The Curse of Power
"Our clan head, Fugaku, is even more foolish than I thought," Jin said flatly, his eyes glinting in the fading light.
"If there were no outside threats, I could understand his balancing act—playing both sides, controlling the radicals and appeasing the moderates to maintain his position. But now?"
He scoffed. "The village already treats the Uchiha like enemies. At a time like this, whether he wants to resist or surrender, he should at least choose a side and seize control of the clan. Only then would he have the power to negotiate with the Hokage."
Jin's voice grew colder.
"But what has Fugaku done? Nothing. He hides behind his indecision and his so-called leadership, letting the clan tear itself apart from within. The radicals shout about rebellion but do nothing. The moderates preach peace but make no effort to defend their people. It's all noise."
He leaned back, arms crossed.
"The Uchiha are wasting away under their own stupidity. Why should I throw my life into that pit?"
Shisui felt his heart skip a beat. Jin's words were brutal—but painfully logical.
Could it be true?
Were the radicals only using the idea of rebellion to gain influence?
He'd never looked at the clan's situation from that angle before. And now that he did, everything seemed to fit together too well.
Still, confusion clouded his eyes. "Wait... that doesn't make sense," he said. "If what you're saying is true—if the radicals are only pretending—then why do you insist the Uchiha are destined for extermination? If that's the case, the village has no reason to wipe us out."
Jin fell silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the waves. Then he spoke softly.
"Do you know what the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, said when he captured the Nine-Tails during Konoha's founding?"
Shisui blinked, caught off guard. "No. What did he say?"
Jin's lips curved into a thin smile.
"He said, 'You're too strong.'"
The wind seemed to pause around them.
Jin continued, his tone dropping to a near whisper.
"The Nine-Tails wasn't always a monster. In the early days, it didn't hate humans. It roamed the world freely—wild, but not cruel. But Hashirama saw its strength and feared what could happen if someone else used it. So he fought it, subdued it, and sealed it inside his wife, Uzumaki Mito."
He glanced at Shisui.
"Imagine that. You've harmed no one, yet someone decides you're dangerous simply because you could be. Wouldn't you hate them? Wouldn't you become the very thing they feared?"
Shisui froze.
He had never heard the story told that way before.
It wasn't that Jin's version was wrong—it was the perspective that struck him.
"But… what does that have to do with the Uchiha?" he asked slowly.
Jin's answer came without hesitation.
"It's the same principle. To the village, the Uchiha are like the Nine-Tails—too strong, too unpredictable. The Sharingan can evolve through hatred, through pain, through loss. Even the weakest Uchiha can awaken it if pushed far enough. To those in power, that's terrifying."
He paused, letting the truth settle.
"And on top of that, the clan still openly resents the Hokage. Some even whisper about taking power back. Tell me, Shisui—if you were Hokage, wouldn't you be afraid of what the Uchiha might do one day?"
Shisui opened his mouth but found no answer.
Jin's voice grew softer, almost pitying.
"The village doesn't care whether the radicals are serious or not. It only cares that the threat exists. Hashirama sealed the Nine-Tails not because it attacked him—but because it could. And one day, the same logic will destroy the Uchiha."
Shisui sat silently, the sound of the waves echoing in his ears.
He understood Hashirama's actions from a leader's perspective. The Nine-Tails was a danger—one that could be exploited by men like Madara. Keeping it sealed was the safest option.
But when he imagined the Nine-Tails' view—the betrayal, the chains, the darkness—it suddenly didn't seem so simple anymore.
Jin was right.
There was no right or wrong, only different standpoints.
For the first time, Shisui felt something he had never allowed himself to feel before: doubt.