[The next moment, the Canopy Screen shifted to a small, dilapidated temple.]
[Inside, Shimura Danzō stood with his back to the entrance, facing a weathered Buddha statue. His figure nearly blended into the shadows.]
[Hearing footsteps behind him, he slowly turned. His single eye gleamed coldly in the gloom.]
["You're here, Itachi." Shimura Danzō's voice was low and almost devoid of emotion.]
["Lord Danzō." Itachi Uchiha inclined his head. He observed the courtesy, but remained on guard.]
[Shimura Danzō slowly removed the bandage over his right eye and sighed. "Hiruzen talks a good game, but when it truly matters, he'll stand firmly with Konoha."]
[Then Shimura Danzō laid out a choice that could tear a person's soul apart:]
["The Uchiha's fate is already sealed. Itachi, you have only two paths before you."]
[He raised two fingers, as though pronouncing a sentence:]
["The first: refuse the village's request and stand with your clan."]
["Then, three days from now, you will die as Itachi Uchiha alongside your clan."]
["Konoha will not allow a defection on this scale. Pursuit and extermination will be inevitable, and no one will survive."]
[Itachi Uchiha's heart clenched. He had suspected as much, but hearing Danzō say his clan would be exterminated still sent a bone-deep chill through him.]
[Shimura Danzō paused, letting that terrifying future sink in, then slowly presented the second path:]
["The second: accept the village's assignment and stand with Konoha."]
["Before the uprising begins, you will take action yourself and put an end to it all."]
[Itachi Uchiha jerked his head up, disbelief filling his eyes. "Put... put an end to it all?" He had an inkling of what Danzō meant, but he dared not follow the thought.]
[Shimura Danzō watched him coldly with his single eye. His voice grew clearer and crueler:]
["That's