Decision

During the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha produced several figures whose names resounded throughout the Shinobi World. Apart from its brightest star, the "Yellow Flash," Minato Namikaze, who later became the Fourth Hokage, foremost among them was the genius ninja who earned the name "Body Flicker Shisui" at a young age during the war—

Shisui Uchiha.

He was the true leading figure of the Uchiha Clan in his generation, and countless people never tired of praising his talent.

He was a descendant of Kagami Uchiha, who had served alongside the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, in Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's Guard unit.

As the descendant of an old comrade, Shisui Uchiha was different from the other Uchiha in the Third Hokage's eyes, and his trust in Shisui was firmly established. Shisui was one of the few Uchiha of his generation who still deeply understood the "Will of Fire." At the end of the Third Shinobi World War, he had even supported Minato Namikaze's succession as Fourth Hokage, rejecting attempts by his clan and others to groom him into Minato's rival. Instead, he willingly returned to the clan and quietly served in the Military Police Force.

After Minato sacrificed himself and suspicion over the Nine-Tails' Attack fell on the Uchiha Clan, Shisui had already returned to the Hokage's service.

He knew full well that his actions would draw misunderstanding and hostility from his clansmen. Yet to ease tensions between the two sides, Shisui would rather cut ties with his clan and quietly protect the village's peace from the shadows.

For someone like him, Uchiha Itachi's arrival had been a source of great joy.

Itachi was one of the few companions in the Uchiha Clan who could truly understand him and be understood in return. Unfortunately, he was still too young to stand on his own.

Shisui placed his hopes in a future where they could both serve the Hokage. Together, they would surely be able to keep Konoha at peace. That was also why Shisui had always been willing to teach Uchiha Itachi.

He had continually passed on the way of thinking behind the Will of Fire and his understanding of it. He did not want Itachi to become like those clansmen who did nothing but blame everyone and everything else.

After leaving the Hokage Office with the Third Hokage's response to the Uchiha Clan's request for promotion slots, Shisui had intended to return to the clan and see how his clansmen reacted. Before long, however, he noticed a marked streetlamp.

It was a secret signal between him and Itachi, so he followed Itachi here.

As he listened to Itachi's account, Shisui remained outwardly composed, but inwardly he sighed.

He knew Fugaku very well. Though he was the head of the Uchiha Clan, he was not a radical. The fact that he had gone so far as to send his own son, Itachi, into the Anbu as a spy showed how intense the pressure within the clan had become—so intense that even he had been forced to choose such an unwise course.

"...Itachi, you should repeat your conversation word for word. I need more precise information." After getting a basic understanding of the situation, Shisui frowned, but quickly smoothed his brow when he noticed the rare look of anxiety on Itachi's face.

He did not want to put any more pressure on Itachi. At only eight years old, Uchiha Itachi was far too young to bear the burden of being caught between his clan and the village. These were matters Shisui should resolve himself.

Hearing Shisui's calm, measured, yet firm words, Itachi nodded and recounted his conversation with his father to Shisui Uchiha exactly as he remembered it.

"I understand. But what was that you mentioned about coming into contact with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?" Shisui nodded, then asked another question.

Itachi told Shisui about meeting Naruto after they parted that afternoon, including their earlier brief encounter on the street.

"He knows Shurikenjutsu? He practiced on his own?" Shisui blinked. Publicly, he was a Konoha Jonin, but in reality, he was a special ninja under the Hokage's direct command. Naturally, he knew about Naruto's circumstances. When Itachi told him that Naruto had been practicing Shurikenjutsu with pebbles by the river, he paused, his interest piqued.

But it went no further than that. After all, he was a member of the Uchiha Clan. Whether or not the Third Hokage and the rest of Konoha High Command trusted him, they would never allow an Uchiha to get too close to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Nor would he deliberately invite unnecessary suspicion.

Besides, the most pressing matter now was the conflict between the clan and the village. With that in mind, Shisui Uchiha considered the situation for a moment and reached a conclusion.

"Itachi, join the Anbu."

Uchiha Itachi said nothing, waiting for Shisui to continue.

Sure enough, Shisui added, "But I don't want you to become a spy for the Family, nor do I want you to follow the village blindly. Try to see all of this clearly with your own eyes, and find your own path."

As he spoke, Shisui Uchiha's pupils began to undergo an eerie transformation. His crimson Sharingan slowly emerged, three small tomoe spinning around each pupil before transforming into shapes resembling shuriken.

Mangekyō Sharingan!

"I used these eyes of mine to see the path I wanted to take. Itachi, you aren't meant to become my subordinate or my shadow. You must see your own future through your own eyes and make decisions you can stand by."

Shisui Uchiha's words brought Itachi a sudden sense of clarity. His gaze grew resolute, as though he had made some important decision...

Time flew, and another six months passed.

"Looks like that's all for today."

As Naruto's figure disappeared, Minato Namikaze smiled, though he also felt a faint sense of loss.

He was different from the Nine-Tails. Although they both stayed within Naruto's mental sealing space, after the Nine-Tails shared his chakra to preserve Minato's Chakra Clone, Minato could only move within this mental world.

He could not leave, could not observe the outside world, and had no freedom. It was as though he had been sealed away.

He did not know whether this was the Nine-Tails' way of taking revenge on him and Kushina for sealing him, but Minato Namikaze did not particularly resent it.

If anything, he felt some gratitude toward the Nine-Tails.

As a father, he had failed to fulfill his duties, and he blamed himself deeply for the loneliness Naruto had suffered. As Hokage, after learning of the supposed future from the Nine-Tails, he understood all too well what that crisis meant.

Any single member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan could destroy the entire Shinobi World, and there was an entire extraterrestrial race of beings like that?

Minato Namikaze admitted that when he first learned about these future enemies from the Nine-Tails, his immediate reaction, cautious and rational as he had always been, was to think the Nine-Tails was spouting nonsense.

But he soon concluded that the Nine-Tails had no reason to deceive him.

And once he proceeded on the assumption that everything was true, Minato Namikaze's outlook changed.

He was already dead. The world of the living should have had nothing to do with him. But now that the Nine-Tails had given him another form of existence through some means, he no longer thought that way.

Save the world.

His teacher, Jiraiya, had once said that he might be the Child of Prophecy. Later, he had entrusted that responsibility to his and Kushina's child.

That had been born of both helplessness and hope.

From the Nine-Tails, Minato learned how great a price Naruto had paid to truly save the world. It filled him with pride and moved him deeply. Yet even for such a child, fate remained cruel. Even after becoming the strongest in the Shinobi World, he still faced battles that threatened his life...

All of that was my fault.

That was what Minato Namikaze thought at that moment. He resolved to help the Nine-Tails and change Naruto's fate through his own strength!

"You didn't correct Naruto's Flying Thunder God Mark. Why?" The Nine-Tails raised his head and looked at Minato Namikaze, who stood where he was. "According to you, your tests showed that unless a technique Formula and its memorization are reinforced through more than a month of systematic instruction, Naruto will most likely forget them completely within three days. But you haven't taught him anything related to the Flying Thunder God in these past three months. Won't that make all your earlier efforts go to waste?"

"The Flying Thunder God..." At the Nine-Tails' question, Minato Namikaze paused, set aside his thoughts, and smiled again. "Naruto has already learned it."