"Satsuki! Don't attack... No matter what she did... Itachi is still your sister..."
Mikoto's voice trembled with choked sobs. The moment Naruto entered the Susanoo and placed a hand on Satsuki, causing the Chakra pressure to finally ease slightly, she rushed forward and spread her arms between the purple Susanoo and Yuzu.
Tears welled in her eyes. It was the stubborn tenderness of a mother—knowing it was futile, yet still wanting to use the last thread of blood ties to pull back two children who were utterly incompatible.
Her love was innocent to the point of naivety, and that naivety was cruel.
And that was precisely what Satsuki could never forgive Itachi Uchiha for—she had taken away what should have been pure love, so what right did she have to remain protected by it?
Fugaku silently stepped to his wife's side. He said nothing, but his actions made his stance clear.
He, too, did not want Satsuki to bring down that blade here.
Naruto's hand still rested lightly on Satsuki's shoulder.
"Satsuki... I'm sorry."
"I know this is irresponsible—telling you the truth, yet stopping you from taking revenge..."
His gaze swept over Shisui, who lay on the ground under Yuzu's tight protection, before finally returning to Mikoto's tear-filled face.
"But Itachi... she is still Aunt Mikoto's child."
If he were the parent—if his eldest daughter had gone astray, and his younger daughter insisted on killing her sister... what would he do?
He did not know.
But he knew Aunt Mikoto would cry day and night. Every time she closed her eyes for the rest of her life, she would see the sight of blood relatives killing one another. That tenderness would shatter into regret that could never be pieced back together.
If he had not saved Satsuki's parents back then—if