Shisui and Mikoto nodded thoughtfully.
Indeed,
if Danzo could not prove his innocence, the village's other ninja clans with kekkei genkai would never let him take power.
They would even find ways to drive Danzo out of Konoha.
Even if the daimyo of the Land of Fire personally ordered Danzo to become Hokage, the village's ninja clans would never agree.
The more extreme ones might even flee with their entire clans.
A Hokage who constantly coveted the village ninjas' kekkei genkai.
The mere thought was enough to make their blood run cold.
Especially for the Hyuga Clan, who also possessed dōjutsu.
They could wake up one morning to find the two big white light bulbs on their faces gone.
What would that feel like?
No wonder Haruma and Fugaku were both so certain Danzo would send people to investigate Akatsuki.
Even knowing there was a trap, he would send people to their deaths.
With most of their questions answered, Mikoto and Shisui felt much better.
It seemed they would still be able to sleep tonight.
But Fugaku, who had more on his mind, was having a hard time.
Some of his earlier questions remained unanswered, and now he had quite a few more.
For example, their ancestor, Madara Uchiha, who kept hopping back and forth between life and death.
And Obito Uchiha, who had once been a dead last in the clan just like that brat Haruma...
He could actually control the Nine-Tails now.
That meant another clansman had unlocked the Mangekyō's abilities.
But why had he attacked Konoha...
Could there have been more to his death back then?
Had someone from the Hokage's faction played dirty on the battlefield?
Then what was the deal with that eye of Kakashi's?
And what... was a warrior of pure love?
Growing more frustrated the more he thought, Fugaku listened to the snoring already coming from the inner room and let out a long, deep sigh.
Then, wearing a constipated expression, he left the recovery area with his wife.
Back home, the couple had just taken off their black robes when they heard a faint sound at the entrance.
The hazy dawn lifted a corner of the night's gauzy veil.
Uchiha Itachi, who had just received the Hokage's latest orders, returned home in the morning light with mixed feelings.
Click.
As soon as he entered, he saw that his parents looked as though they had been awake all night.
His mother's complicated gaze, in particular, left Itachi momentarily silent.
Yesterday, in the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage had spent half the day talking to him about the Will of Fire, as well as the village's current need for stability and its inability to withstand unrest.
After weighing the pros and cons, Itachi had accepted the Hokage's secret order to monitor the Uchiha Clan.
And the primary target of his surveillance... was his own father.
The current head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku!
Itachi had thought he could harden his heart, but seeing his mother's gaze now, he actually wavered for a moment.
"Father, Mother."
After standing dazed for a moment, Itachi quickly came to his senses and greeted them respectfully.
"Itachi..."
Mikoto called her eldest son's name in a conflicted tone.
Beside her, Fugaku gently took Mikoto's hand and gave it a slight squeeze.
Then he took over the conversation, asking in his usual tone, "Have you just returned from a mission?"
Itachi nodded and answered Fugaku, "Yes, Father. I just finished my mission. I'll be staying in the clan compound to rest for a while."
Fugaku nodded, his expression no different from usual. "Since you're done, get some proper rest at home for a while. Sasuke often talks about you."
At the mention of Sasuke, a trace of softness seemed to flicker across Itachi's cold expression.
"I understand."
Seeing the hint of fatigue on his parents' faces, Itachi guessed that neither had slept all night and said, "Father, Mother, if you haven't rested well, go get some more sleep. Once Sasuke wakes up, I can look after him."
Fugaku inclined his head slightly. "Then sorry for the trouble of looking after Sasuke this morning."
With that, he led Mikoto back to their bedroom by the hand.
Only after his parents disappeared from view did Itachi frown slightly.
Just now, he had deliberately worked his guess that neither of them had slept into the conversation.
He had expected an explanation from his father, something that would let him find out what the two of them had been doing last night.
He had not expected his father to merely nod, neither denying nor confirming it.
He had shown no intention of explaining at all.
Itachi kept feeling that there had been something strange about their meeting this morning.
His mother's attitude,
her gaze and tone all seemed faintly odd.
His father's expression and tone had not changed.
Yet, inexplicably, there had been a faint sense of distance.
Strange. Strange.
Unable to figure it out even after a long while, Itachi glanced at the steadily brightening sky, then turned and entered the kitchen to prepare his little brother's breakfast.
Back in their bedroom, Fugaku and his wife.
They, too, were discussing things in hushed voices.
"Mikoto, watch your gaze and your tone from now on. Itachi must have noticed something was off about you."
"Until that brat Haruma gives his permission, we can't tell Itachi the truth yet."
"As that brat put it, Itachi is the Third's informant at this point. Our every move is being recorded."
Haruma had only made his deal with Danzo at two in the morning.
But Fugaku and his wife, who had concealed themselves to visit Shisui, had arrived at the recovery area at midnight.
During those two spare hours, Haruma had shared some information with them, including secrets concerning Itachi and the village's higher-ups.
Seeing his wife's distressed expression, Fugaku still hardened his heart and said sternly, "You should know what matters more. Don't ruin the plan over a moment of softheartedness."
Mikoto nodded and replied quietly, "I understand. I'll be careful from now on. It was just a little too sudden today."
At that, Mikoto changed the subject and asked Fugaku, "But... based on the illusion you described to me earlier, didn't you also put up no resistance at all when Itachi took that kind of action?"
Fugaku fell silent for a moment before replying in a slightly hoarse voice, "Back when I finished watching the illusion that brat Haruma created for me."
"At first, I didn't understand why I did nothing even after Itachi killed everyone in the clan. In the end... I even took you with me to the grave."
"Itachi only had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan then, just as he does now. His strength hadn't reached Kage level either."
Holding his wife's slender hand, Fugaku explained gently, "After calming down, I thought about it for a long time before I finally understood the problem."
"If that brat Haruma hadn't intervened, or rather, if he hadn't awakened those eyes that can see the future."
"I wouldn't have stopped Inabi from expanding the Hawk Faction at this point. Nor would I have known that Itachi, whom the clan sent to infiltrate the Anbu, would be sent back to the clan as an informant, becoming a double agent."
"After a year of festering, the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village's higher-ups would probably have reached the brink of erupting."
"Although Itachi was the only one carrying out the clan massacre, there must have been large numbers of Root or Anbu ninja lying in ambush around the compound."
"And because of my presence as a Kage-level ninja, Danzo and the Third must also have been watching constantly from nearby."