Chapitre 139: CH_4.39 (139)

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———

Shisui stretched his torso to relieve the tension from sitting in one place for too long and tweaked his neck and shoulder to get the kinks out with satisfying snapping clicks.

ANBU had trained him in stealth which often required staying in one place without moving for extended periods of time, but he dreaded the experience of sitting through one of Uchiha Clan's monthly meetings to discuss the progress of their primary clan objective— which at the current moment was overthrowing the current administration and establishing the new with the Uchiha at the very top.

Or, in fewer words— a Coup D'état.

Something Shisui was completely against.

They discussed their plans of establishing alliances with influential clans, investing more and more in the village's business, thus increasing their share in the economy, and buying physical assets like prime real estate, fertile and commercial land, and valuable metals like gold and silver. Recently, the clan had even sent diplomatic envoys to the Daimyo's court intending to get mining rights for precious mineral ores from reserves around the Land of Fire.

Before the formation of the Hidden Leaf village, in the Warring Era, the Uchiha Clan was the strongest shinobi clan in the Land of Fire, rivaled only by the Senju Clan. The clan had built the foundation of their wealth in that turmoil-filled era— they owned vast expanses of land, some were fertile lands which they put to farming by employing common folk, and eventually, farming towns had sprouted with the Uchiha land as the backbone of the people living in those villages, other were filled with mineral reserves which they mined, and once again mining towns were born which expanded into industrial cities— both existed to date. The Uchiha Clan was also one of the rare cases of privately-owned crude oil reserves.

All of it was gained by bloodshed and violence during the time when the law didn't exist for shinobi. Even after the formation of the Hidden Leaf and its shinobi recognizing the Fire Daimyo's position as the ruler of the Land of Fire, the Daimyo didn't dare ask for what the Uchiha had gained by sheer force.

The Daimyo, with his vast Samurai vassal forces, knew better than to be adversarial to shinobi. In truth, the Daimyo and his samurai were stronger than any single shinobi clan, but with the vassal forces split into facing multiple shinobi clans, the Daimyo could only watch as the shinobi raided and pillaged across the Land of Fire. And Daimyo's window of dominance truly closed with the inception of Hidden Leaf when all prominent shinobi clans joined hands.

Any action against Hidden Leaf shinobi would result in making enemies of the strongest force in the Land of Fire if not the entire Elemental Nations.

The Senju Clan was, once again, their only rival in terms of both owned wealth and military strength. Other shinobi clans like the Sarutobi, Shimura, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Aburame existed, and were strong in their own rights, but they couldn't match the Uchiha and the Senju— no one could, not even shinobi clans from outside the Land of Fire.

But perhaps both clans had enjoyed too much prosperity, and the scales of fate were uneven, which resulted in the need of the fixing the balance.

Soon after the creation of the Hidden Leaf, tragedy struck the Uchiha in the form of the clan leader Uchiha Madara, the man who had single-handedly caused the clan to soar to heights never seen before— the same man forsook the clan who refused to turn against the village which had bought peace and stopped the bloodshed.

Uchiha Madara battled the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and lost his life. The place they battled became known as the Valley of the End. Statues of the two men were carved in the place of their final battle, in the memory of the two greatest shinobi that ever lived.

It was one of the most beautiful places on the mortal plane.

That battle had negative effects. The village was displeased with the Uchiha Clan, and many even turned against them. The system of a hidden shinobi village had its multitude of advantages, but it also came with its caveat, after all, there was no free lunch in the world. If it were before, it would've meant war, but the Uchiha had bought into the concept of a peaceful village— they had to step back and take responsibility for their clan leader's action.

Ask any Uchiha, and they would say that was the moment the Uchiha stopped growing. Even though they had lost Uchiha Madara, they were still the strongest clan in the Hidden Leaf, excluding the Senju. Even though no one truly understood it back then, the Uchiha Clan had fallen out of favor with the rest of the village, which didn't improve after the First Hokage's death as his younger brother, Senju Tobirama took command as the Second Hokage.

There was no man the Uchiha hated more than Senju Tobirama. They respected Senju Hashirama for his strength and because the man was the reason the Hidden Leaf existed in the first place— but they hated the younger brother as Tobirama pushed the Uchiha Clan further down the hole they didn't know they were in.

