Who Are You

Hearing Uchiha Shisui relay that Danzō had actually lost his composure over such a reason, and even later sought out Orochimaru, causing a stir among the higher-ups that even the Uchiha clan caught wind of it, Shiba Seika nearly couldn't hold back his laughter.

He had to strain hard to suppress the corners of his mouth, barely keeping his expression neutral in front of Shisui.

Back when he forced Minato Namikaze to write that statement, his whole intention was to undermine Root and trap Danzō. Now that Danzō was unhappy, naturally he was pleased.

As for the side effect of making Danzō aware of the Akatsuki Organization earlier, Shiba Seika couldn't care less.

Because this was fated to happen anyway—sooner or later made no real difference.

He had never considered reconciling with Danzō.

From the original story, Shimura Danzō's mind simply lacked any concept of grand strategy like forming alliances. He always, without exception, viewed every ninja village outside Konoha as an enemy, and in his entire life, never secured a single ally for the Leaf.

Someone like that, even setting aside personal feelings, Shiba Seika would never cooperate with.

So why should he care about Danzō's tantrums and hostility?

But another detail in Shisui's account did catch Shiba Seika's attention.

"Shisui-kun, have Konoha's higher-ups also sensed that the war is about to escalate?"

The naive Shisui didn't realize he was being pumped for information and foolishly spilled everything the village's intelligence division had worked so hard to gather.

"Yes, Aizen-kun, does the Land of Rain share that judgment? Lord Hokage estimates that by early next spring at the latest, Iwagakure and Kirigakure will lose their patience. By then, Konoha will likely face its truly difficult times."

The weather had recently started turning to winter.

That meant there were at most only a few months left until the Third Great Ninja War reached its climax!

Shiba Seika lowered his eyelids, and in that instant, a complex mix of emotions flickered through his eyes.

He needed to pick up the pace—time was running out!

He couldn't just wait until the death date calculated by his system to start making moves!

Chaos is a ladder! The war's climax was also his best chance to overthrow the Land of Rain!

He had to hurry and prepare.

The two sat in silence for a moment before Uchiha Shisui awkwardly steered the conversation back.

"So, Aizen-kun, do you know anything about this organization called 'Akatsuki'?"

Shiba Seika chuckled lightly. "Of course. I've dealt with them several times and know a fair bit about several of their key members."

"That's great! Could you trouble yourself to provide more intel on them?"

"But the Akatsuki Organization has already been recognized by our leader, Hanzo the Salamander-sama. They are fellow citizens of the Land of Rain—my beloved friends and sworn brothers."

Uchiha Shisui looked crestfallen at this. "I see... Sorry for putting you on the spot, Aizen-kun."

But the next moment, Shiba Seika leaned forward slightly and said with righteous seriousness, "No, what I mean is—the price needs to go up."

"..." The young Uchiha Shisui had never encountered such a tactic. He froze for a second before hurriedly saying he'd need to go back and consult the Clan Head.

Shiba Seika acted very easygoing and let him go.

Back home, Uchiha Shisui immediately found Clan Head Fugaku and recounted his encounter in Cat Country.

Shisui expected Fugaku to flatly refuse or even lose his temper—after all, when had the proud Uchiha ever been pushed around like this? He was already thinking about how to defend Aizen-kun, since after several interactions, he felt Aizen-kun was a decent person.

But to his surprise, Fugaku wasn't angry. Instead, he asked back, "That Rain Ninja really claims to know all the key members of the Akatsuki? If that's true, agreeing to their deal isn't out of the question.

His so-called 'price hike' is probably just asking for a few more jutsu. We can give them some low-level scrolls—the Uchiha clan doesn't lack such collections."

Uchiha Shisui was stunned and couldn't help looking up at Clan Head Fugaku.

Meeting his gaze, Fugaku saw the confusion in Shisui's eyes. After a moment's thought, he spoke.

"There's something you probably don't know yet. Minato Namikaze's most outstanding disciple, Kakashi, has recently been accused of harming his comrades. He'll likely face a trial soon."

Uchiha Shisui gasped at this, then naturally made a connection. "Was this done by Root's people?"

Danzō had been targeting Minato Namikaze lately, so Root going after Kakashi was a reasonable guess. Even someone as innocent as Shisui could think of it, and similar suspicions were common in the village.

Clan Head Fugaku sighed. "The exact details are still unclear, but based on the evidence so far, Kakashi may not be innocent."

"What did Kakashi do?"

"In the past week, several active and retired ninjas have committed suicide in the village, one after another. Their common trait is that all of them publicly condemned Hatake Sakumo three years ago for abandoning a mission to save his comrades.

And coincidentally, Kakashi had visited each of them in the days before their deaths."

At that moment, Uchiha Shisui's eyes darkened.

Despite being a staunch pro-Leaf supporter who defended the village at every turn, even clashing repeatedly with radical members of his own clan, he still had reservations about how the village handled the suicide of Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, three years ago.

How was protecting a comrade wrong? And the senior White Fang had saved a younger junior at the time.

Doesn't the Will of Fire teach us that seniors should sacrifice for their juniors? Wasn't that the right thing to do?

Shisui didn't understand.

So right now, he simply couldn't bring himself to condemn Kakashi's actions.

But there was someone who could say what he couldn't.

Even if every time, so many people in this clan denounced Shisui as extreme, there was precisely one person who instead often complained that he was too conservative.

That person was Uchiha Itachi, only five years old at the time!

"Regardless of the reason, harming a comrade from the village is an unforgivable crime! Even if he is Minato Namikaze's disciple, Kakashi must face judgment!"

Uchiha Itachi spoke with righteous indignation.

Though still young, Itachi's mind had already formed the fixed stance that the village could never be wrong under any circumstances.

The village could never be wrong, so the fault had to lie with others—that was Itachi's logic.

Fugaku Uchiha stood up and scolded angrily, "Itachi! What are you doing in here? I'm discussing important matters with Shisui. Get out!"

Uchiha Itachi gave his father a deep look, said nothing more, and silently withdrew.

Uchiha Shisui felt somewhat helpless.

To be honest, even as an outsider, this kind of family atmosphere made him feel suffocated.

But this was the Clan Head's home, and as an ordinary clan member, he was hardly in a position to voice an opinion.

In the end, he could only sigh, deliberately sidestep the topic, and return to the original question. "Clan Head, what does this have to do with our dealings with Lord Aizen?"

Fugaku Uchiha knelt back down on the tatami mat, rubbed his brow in frustration, then looked up to continue answering Shisui's question.

"I gathered this through extensive inquiries: the beginning of all of Kakashi's changes is said to have originated on the day Minato Namikaze issued his statement in the Land of Rain.

It was someone in that Akatsuki Organization who completely changed Kakashi!

So Shisui, you must find that Lord Aizen from the Land of Rain and ask clearly: who exactly is that mysterious person in the Akatsuki Organization?"