Seeing Uchiha Itachi pointing a kunai at him, Qiu Shan Uchiha slowly turned around and looked calmly at the furious young man.
"Uchiha Itachi, are you serious? You dare point a weapon at me? Have you thought about the consequences?"
As he spoke, Qiu Shan Uchiha activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and looked straight at Uchiha Itachi. He kept his overwhelming mental power and chakra contained, but even through his Mangekyō Sharingan, they placed immense pressure on Itachi.
Feeling the immense pressure from Qiu Shan Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi activated his own Sharingan. At first, it had three tomoe, but as the pressure mounted, they spun wildly, finally forming a Mangekyō Sharingan shaped like three sickles.
With his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, Uchiha Itachi felt the pressure from Qiu Shan Uchiha ease considerably, and his pounding heart began to settle.
Qiu Shan Uchiha watched Itachi reveal his Mangekyō Sharingan under his pressure. Though Itachi's presence still could not match his own, it had begun to offer some resistance.
The corners of Qiu Shan Uchiha's mouth lifted slightly. He slowly withdrew his oppressive presence and deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan, looking at Uchiha Itachi with amusement in his eyes. "No wonder Shisui thought so highly of you. It seems you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan too."
Seeing Qiu Shan Uchiha chatting so casually, Uchiha Itachi was bewildered despite his exceptional intelligence. Then, as realization dawned, he asked, "You were testing me?"
Qiu Shan Uchiha curled his lip and sat down nearby, looking bored. "Not exactly. Mostly, I was bored waiting around, so I decided to tease you."
Hearing Qiushan's words, Uchiha Itachi grew angry. "Even if you wanted to test me, you shouldn't desecrate Shisui's remains. You were his good friend too. How could you do that to him?"
Qiu Shan Uchiha picked up the pitcher on the table and poured himself a cup of water, replying unconcernedly, "What's there to feel guilty about? Shisui isn't dead."
Uchiha Itachi felt a surge of delighted surprise at Qiushan's words. There were plenty of secret techniques for feigning death in this ninja world, and he thought Shisui might have used one. But then he reconsidered. The hope that had just lit up his eyes faded again, and he shook his head, saying:
"I wish Shisui's death were fake too, but the Third Hokage has already confirmed it. And that old fox Shimura Danzō-how could he possibly have held back when he killed Shisui? Besides, when Shisui died, there were people skilled in Medical Ninjutsu nearby, as well as members of the Hyūga Clan watching with their Byakugan. If he were only feigning death, how could he have fooled their eyes?"
Though Uchiha Itachi insisted it was impossible, he still could not help reactivating the Mangekyō Sharingan he had just deactivated and carefully examining Shisui Uchiha's remains. After scrutinizing him thoroughly from head to toe, Itachi deactivated his Mangekyō again. He had only recently awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and was still not quite used to it.
Uchiha Itachi rubbed his sore eyes and could not help sighing again. He had just examined Shisui Uchiha meticulously with his Mangekyō, yet had found no trace of chakra in him. For a ninja, chakra was the product of physical and spiritual energy combined. Only someone completely dead would have no chakra left in his body.
Watching Uchiha Itachi sigh, Qiu Shan Uchiha grumbled inwardly, If Izanagi were that easy to detect or counter, Madara Uchiha's feigned death would never have fooled Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju back then.
Seeing Uchiha Itachi still lost in grief, Qiu Shan Uchiha did not try to persuade him further. By his reckoning, it was nearly time for the Izanagi placed on Shisui Uchiha to activate anyway.
In truth, Qiu Shan Uchiha did not have a bad impression of Uchiha Itachi. Though Itachi bore some responsibility for the Uchiha Clan's massacre, the greatest blame lay with Shimura Danzō's instigation, the Third Hokage's indecision, and Obito Uchiha's covert scheming.
Shimura Danzō had acted because of the wishes left behind by his teacher, the Second Hokage, and his own craving for the Sharingan's power. Obito Uchiha, meanwhile, knew the Uchiha Clan was the greatest obstacle to his "Eye of the Moon" plan, because their Sharingan was the strongest counter to his Kamui. If his Kamui were neutralized, he would be no more than an ordinary Kage Level fighter, and his plan could not proceed. After all, only after Uchiha Itachi died and Obito Uchiha felt the threat was gone did he emerge from the shadows and declare war on the entire Shinobi World.
As for why Uchiha Itachi was ultimately driven to wipe out his own clan, sparing only his younger brother, one of the main reasons was that his thinking operated on too high a level. Perhaps witnessing war and death from childhood had made him more mature than others his age. The scope and depth of his thinking differed from ordinary people's, surpassing even that of adults by a considerable margin. That was why the Third Hokage had praised him for considering problems from a Hokage's perspective.
While others remained trapped in love, hatred, and personal grudges, he had long since moved beyond ordinary emotions. His love had already transcended the boundaries of his clan, and even those of his village. That was why he could do something others found inconceivable-destroy his own clan.
Sometimes, thinking from a higher perspective that did not suit one's own position was not a good thing, because it left one at odds with the people nearby. That was why Shisui Uchiha was Uchiha Itachi's only close friend: Shisui Uchiha's Will of Fire bore some resemblance to his own thinking.
What Qiu Shan Uchiha was doing was separating the clan from the village. That way, the village and clan could avoid conflict, and the clan's two prodigies would not be caught between them. As for what they would do afterward, that could be discussed in due time.
Just then, Qiu Shan Uchiha keenly sensed a fluctuation, like a drop of water falling onto a still surface and sending ripples across it. Qiushan jolted alert and hurriedly looked toward Shisui Uchiha.
It was like witnessing a miracle. Qiu Shan Uchiha watched Shisui Uchiha's remains lying silently there, his body stiff and his face lifeless. Anyone could tell at a glance that he was dead. Yet in the blink of an eye, the corpse lying there vanished, and an identical person appeared beside it, rosy-faced and very much alive, smiling at him.
Noticing Qiu Shan Uchiha's unusual reaction, Uchiha Itachi followed his gaze and immediately froze.
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