"Wh-What!?" Hiruzen's face was full of astonishment.
He opened his mouth, but did not know what to say.
This should not be!
Itachi at the age of 4 had already started thinking about problems with the mindset of a Hokage. He was the perfect inheritor of the Will of Fire.
If he had to make a choice between the clan and the village.
He believed Itachi would definitely choose the village.
But what did he just hear?
The Uchiha did nothing wrong, it should not be them making concessions, the one who should make concessions is the village.
For a moment, Hiruzen doubted if he had heard wrong, or suspected that the Itachi in front of him was a fake transformed by someone else.
No, no, no, this was not the main point.
What truly astonished Hiruzen was not the choice Itachi made, but that Kotoamatsukami was not used to resolve the dispute between the Uchiha and the village.
This kind of bug-like skill that could only be used once in over a decade, no matter who it was, they would not use it lightly.
To Itachi, both the village and the clan were of utmost importance in his life.
If he did not use it for the peace of the village and the clan, what did he use it for?
Even if Itachi used it on the village higher-ups, Hiruzen would not be so astonished.
But he did not.
He neither made the Uchiha step back, nor did he use it on the village higher-ups.
Hiruzen's expression completely exposed his inner thoughts. Itachi explained indifferently, "I made the clan let go of their arrogance and prejudice."
"Arrogance and prejudice?" Hiruzen looked at Itachi in confusion.
"Because of their long history, and because the Uchiha inherently possess more chakra than others, coupled with the existence of the Sharingan, the clan members have a special sense of belonging to the clan.
This sense of belonging makes many members of the clan unable to truly integrate into Konoha.
Although they also consider themselves Konoha ninjas, the sense of belonging deep within their consciousness makes them draw a clear dividing line between themselves and other villagers.
This is arrogance and prejudice against others, and it is also the main culprit causing the current situation between the clan and the village.
If they cannot be made to let go of this arrogance and prejudice, even if this matter is peacefully resolved, it will lead to an even more intense conflict next time."
After listening to Itachi's explanation, Hiruzen let out a deep breath.
He leaned back in his chair, puffing on his pipe, his cloudy eyes staring at the ceiling, flickering with complex gazes.
After a long while, he sat up straight and sighed, "...So that is how it is."
He originally thought Itachi did not know his priorities, or had other reasons.
He did not expect it was just because he saw further ahead.
This child, his vision is further than mine.
However...
The current matter has not even been resolved, what does it matter if you guarantee the future?
Hiruzen sighed and said, "You should know that for this kind of matter involving collective interests, even as Hokage, I cannot decide everything by my own will alone."
"That is why I made a two-handed preparation," Itachi said indifferently.
As if he had expected Hiruzen to say this, he had also prepared his rhetoric long ago.
"The Konoha Police Force constructed by the Uchiha controls the village's defense system, barrier nodes, and personnel deployment. And the Anbu and Root that Shisui and I stayed in also grasp a lot about the border defense deployment. If an internal strife occurs between the Uchiha and the village, this intelligence will be delivered to other countries at the first possible moment."
"Bang!"
Hiruzen slammed the table and stood up. His cloudy eyes became incredibly sharp, and an invisible aura emanated from his body, pressing down on the kneeling person in front of him like an air current.
"Itachi, do you know what doing this means?"
"War," Itachi said indifferently.
A simple word, yet the meaning contained within it made the atmosphere in the office sink.
Hiruzen stared at Itachi with a solemn face, while Itachi looked back at him fearlessly.
This guy is serious.
From Itachi's eyes, Hiruzen saw the other party's resolve.
His aura relaxing, Hiruzen sat back down in his office chair.
He leaned back, closed his eyes, and fell into deep thought.
Many questions and doubts flashed through his mind one by one.
A moment later, Hiruzen opened his eyes, sat up straight, and stared at Itachi with burning eyes, asking, "Tell me, why must you do this? You should not be such a foolish person."
For a person who placed peace above the clan and the village to threaten him with war, this was a point Hiruzen could not figure out no matter what.
If someone said nothing happened behind the scenes, he would not believe it even if he was beaten to death.
Itachi looked indifferently at Hiruzen, at the old man he had always respected. A trace of exhaustion appeared in his cloudy pupils.
Sorry.
Silently reciting a sentence in his heart, Itachi said indifferently, "Because you will absolutely not let Konoha fall into the flames of war."
Thanks to Jokichi, Itachi changed his line of thought.
Jokichi gave him Shisui's Sage Crystal, giving him the same opportunity as Shisui to peacefully resolve the conflict between the clan and the village.
But Shisui failed.
When Itachi was thinking about the plan, he was also thinking about the reasons for Shisui's failure to prevent repeating the same mistakes.
Why did Shisui fail?
Was it because he trusted someone he should not have?
No.
The real reason was that Shisui was merely a manipulated chess piece, not the chess player deciding the moves.
Itachi and Shisui, who valued the village and peace more than anything else, would stop any factor leading to the outbreak of war in order to protect the village and peace.
It was precisely because the Third Hokage and Danzo understood this about them that they trusted them so much, letting these two Uchiha act as double agents for the village and the Uchiha.
It was not that they believed their personal feelings valued the village more, but that they believed in their desire and conviction for peace.
But this thing called conviction is not exclusive to any one person.
Whether it was the Third Hokage or Danzo, they also had their own convictions.
Since the other party could use his conviction to manipulate him, why could he not use the other party's conviction to achieve his goal?
Itachi changed his mode of thinking.
The Third Hokage's conviction was to protect Konoha. In order to protect Konoha, he would use all available means.
Now, with the Sannin leaving the village, the Fourth Hokage killed in action, and a large number of elite ninjas dying in the Nine-Tails' Attack, their strength was weaker than ever before...
If enemy ninjas launched a war of aggression while the Uchiha and the village were in a civil war, Konoha would very likely perish as a result.
Using this to threaten...
If it were the Third Hokage in his prime, he might not compromise, but the current Third Hokage is already old. Even if his aged body could hold on for a few more years, he would not dare let the village take the risk.
Especially when the village is currently in a period of transition and needs to recuperate.
If a war broke out, regardless of winning or losing, it would bring immense losses to the village.
However—
"How can you guarantee that I will not settle the score later?" Hiruzen questioned sharply. "Using threats to force the village to compromise, even if I do not look for trouble with the Uchiha in the future, what about others?
I am not too sure about others, but Danzo will definitely not swallow this anger. When the village has recuperated and possesses the strength to not fear enemy invasion even during internal strife, he will absolutely seek to settle accounts with the Uchiha at the first opportunity."
"That is why I made a second preparation." Itachi looked directly at Hiruzen, his gaze suddenly becoming sharp. "Tonight, Danzo will undoubtedly die."