In Tobirama's reign as the Second Hokage, the man isolated the Uchiha Clan. Slowly until the day he died in the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama had made sure the Uchiha were kept away from the village's central administration as much as possible.

It was during the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen's reign, did the Uchiha realize what had been done to them. As much as 80% of the clan worked in the Leaf Military Police Force— no other clan was concentrated in one organization as the Uchiha. Every other clan made sure to spread their members in as many aspects of the village as they could. Even clans like the Yamanaka Clan, who were perfect for T&I Division, had only a moderate presence there and had ensured they didn't have all their eggs in one basket.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was no better than his predecessor. While he didn't take any measures against the Uchiha, he also didn't do anything to improve their situation. The damage had been done, and the Uchiha were in their condition.

But they weren't doing as bad as their co-founding peer, the Senju Clan.

The Uchiha Clan hadn't let peace dull their blades, especially after Uchiha Madara's death; they had ensured that the clan maintained their position as the strongest clan. Proper systems were put into place to help the clan's future generations grow properly, and their clan's bloodline prospered and protected. The result of those efforts was that in the present, the Uchiha Clan was the strongest clan in the village. Their only competition in terms of military strength was the Hyuga Clan.

The same couldn't be said about the Senju Clan. They let peace rust their blades. The younger generation wasn't properly trained. As much as Senju Tobirama did for the improvement and standardization of training for the new Hidden Leaf shinobi, he had not done the same for the Senju Clan. On top of the Senju Clan enjoying the peace, they also suffered from low birth rates and high infant mortality rates. On top of that, Senju Hashirama wasn't able to pass on his legendaryWood Release to his progeny, and Senju Tobirama died before he could produce any children who could have inherited his potent Water Release affinity or his intellect.

Peace created a weak Senju generation, and those weak men floundered away the clan's wealth until the clan's name no longer existed in the Hidden Leaf. The only prominent legacy existed in the form of Senju Hashirama's granddaughter, the legendary iryo-nin, one of the Legendary Sannin, Princess Tsunade, who had long since left shinobi service, no longer lived in the village and withdrawn from shinobi circles.

The other clans, including the Uchiha, saw an opportunity and slowly ate the pie known as the Senju's wealth. Half of it, which was too important for the clans to have, and they couldn't decide how to split, went to the village itself, but what could be divided was distributed among the clans.

Two more Shinobi World Wars were fought, and the time came for the aging Third Hokage to choose his successor. He had fought in and survived three wars, and he had served the village well, but now it was time for the village to be handed to young blood. It was time for the Hidden Leaf to get its Fourth Hokage.

It was a chance for Uchiha to rise again by having an Uchiha wear the Hokage's hat. They even had a prime contender in Uchiha Fugaku, the most talented of his generation and a war hero feared and respected around the globe.

However, the competition was tough.

One of the Legendary Sannin and the Third Hokage's most talented disciples, Orochimaru. The man had done everything from participating in wars to working in ANBU to contributing to essential research, which had benefited the village better understand chakra.

Then there was Namikaze Minato, another war hero who had risen around the same time as Fugaku. He, too, was connected to the Third Hokage through the Legendary Sage Jiraya, the last of the three Sannin. Minato was Jiraya's disciple. Minato was deemed the most talented shinobi in his generation as he was able to learn the Second Hokage's Hiraishin and had somehow able to improve it, which earned him the moniker of the Yellow Flash.

The Uchiha had invested a lot in Fugaku and had pushed for him in the political circles— alas, the Third Hokage chose Namikaze Minato.

The Uchiha Clan was unsurprisingly upset that Fugaku didn't win, but they thought the outcome was the second best after Fugaku as Hokage. Unlike the other option in Orochimaru, Namikaze Minato was a young man with an open mind, who the Uchiha Clan could build a positive relationship with

Moreover, they weren't completely surprised by Namikaze Minato being chosen— the young man was engaged to the Nine Tail's jinchuriki, and it was clear that it played into the decision as the First Hokage was married to the previous jinchuriki. Keeping jinchuriki close to the village royalty was a common tradition among all the Great Shinobi Hidden Villages.

