Sasuke Uchiha

If he did not preemptively alter Itachi's perspective, he might still walk the same path as in the original story.

Furthermore, even if the Uchiha clan massacre were to change, he might still become the sharpest blade in the hands of Konoha's high-ranking officials.

Shin-getsu would not allow such a thing to happen.

He would either change Itachi.

Or he would destroy the possibility of Itachi becoming a butcher's knife.

Itachi looked at Shin-getsu on the hospital bed and suddenly asked, "If one day, a conflict must occur between the Uchiha and the village, what would you choose?"

Shin-getsu smiled.

This question was very "Itachi."

But the current Itachi did not yet have the qualifications to ask him such a question.

Shin-getsu slowly sat upright; a tearing pain radiated from his wounds, but his gaze did not retreat in the slightest.

"I would ask one question first."

Itachi asked, "What is it?"

Shin-getsu stared into his eyes, saying every word with deliberate clarity:

"Who is it that forced the Uchiha into a position where they must conflict with the village?"

Itachi's heart jolted.

Shin-getsu continued, "If someone steals your belongings, kills your clansmen, gouges out your eyes, and then tells you that for the sake of peace, you must endure it."

"That is not peace."

"That is submission with a butcher's knife held to your throat."

Itachi remained silent for a long time.

For the first time, he discovered that among his peers, there was someone who could view problems from such an angle.

No.

Shin-getsu was not even his peer.

He was younger than him.

Yet the words he spoke were as sharp as a blade.

Just then, footsteps sounded from outside the door.

A childish voice rang out.

"Brother?"

The door was pushed open a crack.

A small head poked inside.

Sasuke Uchiha.

At this time, Sasuke was still very young, his face carrying a childlike air.

When he saw Itachi, his eyes lit up.

"Brother, Father said you were here."

The composure on Itachi's face softened significantly in an instant.

"Sasuke, why are you here?"

Sasuke pushed the door open and walked in, whispering, "I wanted to see the brother who defeated the bad guys."

He looked at Shin-getsu on the hospital bed, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Are you Brother Shin-getsu?"

Shin-getsu looked at the young Sasuke, his gaze shifting slightly.

In the original story, Sasuke was one of the greatest victims of the night of the massacre.

He was personally pushed into the abyss of hatred by Itachi, driven by revenge for his entire life.

But now, nothing had happened yet.

Sasuke was still just a child who worshipped his brother.

Shin-getsu smiled.

"It is me."

Sasuke's eyes shone brightly.

"Did you really defeat two bad guys all by yourself?"

Itachi frowned slightly.

"Sasuke, don't disturb the patient's rest."

Shin-getsu, however, said, "It wasn't a defeat."

Sasuke Uchiha froze.

Shin-getsu said calmly, "Yes, I killed him."

The room fell silent once more.

Sasuke blinked, looking bewildered.

Itachi, however, gave Shin-getsu a deep, searching look.

Shin-getsu looked at Sasuke, his voice not loud, yet perfectly clear.

"Sasuke, remember this."

"If anyone tries to hurt you, your family, or your clansmen."

"Do not just think about running away."

"And do not wait for others to save you."

"You must become strong."

"Strong enough that no one dares to draw a blade against you."

Sasuke looked as if he only half-understood.

Itachi spoke up, "He is still too young."

Shin-getsu looked at Itachi.

"I am only nine years old myself."

That single sentence left Itachi with no rebuttal.

Sasuke looked at Shin-getsu and suddenly nodded earnestly.

"I understand, Brother Shin-getsu."

"I will become strong!"

"As strong as Brother, and as strong as you!"

Itachi patted Sasuke's head, saying nothing.

But Shin-getsu knew that a seed had already been planted.

He did not need Sasuke to understand everything right now.

He only needed Sasuke to realize one thing from a young age.

The Uchiha should not just be pawns whose fates are controlled by others.

