Naka River Shrine, where the Uchiha Clan held its meetings.
When Uchiha Shūichi stepped through the shrine gate, he spotted Uchiha Itachi standing in a corner. Their eyes met briefly, then they both looked away.
Uchiha Itachi's expression was as blank as ever. As a double agent caught between Konoha and the Uchiha, he gave almost no hint of what he was thinking.
"Ahem... Is everyone here?"
A cough silenced the gathered Uchiha. They all looked toward the head of the room, where Uchiha Fugaku, the clan leader, stood.
"Every Uchiha who has awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan is here."
An elderly Uchiha spoke, his voice trembling. Around twenty members of the Uchiha Clan were gathered in the shrine.
Uchiha Shūichi leaned against the doorframe, standing in a corner as he studied Uchiha Fujioka.
From his appearance alone, Uchiha Fujioka seemed steady and resolute. Coupled with a blank expression much like Uchiha Itachi's, he looked like a natural-born leader.
Yet Uchiha Shūichi knew that beneath Uchiha Fujioka's steady, resolute appearance lay a hesitant, indecisive nature.
It could be said that Uchiha Fujioka bore at least thirty percent of the blame for the Uchiha Clan's eventual destruction.
"Shisui has gone missing... We found a letter in his room!"
Uchiha Fugaku spoke gravely. The next moment, the assembled Uchiha were stunned.
Some of them already knew, but most had heard nothing. The sudden revelation left nearly everyone dumbfounded.
Though Uchiha Shisui was a minor character in the manga who was already dead by the time the story began, at this point in time he was arguably the strongest ninja in all of Konoha.
That's right—not the strongest Uchiha, but the strongest ninja in all of Konoha.
The Third Hokage was old, Hatake Kakashi was wasting his talent, the Sannin were all away from Konoha, and the Fourth Hokage had long since died. Body Flicker Shisui was among Konoha's very best.
Honestly, if Uchiha Shisui hadn't been so soft-hearted as to spare Shimura Danzō, and if Shimura Danzō hadn't possessed Izanagi, an ability that could catch someone off guard and kill them on the spot, even the Konoha F4 wouldn't have stood a chance against Uchiha Shisui together.
The news of his suicide struck the Uchiha Clan with the same shock that Konoha's ninja would have felt upon hearing of the Fourth Hokage's sudden death.
"How could this happen?! That was Body Flicker Shisui, the strongest ninja in our Uchiha Clan! He actually killed himself?"
"Impossible! This has to be one of Konoha's schemes! Konoha must have done this! Only Konoha's ninja could have ambushed Uchiha Shisui while he was off guard!"
"Exactly! Konoha must have done this! Why else would Uchiha Shisui suddenly kill himself?"
The Uchiha ninja were outraged. Even Uchiha Itachi, who had been wearing his usual blank expression, now revealed his Three Tomoe Sharingan. Clearly, he was shaken.
In the original story, Uchiha Shisui was Uchiha Itachi's best friend. Uchiha Itachi had even awakened the Mangekyo because of Uchiha Shisui's death.
But this time, Uchiha Itachi hadn't awakened the Mangekyo. The circumstances were different.
In the original story, Uchiha Shisui had taken his own life in front of Uchiha Itachi, and before doing so, had entrusted his eye to him. The shock that had dealt Uchiha Itachi was far greater than this.
Now, he had only heard about Uchiha Shisui's letter and hadn't even seen his body. The shock wasn't enough to awaken the Mangekyo.
"Uchiha Shūichi, Uchiha Itachi! You two were closest to Uchiha Shisui. Did you notice anything unusual?"
An Uchiha suddenly turned to look at Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shūichi.
"I don't know. Shisui hasn't contacted me lately."
Uchiha Itachi slowly shook his head. He truly knew nothing. Since Uchiha Shūichi had already known the story, he had deliberately gotten ahead of things, so Uchiha Itachi had no idea what Uchiha Shisui had been up to.
"I'm not sure either. Shisui seems to have spent the past while carrying out missions for Konoha."
"What Konoha missions?! He must have been targeted by Konoha's higher-ups! I've always said none of them are any good!"
A middle-aged Uchiha rose to his feet, his face full of anger.
"And now look what's happened! Our strongest ninja died without a sound! Worse, they've pinned the label of suicide on him. Konoha has gone too far!"
"And you two, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shūichi! Don't think we haven't noticed how close you are to Konoha's higher-ups... Just look at what happened to Uchiha Shisui. Those people are nothing but trouble!"
Uchiha Itachi merely frowned slightly and said nothing. Uchiha Shūichi raised his head.
"Nothing's been settled about Shisui yet, has it? We haven't even found his body. And even if we do find it, how can you be sure Konoha was responsible?"
"You! I knew you were a traitor! You're still defending Konoha!"
The middle-aged Uchiha flew into a rage. In a flash, he appeared behind Uchiha Shūichi and stabbed at his back with a Kunai.
With a flutter, the Uchiha Shūichi who'd been struck turned into a swarm of crows. The middle-aged Uchiha froze for a moment, then a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan appeared before him. In an instant, his limbs seized up and he fell to the ground.
Uchiha Shūichi was the Uchiha Clan's most talented ninja after Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi was only thirteen or fourteen and hadn't yet awakened the Mangekyo. He might not even have been a match for Uchiha Shūichi, let alone an ordinary Uchiha with the Three Tomoe Sharingan.
When Uchiha fought one another, the outcome generally came down to how well they had mastered the Sharingan. And thanks to his soul fusing with another, Uchiha Shūichi had reached the very peak of what the Three Tomoe Sharingan could do.
"Bastard! Have you really sided with Konoha? You dare attack your own clan!"
Even after being knocked down by the genjutsu, the middle-aged Uchiha kept shouting. Uchiha Shūichi raised an eyebrow and replied coldly:
"What? You can attack me, but I'm not allowed to fight back?"
"And if you really think Konoha's higher-ups had something to do with Shisui's death, then go confront them directly! Why are you picking a fight with me?"
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