And by becoming the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato was royalty.

The Uchiha Clan pivoted to their new strategy of becoming close to the Fourth Hokage and his office, but before they could make any significant progress, the young Hokage had to sacrifice his life to protect the village from the Nine-Tail's rampage.

Of course, the blame… was put on the Uchiha Clan.

Shisui sighed as he looked at the night sky. Why did these meetings have to run so late into the night?

As the clan members exited the clan community hall, Shisui smiled and nodded and exchanged passing words with people who were as tired as him and just wanted to get home and turn in for the day.

Ever since the formation of Hidden Leaf, the Uchiha Clan had entered an era of stagnation. They hadn't weakened, but they hadn't grown. In comparison, the other clans had taken advantage of the situation and had grown. There was still a gap between the Uchiha Clan and others, but it was no longer insurmountable as it once was. They were still the wealthiest clan in the Hidden Leaf, but they had fallen behind in other aspects. Their new rival, the Hyuga Clan, had become closer to them in terms of strength and had surpassed them in terms of prestige and influence within the village.

Shisui was in support of the steps the Uchiha Clan took to prepare for the Coup D'état. They were increasing their influence, taking back power, making friends, and securing opportunities for the younger generation to follow. For example, slowly opening the Leaf Military Police Force was so that the Uchiha could decrease their presence there and spread their members throughout the village like other clans.

He simply didn't like the motivation— the end goal— behind all these steps. If the clan changed the end goal to continued peaceful existence with the village while still doing what they were doing, he was willing to sit through any number of meetings.

He sighed. From the looks of it, that future was his wishful thinking as even those initially not enthusiastic about the plan were now slowly falling in line. He was losing potential future allies.

"Why not talk to me instead of sighing?"

Shisui glanced to his side to see Itachi standing beside him. Their relationship had been on the rocks for a while in the between, but Shisui couldn't stay angry with his only ally— and he saw Itachi as his brother, he couldn't break the relationship.

He only had his parents as his family, and his health hadn't been too great. Shisui needed someone he could lean against for support. Even though he was the 'big brother,' Shisui greatly appreciated the unmoving stability Itachi provided. Almost nothing phased the young genius.

"If they keep at this pace, the clan will be ready in two to three years, four if we are being pessimistic," Shisui sighed. "That's not a lot of time."

"Really? I think that's a lot of time," said Itachi.

Shisui chuckled. He sometimes forgot that his younger brother was only thirteen, and three years was indeed a long time for someone that young.

"You'll understand when you grow up a bit more. Time passes faster the older you grow," he said. Shisui looked at Itachi, who had suddenly gone silent, and there was a peculiar expression on Itachi's face. "What is it?"

After a good while of silence, Itachi finally spoke,

"… Shimaru Danzo came to meet with me."

———

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Chapitre 140: CH_4.40 (140)

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———

"Do not believe a word from that man's mouth!"

It took Itachi everything to hold back his instinct to break Shisui's arm as the latter pulled him in a Body Flicker without warning. He set Shisui's words aside for a moment to see where Shisui had transported them and found that they were in the woods near the Uchiha Compound. Despite knowing Shisui's skill with the Body Flicker Jutsu, Itachi couldn't be amazed every time at just how good he was at the jutsu; speed, distance, control— Shisui outclassed everyone else Itachi had seen use the jutsu. He wondered how much time he would need to hone the jutsu to be able to match Shisui.

Ages, he assumed— there were people seemingly tailor-made for particular jutsu.

"Are you listening to me, Itachi!"

Itachi replied, "I am." He turned to face Shisui. "I'm well aware of Shimura Danzo's reputation. I know better than to let my guard down around him."

"That is not enough," Shisui sounded as serious as he had ever been. "That man is dangerous. It doesn't matter if you're prepared for him, give him a sliver of an opening, or enough time to make a scratch, he will somehow get what he wants. People called Orochimaru the Snake; they don't know that something more dangerous crawls in the roots of this village."

Itachi furrowed his brows, wondering what had made Shisui react so strongly from simply hearing a man's name.

"Is it about ROOT?" he asked.

Shisui nodded and was about to speak when his eyes narrowed as he looked at Itachi.

