Danzo's conspiracy

Root Underground Headquarters.

The oil lamp's flame flickered in the empty stone chamber. Danzo sat in the shadows, a pile of documents spread across the desk before him.

These were records of the Shimura clansmen's violations since Uchiha Zongyan had recently taken office.

"Another one?"

Anger laced Danzo's voice, making the Root member deep in the shadows instinctively hold his breath.

The Root member in the shadows hurried to answer.

"Yes, Lord Danzo! This morning, the Shimura Great Elder's second son got into an argument on Commercial Street and shoved the other person. The Uchiha detained him on the spot for 'provoking trouble in a public place.'"

Danzo fell silent at the report, but the Root member felt the temperature throughout the room drop.

"How many incidents this month?"

"The ninth..."

The Root member's answer made Danzo clench his fingers until his knuckles cracked.

"Uchiha Zongyan..."

The ninth. These petty incidents happened every month, each like a needle, riddling the reputation he had spent years building with holes.

Members of the Shimura Clan were publicly detained and fined. Every time, people witnessed it; every time, the story spread as, "Danzo's relatives got arrested by the Uchiha again."

Those wretched villagers now looked upon Shimura clansmen with contempt whenever they went out.

Danzo's fingertips slid back and forth over the stack of records. By now, no emotion could be heard in his voice.

"Uchiha Zongyan... Is he still patrolling every day?"

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

"What about the others in his squad?"

Danzo fell silent. Since when had the Uchiha Clan become so confident?

"Has there been any movement in the Uchiha Clan Compound lately?"

"Our comrades assigned to surveillance reported that, apart from holding quite a few funerals some time ago, there has been no other activity in the Uchiha Clan Compound."

"No activity?"

Danzo slowly repeated the words. "They know I sent men to hunt them down, and they killed my Root elites outside the village. Yet after returning, they can keep extorting my clansmen as though nothing happened?"

The man in the shadows did not answer, keeping his head lowered as he waited for Danzo to continue.

Danzo rose to his feet and said, almost to himself, "This is far too unusual."

"Pass on my orders. Send all of Root out. I want to know the precise movements of every Uchiha, as well as the flow of supplies within their clan."

"Yes!"

The figure in the shadows quietly withdrew, his faint footsteps disappearing into the depths of the stone passage.

Danzo remained where he stood, murmuring that name under his breath.

"Uchiha Zongyan..."

Meanwhile, dusk fell over Konoha.

Having finished his shift, Zongyan removed his Police Force badge and hurried back to his family's residence.

From a distance, he saw Uchiha Itachi sitting on the veranda.

Fugaku was absent. Uchiha Itachi alone leaned against a veranda pillar, his Anbu mask resting beside him, his black clothes still bearing faint traces of dust from his field assignment.

Zongyan quickened his steps and approached. "Brother? When did you get back?"

Uchiha Itachi looked up at his voice, his stern features softening as he reached out to ruffle Zongyan's hair.

"I just finished a rotation with the Anbu and requested a few days off. It's been over a month. You look taller again."

Zongyan tilted his head slightly to dodge his hand and sat down on the edge of the veranda, casually setting Murasame beside his feet.

The wind swept fallen red maple leaves onto the wooden veranda boards with a rustle, making the surroundings seem especially quiet.

After a moment's silence, the smile on Uchiha Itachi's face gradually faded, replaced by a lingering, complicated expression.

He looked toward the depths of the clan grounds, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of concern and longing.

"Zongyan, Shisui... is he doing well?"

Zongyan looked up at his older brother beside him and nodded gently.

"We reported him missing to Konoha, but he's still alive, held in a secret chamber."

Those few words put Uchiha Itachi's mind much more at ease.

Though they no longer followed the same path, Shisui was his closest friend, and Uchiha Itachi did not want anything to happen to him.

"So he's been locked up," Uchiha Itachi murmured, complicated emotions churning in his eyes-regret, and a heavy sense of melancholy.

After a brief silence, he looked up at Zongyan, his gaze earnest.

"Zongyan, could you take me to see him?"

"Perhaps I can try to persuade him to turn back."

Zongyan frowned at that.

"The detention site is in a secluded part of the clan grounds. No one except the guards on rotation is allowed inside."

