Shisui asked this question with interest.
He had known Itachi for a few days now, and after a few days of working together, Itachi could barely keep up with Shisui during training.
He believed that soon, Itachi's strength would improve by leaps and bounds.
"A goal?" Itachi tilted his head with the kunai in his hand, hesitating for a moment.
"What's wrong? You don't have one?"
Shisui found it strange.
If Itachi had no purpose in getting stronger and was just training aimlessly here, that would be even stranger.
He could see that Itachi was a kid with a strong sense of purpose; there was no way he wanted to get stronger just for the sake of it.
"No, I do have a goal, but I'm not sure if I should tell others about it."
"Is it embarrassing?"
"Yeah, because if I say it out loud, I feel like people will laugh at me."
"Don't worry, as your friend, I would never laugh at you."
Shisui said seriously.
Seeing Shisui speak so sincerely, Itachi nodded, feeling he'd been too guarded.
Even though he had only known Shisui for a few days, he felt Shisui was different from other clan members; his perspective and vision were not the same as the others.
"My goal in getting stronger is to become a ninja greater than anyone, and then eliminate all conflict in this world."
Itachi stared intently at Shisui, his words soft but powerful.
Shisui listened carefully. Instead of laughing, he only said, "That's an idealistic goal, you could even call it grand... but it's not an easy road."
Shisui was different from Itachi; he was already a ninja walking down his own path.
So he knew that what Itachi spoke of was actually a dream that could never be fulfilled.
The conflicts of ninja would never disappear, just like the blood flowing in the Uchiha's veins…
At that thought, Shisui's eyes darkened. He subconsciously covered one of his eyes with his palm, feeling a fierce heat surging there.
The cursed power of his bloodline was housed there.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing. I was just reminded of some past missions. You remind me of someone."
"Someone? Also from the Uchiha?"
Itachi grew curious.
Shisui sighed to himself, but showed no emotion as he said to Itachi, "Yeah, just like us, he was from the Uchiha Clan. He was the same age as me, but more talented. Not long ago, I went on missions with him."
Itachi was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected that among their peers, someone could be even stronger than Shisui.
"But he died in action during a mission."
Seeing the sorrow and complexity on Shisui's face, Itachi tactfully chose not to ask further.
Realizing the mood was getting heavy, Shisui collected himself, smiled slightly and said, "Alright, let's not talk about unhappy things. Itachi, your dream is grand. I genuinely hope you can fulfill it."
"Thank you. I know it's a bit unrealistic, so for now, I'll set myself a more immediate goal—that is, to become Hokage of the village."
Itachi responded seriously.
"Is that so? Achieving goals in stages is a good approach. But just having power isn't enough to become Hokage."
Shisui could see Itachi's aloofness and stubbornness.
He knew that if Itachi continued to train in his own way, at best he would just become an outstanding ninja. But in Konoha, outstanding ninja weren't in short supply.
The position of Hokage would still be a far-off dream.
If Itachi went down the wrong path, it would spell disaster for both the village and the clan! Shisui thought to himself.
"Then what about you, Shisui? What's your dream?"
Itachi asked.
"I hope for peace between the village and the clan."
Shisui collected his heavy feelings and answered Itachi's question.
"Is that so? So you've noticed the issue, too?"
Itachi asked with interest.
"Too?"
Shisui glanced at Itachi in surprise.
"I can sense the clan is very dissatisfied with the village now."
Seeing Itachi answer so seriously, Shisui sighed inwardly.
Even a kid like Itachi can sense it?
This is getting more and more serious.
"Shisui, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Has someone in the Uchiha Clan really become a rogue ninja and threatened the village's peace? Like… the person who plotted against the Fourth Hokage…"
Itachi's words were rather bold, but Shisui knew Itachi's blunt character, so he didn't scold him.
"Maybe."
"Maybe? Do you mean that Uchiha Ruri?"
"You know about her?"
"I've heard father mention her in passing. Since the clan has such a dangerous person, why not let the village handle it?"
"Let the village handle it?"
Shisui's expression became odd.
"What's wrong?"
"Itachi, you probably don't know much about this person."
"Just the name, really."
"That explains it. Actually, she left Konoha many years ago and is now considered a dangerous renegade ninja by the village. The village can't even capture her now, let alone handle her."
Shisui explained.
Shisui's explanation surprised Itachi.
"Renegade ninja?"
He knew of this person and always thought she was still a ninja of Konoha. He hadn't realized she'd already betrayed the clan and the village.
"That's right."
Seeing the realization on Itachi's face, Shisui could understand.
After all, that incident wasn't anything glorious for the Uchiha Clan. The year she defected, Itachi had just been born, and all the adults in the clan avoided the topic, so there was no way Itachi could know much about it.
Even Itachi's father, Fugaku, would never uncover this wound of the Uchiha Clan in front of his own son.