No Right to Flip the Table

Shisui also raised his head.

This was the question he had wanted to understand most ever since receiving the pursuit mission.

"Lie Yang."

"We grew up in the same clan grounds."

"I don't believe you would betray Konoha without reason, and I believe even less that you would kill so many ninja from the same village without reason."

Shisui's voice grew heavy.

"The Uchiha Clan has two Mangekyō Sharingan."

"As long as you and I both remain in the village, the clan's strength will become greater than ever before. Even if the higher-ups harbored misgivings, they would not dare suppress the Uchiha so easily again."

"The village would also gain two top-tier combatants."

"This is clearly an outcome both sides can accept."

"Why would you abandon all of that?"

Lie Yang looked at Shisui, his expression unchanged.

"Both sides can accept it?"

"Isn't that so?"

Shisui stepped forward.

"The village gains greater strength, and the Uchiha gain greater recognition."

"As long as we are willing to mediate, the divide between the higher-ups and the clan can gradually be erased."

"Once both sides rebuild their trust, the Uchiha can truly integrate into Konoha."

"Wasn't that what you always wanted to do?"

After hearing him out, Lie Yang slowly sheathed his sword.

"My defection was never a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"Then why?"

"Because Konoha has never truly accepted the Uchiha."

Shisui furrowed his brow.

Lie Yang continued, "Since the Second Hokage's time, the Uchiha have been excluded from the core of power."

"The Konoha Police Force may appear to have given the Uchiha control over the village's security, but in truth, it locked the entire clan into the position most likely to conflict with the villagers."

"The Uchiha arrest criminals."

"The Uchiha settle disputes."

"The Uchiha maintain order, and the Uchiha are the ones who offend the common people."

"But when have the Hokage, the council of elders, and the various core departments that truly determine the village's direction ever had a place for the Uchiha?"

Shisui immediately said, "Those are problems left over from the past."

"Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi has always been trying to change things."

"Change?"

Lie Yang looked at Kakashi.

"After the Nine-Tails Incident, the Uchiha were forced to relocate to the edge of the village."

"ANBU monitored the clan grounds, Root infiltrated the Konoha Police Force, and the higher-ups placed all their suspicions on the Uchiha."

"This is change?"

Kakashi did not answer.

On the night of the Nine-Tails Incident, the one controlling the Nine-Tails had indeed used the Sharingan.

But Konoha had still not found the true culprit.

Yet without any evidence, the entire Uchiha Clan had been treated as suspects by the higher-ups.

That was a fact.

Lie Yang looked back at Shisui.

"From the Second Hokage until now, prejudice, wariness, and suppression have accumulated for decades."

"The Uchiha are dissatisfied with Konoha."

"Konoha's higher-ups fear the Uchiha."

"Neither side trusts the other."

"What makes you think you can resolve conflicts built up over generations with a few words about the Will of Fire?"

Shisui's grip on his sword tightened again.

"At least we should try."

"So you chose to join Root?"

Lie Yang asked directly.

Shisui's expression stiffened slightly.

Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi both looked at him.

Joining Root was not an ordinary reassignment.

It meant voluntarily accepting Danzo's control and becoming part of Konoha's darkest system.

After a moment of silence, Shisui nodded.

"I applied voluntarily."

"Why?"

"So the higher-ups can see the Uchiha's stance."

Shisui did not evade the question.

"Lord Danzo is the most wary of the Uchiha."

"Only by approaching him voluntarily and entering Root can I truly understand the higher-ups' concerns about the clan, and make them understand that the Uchiha are not Konoha's enemies."

"As long as we can understand each other, the divide has a chance of disappearing."

Lie Yang's gaze turned utterly cold.

"You know Danzo is the one who has suppressed the Uchiha most ruthlessly."

"You also know Root has monitored the clan grounds for years."

"Yet you still joined voluntarily?"

"Precisely because his hostility runs deepest, someone needs to change all of this."

Shisui said earnestly, "If I remain only within the clan, the higher-ups will never trust the Uchiha."

"I have to take the first step."

"I have to show them that the Uchiha are also willing to give everything for the village."

"As long as I can prove my loyalty, Lord Danzo will one day cast aside his prejudice."

Lie Yang looked at Shisui for a long time.

"You really disappoint me."

Shisui's expression changed slightly.

"What?"

"You mistake compromise for courage."

"You mistake yielding for responsibility."

"And in the end, you place the Uchiha's future in the hands of the person most hostile to the Uchiha."

Lie Yang took a step forward.

Shisui instinctively raised his ninja blade.

But Lie Yang did not draw his sword.

"You just said that I once wanted to mediate between Konoha and the Uchiha."

"That's right."

"The you from before was not like this."

Shisui stared into his eyes.

"You were willing to associate with ninja from the village, willing to use your businesses to improve relations between the clan and the civilians, and you always opposed the clan's radicals."

"The you from back then would never have treated every Konoha ninja as an enemy."

Lie Yang said flatly, "The me from before did not have the strength to defect."

Shisui froze.

"What did you say?"

"I did not suddenly become extreme."

"My strength simply wasn't enough before. I couldn't break free of Konoha, nor could I withstand the pursuit that would follow defection."

Lie Yang's gaze swept across Kakashi, Kurenai Yuhi, and Might Guy.

"So I could only follow Konoha's rules."

"I hid my strength, built up businesses, formed relationships with ninja in the village, and did everything I could to improve the Uchiha's situation."

"That did not mean I approved of Konoha."

"It was only because I did not have the right to flip the table."

Kakashi slowly placed his right hand on the short sword at his waist.

Lie Yang spoke far too frankly.

There was no guilt.

Nor was he making excuses for his actions.

It was as though killing those Konoha pursuers had merely been the price he had to pay to cast off his shackles.

But Shisui could not accept it.

"Growing stronger does not mean you can abandon your responsibilities!"

"You are a Konoha ninja, and you are also an Uchiha."

"The village raised you, and the clan had expectations for you as well."

"Now that you possess the Mangekyō Sharingan, you should bear even greater responsibility, not use your strength to flee from everything!"

"This is not freedom."

"This is running away!"

By the time the last two words fell, Shisui's voice carried anger.

Lie Yang stopped walking.

"The one running away is not me."

"And you still deny it?"

"I have long seen through the Uchiha's fate."

Lie Yang's tone was terrifyingly calm.

"Whether I remain or not, this clan is destined to decline."

Shisui's face darkened.

"As long as someone is willing to change, nothing is predetermined!"

"Fugaku also agrees with my ideals."

"He is willing to restrain the clan's radicals, and he is willing to maintain communication with the higher-ups."

"As long as we are given enough time, the conflicts can definitely be resolved!"

"Fugaku cannot change anything."

Lie Yang cut him off directly.

"He is the clan head, yet he must repeatedly yield between the higher-ups and the clan members."

"When faced with the village's suppression, he does not dare lead the Uchiha to fight for their rights."

"When faced with dissatisfaction within the clan, he does not dare suppress it completely."

"In the end, he can only watch the Uchiha slide step by step into the abyss and witness the decline of the entire clan with his own eyes."

"Shut up!"