Seeing Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui's excitement, Yamanaka Chujiu began to rain on their parade with a mischievous grin:
"Unfortunately, the clear path you see before you will change. The hope that seems within reach is just an illusion!"
"Huh?"
The two boys were completely dumbfounded, their mouths hanging open.
Wait, we'd only been happy for a few minutes. How had it turned into an illusion already?
This was way too much to take in. Now they didn't even know what to say, let alone what to think.
Two brains: I'm tired. Give me a moment.
Fortunately, young people were full of energy. They soon recovered their enthusiasm and eagerly asked what they'd overlooked to end up with such an illusion.
Faced with such earnest and positive boys, Yamanaka Chujiu explained with warmth and patience.
It was actually a very simple principle: nothing succeeded overnight.
Even something as simple as cooking required following the steps one by one. A mistake at any stage could undo all your hard work and leave you with a pot of half-cooked rice.
With the Konoha High Command, led by the Third Hokage, suppressing the Uchiha Clan, there would be many more steps involved in changing their circumstances, and countless more chances for something to go wrong.
And the worst possible outcome could be total destruction, far more serious than a pot of half-cooked rice.
You could grit your teeth and eat half-cooked rice, but if the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, there'd be nothing left at all.
Yamanaka Chujiu smiled wryly. "The worst part is that often, even when you haven't made a single mistake, the goal that once seemed so clear changes on its own. Countless hours of effort go to waste in an instant, and you have to start all over again."
"So the instinctive animal nature of humans is to be lazy, to give up, and to seek momentary pleasure."
"Shisui, Itachi, will you give in to your animal instincts?"
Uchiha Itachi answered without hesitation, his resolve unwavering. "No! I'll never give in to my instincts."
Uchiha Shisui pondered for a moment, then answered even more firmly. "Neither will I."
Yamanaka Chujiu asked, "Then what will you do if you fail along the way?"
The two boys looked at each other and answered in unison, "We didn't know before, but from today onward, just like Senior Chujiu said, even if we fail, we'll start all over again!"
Yamanaka Chujiu looked at them, hoping they would remember their words.
In the original history, Shisui had been ambushed by Danzo, who gouged out one of his eyes. He was then pursued by Root shinobi.
After suffering a crushing defeat, Shisui hadn't chosen to start over.
Instead, he dragged his broken body to find Itachi and entrusted him with his eye, his responsibilities, and all his troubles. Then Shisui jumped into a raging river and killed himself.
Uchiha Itachi was only thirteen. He couldn't bear such a heavy burden, and his already shattered heart finally gave way.
Itachi, too, had suffered defeat without choosing to start over. Instead, he went on to bring the Uchiha Clan to a complete end.
Well, killing the victim could be considered one way to solve the problem.
Afterward, he dumped a mountain of hatred and pressure onto his younger brother, Sasuke.
And that wasn't all!
To "help" Sasuke grow stronger, Uchiha Itachi even used Tsukuyomi to crush his younger brother's once-healthy mind, planting the most terrible time bomb within him.
Now the two Uchiha boys were brimming with passion, as if no hardship could ever defeat them.
But old habits died hard.
When the moment came, whether they could live up to their bold words was known only to the heavens.
Of course, Yamanaka Chujiu had no intention of leaving their fate to chance. He would be the one to take control of the boys' destinies!
Yamanaka Chujiu said fervently, "Failure isn't the end. It's the starting point of success."
"Learn to draw lessons from failure, and you'll find your way to success."
"Enduring pain without complaint is a trial; smiling without a word is growth. The day you can face pain with resilience and success with humility will be the day you've truly matured."
His words, carried by threads of thought, penetrated the minds of his two believers. They set down logical nodes one by one, gathering into a Thought Seal.
From then on, no matter what hardships, setbacks, or failures they faced, they would stand firm like pines and bamboos beneath heavy snow.
The snow could press them down, but once it melted, they would stand tall again.
As for whether this would extinguish their original free spirits, Yamanaka Chujiu didn't care.
Uchiha Shisui had died at seventeen after losing an eye. Uchiha Itachi had wiped out his entire clan at thirteen, then died in his early twenties.
Yamanaka Chujiu believed that after receiving the Thought Seal, they would at least be able to live in peace. They might even marry, have children, and pass on their bloodline.
No matter how you looked at it, the two of them were getting an incredible bargain!
After encouraging the two Uchiha boys, Yamanaka Chujiu summoned the Rising Sun Organization's core members: the five believer squad leaders, excluding Anko.
The children in the Rising Sun Organization had all lost fathers, brothers, or other elders on the battlefield. They knew the pain of losing loved ones.
Some came from families of Konoha villagers, while others were abandoned by the shinobi clans they were born into. As a result, they became unwanted outcasts, ignored by the Third Hokage and left to have their compensation swallowed up in the name of cutting costs and improving efficiency.
They had all experienced the despair of falling down the social ladder firsthand.
Most of the children had been crushed by it. After receiving private compensation from Yamanaka Chujiu, they had accepted their broken families' lot and resigned themselves to becoming ordinary villagers.
The children in the Rising Sun Organization hadn't been defeated by pain and despair. Instead, those things had brought out their potential.
Kazamatsuri Harume, Yano Shoichi, Mitsuki, Aoki Takayuki, and Kurama Hidechi were the organization's five most talented and intelligent boys and girls, with the clearest minds.
They could draw on their own experiences to deeply understand the principles Yamanaka Chujiu had shared, which was why they had become the first believers after Uchiha Itachi.
Yamanaka Chujiu officially handed over the Rising Sun Organization's work to the five squad leaders.
Kazamatsuri Harume would be responsible for agricultural mutual aid. Not only did she possess the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai and serve as the linchpin of terraced farming, she was also meticulous and had already become a skilled saleswoman for agricultural produce.
Mitsuki and Aoki Takayuki would handle coarse salt extraction. Mitsuki was skilled in Water Release, while Aoki Takayuki excelled at Wind Release. Together, they could take Yamanaka Chujiu's place and oversee the ninjutsu used to refine salt.
Yano Shoichi was as clever as anyone from the Nara Clan. He had always been Yamanaka Chujiu's most trusted adviser, responsible for coordinating the whole operation and handling all kinds of unexpected situations.
Finally, the most crucial task of all—intelligence—went to Kurama Hidechi.
Kurama Hidechi asked, "Me?"
"I don't know anything about intelligence work."
Yamanaka Chujiu said, "That's all right. The intelligence work you'll be doing isn't the same as traditional shinobi intelligence gathering. Just try getting started!"
"There's no such thing as learning how to do something before you do it. You learn as you go."
"Start by pretending you know what you're doing, gradually get the hang of it, and eventually become so good you make it look effortless."
Before you continue