"The hardest choices require the strongest wills."
— Avengers: Infinity War (Thanos)
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The Hokage's office had never felt smaller than it did that evening.
The faint smell of burning tobacco from Hiruzen's pipe lingered in the air. Outside the windows, the paper lanterns began to glow as merchants closed their stalls. A dog barked somewhere in the distance — but inside, the room felt colder. It had been sealed tight.
Hiruzen stood with his back to the others, his hands clasped behind his back, staring out at the paper lanterns flickering across the village. He had already activated the seals around the office so that nothing spoken within these walls could be heard beyond them. Even the wind could not reach them.
Itachi kneels before the Hokage's desk, his posture precise. His face was still that of a boy, but his eyes were not.
Mikoto stood to his left, her arms folded, jaw tight, her Sharingan flickering for a heartbeat before she suppressed it.
The old Hokage finally broke the silence.
"Seals are set. " Hiruzen said quietly. "Not even ANBU outside can hear what's said here."
Mikoto's hand tightened. "Good," she said. Her tone is something between relief and warning.
Hiruzen turned around.
"Itachi… tell me everything again. From the beginning."
Itachi lifted his head a fraction. He avoided looking at his mother. His gaze stayed fixed on the desk, as if the grain of the wood could lend him courage.
"I was beneath the Naka Shrine," he began. "Reading the Uchiha Stone Tablet. The air shifted, and then he appeared out of nowhere. A man wearing a mask. His chakra was…Heavy. Not like anything I've felt before."
He told them everything, every word, every moment — until he finally said,
"He told me he needed me. That I would one day understand his purpose. And in exchange, he promised he wouldn't harm my family."
Mikoto's chair screeched against the floor as she stood up. "He promised?" she repeated, her voice trembling with rage. "You should've killed him on sight."
"I tried, Mother," Itachi said, his calm tone cracking for the first time. "I attacked him — but my blade went straight through him. Before I could even blink, he disappeared and reappeared behind me. That's when I realized what kind of threat he was… what kind of danger we're in."
Mikoto opened her mouth to speak again, but her son cut in first
"Mother."
His calm tone barely softened her fury "He didn't threaten us directly… but he knew everything. About me. About all of you. He wanted me alive — said he needed me for his plan."
Mikoto's Sharingan glowed faintly again.
"Plan? What plan?"
"He didn't say," Itachi replied quietly. "Only that if I agreed to hear him out, my siblings would remain untouched."
Her hand slammed against the Hokage's desk, rattling the ink pot beside it.
"He dared—!" she hissed, her voice trembling with rage. "If anyone — anyone — lays a finger on my children, I'll—!"
The seals around the room thrummed faintly, reacting to the sharp rise in her chakra.
Hiruzen turned slowly, pipe forgotten.
"Calm yourself, Mikoto," he said, though his tone carried the weight of an old soldier who understood her threat wasn't empty. "Rage won't help us find who this man is."
She exhaled sharply, then sat down without another word. Her shoulders stayed tense, her fingers trembling once before she steadied them.
Mikoto's eyes burned. "You think I'll let you walk into a trap because some masked stranger whispered riddles at you?"
Hiruzen shifted his gaze back to Itachi.
"Itachi," he asked, "how sure are you that this man had something to do with the Nine-Tails' attack?"
Itachi hesitated, weighing every word.
"I can't prove it," he said finally. "But he's the only Uchiha I've ever encountered outside our clan. His power… it's beyond anything I've ever seen. Stronger than Shisui. Even his Sharingan felt… heavier. If anyone could've controlled the Nine-Tails, it's him. But I'll only know for certain if I follow him."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "You believe he was there that night."
Itachi nodded slowly
Mikoto clenched her fists, her chakra rippling faintly through the air.
"If he was," she said through her teeth, "then he's the reason our clan is still blamed."
A tense silence followed — the kind that seemed to pull the air out of the room.
The Third Hokage sighed and rubbed his temple. "Every time I think peace is settling, another shadow rises…"
He turned his gaze toward Shisui.
"Shisui," he said, "you're head of Root now. What does your network know?"
Shisui folded his arms and thought for a moment.
"Nothing concrete," he replied. "Root has no record of any masked Uchiha matching that description. No missions, no sightings, no aliases." He let the breath out slowly. "If Danzo had files on someone like that, he destroyed them before he left the village."
Mikoto's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Of course he did."
Shisui continued. "The man Itachi describes — he doesn't match any of our known defectors. No missing-nin, no foreign mercenaries. It's like he doesn't exist."
Hiruzen nodded slowly. "Someone that powerful doesn't just appear out of nowhere. Either he's an imposter… or he's been careful. Either way, this is our first lead since the Nine-Tails incident. If he's the real deal and planning something, we must act."
Itachi finally stood. "I'll go and find out everything."
Mikoto took a step forward, her voice trembling but fierce. "No, Itachi. That's too dangerous."
"I've faced danger before."
"This is different," the old Hokage said. His voice was soft, but it carried finality. "You're my best operative. And you're Mikoto's son. We can't risk you chasing phantoms."
"I don't want to go," Itachi replied, calm but firm. "But he's after something. If I don't understand what it is, someone else will pay for it later — maybe us, maybe the village."
He looked at his mother. "Let me do this, Mother. If I can get close, I can learn who he really is and what he's planning."
Mikoto's anger gave way to dread. She crossed her arms tightly, nails digging into her sleeves. "No You're too young for this," she said at last. "If this man truly is Uchiha, then he's our problem. Not just yours."
"Mother," Itachi said quietly. "If I can protect Sasuke, Sayuri… if I can protect you — then this is my duty."
The words hit her harder than any shout.
Mikoto stared at him — her son, her pride. For a long moment, the room belonged only to that look. Mother, wife, clan leader — all bound into one breath that trembled between love and fear.
Her fingers dug into the edge of the desk until her knuckles turned white. She forced herself to breathe, slow and steady, though her chest felt like it was caving in.
Her eyes glistened — not from weakness, but from the unbearable truth that her son had already chosen his path.
"You will not go unprepared," she said finally,
Relief flickered in Itachi's expression.
"I'll take any condition you set."
"I will only allow it if you promise me one thing," Mikoto said quietly.
Itachi nodded. "Name it."
"Promise me," she whispered, "promise me that if you go, you don't throw yourself away. If you must run to live, run. If you must hide to survive, hide. If you have no plan to escape from whoever this man is, then you will not sacrifice yourself for the village. Do you understand?"
There was a small, jagged pause. Itachi met his mother's eyes, then lowered his head.
"I promise," he said softly. "I'll keep my safety as my first priority."
Mikoto turned her face away, trying to hide the single tear that escaped before it fell.
(Pic)
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