Shisui Uchiha knew Itachi well, so his words hardly surprised him. He raised his eyebrows, scanned their surroundings, then glanced in the direction where Shin had already disappeared. Rolling his wrists, he said:
"We can talk about that later. Now that we're out of that pit called Konoha, let's give it our all. Otherwise, we'll be letting Shin down after all the effort and care he put into this."
At Shisui's words, Uchiha Itachi recalled what he had told him earlier, along with the secrets of the Konoha High Command. It felt as though a lifetime had passed. He readily nodded, and the two disappeared down the path.
By then, Shin Uchiha had entered the small village. His keen senses told him that everyone had gone into hiding. Even with a stranger walking into their village, they merely watched him through cracks in their windows. No one came out to ask who he was or why he had come.
Though it was daytime, the entire village was quiet-unnaturally quiet. Looking at it up close, he could see how run-down it was.
Shin Uchiha shook his head with a sigh. The Land of Water lay far from the mainland, beyond the reach of war. Things had become this way because Obito Uchiha had taken control of Kirigakure's Mizukage and imposed these cruel, regressive policies.
Not only had he torn apart Kirigakure, a village home to numerous clans with kekkei genkai, and crippled its strength, but even the renowned Yuki Clan, with its Ice Release kekkei genkai, and the Kaguya Clan, with its Shikotsumyaku, had been wiped out. Even the ordinary people of the Land of Water lived in constant fear, treating those who possessed kekkei genkai as terrifying monsters.
The village was small, and Shin Uchiha found the person he was