Who Was the Most Suspicious?

Of course, that alone wasn't enough.

Itachi's way of thinking was too dangerous.

Shisui was the same.

Both of them were geniuses.

But their biggest problem was that they were too willing to sacrifice their own people for the so-called greater good.

Shin-getsu didn't need them to change right away.

He only needed to make them hesitate.

As long as they hesitated, Danzo's blade wouldn't be quite so sharp.

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

"Itachi."

The voice was steady, carrying an unquestionable authority.

Uchiha Fugaku walked back in.

He glanced at Itachi, then at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, go outside for a while."

Sasuke blinked.

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

Fugaku's tone was calm.

"He needs to rest."

Sasuke looked disappointed, but obediently nodded.

"Oh."

Before leaving, Sasuke looked at Shin-getsu again.

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

Shin-getsu smiled.

"Sure."

Sasuke's eyes lit up.

"You promised!"

Itachi took Sasuke by the hand and led him out.

But before leaving, he looked back at Shin-getsu once more.

Shin-getsu looked back at him, too.

Their gazes met briefly.

Neither said a word.

But they both knew that their conversation wasn't over.

The door closed.

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

The atmosphere changed instantly.

With Itachi there, the room had held the tentative probing of boys.

Now it was a clan head scrutinizing one of his clansmen.

Fugaku sat back down beside the bed.

His gaze was even more penetrating than before.

"What did you talk about with Itachi?"

Shin-getsu didn't hide anything.

"About what happened last night."

Fugaku watched him.

"What else?"

Shin-getsu answered calmly, "I asked him what he would do if Sasuke were the one who'd been taken."

Fugaku's eyes narrowed slightly.

Those words had struck home, too.

Sasuke wasn't just Itachi's weakness.

He was Fugaku's weakness as well.

But as clan head, Fugaku couldn't let that weakness show.

After a brief silence, Fugaku asked, "Why did you say that to Itachi?"

Shin-getsu met his gaze.

"Because Itachi is dangerous."

The hospital room fell silent.

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

"What did you say?"

Shin-getsu didn't back down.

Even though the man before him was the Uchiha Clan Head, and might possess the Mangekyō Sharingan, he didn't look away.

He knew very well.

Simply playing the victim wouldn't help him get resources from the Uchiha.

The Uchiha Clan valued strength and talent.

But more than that, they respected people who dared to speak the truth.

Especially in such a sensitive time.

Shin-getsu wanted Fugaku to see what he was worth.

Not just his combat talent.

But also his ability to assess the situation.

"Clan Head."

Shin-getsu spoke slowly.

"Itachi is too calm."

Fugaku frowned.

"Being calm isn't a bad thing."

Shin-getsu said, "Ordinary calmness isn't a bad thing, of course."

"But when he looks at people, it doesn't seem like he's looking at his clansmen."

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

Fugaku's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

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

"None of that is wrong in itself."

"But when someone gets used to looking at everything from above too early, it's easy for him to forget what he's standing on."

Fugaku said nothing.

But his expression had clearly changed.

Shin-getsu knew he'd hit the mark.

As Itachi's father, Fugaku couldn't have failed to notice the changes in him.

Itachi had grown up too fast.

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

His talent made the Uchiha proud.

But his way of thinking might not be entirely on the Uchiha's side.

In the original story, Fugaku had probably always known that.

But he was both clan head and father.

He had expectations for Itachi, and he trusted him.

Until, in the end, that trust became a blade pointed at the entire clan.

Shin-getsu lowered his voice. "Clan Head, if one day the village and the Uchiha really reach a point where conflict is unavoidable..."

"Which side will Itachi stand on?"

Fugaku's gaze turned cold.

An invisible pressure instantly filled the hospital room.

An ordinary child would probably have been too frightened to speak under that kind of pressure.

But Shin-getsu remained calm.

He didn't even look away from Fugaku.

Because he knew Fugaku wouldn't kill him.

At least, not now.

A Uchiha child who had just survived an attack by Root, awakened the Sharingan, and shown remarkable fighting spirit was a promising young clansman whom Fugaku would want to cultivate.

Besides, what Shin-getsu had said wasn't empty talk.

It was the question Fugaku least wanted to face.

Fugaku stared at Shin-getsu.

"A child your age shouldn't be saying things like that."

Shin-getsu replied, "Before last night, I could've been like any other child and never thought about any of this."

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

"Clan Head, someone who nearly died is bound to think a little more."

Fugaku fell silent.

He couldn't argue with that.

After a moment, the pressure around 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 begun.

Fugaku wasn't asking about Itachi.

He was asking about him.

If the Uchiha and the village came into conflict, what would he do?

The answer was dangerous.

If he said he'd side with Konoha, Fugaku would no longer trust him.

If he said he'd launch a coup outright, Fugaku would think he was too extreme.

If he said they should yield, he'd seem worthless.

Shin-getsu thought for a moment, then said, "First, find out who's pushing the Uchiha and the village toward a dead end."

Fugaku's expression shifted.

Shin-getsu continued, "The conflict between the Uchiha and ordinary villagers didn't arise in a single day."

"Why has the Police Force become increasingly unpopular?"

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

"Why has suspicion over the Nine-Tails Incident continued to fall on the Uchiha?"

"Why are there more and more members of the Radical Faction within the clan?"

"And why does the village leadership keep letting the conflict grow?"

"Someone must be driving all these things."

Fugaku's expression changed completely.

He hadn't expected Shin-getsu to see things this clearly.

This was far beyond what a nine-year-old should understand.

"Who do you suspect?"

Fugaku asked.

Shin-getsu didn't name Danzo outright.

He couldn't let on that he knew too much.

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

"Whoever stands to benefit from the rift between the Uchiha and the village is the most suspicious."

"Last night, they tried to take me as a specimen."

"If the people behind them really came from within the village, then they don't fear the relationship between the Uchiha and the village getting worse."

"They might even want it to get worse."

A cold glint flashed in Fugaku's eyes.

Shimura Danzo.

That name almost immediately came to mind.

Among the Konoha High Command, Danzo was the most hostile toward the Uchiha.

But the problem was that Danzo kept himself too well hidden.

Root had no official identity.

Even when they knew he was behind something, it was hard to find solid evidence.

And the Third Hokage always protected him.

That was what made this so troublesome.