"This isn't about some petty departmental rivalry, Itachi," Shisui's voice turned grave. "Danzo's ROOT is something that shouldn't exist. The worst part is that they operate with complete autonomy. Do you know what response we get every time we ask them specifics about a mission of theirs? They give nothing as they refuse to share any details. And because "Elder Danzo," we can't force them to turn things over— WE! ANBU can't get access! I don't know why Lord Hokage allows ROOT to exist, but it does, and every day they exist, they operate under the name of the Hidden Leaf, doing who knows what for the supposed good of the village, with zero operational oversight."

Itachi had only been in the ANBU for a year and didn't know about ROOT because of all the secrecy and fog surrounding them.

"Why does he want to meet you?" Shisui asked, half to Itachi and half to himself.

Itachi shrugged. He got no additional information except an invitation from a ROOT operative and the way to contact them when Itachi was free to meet.

"Do you think Lord Hokage shared our information with him?"

Itachi shook his head. "No, he has assured me that he has kept the risky truth to himself." The Hokage had initiated talks with the Uchiha Clan and thus had to work with his office as people needed to know to start the diplomatic process. But the Hokage had kept the fact that the Uchiha Clan was planning a Coup D'état against the village. The Hokage was still the only outsider aware of that hazardous information.

But Itachi could tell that every failed conversation with the Uchiha Clan thinned his patience and willingness to work using 'non-aggressive' means. Sarutobi Hiruzen had been cooperative, but the man had been thru three Shinobi World Wars— once the "Kind Professor" stepped back, the "God of Shinobi" was bound to step out, and that man wouldn't have any kindness if the village were threatened.

Shisui clicked his tongue. "Then the clan might have been too aggressive with their moves recently. Danzo might've gotten a whiff of something suspicious."

Itachi glanced at Shisui, wondering where he put Danzo on the scale of an omniscient devil to a highly trained bloodhound.

"… Do you know that we were once able to steal some of their mission details from ROOT?" said Shisui. "The information we got was that ROOT assassinated a series of influential figures in the Daimyo's court. The ROOT treated them as threats because they spoke against the Hidden Leaf in the high political circles; those people hadn't actually done anything to harm the village, just showed their detestation for the village's policy. Danzo had them assassinated over the course of two years, making every death an accident or a scheme from the victim's potential enemy. We weren't able to prove anything… not a single death was ever connected to ROOT… or the village.

ROOT has poisoned an entire inn just to take out one man, they killed an entire caravan and staged it to look like a bandit robbery just for another person, and so much more…"

The expression on Shisui's face was a mix of pure anger and disdain. Itachi had known Shisui since before he could remember, and his current expression was rare enough for him to count on one hand.

"I won't meet him, don't worry," said Itachi. He didn't want to freak Shisui out after the last time.

"Tell me if he tries to pull something," Shisui's eyes glowed until four-side pinwheels rotated in red, "and I might pay him a visit…"

Itachi didn't know why, but he felt a weight settle in his chest. He immediately changed the subject.

"How is your father doing?"

With a blink, Shisui's eyes returned to normal. "Better than usual… well, as better as he can be. He recognized me for the entire last week." A peaceful smile surfaced on his face.

"That's good. I haven't met him in a while. I should visit," said Itachi. Shisui's father had severe health complications from his injuries from the Third Shinobi World War— he had even lost a leg. Due to that, Shisui had been pushed into the role of sole breadwinner for his family of three from a very young age. There was nothing Shisui cared about more than his parents. There was probably no one with better medical treatment in the Hidden Leaf than Shisui's father. Whatever an Uchiha with three-tomoe Sharingan, who was a jonin, and was currently serving as an ANBU, could procure, Shisui had gotten more.

"He'll be happy to see you. Bring Sasuke along if you want," Shisui smiled. "How about you? What's happening in your life?"

"Things… have been a bit rough with father; these days, all we do is get into arguments every time we talk." Itachi didn't want to discuss his relationship with his father, so he moved on. "Sasuke's doing well in the academy; he has been pestering me to show him how to use shurikenjutsu," a soft smile bloomed on his face. "And well, I believe mother has been having the most interesting time of us all. She has taken a student."

