Though Shisui Uchiha felt deeply frustrated and distressed, he had no regrets.
Having inherited his predecessors' will and become a bridge between the Uchiha and the village, he had long anticipated the various situations he might face and made thorough preparations.
Shisui composed himself, changed the subject, and said gravely, "Lord Hokage, there's something suspicious about Itachi's death."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression stiffened slightly before he slowly spoke.
"Shisui, I'm deeply saddened by what happened, too. But I swear to you on my title as Hokage that Itachi's death was in no way ordered by the village. You should understand that, as a ninja, losing your life to an unbeatable enemy is very common."
As he spoke, his aged face showed anger and concern over the unknown, formidable enemy, along with an unprecedented openness.
Hiruzen Sarutobi searched his conscience and found it completely clear.
Since the Nine-Tails' Attack and Orochimaru's defection, the village had suffered a severe blow.
He had done everything he could to prevent further losses to the village. How could he possibly have had Uchiha Itachi ambushed and killed at such a sensitive time between the village and the Uchiha, provoking the Uchiha beyond all restraint?
"Lord Hokage, I understand that unexpected incidents during ninja missions are very common. I won't deny that just because Itachi was my close friend."
Shisui Uchiha's eyes held gravity and composure.
"However, we still don't know what kind of enemy Itachi encountered, whether it was a chance encounter or something the enemy had planned in advance."
"Itachi's route was highly confidential, and the attack took place only five kilometers from Konoha. I can fully understand the Uchiha's anger and suspicion. It isn't that they can't accept Itachi dying in the line of duty, but that they can't accept him dying so inexplicably."
There weren't that many coincidences or accidents in the world.
Everything had been planned in advance.
Shisui firmly believed that Uchiha Itachi's death involved a conspiracy that could not be revealed.
Even if the killer behind it wasn't a ninja from the village, there was certainly a traitor passing on information, leaking Itachi's route to the killer.
"I suspect that the killer behind this wasn't targeting just the Uchiha Clan, but the village as well. His aim was to destroy the last shred of trust between the village and the Uchiha, forcing the Uchiha to stage a coup and forcing the village to wipe them out."
"That's a very strong possibility."
Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief, thoroughly agreeing with Shisui's assessment.
At this point, if the Uchiha and the village openly broke with each other, the village would suffer an unimaginably heavy blow, regardless of the outcome.
There were no few people who hoped to see Konoha reach that point.
"Shisui, when I look at you, it's as though I'm seeing Kagami. You have his cool head and precise judgment. If only the other Uchiha were as composed as you."
At this, Hiruzen Sarutobi changed the subject and said solemnly, "The situation is far from reassuring. Our immediate priority is to uncover the truth behind Uchiha Itachi's murder and clear the village of suspicion.
Kakashi, Shisui, I'm granting you the highest level of authorization to investigate the activity records of every jonin in the village over the past three days."
The white-haired Anbu who had stood behind Hiruzen Sarutobi in silence all this time suddenly spoke.
"Lord Hokage, even if we establish that the person who killed Uchiha Itachi wasn't a village ninja, how will we gain the Uchiha Clan's trust?"
The Hokage's faction and the Uchiha Clan had already lost the foundation of trust between them.
Shisui had also been expelled from the Uchiha by Fugaku. Even if Shisui produced evidence clearing the village of the accusation, Fugaku would never believe it. Instead, he would consider it evidence fabricated by the Hokage's faction.
After considering it for a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "There's one other person who can earn the trust of both the village and Uchiha Fugaku."
At that moment, the person Hiruzen Sarutobi mentioned was still hard at work.
Kurenai Yuhi left the Konoha apartment with a glowing face and a spring in her step.
Inside.
Douyang looked exhausted.
Many people thought women, especially beautiful women, weren't lustful.
That was, in fact, a serious misconception.
Despite Kurenai Yuhi's dignified, gentle appearance, her inner world was quite rich.
Uchiha Douyang felt he would need two days of rest to more or less recover.
"Ahem!"
Douyang coughed twice and reached up to touch his left eye.
His eye was filled with scarlet, and a single black tomoe spun rapidly within it.
His ocular power soared, and the world in his field of vision became clearer than before.
"I never expected to awaken the Sharingan out of nowhere."
Douyang sank into thought.
At its core, awakening the Sharingan involved intense mental stimulation prompting the brain to secrete a special chakra, which then acted on the eyeballs.
It wasn't necessarily essential to experience negative emotional stimulation to awaken it.
Even awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan didn't necessarily require the death of a close companion.
For example, when Uchiha Itachi died, Sasuke hadn't immediately awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had only truly awakened it after being shocked by the so-called truth behind the clan massacre.
Sarada was another example. She had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan simply because Sasuke didn't believe her.
The Uchiha were a clan possessed of "great love." For this clan, nothing was more painful than losing what they loved.
Learning to love, then losing that love, made awakening their eyes easier.
But Douyang was an exception.
The death of a companion couldn't-or rather, wasn't enough to-cause sufficient emotional turmoil in him.
Now he had found a path to awakening his eye that suited him.
Douyang was a flesh-and-blood man who had little resistance to beautiful things.
By beautiful things, he meant girls like Kurenai Yuhi.
The Naruto world was also known as "Five-Village Warfare: The Legend of Eyes," "My Village Chief Grandpa, Dad, and Teacher," and "The Tale of Black Zetsu Rescuing His Mother."
The underlying nature of this world was outrageously cruel and filthy.
Ninjas were executioners and tools.
Those who wielded the tools used beautiful words to trick innocent, ignorant children into becoming ninjas.
The children knew nothing of being exploited after becoming ninjas, nothing of being killed by other tools, and nothing of losing relatives and friends. They devoted their lives to so-called "glory" and "pride," and took pride in doing so.
Once they had witnessed the world's cruelty, those who wielded the tools used so-called bonds to turn conflicts of interest between the tool users into hatred between the tools, passing it down from generation to generation until it became common knowledge.
In a world like this, even capitalists seemed far too merciful.
Yet, bafflingly, the bastards, beasts, parasites, and lunatics of the Naruto world were all men.
It was hard to find faults in beautiful things like Kurenai Yuhi, Mikoto, and Tsunade.
Even the various actions of Kaguya, the final boss behind the scenes, were more understandable than the atrocities committed by those two severely mentally ill men, Obito Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi, which had outraged gods and men alike.
"This way of awakening my eye... a lust Sharingan?"
Douyang touched his left eye, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Having found a path for his Sharingan to evolve, he couldn't help feeling delighted.
The Sharingan originated from the God Tree and could ultimately evolve into the Rinnegan.
The black eye was powerful, but who would turn down another kind of power?
Before you continue