After spending more than a day on Mount Myoboku,
Jiraiya returned to Konoha with Sasuke.
At the Uchiha Compound.
"Sasuke, I'll consider what you told me."
"But you need to be careful too. Orochimaru isn't an ordinary ninja."
"I'm leaving for now."
"Once I've completed an extremely important mission, I'll come find you again."
After dropping those words, Jiraiya disappeared.
Sasuke naturally knew that the release date for Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise was drawing near.
That extremely important mission of his was nothing more than spying on people.
"Sasuke."
"You're back?"
Just then, a familiar voice rang out.
It was none other than Uchiha Itachi.
"Big brother, are you done with your mission?"
"Do you have time to train with me today?"
Sasuke took a deep breath, then put on a warm smile.
Although he didn't agree with some of Uchiha Itachi's ways, he was still a perfectly capable training partner.
"We're not training today."
"Come on. I'm taking you somewhere."
Itachi walked up to Sasuke and crouched down, smiling as he spoke.
"Uh..."
"I'm not a little kid anymore. Do you still have to carry me on your back?"
"I..."
"Don't look at me like that. You're making it seem like I did something wrong."
"Fine, I'll get on."
Faced with Uchiha Itachi's mournful expression, Sasuke climbed onto his back.
Then Uchiha Itachi took Sasuke and disappeared.
In a dense forest.
From a distance, Sasuke spotted a familiar figure.
Uchiha Shisui!
It seemed that Sasuke had managed to crack a hole in Itachi's faith and psychological defenses.
Were they planning to join forces and brainwash him?
After they landed, Uchiha Itachi set Sasuke down.
"Big brother, did you bring me to see Big Brother Shisui because you have some special training method to tell me about?"
Sasuke asked tentatively.
"Sasuke, Itachi didn't bring you here to train."
"Did you write this?"
As he spoke, Uchiha Shisui took out several sheets of paper.
They were filled with praise for the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. His understanding of the Will of Fire even surpassed that of Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, the Hokage.
Some staunch adherents of the Will of Fire had even treated Sasuke's writing as the truth.
They didn't know that Sasuke had written it all for Naruto to memorize.
The point was to mislead Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Who would've thought he'd mislead Shisui too?
"Yeah."
Thinking of that, Sasuke nodded.
"If you understand the Will of Fire so deeply, why did you say those things to Itachi?"
Shisui was puzzled.
In his view, someone with that kind of conviction
should have been an adherent of the Will of Fire.
But... the truth was the opposite!
As for Sasuke, he couldn't help grumbling inwardly: My big brother really is a blockhead. Why does he tell everyone everything?!
"My understanding of the Will of Fire includes praising the Third Hokage."
"Big Brother Shisui, don't you understand?"
"What the Uchiha need right now isn't power, nor is it strong support."
"What we need is a peaceful environment."
"I'm acting this way because I don't want anyone disturbing my training."
Sasuke took a deep breath and said the very things he'd originally planned to tell Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Fugaku.
If he hadn't run into Shisui this time, Sasuke might have forgotten.
The guy in front of him was going to die soon!
It was Shisui's death that made Uchiha Itachi fully commit to carrying out the Will of Fire.
And eventually, he became the butcher who slaughtered his entire clan.
"A peaceful environment."
"Are you saying that once you've grown strong enough, you'll attack the village?"
A glint of sharpness flashed in Shisui's eyes.
The battle intent and killing intent he'd accumulated over years of combat missions poured out as well.
"Why would I attack the village?"
"Once we're strong enough,"
"when faced with overwhelming power, the village... will have no choice but to seek our protection."
"As for the current conflict, at its root, we simply aren't strong enough."
Sasuke spread his little hands, caring about neither side.
The two men before him.
Uchiha Shisui!
Uchiha Itachi!
Both might have surpassed their peers in talent.
But neither of them had much sense.
Uchiha Shisui.
After awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, the first thing he did wasn't try to change the village's view of the Uchiha.
Instead, he told Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo about this crucial information.
He was a complete idiot who'd gotten himself killed!
As for Uchiha Itachi... there was no washing the massacre of the clan clean.
Even if Kishimoto tried to whitewash him, black was still black!
"Strength!?"
"If you earn acceptance through force alone, it won't last."
"Back then, we Uchiha..."
"But were we ever driven into a corner like this back then?"
"The Uchiha were forced to move!"
"The Military Police Force was practically useless within the village!"
"How did the village treat the Uchiha?!"
Before Uchiha Shisui could finish, Sasuke hit him with three questions in a row, leaving him speechless.
"Sasuke, let Big Brother Shisui finish."
"There are things you haven't experienced..."
Uchiha Itachi didn't continue.
That was because Sasuke had just described what Itachi himself had experienced.
And that was the result, even after Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi had both worked tirelessly.
"Big Brother Shisui."
Sasuke called out.
Then he activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
The instant his ocular power appeared, it stirred Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan.
"You've already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan?"
"Itachi..."
Shisui struggled to speak.
The process of awakening the Sharingan wasn't exactly peaceful.
With his Mangekyō Sharingan, Shisui knew that all too well.
"Big Brother Shisui, flattering the higher-ups won't save the Uchiha Clan."
"Right now, the three of us really are the ones who can make this happen."
"Big Brother Shisui, the Third Hokage trusts you."
"As for my big brother, there's no need to mention him. My performance has probably made the Third Hokage value him even more."
"So, next we need to make good use of our standing and create a new enemy..."
"Or, rather, bring a new enemy out into the open!"
"The Root Organization!"
While Uchiha Shisui stood stunned, Sasuke decided to press his advantage.
He went straight into talk-no-jutsu mode.
When dealing with someone this fixated on an ideal, talk-no-jutsu was undoubtedly extremely effective!
Finding the right approach could be even more effective than an S-rank ninjutsu!
Before you continue