Lies That Sound Like the Truth

A dense forest.

A gentle breeze rustled through the trees.

The setting sun gradually sank westward, its lingering glow reflected across the ground and stretching Shisui and Shōji's shadows long. After leaving Naka Shrine, neither of them returned to the clan compound. Instead, they walked a little farther west, straight to the outermost edge of Konohagakure. Shōji could roughly guess why Shisui had stopped him.

Naturally, he deliberately remained silent, waiting for Shisui to speak first.

Yet Shisui seemed to have fallen into a state of indecision.

More than twenty minutes had passed since they left the clan's forbidden grounds and arrived here. They had not exchanged a word along the way, as though they had truly come out for a leisurely walk together.

Just as Shōji was beginning to question his life and wonder whether he should speak first.

"Hey, Shōji, how do you see the Uchiha Clan's current situation?"

Shisui suddenly stopped.

His expression seemed to show that he had made up his mind.

He halted, raised his eyes again, straightened his back, and stared intently at Shōji, who had instinctively stopped as well. His voice was steady as he asked.

To be honest.

Shisui was only twelve years old.

Hearing him speak in such an adult-like tone felt somewhat out of place to Shōji. Based on his experiences in his previous world, a twelve-year-old boy would at most be in his first year of middle school, an age that ought to have involved more playing and fooling around.

Yet it was precisely because of this that Shōji could better understand the cruelty of this world.

Even in his previous life's world.

There were terrifying places where children only a few years old knew how to use guns to kill people.

But those places had been far too distant from Shōji, leaving him with no real sense of them. It had been difficult for him to empathize. This life was different. Shōji himself had gone to the battlefield and killed at the age of eight or nine, while Shisui Uchiha before him had stained both hands with the blood of enemies.

Beneath that young, exceedingly childish face.

He bore the heavy burdens of both the clan and the village.

The former was his beloved family, while the latter was the greater cause of the ninja village.

One wrong step could result in the bloody deaths of thousands, perhaps even more. Shisui had no choice but to be extremely cautious.

As Shōji thought of this.

The look in the depths of his eyes became equally solemn.

"A very dangerous situation. That's my view. There are only the two of us here, so I'll be frank, Shisui. The Nine-Tails' rampage, especially the Sharingan that appeared in its fox eyes, has placed our clan in an extremely dangerous position. To put it bluntly, there isn't a single outsider in the entire village willing to believe us now, including the other traditionally low-key and neutral Ninja Clans, as well as civilian-born ninja."

"If even those people are like this, then there's no need to mention the Ninja Clans that lost comrades and family during the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack. Honestly, it would not be surprising at all if someone from one of those clans went mad and directly attacked the Uchiha Clan."

Shōji turned around and met Shisui's eyes. After gently shaking his head, he spoke in an incomparably grave tone.

"To put it bluntly, if the Uchiha Clan weren't strong enough, the village would have carried out the harshest reckoning against us on the very day after the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack. Of course, if our clan had not been so strong and had instead been a middle-tier or even weaker Ninja Clan in the village, we would not have drawn such enormous suspicion either. All one can say is that strength is both the Uchiha Clan's fortune and its misfortune."

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack was merely the fuse. The fundamental reason the Uchiha Clan had ended up on the blacklist of Konoha High Command figures like Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō was, in the end, that the Uchiha Clan was too powerful and difficult to control.

There were also the blatant precedents of Uchiha Madara's defection during the First Hokage's era and some clan members launching a rebellion during the Second Hokage's era. Let alone Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, even Shōji would find it difficult not to suspect the Uchiha Clan if he were in their position.

Therefore, there was no so-called justice or evil in this matter, nor any true question of right or wrong. There were only differing positions and perspectives.

Shōji was now a member of the Uchiha Clan and had the closest of family members.

Naturally, he had to choose to view these matters from the clan's perspective.

It was an inevitable choice driven by human nature.

Shōji was like this, and so were Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, and Ninja Clans such as the Hyūga, Aburame, Inuzuka, Nara, Yamanaka Clan, Akimichi, and Kurama.

Right or wrong?

That was never supposed to be a point of debate in this world.

After hearing Shōji's words, Shisui's expression also became exceedingly heavy.

"You're right, Shōji. The Uchiha Clan has indeed become an object of fear and vigilance for the entire village."

Shisui let out a soft sigh.

"So that's why you made that proposal at the Clan Meeting, to restore the clan's reputation and wash away those stains, right, Shōji?"

Then, with his brows rising once more, Shisui softly asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Yes and no. After all, thinking we can clear away the suspicion and restore our clan's reputation through that alone would be taking the problem too lightly and oversimplifying it. Actions speak louder than words. That is my view. In many cases, a hundred words cannot compare to one genuinely effective action. If our clan wants to escape its current predicament, we must accomplish two things. First, prove that our clan is willing to serve and devote itself to the village. Second, find the owner of those Sharingan. The deaths of hundreds of comrades, the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands of civilians, and most importantly, Lord Fourth's death—someone needs to be held responsible!"

"As the village's security force, and as the clan that possesses the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai, there are responsibilities that the Uchiha Clan must bear. However, accomplishing the second point is clearly difficult, so we must begin with the first. The individual, the clan, and the village cannot and must not be viewed separately. We must prove that the Uchiha are Konoha's Uchiha before we can regain our comrades' trust!"

Shōji took a deep breath, his voice slightly low as he spoke.

"You think so too, Shōji!"

Shisui seemed somewhat excited.

"Too? Does that mean you and I share the same view, Shisui?"

Shōji revealed a perfectly timed look of surprise.

He looked at the boy before him and asked softly.