Talk Therapy

A bountiful fishing harvest should have been a good thing, yet Kisame Hoshigaki had seen with his own eyes that the fishermen's lives had not improved because of it. On the contrary, they were worse off than before.

Ordinary people had no way to preserve large quantities of seafood. If they did not sell it quickly, it would only rot and stink. Yet with the fish market oversupplied, buyers seized on the common people's desperation and drove prices down as hard as they could. The fishermen might have harvested a few extra bushels, but they were exploited even more severely and could only sell at low prices.

Worse still, inflation had driven up the prices of all other necessities.

Whenever Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi went out on missions, they often saw ordinary people numbed by the grind of life. Simply living in order to survive was already painfully difficult.

Kisame did not have that much saintly compassion. He simply could not understand why a good harvest would bring suffering. Itachi did not understand either; it was beyond the comprehension of a shinobi like him.

Back then, for Konoha's peace and justice, Itachi had personally killed his parents and clansmen. He had taken all the blame upon himself, trying to sever every past grudge between Sasuke, the Uchiha, and the village. At only thirteen years old, he had been deeply intoxicated by the emotion of sacrificing himself for the greater good. Even if someone killed him cruelly, it would not change his resolve.

Yet after leaving Konoha, Itachi could not say whether he had begun to waver. Konoha had fallen into turmoil because of the Uchiha Clan's extermination, and it had yet to fully settle. That ran contrary to his original purpose in ruthlessly destroying his clan. Cracks inevitably appeared in his firm resolve, giving rise to self-doubt.

During this time, Itachi had also come into contact with the real lives of impoverished commoners. He had seen all kinds of people and strange, bizarre events, gaining a profound understanding of the saying, "Plans cannot keep up with changes."

Just as the fishermen's abundant harvest had made their lives even worse, Itachi feared that what he had done would doom Konoha and Sasuke beyond redemption.

The reason behind Itachi's extermination of his clan had practically spread throughout the entire Shinobi World. Things like "abandoning narrow clanism and embracing the great Konoha family" were ideas so far ahead of their time that they were truly difficult to comprehend.

Kisame had once jokingly asked, "Mr. Itachi, why not try abandoning narrow villageism and devoting yourself to the Land of Fire? As far as I know, Konoha's will is not entirely aligned with that of the Land of Fire. Compared with the village, shouldn't the country matter more?"

Kisame swore that he had truly only been joking, but Itachi seemed to...

Meanwhile, over in Konoha, Sasuke was also discussing Itachi, Konoha, and the Uchiha Clan.

This serious conversation stemmed from Sasuke's confusion. He did not understand why the Uchiha, clearly one of Konoha's founding clans, had gradually parted ways with the village and ultimately met such a miserable end.

Unless he figured out this question, Sasuke would not be able to let it go, even if he destroyed Konoha.

Black Shadow asked him, "Do you know the original reason Konoha began suppressing and excluding the Uchiha?"

Sasuke carefully recalled the plot of the manga and slowly said, "It was Tobirama Senju! He did not trust the Uchiha, so as Hokage, he replaced the Uchiha's duties with a job that was likely to cause conflict with the villagers—the city management office, no, the Police Force. That gradually isolated the Uchiha!"

Black Shadow did not refute him. He merely said, "You are a descendant of the Uchiha Clan, so you will certainly view matters from the Uchiha's perspective. Naturally, your words carry strong personal bias."

"Tobirama Senju indeed had his problems. If he had merely been the head of the Senju Clan, it would not have mattered how many objections he had to the Uchiha. But he was the Second Hokage. There is a saying: 'What those above favor, those below will pursue with even greater zeal.' If he casually mocked the 'evil Uchiha,' the people beneath him would absolutely follow suit and cater to their leader's preferences."

"In that situation, even if the Uchiha wanted to befriend other clans, probably no one would dare associate with them while risking the Second Hokage's dislike. Isolated, the Uchiha could only cling tightly to the power in their hands. But that power from the Police Force would further deepen the divide between the villagers and the Uchiha, creating a vicious cycle."

At this point, Sasuke could not help interrupting. "As the village's highest-ranking leader, Tobirama Senju seemed not to understand what it meant to lead by example. He even personally joined in disparaging them, so much so that several of his disciples perfectly inherited his prejudice and took it even further—especially Shimura Danzō!"

"Though the Uchiha were proud and arrogant, they were still human. They bled and shed tears on the battlefield, then returned to the village only to be guarded against by their own people. Sometimes Danzo would even make covert moves against them. It was perfectly normal for the Uchiha to feel dissatisfied, complain, and resist."

"No matter how you looked at it, the Uchiha suffered plenty of oppression from the village. Why, in Itachi's eyes, did he think the Uchiha were in the wrong? Did the Uchiha have to give everything without reservation and ask for nothing in return for it to be right?"

Sasuke's words were filled with resentment, as though the Uchiha Clan were the purest and most innocent victims. Unfortunately, Black Shadow quickly corrected his understanding. "You think the Uchiha Clan's destruction was entirely everyone else's fault, but in truth, the Uchiha had no shortage of problems themselves."

Without waiting for Sasuke to argue, Black Shadow said, "First, let me point out a flaw in your understanding. From the Uchiha's perspective, Konoha was a village jointly established by the Senju and Uchiha. But from the Senju Clan's perspective, would that conclusion still hold?"

"Don't make me laugh! Back then, the Senju Clan defeated the Uchiha. Hashirama Senju did not kill Madara Uchiha, nor did he wipe out the Uchiha. Instead, he proposed building a village together. In the Senju Clan's eyes, the Uchiha Clan were the defeated, the weak forced to sign an agreement, prisoners of war! If not for Hashirama Senju's broad-mindedness, the Uchiha would have vanished into the river of history long ago!"

"Most people had no idea how deep the friendship between Hashirama and Madara was. They would only think Hashirama was using the Uchiha as an example to attract other talent. Even the Senju Clan could tolerate their hereditary enemies, the Uchiha Clan, proving just how firmly committed they were to building the village. It also reassured the other small clans that they could safely join Konoha!"

"The Uchiha were always shouting that they were Konoha's founding clan, but others—especially the Senju—would probably only mock the Uchiha for being shamelessly flattering themselves!"

"By Fugaku's generation, the Uchiha Clan seemed to have collectively lost their minds. Their stupidity was outrageous. They could neither keep matters secret nor win over the strong members of their clan. Even their Mangekyō were talked out of them by others. They could not manage even the most basic unity, so their defeat was not unjust at all!"

Black Shadow's words were exceptionally sharp and cutting. Sasuke's expression immediately darkened. "So according to you, the Uchiha Clan's miserable end was entirely their own fault?"

Black Shadow chuckled. "Wasn't it the Uchiha Clan's young clan head who destroyed the Uchiha Clan?"

Sasuke's face darkened even further. "That idiot Itachi!"

Black Shadow said seriously, "Actually, there is no need for you to investigate what Konoha or Itachi were thinking. When you try to understand an enemy's way of thinking, you will inevitably be contaminated by it."

Sasuke said, "I'm not trying to understand them. I just... just... well, it's just that... I can't explain what exactly I'm hung up on, but there's this suffocating feeling stuck in my chest!"

Black Shadow understood instantly. "Maybe you just want to stand on the moral high ground and judge Konoha and Itachi. You want to see Konoha's higher-ups and Itachi crying bitterly with regret. You want to be the righteous side, making Konoha and Itachi deeply regret what they did to the Uchiha..."

Sasuke: "..." Damn it, it sounded like he had hit the mark!