Shinobi World No. 1.
Konoha Year 51, autumn.
An uninhabited grove outside Hiruzen Sarutobi's Northern Army camp in the northern Land of Fire.
Clouds obscured the moonlight, leaving the grove pitch-black. There was only the sound of wind passing through the leaves and the faint footsteps of sentries in the distance. Uchiha Itachi stood beneath a large tree, his long black hair stirring gently in the night breeze. He wore a tight-fitting black outfit, with no forehead protector and a short sword at his waist. His face was expressionless, but something churned in his eyes-not hatred, not sorrow, but a deeper calm, compressed to its limit.
He was eleven that year.
But he felt like a man of fifty.
Minato Namikaze stood opposite him, his golden hair stirring slightly in the night breeze. He wore Konoha's green vest, with several Flying Thunder God Kunai at his waist and his usual gentle smile on his face. But that smile did not reach his eyes. In their depths was something hard to describe-not exhaustion, but helplessness.
He had come from Konoha Headquarters. Uchiha Itachi had contacted him through a secret channel, saying he had something important to discuss. Without telling anyone, he had left Konoha Headquarters alone and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to get here. Because he knew that whatever Uchiha Itachi had to say could not be heard by a third person.
"Go ahead." Minato's voice was calm.
Itachi fell silent for a moment.
"My clan wants to stage a coup."
Minato's brow furrowed slightly. He knew. Everyone in Konoha High Command knew. The Uchiha Clan's resentment had built up over too many years. The Konoha Military Police Force had offended too many people, too many feared the Sharingan, and Fushan's weakness had made the clan members even more