Nothing is impossible if you know when to give up

"You're too strong."

Hearing those words again, Shisui froze for a moment.

He wasn't stupid. With a little thought, he caught on.

The Nine-Tails incident, the Uchiha's situation, and Sakumo Hatake.

All three pointed in the same direction, toward what Jin Uchiha had said at the very beginning.

They were all too strong.

Exactly.

Just like the Uchiha, how powerful had Sakumo Hatake become?

He was the ANBU commander, the Jonin Commander, and the head of the Interrogation and Torture Department.

Of the Hidden Leaf's seven departments with real authority, he controlled three by himself.

A few months before his death, the daimyo of the Land of Fire had even bestowed a title on him.

The Half-Sleeved Hokage.

That practically spelled it out.

While Sakumo Hatake was alive, he amounted to more than half a Hokage.

And now?

After his death, Shinnosuke Sarutobi had become the ANBU commander.

Shikaku Nara had taken over as Jonin Commander, while Ibiki Morino had inherited the Interrogation and Torture Department.

Put those three together, and they all came from the same camp.

Ibiki Morino had no connections or backing of his own. He had risen entirely thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi's support.

Shikaku Nara went without saying.

The Ino–Shika–Cho had always been diehard loyalists of the Hokage's faction. Whoever sat in that chair, they served.

And Shinnosuke Sarutobi was the man's own son.

Good grief.

Shisui had never even considered this angle before. Now that Jin Uchiha had pointed it out, thinking it through sent chills down his spine.

Was this really the same Lord Hokage he remembered, always wearing that kindly smile?

The great Half-Sleeved Hokage, Sakumo Hatake, had died under murky circumstances, and in the end, the Hokage's faction had reaped every benefit.

And after that?

Kakashi Hatake had joined the Hokage's faction.

Just like that.

Everything Sakumo Hatake had left behind had been devoured, without so much as a scrap of bone remaining.

"But why?"

"That still doesn't make sense."

"Why did Sakumo Hatake have to kill himself?"

Shisui looked utterly lost, the convictions in his heart shattered.

He seized on that one unanswered question like a drowning man clutching a straw, refusing to let go.

This was far too different from everything he had believed.

Jin Uchiha sighed.

"That's precisely what I admire about Sakumo Hatake."

"He was a true shinobi, so he had no way out other than suicide."

"He was afraid something would happen to the Hidden Leaf."

"If he hadn't chosen that path, his only option would have been to fight the Hokage's faction."

"If the Hidden Leaf fell into chaos, would the other ninja villages have let that opportunity slip?"

"Look at it the other way. As long as he died, everything would be settled."

"The Hidden Leaf wouldn't descend into chaos, and even if only to contain the fallout, Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't dare touch his son, Kakashi Hatake."

"And wasn't that exactly how things turned out?"

"Kakashi Hatake became Minato Namikaze's student, using that connection to enter the Hokage's faction for good."

"The Hokage's faction used that as their opening to bring all of Sakumo Hatake's loyal followers into their own fold."

"That was why Sakumo Hatake lost. There was no escaping it."

"Shamelessness is a scoundrel's passport, and decency is a decent man's epitaph."

"How is a decent man supposed to fight a scoundrel?"

"The more honorable you are, the easier it is for them to deal with you."

"What kind of victory was that for the Hokage's faction? They simply knew Sakumo Hatake wouldn't let the Hidden Leaf suffer, and used that to get him by the throat."

"That's what I respect about him, but I'll never become him."

Having said his piece, Jin Uchiha fell silent.

He had explained everything he could. Pouring more into Shisui's head would only leave him more confused.

Stopping at this point was just right.

He could chew over the rest himself. They could talk again once he understood it.

So, with his work done, Jin Uchiha slouched back on the sofa.

He closed his eyes and listened to the waves rolling in, the golden sunlight warming his forehead and making his whole body feel lazy.

Meanwhile.

Shisui had gone completely numb, his thoughts churning like a vat of paste.

Cold sweat broke out over him again and again.

It was all plain enough. Shisui wasn't stupid, and unlike Itachi, he wasn't stubbornly fixated on a single idea.

It wasn't too difficult for him to digest.

But the more he understood, the further his hopes for the Uchiha's future sank.

What could he do?

He turned that one question over and over, unable to find an answer.

Time trickled by.

