"Shisui, what exactly happened? How did you suddenly become like this?"
Itachi stared at Shisui in disbelief. Shisui had been so resolute before, yet Bai Ye had persuaded him in merely one afternoon.
He had even taken the initiative to stand on Bai Ye's side. Whose ocular technique was Kotoamatsukami here—his or Bai Ye's?
For a moment, Itachi could not tell who had awakened Kotoamatsukami.
Things had clearly not been like this before!
"Itachi, what do you think the Will of Fire is?"
Shisui asked Itachi out of nowhere. Itachi froze for a moment, then looked at Shisui in surprise before replying, "Where the leaves dance, the fire burns on without end!"
Shisui should have understood the Will of Fire perfectly well. Why was he asking this?
"Then let me ask you, Itachi. Does sending children to the battlefield count as the Will of Fire? The Will of Fire is supposed to mean protecting the next generation with one's own life. Since when did it become using children's lives to protect the power holders of the previous generation?"
Shisui's words were like a sharp bayonet, instantly piercing Itachi's heart.
Since when?!
A trace of recollection flashed through Itachi's eyes. It seemed to have begun near the end of the Second Great Ninja War.
At first, Konoha had no shortage of talent. But not long after the Second Great Ninja War ended, the Third Great Ninja War arrived. Konoha had been besieged by the surrounding ninja villages, and with no fresh forces to replenish its ranks, Ninja Academy students began graduating early and heading to the battlefield. Toward the end of the war, Itachi had also gone to the battlefield with Uchiha Fugaku.
"You already have the answer in your heart, don't you, Itachi? There is also this: every time there