The candlelight flickered across the scroll's surface.
Shina and Itachi sat alone in Shina's quarters, the silence between them heavier than steel.
Itachi unfolded the parchment slowly.
Shisui's handwriting, neat and deliberate, spread across the page like a final whisper.
> "If you're reading this, then I've failed to stop Danzo... or I've chosen not to fight the way they wanted me to."
> "But there's still a path forward — not through manipulation or violence, but through exposure and unbreakable unity. This is everything I've gathered."
The scroll wasn't just a farewell.
It was a blueprint.
---
Danzo's Black Ledger
Inside the scroll were copies of intercepted Root communications.
Orders signed in Danzo's seal.
Names of Uchiha targeted for surveillance — and worse.
Evidence of illegal Sharingan implants.
And worst of all: a partial list of those already dead, buried without clan notice.
Itachi clenched the edge of the scroll. His knuckles turned white.
> "He documented everything…"
Shina's eyes were blazing.
> "This is enough to bring Danzo down."
> "If the Hokage allows it."
Shina looked at him, flatly.
> "We don't ask permission."
---
A Dangerous Proposition
Later that night, Shina met with Fugaku in private.
The clan head sat in silence as Shina laid out the scroll and its evidence. He read it twice. Then, he folded it, tucked it into his robe… and finally spoke.
> "You realize what you've done?"
> "We've exposed a traitor."
> "No," Fugaku said quietly. "You've given us leverage."
Shina froze.
> "You want to use it?"
> "Not immediately. Not yet. We need this document to force Konoha's hand — to secure a future for our clan."
> "Shisui didn't die so we could play politics."
> "Shisui died because he tried to avoid war."
The silence stretched between father and son like a blade.
Finally, Fugaku turned away.
> "You have two weeks. After that… I release the scroll."
Shina's fists trembled — not in fear, but fury.
> So now even his death is a tool?
---
Itachi's Question
The next day, Itachi stood with Shina atop the training cliffs, the village spread below them like a painting.
> "Do we protect the village?" Itachi asked softly. "Or protect our clan?"
Shina didn't answer right away.
> "We protect what Shisui wanted. Balance. Freedom. Peace."
He turned to his brother.
> "And if we can't have that…"
His Sharingan spun slowly.
> "…then we burn the whole game down."
---
End Scene: A New Root
Beneath the ruins of an abandoned Root training facility, Danzo looked over a group of masked, silent children.
Each one orphaned. Each one obedient.
Each one marked with a strange new seal.
> "Shisui failed."
> "Now I build a Root without sentiment. Without mercy. Without fear."
He placed his hand on a black scroll.
Project Koto had begun.
---