Chapter 13 - Itachi and Shisui's Wavering!
"You're too extreme!"
Itachi said, slightly agitated. He couldn't find a reason to refute Bai Ye.
But he couldn't convince himself of his inner thoughts, because this was something he had been contemplating and adhering to for years.
If he agreed with Bai Ye on this matter,
then, could it be said that this matter represented the complete collapse of his years of persistence?
"Itachi, aren't you extreme? Is the Uchiha Clan really at fault in this matter? Can you specifically explain what the Uchiha Clan did wrong? If Konoha is unwilling to trust the Uchiha, then the Uchiha can choose to leave for other Ninja Villages, and other Ninja Villages would welcome the Uchiha's arrival. But would Konoha let the Uchiha Clan leave? Ultimately, all your ideas are just Konoha's own ideas."
"Speaking of which, Hiruzen Sarutobi told you about Konoha's difficulties, and Danzo threatened you all, saying that if our Uchiha Clan made a move, we would be exterminated, right? Itachi, you are truly naive. Do you think that if you don't rebel, you won't be acted against?
To put it plainly, as long as the Senju lineage remains in power, we will not be trusted. This is a problem that has persisted since the Sengoku era. If the First Hokage hadn't died so early, or if the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze hadn't died, then this matter would have been resolved. Even if Senju Tobirama had been in power a bit longer, it wouldn't have become this situation. But it just so happens that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo are in power.
During their time in power, Bai Ye was slandered and committed suicide, the Sannin left, the direct descendant Senju Nawaki was blown up in front of Orochimaru, his internal organs hollowed out. During the Nine-Tails' Chaos, they ordered our Uchiha Clan not to fight, but afterwards they settled accounts with us. They promised the Fourth Hokage to take care of Naruto, but Naruto could only eat expired food. They handed over Hizashi to the Kumogakure in exchange for peace. Tell me, which of these things is something a Hokage should do?"
Bai Ye now felt a surge of anger in his heart.
When he first transmigrated to this world, Bai Ye always thought of himself as an observer.
But the longer he stayed in the Uchiha Clan, the heavier that suffocating feeling became.
Many things shouldn't have been like this!
It seems that as long as it threatened their rule, as long as it was an unstable factor, it had to be suppressed.
"Itachi, Konoha was founded by us. We no longer need to integrate. You are too fixated."
Looking at Itachi, who was drenched in cold sweat and whose pupils were dilated, Bai Ye couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
The so-called katon: the will of fire, how is it different from brainwashing?
Or rather, it seems the katon: the will of fire had already degenerated by the time of the Third Hokage, hadn't it?
Actually, Madara was right about one thing: putting the cart before the horse. When Hashirama chose to fight his former brother for the Village, it had already gone awry. Konoha was no longer the Konoha that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had envisioned when it was first founded.
Why was the Uchiha Clan targeted?
Ultimately, it was the Second Hokage's policies and distrust, and those who continued this policy, like Hiruzen Sarutobi, would naturally continue to target them, unless the Uchiha Clan was completely dismantled.
"You're right, but if there's really a rebellion, the Uchiha Clan won't succeed, and Konoha will also be affected by the war, ultimately leading to the Fourth Great Ninja War!"
Shisui's heart wavered slightly, but he also struggled. Bai Ye was right; sometimes he also felt that Konoha's targeting of the Uchiha was somewhat inexplicable.
But he didn't want to see war break out, nor did he want to see internal strife between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha, which is why he had always been mediating between the two sides.
After Shisui finished speaking, Itachi's face also flashed with a hint of emotion, looking at Shisui with some shock.
He clearly hadn't expected Shisui to agree with Bai Ye's idea.
But he truly couldn't find any reason to refute it.
"You're wrong. Our Uchiha Clan wants to resist, but not against the entire Konoha, but against the Elder Council led by Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Bai Ye shook his head. He wasn't so arrogant as to be an enemy of the entire Konoha.
Although it was possible, if nothing went wrong, his eyes would probably go blind.
So he never thought of a military rebellion.
Ultimately, sometimes there's no need to resort to force. How did Bai Ye die? How did the Sannin leave?
Wasn't it just rumors in the Village?
If he could utilize that, he wouldn't need to use force at all.
It's true that Hiruzen Sarutobi and others did things too dirtily.
In any case, using force was only the last resort, and before that, he would first resort to diplomacy.
Not only to kill, but also to strike at the heart!
"Speaking of which, Shisui, you came on behalf of the Third Hokage to test my attitude, didn't you? You can tell him directly that I am not a compromiser. In the future, however Konoha treats us, I will treat Konoha the same way. That's fair, isn't it?"
"Is there really no room for maneuver?"
"Shisui, you know I don't want this either. The reason I told you so much is that I hope you can consider the family more. No one in the family wants to rebel. If it weren't for being forced, think about how many people in the clan were disappointed in you when you did this. Konoha belongs to everyone, not just the Third Hokage and his group. Whatever you do, you should first consider your family. You want to be loyal, but family ties come first. Go back and think about it carefully. The clan meeting is about to begin, I'm leaving first."
Bai Ye said, getting up and patting Shisui's shoulder.
The filial son currently has little use for Bai Ye. Without the Mangekyo, he is no longer his opponent.
Shisui's Mangekyo is a great threat to him, so Bai Ye needs to win over Shisui. And once Shisui is won over by him, then the filial son's position actually becomes unimportant.
The filial son, at present, actually doesn't have as much initiative as he does later. On one hand, it's because of Shisui's presence; he often follows Shisui in many things.
On the other hand, he's not under much pressure right now. In the original story, after Shisui died, all the pressure fell on Itachi.
At that time, Itachi, on one hand, had to face Danzo's pressure, knowing that Danzo had taken Shisui's eye, yet being unable to do anything.
Furthermore, various people in the clan accused him of killing Shisui, and Obito approached him. Under all these circumstances, as the rebellious sentiment within the clan grew stronger and stronger, and when he saw no hope, he chose to exterminate the clan.
What made Bai Ye somewhat disdainful was that if he was going to exterminate the clan, he should have done it thoroughly and not left a younger brother behind.
Shaking his head, Bai Ye left first, leaving Shisui and Itachi looking at each other, speechless for a moment.
"Should we tell Lord Third Hokage?"
For a moment, Shisui suddenly felt that he didn't know what to say either.
"Tell him, but don't mention what was said before. Just the latter part. Judging by Bai Ye's demeanor, he's probably going to act soon. Whether we tell him or not, Lord Third Hokage will know."
Itachi was silent for a while, but finally decided to say something.
Judging by Bai Ye's demeanor just now, he was probably going to act soon, so even if they didn't say anything at this point, wouldn't Hiruzen Sarutobi still find out later?
As for the previous words, Itachi also decided not to tell Hiruzen Sarutobi for now; he had some hesitation in his heart.