Night settled over Konoha. With Naruto's matter wrapped for now, Shinju's gaze returned to the village's largest powder keg:
The Uchiha.
Only one lamp burned in the Namikaze study. Shinju sat quietly behind his desk.
A shadow peeled free of the darker shadow in the corner and dropped to one knee—white animal mask, silver hair catching the dim light.
Kakashi.
Now one of the chief executors of the intelligence-and-assassination network Shinju had built with his own hands: [Shenting] (Divine Court).
"Lord Shinju," Kakashi said—none of his usual drawl, only crisp respect.
"Report," Shinju answered, eyes never leaving the old scroll in his hands.
"Yes." Kakashi produced three scrolls from his vest and presented them with both hands. "A week's summary on the Uchiha."
"First: the hawks."
"Led by Yashiro, they held three clandestine gatherings this week in the underground chamber beneath Naka Shrine. Central topics: ways to pressure Clan Head Fugaku—and the feasibility of an armed uprising."
"Their mood grows more agitated. They believe the Namikaze family's rise has completely blocked a 'proper' path to power."
Shinju turned a page without comment.
"Second: Clan Head Fugaku."
"Five days ago he convened a full clan assembly, attempted to calm tempers, and conveyed the Namikaze family's goodwill. Hawks interrupted; the meeting broke apart. Our source embedded in the Uchiha reports Fugaku looked drained afterward and has been speaking privately with Mikoto more often."
"Third: Itachi."
"The Third Hokage has tripled his mission load under the pretext of 'tempering.' He's rarely in the compound now; ties to the clan are being cut by design. In private, he still tracks the clan's situation through his own channels—he's in pain."
Kakashi finished and knelt in silence for orders.
The room fell into a long hush. Only the dry whisper of paper as Shinju turned another sheet.
At length, he closed the book and looked up. "Maintain surveillance. No alarms."
"Focus on the hawks' core—follow the money and their armories. Any anomaly, tell me at once."
"Yes!" Kakashi bowed.
"And," Shinju tapped the desk with one finger, "send me the ideological read on the Uchiha's new generation."
Kakashi hesitated a heartbeat—he hadn't expected Lord Shinju to ask for that "small" thread—but he didn't question. He produced a fourth scroll.
Shinju took it and unrolled it slowly.
The report listed every Uchiha age twelve to eighteen—their recent movements and remarks.
Most read like their fathers: grievance toward the village, blind hymns to clan glory.
Shinju's gaze slid down names—then stopped.
Uchiha Izumi.
A special mark beside her name: "Ideology unclear. Priority observation."
Shinju's interest sharpened.
He read her dossier in full.
Target: Uchiha Izumi
Rank: Chunin
Observation 1: Refused three invitations this week from Yashiro's son to attend a "Clan Glory Study Circle." Told a peer she's tired of meetings where "glory" is the only word anyone says.
Observation 2: Trains alone with shuriken each afternoon at Third Park outside the compound. Unfocused; often distracted—as if burdened.
Observation 3: Visited the village library four times. Ignored ninjutsu/genjutsu scrolls. Borrowed histories of Konoha's founding, Senju Hashirama's life, and accounts of Madara Uchiha's defection. Appears to be searching for an answer in history.
Observation 4: Close to Itachi. Spoke briefly with him at sunset by the Naka River four days ago. Lip-read transcript:
Izumi: "Itachi… do we and the village really have to be like this?"
Itachi: (silence)
Izumi: "I've read so much… The First and Lord Madara used to be friends… Why did it become that? Did we… choose wrong from the start?"
Itachi: "...Don't think too hard, Izumi. Some things are beyond us."
Izumi: "But… I don't want the clan and the village to keep going like this. I'm scared…"
The ink ended there.
Shinju set the scroll down. A different light flickered in his eyes.
Uchiha Izumi.
He remembered.
In the "original," a gentle, kind girl—one of Itachi's few true friends. A victim on the night the clan fell—killed by "Itachi Uchiha."
But this report painted her as more than he'd expected.
In a clan trapped in black-and-white frenzy, she was still using her own mind.
Neither washed by clan hate nor blindly swallowing the village's line. Confused, lost, hurting—yet searching. Trying to find the root of the tragedy.
That kind of independent thought, in today's Uchiha, was rarer than any Mangekyo.
Shinju had assumed the first lever to solve "the Uchiha problem" would be Itachi.
Now, perhaps the gentler, cleaner entry point… was "Izumi."
Itachi's heart had been twisted too tightly by clan and village; bringing him back would need a shock.
Izumi was a blank page—full of longing for peace and powerless before the present.
Such people take to new ideas most easily—and can become the butterfly whose wings change old storms.
"Kakashi," Shinju said.
"Here," Kakashi answered.
"Starting tomorrow, elevate Uchiha Izumi to A-rank priority watch."
His tone brooked no debate.
"I want her day, end to end. Where she goes, whom she meets, what she says, what she reads."
He paused, then added:
"And… every knot in her heart."
Kakashi still didn't know why Lord Shinju would focus on a seemingly ordinary Uchiha chunin girl.
He didn't ask.
He bowed low. "Yes, Lord Shinju."
He melted back into the dark and was gone.
The study was quiet again.
Shinju traced on the desk with one fingertip:
One circle: Uchiha.
Another: Konoha.
And between them, where the edges touched, a place to set one most crucial piece—Uchiha Izumi.
"The root of the Uchiha tragedy is a gap," he murmured. "Asymmetric information, different perches—breeding suspicion and hate."
"To break it, we need a bridge."
"Uchiha Izumi…"
"You'll be that bridge."
The web laid for the Uchiha had long since been strung.
Now the weaver had found the single pull-string that would cinch it tight.
(End of Chapter)
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