, with silver hair like snow, was sternly instructing a young Uchiha ninja.
The young man had a calm face and focused eyes!
It is Shisui's grandfather, Kagami Uchiha,
Second Hokage's fingertips were pointing at the scroll, explaining the secrets of a certain Sealing Jutsu. Although his expression was stern, he did not have the deep-seated vigilance when facing other tribesmen.
The master-disciple inheritance was once the warmest glimmer in Shisui's heart, symbolizing that the separated pavilion was not insurmountable.
Immediately afterwards, there was Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato's smile as warm as the sun.
Next to him stood the gentle Uzumaki Kushina, and opposite him were the patriarch Fugaku Uchiha and his wife Mikoto.
Two couples were toasting in a small booth of the izakaya. Fugaku's usually serious face showed a rare sense of relaxation. Minato was smiling and patting him on the shoulder, as if he was telling something interesting.
The scene then switched to Kannabi Bridge before the mission. Minato solemnly handed over Flying Thunder God Kunai to the Uchiha boy who was always late but had fiery eyes - Uchiha Obito.
Master Fourth Hokage truly accepts Uchiha.
Thoughts recede like the tide, leaving behind the cold rocks, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Shisui tried hard to recall, but the memory seemed to be covered with a thick layer of dust.
Lord Third Hokage always smiles gently, delivering speeches in front of Memorial Stone, overlooking the village from Hokage Rock.
What did he say to Uchiha?
What substantive actions has he taken to bring people closer together, like Second Hokage recruiting disciples or Fourth Hokage making friends?
No.
There are only vague words of "understanding", "waiting for the opportunity" and "taking into account the overall situation" brought back by the Fugaku patriarch after the Konoha meetings.
Third Hokage Hokage Behind the gentle smile is a bottomless sense of alienation and a breathtaking distance.
An answer that was deliberately forgotten, a demonstration that was shelved on the shelf!
"Ahem."
A slight cough broke the dead silence, like a pebble thrown into a deep pool.
Shisui was startled, and Sharingan instantly locked onto the source of the sound.
The shadows in the courtyard seemed to come alive, silently condensing into a single figure.
The black robe remained motionless in the night wind, and the dark patterns of Nine Mask Svāhā on the cloak shone strangely under the moonlight.
The white Three-Eyed Fox Mask covered the face of the visitor, revealing only a pair of eyes as deep as the abyss.
"It seems that what Vanilla said made you think a lot." Asura's voice came through the mask, low and steady, and no emotion could be heard.
He didn't get close, but leaned casually against the pillars, as if blending into the shadows.
The muscles in Shisui's whole body tensed instantly, and the newly born Sharingan turned wildly, trying to catch the slightest flaw in the opponent, but only felt that the unfathomable chakra was like a vast ocean, containing destructive power under its calmness.
He forced himself to suppress his turbulent emotions, and his voice became hoarse due to tightness. " Master Asura came to visit late at night, what advice do you have?"
+
"Advice is out of the question." Asura's eyes seemed to penetrate the mask and fell on his newly transplanted pair of Sharingan.
Asura walked next to him and sat down casually, with an innate calmness in his movements.
"She saw a lot of things from the rise and fall of the Uzumaki Clan, and she asked me--." Asura turned his head sideways, and the eye holes of the mask seemed to be looking directly into Shisui's soul.
Asura said in a calm tone, "Uchiha Clan, have you ever owed anything to Konoha?"
Owe?
This word was like a needle, piercing the heavy confusion in Shisui's heart.
Without any hesitation, he straightened his back instinctively, and his new pair of Sharingan shot out a sharp light. "No! The blood and sacrifices Uchiha Clan has shed for Konoha are by no means inferior to any family! Since the founding of the village, From the beginning to all the Shinobi World wars, Sharingan of Uchiha has always been one of the sharpest blades protecting Konoha! Military Police Force is even more conscientious in maintaining order in the village!"
Countless Uchiha people died in the three Shinobi World wars. Even his grandfather Kagami Uchiha died on the battlefield!
Shisui's voice was sonorous, with unquestionable pride and sorrow.
This is the knowledge engraved in his blood and the starting point of all his struggles.
Even the original Uchiha Madara couldn't take away Uchiha Clan!
