Yu's Magnanimity

The rooftop offered a wide view, with a sky full of stars overhead and nowhere for anyone to hide. There was no need to worry about eavesdroppers, making it an excellent place to speak one's mind.

Yu and the others arrived there shortly. "Let's sit and talk. If we stand, I have to crane my neck to look at you, and it's easy to get a sore neck," Yu said, half-jokingly. With that, he sat down casually, leaning his back against the railing to find a comfortable position.

It was the final month of summer, and the night breeze ruffled Yu's bangs, giving him an air of extreme languor.

Shisui could only offer a wry smile at this, finding a spot to sit cross-legged, while Itachi sat obediently beside his older brother, his body instinctively leaning a little closer to Yu.

Uchiha Lieyang glared at Shisui without blinking, terrified that this leader of the moderate faction might lead their revered Young Clan Head astray.

Yu looked up at the sky. "Shisui, you said earlier that I've completely rejected the village. I wonder if you can tell me exactly which point of my rejection you're referring to?" Yu asked leisurely.

"Yu, I admit the village has done some excessive things, but can you say the clansmen are without fault? Think about the Nine-Tails Rebellion; that is the point where the Uchiha have been questioned the most. And the reputation of the Military Police Force—I don't need to tell you how poor it is. I believe that only by changing our own attitude first can we slowly make the village accept us."

Shisui offered a long explanation to Yu, but Yu only sighed helplessly.

"Shisui, I have to tell you a fact: even if our attitude becomes as humble as possible, the village will continue to exclude us just the same."

"You say the Military Police Force has a terrible reputation, but can you tell me what the clansmen did wrong? What did we do to cause our reputation to become so rotten that even children spit behind our backs when they see us?"

Shisui opened his mouth to speak, but the words caught in his throat, neither coming out nor going back down.

"Have we ever committed heinous acts? Have we abused our authority to bully ordinary villagers?"

"I think those are things that even the most arrogant and self-important clansman would disdain to do. You can call the clansmen haughty or aloof—those are bad habits—but it is precisely because of this pride etched into their marrow that they would never stoop to the actions of a base villain."

"Even so, that doesn't justify being so hated and hostilely treated!"

"Shisui, you are a reasonable man, and I don't believe I could fool you by fabricating things. You say I've completely rejected the village, but are some of these things really things I've rejected? The facts are laid out right there."

"If you say the Uchiha have fallen to this state today without anyone pulling the strings behind the scenes, do you think anyone would believe you? What is the root cause? It is nothing more than the deep-seated prejudice the Konoha high-level officials, led by the Third Hokage, hold against the Uchiha. Therefore, it is not a matter of how the Uchiha should change themselves, but rather that the prejudice itself must be eliminated."

"If it were possible, no Uchiha would want to reach this point. Who enjoys bloody slaughter? Especially when the ones being killed are people living in the same village as us."

"Living in the melting pot of the village, how many Uchiha are truly alone? We have friends among the ordinary villagers, and we have bonds with the entire village. But what is the situation now? The trees want to be still, but the wind will not cease! The village is forcing the Uchiha down the path they least want to take."

"Yu, the one who holds the prejudice is not the Third Hokage, but Danzo!" Shisui hurriedly defended, though his voice was no longer as firm as before. While he believed in the Will of Fire, he was no fool; he wasn't blind to certain things, and he had experienced the suppression of the Uchiha by the high-level officials firsthand.

He had contributed so much during the Third Great Ninja War, yet his rewards were pitifully small. It wasn't that he didn't notice; it was that the teachings of his elders had conditioned him to think from the broader perspective of the village.

However, his feelings for his clan were equally deep—for the juniors who admired him and the elders who cared for him. This was why he never gave up on the clan.

He believed the clan was an inseparable part of the village. Rather than opposing the village and creating a deeper rift, it was better to actively integrate.

Yet, he didn't know how to achieve the future he hoped for.

He could only rely on his own desperate efforts, hoping to make the village high-level officials see the Uchiha's hard work and dedication, and use his own ideals to enlighten more of his clansmen.

However, things always went against his wishes. How could the mountain of prejudice in people's hearts be moved so easily? Despite all his efforts, the conflict between the village and the clan only intensified, until in the end, he realized it was a dead end with no hope.

One can only imagine the agony in his heart. Even with a pupil technique as broken as Kotoamatsukami, he couldn't change everyone's will at once.

Shisui's despair was born from this.

Yu withdrew his gaze from the starry sky and looked at Shisui, who was anxiously searching for an answer.

"Shisui, this isn't a problem of one or two people. The Third Hokage, the Konoha Elder Council, and that old immortal Danzo—they believe they have inherited the will of the Second Hokage, maintaining vigilance and caution toward us Uchiha, but they never learned the Second Hokage's magnanimity in taking an Uchiha as his disciple."

Yu looked Shisui straight in the eye.

"This incident proves it: they never intended to leave us any room to breathe. Shisui, surely you know what kind of place the banks of the Naka River are?"

"Bordered by mountains on the left, and the Barrier Team not far away—once they move against the Uchiha, we will have no room to resist. With them acting like this, how can you ask us to tolerate it? If we continue to harbor illusions about them, then one day, the banks of the Naka River will be the graveyard of the Uchiha!"

Shisui stared blankly at Yu, momentarily dazed.

"Yu, what do you want me to do by telling me all this? Are you asking me to support the radical faction?"

Yu smiled slightly and slowly stood up. "Shisui, don't you think the moderate and radical factions in the clan are a bit ridiculous? The enemy is already riding on our heads, and they are still arguing about whether to be radical or moderate."

"Shisui, join us! Yu will take you to see a brighter future, a path where the village and the clan are no longer the issue!"

Yu gently extended his small hand toward Shisui, who was sitting cross-legged.

Shisui looked at Yu with a puzzled expression. "Yu, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"I just want to clear the world, to give everyone a bright future. This world has been covered by smog for too long, so much so that too many people cannot look up at this beautiful starry sky as leisurely as I am now. Shisui, don't you think that is a tragedy?"

"Shisui, come help me! You always think the village is the grand perspective, but once you jump out of the village and look at Konoha with a wider view, you will find that your so-called village is just a tiny, insignificant piece of land in this world, and the conflict between the clan and the village is even more trivial!"

Shisui watched Yu, who wore a calm smile, unable to recover for a long time. At that moment, his heart and his thoughts felt as if they had been struck by a heavy hammer.

His entire train of thought followed Yu's clear words, jumping from the clan to the village, from the village to the Land of Fire, and from the Land of Fire to the entire Shinobi World.

Suddenly snapping back, he realized that his so-called peace between the clan and the village was childishly ridiculous.

He suddenly remembered the Third Great Ninja War, when he passed through a small village in the Land of Rain. The place was filled with wails, and orphans with no one to take them in huddled in tattered straw huts, shivering in thin clothes, looking at them, the Konoha shinobi, as if they were seeing some primordial beast.

His heart sank.

"Yu, is this your capacity?" Shisui murmured blankly.