Uchiha District.
Caw, caw—
Flocks of crows gradually descended, flying into a simple little courtyard.
The courtyard lay deep within the district, plain and unadorned.
"Is that Itachi?"
Hearing the noise outside, Shisui, his eyes bandaged, slowly pushed open the door.
Creak.
The sound of his wheelchair scraping over the wooden floor was especially clear.
Seeing this, Itachi's usually calm eyes couldn't help but tremble ever so slightly.
Barely perceptible.
In the night, it was impossible to see, even if one tried.
But Shisui didn't just see.
"Your heart is unsettled." He fell silent for a moment, then pointed to the seat beside him. "Sit down and have some water."
Watching him, Itachi furrowed his brow slightly. "Shisui, you seem... a little different."
The Shisui before him was nothing like the sunny, cheerful young man he'd once been.
He was like a pool of dead water, without a ripple or a change.
"Different? I'm already a dead man."
Shisui tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if trying to summon the familiar smile he'd once worn, but he failed.
The darkness before his eyes seemed to be slowly shrouding the light in his heart.
The two sat in silence.
"Shisui, I... should get some rest."
After a while, Itachi said his farewells.
Whoosh.
He pushed open the door. The moonlight outside had vanished, leaving only thick darkness.
It quietly swallowed the entire Uchiha District.
Only the dim yellow light inside the house remained.
Just as he lifted his foot to step into the heavy night, Shisui suddenly spoke behind him. "Itachi, have you—made your choice?"
Tap.
His raised foot stopped on the threshold.
The figure with his back to Shisui froze in the doorway.
Without moving.
Only when the lamplight had gone out, leaving darkness thick as ink, did he give a soft laugh and remind Shisui, "Shisui, it's late. Get some rest."
Then his foot came down, and the night swallowed him whole.
He disappeared without a trace.
Drip.
Drip.
Outside the window, the faint sound of night dew falling seemed to linger.
"That guy Itachi left without even closing the door."
After a long while, Shisui suddenly moved his wheelchair forward to shut it.
Whoosh.
Bang!
But just as the wooden door was about to close, a small hand suddenly slipped through.
"Hm? Itachi, you—huh?"
Shisui froze and spoke without thinking, but halfway through, he realized something was wrong.
"You're Jin?"
"Hey, Tobirama, taking it easy tonight?"
Shisui: ...
That guy Jin really had a mouth on him...
His long-dead heart suddenly stirred with the faintest ripple.
He gave a wry smile. "It's the middle of the night. You should be asleep..."
"What do you mean, 'you should be asleep'? Itachi can come in, but I can't?"
Jin ignored Shisui and pushed the door open, squeezing inside.
His little figure swayed through the dim room.
Like a landlord inspecting his property, completely at ease.
In the end, Shisui was the first to give in and ask the question on his mind. "Why did you save me?"
"No. I didn't save you. I saved the Uchiha."
Jin's unexpected answer brought many things to Shisui's mind.
The Uchiha, the Leaf, and Itachi's wavering loyalties.
Shisui froze, his raised hand at a loss.
In the end, he could only lower it beside his wheelchair and grip the armrest tightly.
Jin looked at Shisui, who only came up to his chest, then smiled and tapped him on the head.
"Shisui, your heart is unsettled."
Shisui: ...
Those words sounded familiar.
Only their positions had been completely reversed.
He raised his head and stared straight ahead.
Though he couldn't see, an image of a young face quietly formed in his mind.
He was clearly just a child!
And—he didn't even seem particularly clever in the way he acted.
So why did talking with Jin always make Shisui feel as if he'd been seen through?
As if he stood naked, laid bare before Jin.
Like a giant standing above fate, looking down at him.
He'd wondered more than once whether Jin's eyes could see through fate.
But he'd never been able to prove it.
After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Why did you save me? I don't have either of my eyes anymore. I've lost my Dojutsu, both my legs are broken, and my body is crippled."
"I... am a useless man now."
Jin dismissed him casually. "Being useless is great. Useless people are the best at farming traits."
Shisui had no idea what he meant.
He waved it off, assuming Jin had started talking nonsense again, and asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"Oh? You can tell?"
Jin was a little surprised. Having come back from the dead, Shisui's outlook really did seem to have changed.
He didn't beat around the bush. "I need you as a fighter, a fighter for the Uchiha Clan."
"By the way, just so you remember, I'm the one who saved you!"
"So, strictly speaking—you, Uchiha Shisui, are now my servant."
As he spoke, the playful nonchalance vanished from Jin's face, leaving only seriousness.
He stared at Shisui as a delicate Adamantine Chain appeared in his right palm.
Three links intertwined around an eyeball at the center.
Kotoamatsukami.
The reason Jin had waited so long after bringing Shisui back to discuss this was that he'd been figuring out how to use Kotoamatsukami.
He'd finally figured it out today.
Now, if Shisui dared to say no, Jin would use it on him without hesitation.
Shisui's Kotoamatsukami would be very useful to him.
At worst, he could turn the massacre game into a game of collecting SSR cards.
Of course, someone like Danzo wasn't worth having—not even to a dog.
"So... Jin is ready to turn against the village completely?"
Hearing that, Shisui fell silent once more.
He had a vague idea of what was coming. He could even see a future in which brothers turned against each other.
It left him feeling helpless.
And made the torment in his heart even worse.
Escape!
Perhaps death was the only way.
Noticing Shisui's mood, Jin moved closer and bent down to whisper in his ear:
"Of course, if you'd rather die, that's even simpler. Have you ever heard of the Second Hokage's forbidden jutsu, Impure World Reincarnation?"
Before you continue