Shisui Uchiha, Are You in Your Right Mind?

"Jin, I know everything now!"

Shisui Uchiha strode up to his friend, his expression excited.

"What do you know?"

Uchiha Jin instinctively backed away, feeling that something was off about this turncoat today.

The Uchiha Clan's mental state was never good to begin with.

Especially someone like Shisui Uchiha, who had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Who knew what he might do?

"Jin, can we make up? Things aren't what you think."

Shisui Uchiha suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist, his expression pleading.

Uchiha Jin tried to pull free, only to find that Shisui's hand gripped him like an iron clamp.

He actually couldn't break free for a moment.

"Let go!"

What the hell was wrong with this guy today?

"No. Jin, you'll always be my best friend!"

Shisui Uchiha stared straight at him, his eyes full of affection.

Fear and anger made a rare appearance on Uchiha Jin's usually calm face.

This Uchiha had lost his mind.

"Who wants to be your friend? Let go of me already!"

Uchiha Jin's expression darkened. Scarlet replaced his black pupils as he activated his Three Tomoe out of sheer fright.

"Itachi and I are friends, but you've always been my best friend!"

Shisui Uchiha completely ignored Jin's threat and continued expressing his feelings to him.

"Jin, please don't be angry..."

"Get lost!"

Uchiha Jin yanked his hand free and instinctively stepped back.

Had this guy gotten his head caught in a door?

Otherwise, there was no explaining why he had suddenly come running over to spout nonsense.

Shisui Uchiha looked at his empty hand, his palm still holding the lingering warmth of his best friend. A fleeting trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes, quickly replaced by guilt.

"Jin, I only wanted to introduce Itachi to you back then, but I ended up overlooking your feelings. I'm really sorry."

Uchiha Jin: "???"

What on earth was this guy talking about?

How had Uchiha Itachi gotten dragged into this?

"Shisui Uchiha, are you in your right mind?"

Uchiha Jin rested his hand on his sword hilt. If the other man did anything excessive again...

Then he couldn't blame Jin for disregarding their past friendship.

"Jin, I'm perfectly clearheaded right now!"

Shisui Uchiha looked serious.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have overlooked your feelings."

"Can you... forgive me?"

"You're nuts."

Meeting his expectant gaze, Uchiha Jin struggled for a long while before squeezing out those words.

Even now, he still had no idea what Shisui was playing at.

Shisui Uchiha looked dejected at his words, lowering his eyes as he murmured softly.

"You still won't forgive me?"

It seemed that training with Itachi back then had deeply hurt his best friend.

So much so that even after two years, he still refused to forgive him.

"What exactly do you want me to forgive you for?"

Watching Shisui Uchiha hang his head in dejection, Uchiha Jin fell silent for a moment before asking impatiently.

"How am I supposed to know whether to forgive you if you don't tell me?"

Could this kid have finally understood how to choose between the clan and the village?

If that really was the case...

Forgiving him wasn't out of the question...

After all, they had once been close, and he had made many attempts and efforts to change Shisui's fate.

But the other man was stubborn and refused to listen.

In the end, they had gone their separate ways.

"I shouldn't have spent time with Itachi and overlooked your feelings."

Shisui Uchiha looked pained.

Uchiha Jin: "..."

Mystery solved. There really was something wrong with this guy's head.

Always babbling nonsense.

"If there's something wrong with your head, get it treated!"

Uchiha Jin felt he had been made a fool of. Having so much of his time wasted made his face flush with anger.

"What does you hanging out with Uchiha Itachi have to do with me?!"

Surely this guy didn't think Uchiha Itachi was the reason they had parted ways.

What an incredible thought process.

With a mental state like that, no wonder he had awakened the Mangekyō.

To Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Jin's reaction was nothing more than embarrassment turning into anger after his secret feelings had been exposed.

This only further confirmed Itachi's guess.

Jin really was jealous!

"Jin, no matter what, you're my best friend!"

Shisui Uchiha looked serious.

"Shoo, shoo. Stop bothering me."

Uchiha Jin waved impatiently as though shooing away a fly. The good mood he had just gotten from Shimura Danzō was completely gone.

This guy made no sense.

"Who's your best friend? Go sit at the weasel's table."

Without giving him another chance to speak, he turned and strode out of the shopping street.

Shisui Uchiha was left standing there alone, utterly bewildered.

"Who's the weasel?"

How had Jin come up with another new term?

Although he hadn't won his best friend's forgiveness, judging by Jin's earlier behavior...

Itachi's guess was almost certainly right.

Their strained relationship was entirely because Jin felt his best friend had found a new best friend and was jealous.

He believed that one day, he could get Jin to let go of the rift between them and make up with him, restoring their former closeness.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "Jin, I'll get you to forgive me."

"Lunatic."

Uchiha Jin cursed all the way.

He lowered his head to look at his wrist, red and swollen from being gripped, and his expression grew even uglier.

That idiot still hadn't understood why their relationship had fallen apart.

Simply put, people who followed different paths couldn't work together.

At first, he had only wanted to bring Shisui over to his side.

After all, he was a genius who would awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan in the future.

But reality had proved that even becoming best friends couldn't change the Will of Fire in his heart.

He could only say that he truly lived up to being Kagami Uchiha's descendant.

Once he reached the right age, he awakened the Will of Fire all on his own.

Especially after Shisui Uchiha joined the Anbu-before that, Jin had sought him out and told him not to join.

But Shisui had said that only by joining the Anbu could he understand the situation with the village leadership and the clan.

As long as he handled things well from within, he could resolve the conflict between the clan and the village.

The two had gotten into a fierce argument.

The next day.

One went to report to the Konoha Military Police Force Troops, while the other went to report to the Hokage's Office.

"You fool. By the time you realize your mistake, it'll already be too late."

Uchiha Jin tilted his head back to look at the sky and murmured.

Just then, a gentle female voice sounded beside him.

"Jin?"

Uchiha Jin looked toward the voice, and a small, oval face came into view.

The girl looked twelve or thirteen. Her face had lost its childish softness but had yet to develop an adult's allure.

Thick, inky curls fell to her shoulders, and her most striking feature was a pair of clear, scarlet eyes with concentric rings.

"Mm."

Seeing her, Uchiha Jin nodded calmly, then looked past the girl at one of the boys behind her.

That head of white hair was particularly eye-catching...

"Hey, Kurenai's saying hello to you!"

One of the boys, who had wheat-colored skin, couldn't stand watching this and spoke indignantly.

This bastard was still just as arrogant as before!