Just then, a system notification rang in Shin-getsu's mind.

[Host has influenced a key character: Itachi Uchiha.]
[Itachi Uchiha's original trajectory of thought has shifted slightly.]
[Obtained Causality Points: 200.]
[Host has influenced a key character: Sasuke Uchiha.]
[Sasuke Uchiha's original growth trajectory has shifted slightly.]
[Obtained Causality Points: 200.]
[Current Causality Points: 700.]

A glint of light flashed in the depths of Shin-getsu's eyes.

700 points.

Just enough to raise his one-tomoe Sharingan to one hundred percent.

It seemed that changing the mindset of key characters was more valuable than simply killing minor roles.

This was getting interesting.

Shin-getsu looked at Itachi and Sasuke before him, a plan slowly rising in his heart.

If the night of the clan's annihilation was a tragedy already written, then the first thing he had to do was start with the two most crucial brothers of the Uchiha and tear the original script to shreds.

In the infirmary.

Itachi Uchiha watched Shin-getsu in silence.

He always felt that this clansman, who was even younger than himself, was different from the other Uchiha.

Many people in the clan would say similar things.

They said the Uchiha were being ostracized by the village.

They said the Police Force was being isolated.

They said the Konoha higher-ups did not trust the Uchiha.

They said the Uchiha should no longer endure it.

But in their words, there was more anger, more resentment, and the eruption of those suppressed for too long.

Yet Shin-getsu was different.

His tone was calm.

So calm that it did not sound like he was venting hatred.

It sounded more like he was stating a result.

A result he had already seen through.

This made Itachi instinctively feel uneasy.

Because Shin-getsu did not simply dislike the village.

He was negating certain things.

Negating the things that countless people kept on their lips, yet few had truly thought through.

Such as peace.

Such as the greater good.

Such as sacrifice.

Itachi had always believed that a ninja must stand at a higher vantage point to consider problems.

If one only looked at their own clan, their own kin, or the hatred right before their eyes, it would only cause war to continue indefinitely.

But Shin-getsu's question just now was like a thorn, piercing into his heart.

What if the person being sacrificed was Sasuke?

What if the person being used as a specimen was Sasuke?

If someone told him that for the sake of the village's peace, Sasuke had to die, could he still calmly utter the words, "For the greater good"?

Itachi did not know.

Precisely because he did not know, he remained silent.

"Brother."

Sasuke looked up at Itachi, his small face full of confusion.

He was still too young to understand why the atmosphere in the hospital room had suddenly become so oppressive.

He only felt that what Brother Shin-getsu said was very impressive.

Although he did not fully understand it.

But there was one sentence he did understand.

One must become strong.

Strong enough that others would not dare to point a blade at you.

Sasuke clenched his small fist and said earnestly, "Brother, I want to awaken the Sharingan in the future, too."

Itachi snapped back to reality and looked down at Sasuke.

His gaze softened.

"The Sharingan isn't something you can awaken just because you want to."

Sasuke said unconvinced, "But Brother Shin-getsu awakened his at nine years old, I can do it too!"

Itachi was speechless for a moment.

Shin-getsu leaned against the hospital bed, watching the two brothers, his heart devoid of much fluctuation.

He was not here to destroy the bond between Itachi and Sasuke.

Quite the contrary.

He wanted Itachi to value Sasuke even more.

Value him so much that if someone tried to use Sasuke to threaten him in the future, he would first stop to consider whether the so-called "greater good" was truly worth it.

In the original story, Itachi cared most about Sasuke.

But precisely because he cared most about Sasuke, he had that weakness exploited by the Konoha higher-ups.

What Shin-getsu needed to do was to plant a seed of doubt in Itachi ahead of time.

To make him doubt Danzo.

To doubt the Third Hokage.

To doubt whether the so-called peace truly required the blood of the Uchiha.

As long as this seed sprouted, the night of the clan's annihilation would not go so smoothly in the future.