Meanwhile, not far away, Fugaku froze, standing there dazed.
Mikoto and Sasuke looked at him in shock.
"Fugaku?"
"Father?"
Fugaku came back to his senses and asked, "What is it?"
"You're crying." Mikoto reached out, wanting to wipe away his tears with a pained heart.
Fugaku could not believe that he was actually shedding tears. He instinctively reached up and wiped his eyes, the sensation of moisture made him realize that he was truly crying. This left him unable to keep his mind from wandering.
Hiruzen—this man had calculated so much just by letting the Uchiha clan return to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Then, during his time as Clan Head, how many of Hiruzen's traps had he fallen into?
He dared not imagine.
All this time, he had always believed that his Mangekyo's dojutsu was inferior, and that Shisui was more suitable to serve as the Uchiha clan Head. He had always thought it was the conflict between the Uchiha and the village, not his own problem. He had always assumed he was a qualified Uchiha clan head.
But now, it felt as if his soul had been frozen, and his very core was chillingly desolate. It wasn't a problem with his Mangekyo at all, it was his awareness, mindset and his perspective on the big picture.
He was completely unfit to be the Uchiha clan head!
The gap was too vast!
He had only seen the small patch of sky from the bottom of a well and assumed it was the entire world. Meanwhile, Hiruzen could see countless frogs at the bottom of wells, standing above them acting recklessly.
Only now did he finally understand where that feeling of powerlessness came from when he was serving as the Uchiha clan head. He clenched his fists, filled with resentment.
Damn it!
Damn it!
Damn it!
'Why couldn't I see through it?!' He was filled with sorrow, feeling utterly powerless.
It was he who led the Uchiha clan to that point.
It was he who caused the Uchiha clan to nearly be wiped out.
It was he who caused the clan members to be gossiped about.
It was he who caused the Uchiha reputation to be in shambles.
It was he...
'I am a sinner of the Uchiha clan!'
...
Beside Fugaku, Itachi's face was also filled with sorrow and self-reproach. He had originally been quite happy too.
Happy about Hiruzen's concession.
Happy about the clan members' acceptance.
Happy about the bright future that the Uchiha and the village could share together.
But now, after Shisui revealed the calculations behind it, he realized that this so-called capacity was actually nothing more than a weapon used by others.
Then what was this "capacity" he had always talked about?
Saying others had a narrow capacity, was he not the same?
He only saw the small patch of land in front of him, yet he could not see the conspiracies and schemes behind his back.
He felt his heart ache, as if it were being stabbed, one knife after another.
He could understand why Shisui was so self-reproachful. After all, it was they who had handed over the Uchiha clan's intelligence to Hiruzen. This was what allowed Hiruzen to control the situation.
If Hiruzen truly did not want the Uchiha clan to stage a Coup détat, then he...
Itachi did not know what Hiruzen could do, but he was certain that, like Hiromi, he had a way. It was just because of pros and cons that he was unwilling to make that choice, and thus chose the path of wiping out the Uchiha clan.
Therefore, he who was single-mindedly for the village ended up just aiding the villain. With such capacity, he spent his days looking down on his clan members, looking down on the Hyuga Clan...
"Nii-san, what's wrong?"
Sasuke did not understand why his usually serious father was like this, and even his cool older brother was the same.
Itachi shed painful tears, full of reluctance and powerlessness. He finally understood that sentence Hiromi had said—"Your ability is insufficient. You cannot see hope and cannot see options. I do not blame you."
Now that he saw clearly, he discovered that he had always been standing on the opposite side of the Uchiha, aiding the villain.
A person like him, anyone would hate.
Especially...
When he thought about how he had once made up his mind to wipe out the clan, and then looked at his parents, younger brother, best friend, the girl he cared about, and the clan members before him...
That future he had chosen, his hands stained with blood, a world where only he remained...
He was grateful for Hiromi's intervention, regretted his past arrogance, hated his own stupidity, and loathed Hiruzen's character.
—
That night, the Uchiha Clan Compound was brightly lit, standing out conspicuously in the pitch-black Konoha.
Hiruzen saw it and narrowed his eyes, smiling. "It seems the Uchiha clan is celebrating."
He could feel that everything that had slipped out of his control was about to return to his hands.
Therefore, he happily urged the organization and arrangement of the old Uchiha Clan Compound, showing his painstaking efforts for the Uchiha clan, while also hiding the impatience in his heart.
It was just...
After the old Uchiha Clan Compound was organized, not a single Uchiha moved over.
For the first three days, he found it difficult to urge them. But on the fourth day, he could not help it and wanted to find Shisui to ask. However, Shisui was very guarded against the village, so he first summoned Itachi.
Although Itachi had a bit of a neutral attitude, his starting point was for the village, so he could be considered half of his own people.
However, the invitation that had always been successful every time encountered an unexpected situation this time. Itachi declined due to being busy.
Busy?
Now that he was restricted by Root, how could he be busy?
This appearance of seemingly avoiding him and not wanting to interact with him made Hiruzen feel a bit uneasy.
Now that there was no Anbu monitoring the Uchiha clan, the ignorance of the changes in the situation made him even more uneasy.
After thinking it over, he had no choice but to call Shisui directly.