Talk-no-Jutsu Uchiha Itachi

Facing Uchiha Itachi, Minagawa Uchiha felt rather conflicted. In his previous life, Naruto had accompanied his entire youth. Opinions on this character had always been divided—some worshipped him, while others despised him.

In Minagawa Uchiha's view, Uchiha Itachi lacked the most basic moral values. This was also the product of the Ninja World's twisted education. Sent to the battlefield at the age of four to witness its bloodiest side, even a normal person's mind would become warped. Later, neither his father, Uchiha Fugaku, nor his friend, Uchiha Shisui, did anything but preach their own ideals without instilling even the most basic values in him.

He joined the Third Hokage's Anbu at a young age, so naturally Sarutobi Hiruzen shaped his entire way of thinking. He spent his days pondering the meaning of life, giving the Will of Fire an opening. Devotion became the creed of his life. The person who suffered the most loved sweets the most, and that irony was taken to its peak.

After experiencing the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall, perhaps just as Nagato had said, pain made people grow. Perhaps it was through the agony of personally destroying his own clan that Uchiha Itachi saw Konoha's true face. That was why he never once passed Akatsuki Organization intelligence to Konoha afterward.

Although he disliked the Konoha High Command, his love for Konoha was displayed vividly later on. While he was alive, he demanded that the Akatsuki Organization not attack Konoha. Before his death, he gave Kotoamatsukami to Naruto Uzumaki to bring Uchiha Sasuke back. Even after being reincarnated through Impure World Reincarnation, he still insisted that he was Uchiha Itachi of Konoha.

Before the clan's downfall, he lived in confusion. After it, he lived in regret. Every mistake had begun with his misplaced trust in the Konoha High Command's decision to destroy his own clan.

But the current Uchiha Itachi had only killed a few peripheral clan members before Minagawa Uchiha stopped him. Those tragedies had not yet fully occurred. Minagawa Uchiha felt that he could still be saved. As for those clan members who had been killed, Minagawa Uchiha could not concern himself with that much. Uchiha Itachi could only spend the rest of his life atoning for it himself.

For Minagawa Uchiha, who wanted to change the Ninja World, the Uchiha Clan was his foundation. If he wanted to maintain that foundation without becoming the one in the spotlight himself, he would need Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi to help him.

But Uchiha Fugaku, the Clan Head, was an odd one. Other people doted on their daughters, but he doted on his eldest son. In the Original Work, when Uchiha Itachi joined forces with Konoha and Obito Uchiha to attack the Uchiha Clan, the Clan Head not only failed to resist, but actually supported his precious eldest son and meekly offered up his neck for slaughter!

Therefore, whether it was because he needed this somewhat prestigious Clan Head to stand at the forefront, needed Uchiha Itachi's rare Combat Power to help handle matters, or needed to cultivate the Savior Uchiha Sasuke as insurance, keeping Uchiha Itachi alive was in Minagawa Uchiha's own interests.

Forget it. I'll try talking him over first. If that doesn't work, I'll lock him up for now. Once I figure out how the Mangekyō Sharingan affects spiritual consciousness, I'll just use Kotoamatsukami on him.

Thinking this, he crouched down and looked directly into the eyes of the disheveled Uchiha Itachi before him.

"You won. But because of your interference, both the Uchiha and Konoha will become losers. You have no idea what Konoha's existence means. Your resistance will only weaken Konoha, burden the Uchiha with infamy, and lead to their destruction."

Although Uchiha Itachi could no longer move, he still tried to persuade Minagawa Uchiha with his words to abandon resistance for Konoha's peace.

Reading was so one could calmly reason with others. Fists were so others could calmly listen to one's reasoning. If Minagawa Uchiha had not defeated Uchiha Itachi here, the latter would never have painstakingly explained these things to him. He would only have stood above him and killed him without a second thought.

Hearing Uchiha Itachi's crooked logic, Minagawa Uchiha laughed in anger.

"Let's not bring up why Konoha and the Uchiha ended up like this in the first place. In the current irreconcilable situation, why should the Uchiha be the ones to yield? Why can't Konoha yield instead? The Uchiha Clan is a Founding Clan of Konoha. We would never stand by and watch Konoha perish. We only need to eliminate the Konoha High Command. We won't do anything to the other ninja."

"On the other hand, the Konoha High Command wants to wipe out the Uchiha Clan completely, sparing neither the elderly nor children. Tell me—which side yielding would be best?"

"The facts now are that the Uchiha Clan already knows the Konoha High Command's plan. We won't sit around waiting to die. If both sides clash, casualties will increase, Konoha will be weakened, and other Ninja Villages will have an opportunity to take advantage."

"But have you considered that they can launch a surprise attack on the Uchiha Clan to reduce Konoha's battle losses, and we can also launch a surprise attack on the Konoha High Command to reduce Konoha's battle losses?"

"What do you think? All you want is peace anyway. Now that the Uchiha are on Guard Against them, their plan can no longer work. Meanwhile, on This Side, with you and your father included, the Uchiha have three pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan. If we raid the Hokage Building, we can kill Sarutobi Hiruzen and the other three high-ranking officials in an instant. Killing one clan or killing four people leads to the same result, so why make things harder for yourself?"

"Instead, we can easily eliminate those four Konoha officials without dragging more innocent people into it. Compared to the Uchiha, those four are old, without Combat Power or achievements to speak of. Getting rid of them would only benefit Konoha and bring it no harm. What do you say?"

Uchiha Itachi was utterly stunned. There was such a way to persuade someone to surrender? This was not persuasion at all—this was directly urging someone to rebel!

"Uh, wait. You said my father also has the Mangekyō Sharingan?"

Uchiha Itachi suddenly caught an unusual piece of information hidden within Minagawa Uchiha's shocking words.

"That's right. Did you think everyone was like you and Shisui, showing off the moment they gained a little strength? As Clan Head, your father discovered the Konoha High Command's hostility and Guard Against the Uchiha as early as the Third Shinobi World War. Back then, we who specialized in Fire Release were sent to the Kirigakure battlefield, where our abilities were restrained. So even though he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan back then, he never revealed it before the clan."

"He isn't as incompetent as you think. The reason he could still hold considerable prestige among the clan despite them being suppressed to this extent was that he led them through the harsh conditions of the Third Shinobi World War, drove back Kirigakure, and earned it bit by bit."

"So likewise, he chose to hide his Mangekyō Sharingan not because he had some other scheme, as you and Shisui believed. He did it for the greater good, unwilling to let the Uchiha come into conflict with Konoha. But you and Shisui ruined all of your father's painstaking efforts, and that is what brought the Uchiha and Konoha to this point."