Sasuke's Misguided Path, Shisui the Overconfident Man

Late at night, the Hokage Building.

The veteran smoker who loved his helmet finished his day's work.

Stretching, he noticed a tuft of white hair by the window.

"Welcome back, Kakashi." His weary eyes relaxed slightly as he spoke softly. "You—saw that kid?"

With Kakashi back, Leaf's strength grew by another measure.

He didn't have to bear so much pressure anymore.

"Yeah..."

Kakashi waved a hand but didn't dwell on Naruto. Instead, he brought up someone else.

"Third Hokage, do you know that little brat from the Uchiha Clan Head's family?"

"Oh? You mean Itachi? That's a clever child. His understanding of the Will of Fire surpasses everyone in the village."

The Third Hokage tapped his pipe, a rare note of admiration in his eyes.

Itachi—he genuinely liked him.

Even as a member of the Uchiha Clan, he lacked that stubborn, obsessive flaw.

Instead, he was full of wisdom and composure.

Seeing this, Kakashi shook his head. "No, I'm not talking about Itachi."

"Oh? You mean Sasuke? He's still young, but his talent seems decent."

"It's Jin."

"Jin?" The Third Hokage paused. "Sounds familiar, somehow..."

His mind churned, trying to conjure an image of "Jin," but failed several times.

Like some forgotten scrap shoved into a corner, unused for so long that suddenly mentioning it made it impossible to recall.

But after a few tries, the Third Hokage finally remembered a scene from four years ago.

He asked instinctively, "That boy... is there a problem?"

"No, it's just... he talks a lot." After a moment's hesitation, Kakashi pulled out the notebook he'd been keeping.

It was densely filled with everything Jin had said.

But the first page had been torn out.

On it was recorded the relationship between Naruto and Jin.

He'd originally planned to document it and show the Third Hokage.

But maybe it was because Jin kept bringing up the Fourth Hokage and his wife.

It kept making him think of Minato-sensei's teachings and Kushina-sensei's care for him.

"Actually, it's good that Naruto has an older brother to look after him."

Thinking that, he concealed their connection.

He gave a few perfunctory words and left.

Behind him, the Third Hokage stared at the torn page in the notebook.

His mind drifted back to that child from four years ago.

Rustle.

Before the morning mist had fully cleared, a faint scratching sound came from the wall of the Uchiha estate.

Like a puppy digging at the wall.

In truth, it was Sasuke standing on tiptoe, smoothing out a stolen blanket.

"Can sunbathing... really make you stronger?"

"It should, I guess. That guy said the sun is natural energy that combines with the body's energy to create Chakra..."

He muttered to himself, then sneaked a glance at the house.

Seeing no one come out, he sprawled out just like Jin, arms and legs spread wide.

To mimic it better, he even deliberately stuck a blade of dog-tail grass between his teeth.

Humming a lazy, cocky tune.

Rustle.

The wooden door slid open. Early-rising Fugaku looked up and saw his second son sitting at the entrance.

As if watching something.

He asked, puzzled, "Jin, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, watching a puppy dig at the wall."

"Puppy scratching the wall?" Fugaku froze, his expression suddenly tense. "Which wall is it scratching?!"

"Sasuke said it's the third wall to the left of this door, the one with the cherry blossoms planted by it."

Thump.

Thump-thump.

"My secret savings..." Fugaku's face went pale.

Over the years, the secret savings inside the house never added up, so he'd had to look outward.

That's why he'd hidden them under the courtyard wall, but he never expected...

"Damn it! That kid Sasuke is asking for a beating more and more!"

He snorted angrily, stepped into his wooden clogs, and ran out.

Before long, Sasuke's miserable screams echoed from the courtyard wall.

Screams that were both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Under the wall, naturally, lay the old father's painstakingly hidden secret savings.

At the same time, the wooden door inside the house slid open again.

Listening to the screams in his ears, Itachi sighed:

"Jin, why did you take Father's money again? What was it for this time?"

In the house, besides Fugaku, everyone knew it was Jin who took the money.

Almost every time.

Of course, the reasons were always different.

Sometimes it was to buy food—Three-Color Dumplings, which Itachi had also eaten.

Sometimes it was to pay someone to chat with him for a bit...

The excuses were all over the place.

So what about this time?

Itachi sat down beside him, looking at his brother with curiosity, his eyes appraising.

"Oh, nothing much. Bought some fruit and milk and sent it to war orphans."

"War orphans? Jin, you... you've grown up."

Hearing this, Itachi's gaze gradually softened.

He instinctively reached out, wanting to pinch his little brother's cheek.

But he pinched empty air.

Jin sidestepped to dodge while grinning: "One-vs-Seven, today—"

Hearing this, Itachi almost reflexively shot back:

"Don't worry, I'll protect you and Sasuke."

"I'll stand from the village's perspective and do my best to stop this fight."

"If anyone tries to take Shisui's eyes, I'll kill them!"

He paused there, then couldn't help asking:

"But why would anyone want to take Shisui's eyes?"

He was a bit puzzled.

Shisui had made quite a name for himself charging out on the battlefield.

He was a hero!

Who would covet a hero's Sharingan?

Could it be... Shisui's newly awakened Mangekyo?

Thump.

Just then, Shisui suddenly vaulted over from the next yard.

His hair tips were still damp with dew, and dark circles from staying up hung under his eyes.

"Itachi, Jin! You're both here! I've got good news! I developed a new Dojutsu!"

His voice wasn't loud, but the corners of his mouth were stretched to his ears, clearly overjoyed.

And hearing this voice, Uchiha Jin's hand propping up his cheek froze abruptly.

Through Shisui's excited pupils, he seemed to see some one-eyed old geezer grinning savagely in the darkness.

"I named it Kotoamatsukami!"

Shisui, completely oblivious to his friend's suddenly changed expression, continued, "This Dojutsu can modify someone's will without them noticing—though the cooldown for the eye power is a bit long!"

"This morning I discussed things for an hour in the Hokage's office, and Elder Danzo even praised me as the hope of the Uchiha!"

As he spoke, the young man planted his hands on his hips, as if on the verge of throwing his head back in laughter.

But someone directly cut him off.

"How many people did you tell?"

Itachi finally sensed something was wrong; he seemed to be starting to understand why Shisui had his eyes taken.

Explaining a Dojutsu like that, down to the finest detail, almost as if pasting the instruction manual right out in the open!

If they weren't going to gouge out your eyes, whose would they take?!

"Not that many..."

Hearing this, Shisui counted on his fingers, "Just the Third Hokage, the Hokage advisors, Assistant Danzo-sama, the Anbu strategy squad, the Root sealing squad..."

This...

This, this, this...

In the end, Jin looked at the failed replication message before him, patted this sunny, cheerful, overly confident man on the shoulder.

Shook his head and walked away.

Someone asks, where's the overly confident man?

Universally believing in every man!