Uchiha's Regret, Zetsu's Helpless Despair

"Cough, cough. Konoha is in chaos?"

Uchiha Itachi began coughing, and a trace of helplessness appeared in his dim eyes.

He had anticipated that this might happen, but he had never imagined it would happen so quickly. Konoha was in chaos—utter, complete chaos.

Too quickly.

Yesterday, Konoha had still seemed peaceful on the surface. Today, it had changed completely.

Konoha had fallen into chaos, and Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage himself, had caused it. This had gone beyond Itachi's expectations.

Why had it turned out this way?

This was not the outcome he had wanted. What he wanted was peace in Konoha, an end to all war. To achieve that great cause, he had even betrayed his own family back then.

But, things had gone against his wishes.

Who would have thought it would end like this? Konoha had fallen into chaos, yet it was not the chaos brought by the evil Uchiha Clan he had imagined, but chaos brought by Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had always claimed to stand for justice.

Meanwhile, the Uchiha Clan had always led Konoha's people toward prosperity, while the Sarutobi Clan had led Konoha toward decay.

From the very beginning, the side he had chosen and the choices he had made were wrong.

In truth, he had known this long ago. He had always prided himself on justice and believed he had seen through everything, but he simply had not wanted to admit it. Nor had he wanted to admit that personally killing his parents and clansmen had been a mistake.

Though he lay helpless in bed now, he had come to understand many things. No... rather than saying he had figured them out, it would be more accurate to say that he had finally seen clearly the path he had taken.

How ignorant he had