"Shisui has already awakened the Mangekyō, and we still don't know how powerful his dōjutsu is. Even with his chakra sealed, he remains a serious threat."

To be honest, if Shisui were not a genius with such terrifying dōjutsu, he would have killed him long ago.

"I understand the risks."

Uchiha Itachi shook his head, his tone exceptionally firm.

"Shisui and I have been friends for years. No one understands his deepest convictions better than I do. I need to talk to him."

The two remained at an impasse on the veranda for a moment before Zongyan finally stood.

"Brother, come with me!"

Half an hour later, outside a secluded secret chamber in the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Two fully armed Uchiha clansmen with their Sharingan activated stood guard outside the heavy stone door. Seeing Zongyan and Uchiha Itachi approach, they hurriedly bowed.

"Young Master Zongyan, Young Master Itachi!"

The heavy stone door slowly slid inward, and a damp, chilly breath of air washed over them.

The stone chamber was small and sparsely furnished, containing only a stone bed and a low stone table.

Shisui Uchiha sat cross-legged on the stone bed, his fingers and toes all restrained to prevent him from forming hand seals.

He also wore a locked Black Leather Hood. Its inner padding pressed firmly over his eyes, completely preventing him from activating his dōjutsu, leaving only gaps around his mouth and nose for breathing.

The once magnificent Body Flicker Shisui now looked utterly bedraggled, bound by layer upon layer of restraints.

Hearing the stone door move, he could not see and could only tilt his head slightly, his ears twitching as he used his hearing to identify the visitors.

Those familiar footsteps sounded through the air, their rhythm etched into his memory.

"Is that you, Itachi?"

Shisui Uchiha spoke, his voice slightly dry and hoarse in the enclosed stone chamber.

His long absence from sunlight seemed to have stripped even his voice of its former clarity.

Zongyan did not enter the stone chamber, merely standing outside the door and reminding him quietly.

"Brother, I'll leave you two to talk. Remember, you must not remove a single seal."

With that, he led the two Uchiha guards outside, leaving the stone chamber to the pair.

Only Uchiha Itachi and Shisui remained in the large, enclosed stone chamber.

Uchiha Itachi slowly took two steps forward, his gaze settling on his old friend.

"Shisui."

Shisui tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a bitter smile.

"I didn't expect you to come see me. I thought the clan would imprison me here forever, never to see daylight again."

Uchiha Itachi stopped a few steps from the stone bed, looking at him with a complicated expression.

"I heard you should already have learned a while ago about the things Danzo did in collusion with Orochimaru."

Shisui nodded, a bitter smile on his lips and a trace of suppressed indignation in his voice.

"I can't forget what was done to our clansmen."

"But even so, I still believe Konoha's stability should take precedence over one clan's personal grievances."

At those words, the air immediately fell still.

Uchiha Itachi watched him quietly. Hearing that all-too-familiar argument, he did not agree as he once had.

At his silence, Shisui could not help frowning slightly. With a measure of confusion in his voice, he asked softly:

"Itachi, you used to firmly believe that Konoha's stability mattered far more than the Uchiha Clan's honor or disgrace. Have you changed?"

That pointed question echoed between the cold stone walls.

Deep down, Shisui still clung to his past convictions:

He had witnessed the high command's crimes, but deep in his heart, he still feared that civil war would plunge all of Konoha into irreversible ruin.

To his mind, the price of war outweighed any hatred.

Uchiha Itachi gently exhaled a stale breath, his dark eyes utterly calm.

"When I was young, I heard only the grand narrative of the Will of Fire, yet could not see the blood flowing behind the curtain."

"After my younger brother woke me up, the lives of my family and clansmen came to matter more to me than the village's nebulous greater cause."

Shisui's entire body jolted, making his shackles clatter.

Even with his eyes covered by the hood, the abrupt surge in his emotions was palpable.

"... What did you say?"

"I never infiltrated the Anbu to pledge loyalty to the Third, much less to protect Konoha's so-called greater cause."

Uchiha Itachi's voice was not loud, yet every word reached Shisui's ears clearly.

"I entered that wolves' den for one purpose alone: to gather intelligence on Konoha High Command and secure breathing room for our Uchiha Clan."

"I have been on the clan's side from beginning to end."

Those words exploded like thunder in Shisui's mind.