Uchiha Shisui stood up. "Senior Chujiu, I'll take Itachi home to rest."
Yamanaka Chujiu said, "Once both of you have fully recovered mentally, and you still have the courage to hear more about the Execution Line, you're welcome to come back anytime."
Uchiha Shisui thanked him sincerely. "Thank you, Senior Chujiu..."
Yamanaka Chujiu smiled mysteriously. "If you're truly grateful, then agree to one request of mine."
Uchiha Shisui hesitated, then asked, "Please, go ahead."
Chujiu's smile grew even stranger, tinged with a hint of nostalgia. "Don't worry. It's a simple request. I won't ask you to do anything that would harm the village or the Uchiha Clan."
"Remember, when you get home, you can tell Uchiha Fugaku about the Execution Line. But if he asks who told you all this, you must get him to promise not to drag me into trouble before you tell him my name."
When Uchiha Shisui heard how simple the request was, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The information revealed by the Execution Line theory was too important to the Uchiha Clan. He had to tell Uchiha Fugaku.
He believed Uchiha Fugaku would understand the Execution Line and recognize the value of the theory.
Just the words "the Third Hokage has never been Shimura Danzō, and Root has never represented the Hokage" had given Uchiha Shisui hope.
Hope that they could break through the awkward situation of the Uchiha being distrusted by the Hokage, and put an end to their isolation.
Uchiha Shisui made a solemn promise. "Please rest assured, Senior Chujiu. No matter how the clan head, Fugaku, questions me, I absolutely won't reveal your name until he makes that promise."
"I promise that little brother Itachi won't say anything either. We won't drag you or the Yamanaka Clan into the Uchiha's predicament."
"Excellent!"
Yamanaka Chujiu was extremely pleased with Uchiha Shisui's conduct.
He was supremely talented, powerful, honest, clever, grateful, and knew a thing or two about human relations.
If he hadn't had such a big mouth, Uchiha Shisui would have been the perfect ninja.
In any case, Uchiha Shisui was worth the risk of reaching out and pulling him back from the brink.
After Uchiha Shisui took Uchiha Itachi away, Yamanaka Chujiu brewed another pot of fruit tea and slowly savored its sweet, refreshing taste.
What pleased him even more, though, was the surge of intense love that spilled out as the two boys' emotions roiled in response to those dark truths.
Because the boys trusted Yamanaka Chujiu, and because their hearts were pure, the Heart Severing Realm absorbed all their mental fluctuations and converted them into Chujiu's mental energy with almost no loss.
In just this short time, he already felt himself growing stronger.
He could even sense the limits of his body.
A limit was both the upper bound of a person's strength and the starting point of change.
You really couldn't beat the Uchiha. They already trusted him.
He thought of the children from the forty-three families of bereaved survivors. He had devoted a whole year to them, and spent real money raising them, yet out of those fifty-odd children, hardly any trusted Yamanaka Chujiu wholeheartedly.
So the Uchiha really were a "rich vein"—and easy to mine, too!
Even if it was to protect the Uchiha, Yamanaka Chujiu would have to take on the Third Hokage's faction.
Since they were already enemies, there was no need to put up with them anymore!
Yamanaka Chujiu admitted it: he couldn't stand Shimura Danzō's brutal crimes.
For the sake of one arm, sacrificing the lives of at least five Uchiha jonin was the kind of deranged behavior you'd expect from the Land of the Rising Sun!
He also couldn't stand Hiruzen Sarutobi's cowardice—tough on outsiders, cruel to his own people!
An enemy sneaked into the Hyuga Clan's home to kidnap a child, and the Third Hokage forced a Hyuga ninja to kill himself, groveling and fawning over Kumogakure. No decent person could do such a thing!
But what he couldn't stand most was the Third Hokage's despicable conduct: seizing the Fourth Hokage's estate and bullying the hero's son!
That scarf Sarutobi Konohamaru would wear in the future had been knitted by Uzumaki Kushina for the unborn Naruto!
But what he found most intolerable was the game played by the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō!
The elite Wood Release ninja codenamed Kinoe represented the lives of sixty children. Hiruzen Sarutobi had been confronted with more than ten similar atrocities.
Hiruzen Sarutobi would summon Shimura Danzō and demand to know why he had done it.
Then the classic play would begin:
Danzō: "You regret it!"
Hiruzen: "I'm the Hokage!"
Minato: "Bang!! (Pass me the peanuts.)"
In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi would sigh and reluctantly accept reality.
No matter how serious the matter, no matter how many people had died, it would all be swept under the rug. Danzō wouldn't even have to drink three cups of punishment liquor.
They weren't managing Konoha. They were playing a game!
A play session at a class reunion for sixty-year-olds!
Yamanaka Chujiu resolved to change all of this and make up for the many tragedies that would otherwise befall Konoha in the future.
But he wouldn't make a direct move himself.
By the time Yamanaka Chujiu was born, Hiruzen Sarutobi was already Hokage. Everyone in Konoha had long since grown accustomed to his rule.
Habit was one of the most terrifying forces in the world.
Even the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had grown accustomed to the Third Hokage's leadership. He had naturally been reduced to a puppet Hokage and hadn't managed to turn things around in an entire year.
To openly make an enemy of the Third Hokage was to make an enemy of all Konoha, of more than twenty thousand Konoha Ninja.
Unless someone had the sort of unimaginable power Uchiha Madara possessed, enough to crush Konoha single-handedly, they could never defeat the village and overthrow the Third Hokage's rule.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was invincible—but Shimura Danzō, whom he protected with such unreasonable favoritism, wasn't.
The greatest difficulty in killing Shimura Danzō was that he was elusive. His travel routes and schedule were classified secrets of Konoha, hidden even from the Third Hokage. Outsiders had even less chance of finding out.
But Yamanaka Chujiu was different.
No matter how secretive Shimura Danzō's movements were, he still had to inform some Root ninja so they could plan the operation, prepare supplies, and handle all the tedious little details.
As Root's leader, Lord Danzō's time was invaluable. He had to devote as much of it as possible to thinking about how to "protect" Konoha. He wouldn't waste it handling minor tasks.
If the Root ninja knew, then Yamanaka Chujiu knew.
As soon as Shimura Danzō left the village, Yamanaka Chujiu could ambush him at any time.
The real problem was that Chujiu lacked the strength to finish Danzō off cleanly. He could easily leave behind...
"No rush," Yamanaka Chujiu told himself. "There's plenty of time. I can't rush into killing anyone."
"Besides, not killing them doesn't mean I can't make their lives miserable."
The Uchiha brothers had come to him of their own accord, and Yamanaka Chujiu had established a solid connection with the Uchiha Clan. That would make it difficult for Shimura Danzō to bring them down.
But the Uchiha alone weren't enough. The one who could truly threaten the Third Hokage was Orochimaru, who wanted Yamanaka Chujiu as his student.
As long as Orochimaru changed his mind and agreed to become the Fifth Hokage, everything in the future would change naturally.
Before you continue