Who is Most Suspicious

Of course, that alone was not enough.

Itachi's way of thinking was too dangerous.

Shisui was the same.

Both of these men were geniuses.

But their greatest flaw was how easily they sacrificed their own people for the sake of the so-called "greater good."

Shin-getsu did not need them to change immediately.

He only needed to make them start to hesitate.

As long as they hesitated, Danzo's blade would not be quite so sharp.

Just then, a voice came from outside the hospital room door.

"Itachi."

The voice was steady, carrying an unquestionable authority.

Uchiha Fugaku walked back inside.

He glanced at Itachi, then at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, go outside first."

Sasuke blinked.

"Father, I still want to talk to Brother Shin-getsu."

Fugaku's tone was calm.

"He needs to rest."

Sasuke was a little disappointed, but he nodded obediently.

"Oh."

Before leaving, Sasuke looked at Shin-getsu again.

"Brother Shin-getsu, when you get better, can you teach me how to become stronger?"

Shin-getsu smiled.

"I can."

Sasuke's eyes lit up.

"It's a promise!"

Itachi took Sasuke by the hand and left.

Yet, before departing, he looked back at Shin-getsu one more time.

Shin-getsu watched him in return.

Their gazes met briefly.

Neither of them spoke.

But both knew clearly that the conversation they had just shared would not end there.

The door closed.

Only Fugaku and Shin-getsu remained in the hospital room.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

If there had been the tentative probing of youths while Itachi was present, now there was the scrutiny of a clan head toward his clansman.

Fugaku sat back down beside the hospital bed.

His gaze was deeper than before.

"What did you say to Itachi?"

Shin-getsu did not hide it.

"I spoke about what happened last night."

Fugaku looked at him.

"And what else?"

Shin-getsu said calmly, "I asked him what he would choose if the person who had been taken away was Sasuke."

Fugaku's eyes narrowed slightly.

This statement had clearly struck a nerve with him as well.

Sasuke was not just Itachi's weakness.

He was also Fugaku's weakness.

It was just that, as the clan head, he could not wear such a weakness on his sleeve.

Fugaku fell silent for a moment before asking, "Why did you say those things to Itachi?"

Shin-getsu looked at him.

"Because Itachi is dangerous."

The hospital room suddenly went quiet.

For the first time, Fugaku's gaze became truly sharp.

"What did you say?"

Shin-getsu did not flinch.

Even though the man before him was the head of the Uchiha clan, and even though the other party likely possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, he did not avert his eyes.

He knew very well.

To obtain resources within the Uchiha, simply playing the victim was useless.

The Uchiha clan revered strength, and they revered geniuses.

But more importantly, they respected those who dared to speak the truth.

Especially during this sensitive period.

Shin-getsu needed to make Fugaku see his value.

Not just his combat talent.

But his value in judging the situation.

"Lord Clan Head."

Shin-getsu spoke slowly.

"Itachi is too calm."

Fugaku frowned.

"Calmness is not a bad thing."

Shin-getsu replied, "Ordinary calmness is certainly not a bad thing."

"But when he looks at people, it doesn't feel like he's looking at his own kin."

"It feels more like he's looking at problems."

Fugaku's pupils contracted imperceptibly.

Shin-getsu continued, "He thinks about the conflict between the village and the Uchiha, he thinks about peace, he thinks about war, and he thinks about sacrifice."

"That in itself is not wrong."

"But if a person gets used to viewing everything from a high vantage point too early, it becomes very easy to forget what they are standing on."

Fugaku did not speak.

But his gaze had clearly changed.

Shin-getsu knew he had hit the mark.

As a father, it was impossible for Fugaku to be completely unaware of Itachi's changes.

Itachi was too precocious.

So precocious that he didn't seem like a normal child.

His talent made the Uchiha proud.

But his thoughts were not necessarily entirely on the side of the Uchiha.

In the original story, Fugaku perhaps always knew this.

It was just that he was both a clan head and a father.

He had expectations for Itachi, and he had trust.

Until the very end, that trust became a blade that stabbed the entire clan.

Shin-getsu said in a low voice, "Lord Clan Head, if one day in the future, the village and the Uchiha truly reach a point where conflict is inevitable."

"Which side will Itachi stand on?"

Fugaku's eyes turned cold.

An invisible pressure instantly enveloped the hospital room.

An ordinary child facing such an aura would likely have been too terrified to speak.

But Shin-getsu remained calm.

He did not even dodge Fugaku's eyes.

Because he knew that Fugaku would not kill him.

At least, not now.

An Uchiha child who had just been attacked by Root, awakened the Sharingan, and displayed astonishing combat willpower was, to the current Fugaku, new blood within the clan worth cultivating.

Moreover, what Shin-getsu had just said was no empty talk.

It was the very issue Fugaku was most unwilling to face.

Fugaku stared at Shin-getsu.

"These words should not be spoken by a child of your age."

Shin-getsu replied, "Before last night, I could have been like any ordinary child and thought of nothing."

"But they wanted to take me away as a specimen."

"Lord Clan Head, a person who has nearly died will always think a little more."

Fugaku fell silent.

He could not refute this statement.

A moment later, the oppressive aura radiating from Fugaku slowly dissipated.

He looked at Shin-getsu and suddenly asked, "If it were you, what would you do?"

Shin-getsu knew the real test had arrived.

Fugaku was not asking about Itachi.

He was asking him.

If a conflict were to break out between the Uchiha and the village, what would he do?

This answer was dangerous.

If he said he would side with Konoha, Fugaku would never trust him again.

If he said he would stage a coup immediately, Fugaku would think him too radical.

If he said he would endure it, he would appear worthless.

Shin-getsu thought for a moment and said, "First, I would find out who is pushing the Uchiha and the village toward a dead end."

Fugaku's eyes flickered.

Shin-getsu continued, "The friction between the Uchiha and the ordinary villagers was not formed in a single day."

"Why has the Police Force become increasingly unpopular?"

"Why was the clan compound relocated to the edge of the village?"

"Why has the suspicion regarding the Nine-Tails Incident been kept on the Uchiha?"

"Why are there more and more radicals within the clan?"

"And why have the village elders allowed these conflicts to escalate?"

"Behind all these questions, someone must be pulling the strings."

Fugaku's expression changed completely.

He had not expected Shin-getsu to be capable of such insight.

This was no longer the perspective a nine-year-old child should have.

"Who do you suspect?"

Fugaku asked.

Shin-getsu did not mention Shimura Danzo directly.

Because he could not afford to appear as if he knew too much right now.

He lowered his voice and said, "Whoever least wants the Uchiha to integrate into the village is the most suspicious."

"Whoever benefits from the opposition between the Uchiha and the village is the most suspicious."

"The people last night wanted to capture me as a specimen."

"If the people behind them truly come from within the village, it means that party is not afraid of the relationship between the Uchiha and the village deteriorating at all."

"In fact, they might even be hoping for it to worsen."

A cold light flashed in Fugaku's eyes.

Shimura Danzo.

The name appeared in his mind almost instantly.

Among all the high-ranking officials in Konoha, the one with the deepest hostility toward the Uchiha was Shimura Danzo.

But the problem was that Shimura Danzo hid too deep.

Root had no official standing.

Even if one knew he was behind many things, it was difficult to find substantial evidence.

The Third Hokage always protected him.

That was the most troublesome part.