"Very good." There seemed to be a faint, imperceptible hint of approval in Asura's voice, but then it turned into a deeper coldness.
"Then, tell me, Shisui. If one day, the purge comes, not from external enemies, but from internal suspicion, fear and power struggle. When the butcher's knife is placed on the neck of every Uchiha tribesman, and when the bloody moonlight of Night of the Massacre envelopes Naka River, what will you do?"
Genocide·-Night!
These four words carried a strong smell of blood and instantly took Shisui's breath away!
A sharp phantom pain came from both eyes, and the scene of Danzo laughing and gouging his eyes flashed again!
Immediately afterwards, there were the twisted and angry faces of the radicals at the clan meeting, Itachi's back becoming increasingly silent and emaciated under the shadow of Anbu, and the unfathomable alienation under the gentle smile of Third·
Countless fragments exploded and reorganized in his mind, eventually turning into a sea of scarlet blood, drowning the faces of all his familiar tribesmen!
What will he do?
Shisui's body trembled violently, and the new pair of Sharingan turned wildly, trying to find a piece of driftwood in the torrent of despair.
Asking Third for help?
Those coldly monitoring Anbu figures in the fantasy world were like ice water extinguishing his last trace of fantasy.
Danzo has taken away his Mangekyō Sharingan, Third-really no idea?
Will it really protect Uchiha?
Uzumaki Fuka's words echoed like a magic spell, "Resolving the conflict between Uchiha and Konoha is actually very simple. Why doesn't Third do it?"
Maybe the answer is that there are some people among the village's senior officials who don't want to solve it at all, and are even happy to see it happen!
Leading the whole clan to resist?
That will be the spark that ignites the civil war in Konoha, and will involve countless innocent people in a sea of blood!
And it will inevitably be suppressed by all the ninjas and civilian ninjas of Konoha just like Kaguya Clan's rebellion!
Do your best to stop Itachi?
In the face of absolute power and well-planned conspiracy, how many people can he protect with his own strength?
What can he do?
What should he do?
On one side is the family who gave birth to him and his relatives connected by blood; on the other side is the village he swore allegiance to and protected with his life.
When the two are pushed into complete opposition and one party must be destroyed to "solve" the problem, where does he stand?
Where is his strength?
He is proud of "Body Flicker Technique" and "Kotoamatsukami". After losing his eyes, what is left?
Huge pain and confusion overwhelmed him like a tide.
He opened his mouth, but his throat seemed to be blocked and he couldn't make any sound.
He could only clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms, and his body was trembling slightly due to the fierce inner struggle.
The cold wooden boards of the corridor sent a chill through the thin clothes, but it was far less than the coldness in his heart.
The moonlight fell on his violently undulating shoulders and back, casting a silhouette of despair and loneliness.
The only things left in the courtyard were the night wind blowing through the eaves and the chirping of the wind chimes, and his extremely suppressed heavy breathing.
A piece of coldness fell silently on Shisui's shoulders that were tense due to pain.
He trembled slightly and raised his head blankly.
More coldness was rising and falling from the deep night sky.
The tiny, crystal-clear ice crystals shimmered under the moonlight, like broken stars falling into the mortal world.
It's snowing.
Konoha The first snow in 56 years came without any warning.
The cold snowflakes touched his hot skin and melted instantly, leaving a biting chill. It was like the sigh of fate, announcing that a long and harsh winter had officially begun.
Asura watched this scene quietly, the eyes under the mask were deep and difficult to understand.
He did not ask any more questions, nor did he offer comfort, nor did he judge. He was just like a calm bystander, watching the storm in Shisui Uchiha's inner world.
That black figure, like an ink mark blending into the night, gradually and silently disappeared into the dancing snow, as if it had never appeared before.
Only Shisui was left, sitting stiffly on the cold corridor, with a thin layer of snow falling on his shoulders, like a stone statue forgotten by the whole world.
Among the new pair of Sharingan, Three-Tomoe rotates slowly behind the swirling snow curtain, reflecting the cold stars in the sky, as well as the bottomless confusion and the heaviness of choice.
Snowflakes piled up silently, gradually covering the clean gravel floor of the courtyard, seeming to bury all traces of the past.