Shisui looked visibly surprised. Uchiha Mikoto was a jonin who had been out of shinobi duty since Itachi's birth, which was more than a decade ago. The only time she had done anything remotely shinobi-like was participating in the emergency during the Nine-Tail invasion. For her to take on a student wasn't only a big deal in the Uchiha Clan but also village-wide. Every year, the village had to move jonin around for academy graduates. At least half of them didn't want anything to do with green genin and had to be convinced to train the next generation of Hidden Leaf shinobi. For a jonin like Mikoto to take on a student meant there was potential for her to take more in the future. Every single jonin mattered.

"Who is it?" asked Shisui.

"A genin named Takuma, no last name," Itachi replied.

Shisui furrowed his brows. "Why do I feel like I have heard that name?"

"You have met him. Junior Officer Takuma of the Department of Organized Crime. You questioned him on how the new recruits were being treated in the Police Force."

"Ah, I remember now. He was a pleasant fellow, if a little. I remember his answers being intelligent."

"I don't know any details, but he's apparently doing quite well for himself in the Police Force. And mother says she likes him, so she's probably going to continue teaching him." Itachi had to explain to Shisui the special circumstances of his mother and her new student and how it wasn't a true jonin-genin mentorship but simply daily genjutsu lessons.

"Well, he must've done something right to get himself lessons from Lady Mikoto." Shisui hummed for a moment before continuing, "If they're willing to prop up an outsider like this so early, then the clan really might be able to attract more talented people and phase themselves out." One of the Uchiha Clan's goals was to reduce their concentration in the Police Force and spread them around more important positions in the village. They didn't need that many Uchiha to retain control of the Police Force, but they did need people elsewhere for growth.

"I just hope he doesn't crumble," Shisui finished.

"What do you mean?"

"The entire clan is in an aggressive mode right now. If our friend Takuma continues to perform well, they might try to push him as the poster boy. He'll see more opportunities, which is good for him. But there's a fear that he might be overwhelmed to the point he might break… There are many cases of shinobi being too lost in their work until they become too lost and aren't able to claw their way back out. Then comes opium, heroin, cocaine, painkillers— anything to keep them working. It's a bad cycle…."

Itachi asked, "You knew anyone like that?"

"Not anyone close, but there are some right now in ANBU who're ruining their health and personal life just to be able to work and not fall behind."

Itachi thought about if his clan could ruin a man, and they were very much capable of doing it. What was a single man against an entire clan? But then he recalled a conversation he had with Izumi— Takuma's academy batchmate— and how she had told him about her observation of Takuma since their academy days and how much he had changed. A potential conclusion they had reached was that Takuma was always pretending to be less competent than he was, so he could use it later to have a jump in ability when he desired and exude a highly positive impression on others. He knew close to nothing about Takuma; they lived in very separate worlds. But from what little he had heard from others, it seemed Takuma had continued to climb up, grabbing opportunities on the way.

"I don't think he will break," said Itachi.

"Oh? Why makes you think he won't?"

"Let's just say that Genin Takuma is capable of a lot more than he shows."

Looking at everything, it was clear that his clan was laying the groundwork to potentially use Takuma as a poster boy. Yes, it would benefit Takuma but also bring him harm. It wasn't just the things that Shisui talked about— those were speculations based on very limited knowledge, unlikely to come true. But Itachi did know one thing solidly based on reality: the Uchiha Clan weren't the only one running the Police Force. Ally clans had a significant stake in the Police Force.

And it was ugly human nature to feel jealousy and envy because of other people's success— especially those they thought didn't deserve it.

Itachi liked to think that Takuma was using his clan just as much as they were using him; someone smart in his position would definitely do so— and his impression of Takuma was of someone who understood a lot but spoke less. And he didn't mind it. What relationship didn't have aspects of selfish motivations— some had them more than others. If Takuma was able to get what he wanted while the Uchiha benefited as well— who was he to ruin good things for a single genin?

"I look forward to hearing about him the next time he comes up; I wonder how far he would've climbed," said Itachi— until then, the man named Takuma would return to the dark recesses of his mind, forgotten until bought up.

The two Uchiha eventually left for their homes.

They, however, didn't notice a figure observing them from the shadows

— a figure wearing an orange mask.

———

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