Shisui's face grew paler, his eyes filled with panic.

He was starting to fear trusting Hiruzen Sarutobi again.

Yes, everything Jin Uchiha had said was, at most, his own speculation. He had no hard evidence at all.

But what did that matter?

With something as important as saving his people at stake, he couldn't risk the slightest mistake.

One wrong move, and the entire clan would die.

Wait. Jin Uchiha.

Of course.

If this guy could unravel things this thoroughly, surely he had a solution?

At that thought, he stopped hesitating and reached out to shake him.

He shook Jin Uchiha awake as he lay there sunbathing with his eyes closed.

"Jin, wake up."

"You must have a way out. Come on, tell me."

"I know all that crap with the Radical Faction left you with little affection for the clan, but at the end of the day, we all share the same blood."

"How can you just stand by and watch our people get wiped out?"

Jin Uchiha: "..."

He genuinely hadn't expected Shisui to come begging to him.

Good grief.

He hadn't intended to reveal any of this today.

He couldn't spill everything in one go. The timing wasn't right.

After all, Shisui wasn't Kazama Nara.

Someone like him had to be nudged aside a little at a time.

So even with Shisui pleading like this, he still didn't want to say too much.

Still.

Dumping a few more buckets of shit on Hiruzen Sarutobi's head wasn't a big deal.

With that in mind, he waved a hand.

"Shisui, stop shaking me."

"I'm just a kid. What real solutions could I have?"

"The gap between the Uchiha and the Hokage's faction is ridiculous, all right?"

"Just look at our Uchiha. Arrogant beyond belief, one-track minds, looking down on everyone, so conceited they've turned stupid. They might as well tattoo 'heaven first, Uchiha second' on their foreheads."

"Being stupid is one thing. The real problem is that they're stupid and still think they're clever."

"Every last one thinks the Uchiha name alone lets them take on heaven, earth, and everything in between."

"But they haven't even realized that the world has changed."

"Back in the Warring States Period, every clan fought for itself. If your fists were strong enough, you could do whatever you liked."

"And now?"

"The moment the Hidden Leaf was founded, it became an age of village against village."

"What good does it do for the Uchiha to be strong? Everyone else has already banded together."

"You think taking down the Sarutobi would be enough? If it really came to blows, you wouldn't be fighting just one clan. You'd be up against the Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, Mito, Ino–Shika–Cho, Aburame, Inuzuka, and all those shinobi from civilian backgrounds."

"Even copying the Hyuga would be something. Sure, they're a bit spineless, but at worst, they lose a little face."

"Can the Uchiha learn to do that? No."

"Forget fighting the entire Hidden Leaf. The Uchiha can't even take on the Sarutobi clan alone."

"Do they still think this is when the Hidden Leaf was first founded? That the Uchiha are a founding lineage, and the Sarutobi are just latecomers who joined them?"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi has held the Hokage's seat for so many years. Do you know how many shinobi the Sarutobi clan has now?"

"Over three thousand. Nearly four thousand."

"The Uchiha slog through missions to scrape together a living, while the Sarutobi clan controls the village's purse strings and uses public funds to support its own people year after year."

"And the Uchiha today have, what, six or seven hundred shinobi at most?"

"Besides, every war burns through other clans' shinobi. How many Sarutobi offspring have you ever seen on a battlefield?"

"The number of Sarutobi shinobi keeps ballooning, while the Uchiha keep throwing theirs into the meat grinder, batch after batch."

"How can you even compare them?"

"Rebel against the village and seize the Hokage's seat? That's complete bullshit."

"If the Sarutobi Household sends out its three or four thousand shinobi, what fucking good does it do even if every Uchiha can take on three?"

"They could drown you if each of them spat once."

"Now you should finally understand why I hide my strength, Shisui."

"The Uchiha clan was already packed with idiots, and then it got stuck with that useless clan leader Fugaku, who tore it to pieces. Now it can't even manage the most basic unity."

"Getting mixed up with that bunch? What, is my life too comfortable?"

"The Hokage's faction is no better."

"Those scheming old bastards are each more cunning than the last. If you really joined them, they'd sell you out, and you'd still be sitting beside them helping count the money."

"I'm better off keeping my head down and letting them do whatever they want."

"And I'd advise you to let it go a little, too. Stop worrying all day about things you can't do anything about."

"Nothing is impossible if you know when to give up."