Uchiha District.
Caw—caw—
A flock of crows descended from the night sky and settled into a modest little courtyard deep within the clan grounds.
The place was simple and quiet.
"Is that you, Itachi?"
Hearing the noise outside, Shisui—his eyes wrapped in bandages—slowly pushed the door open from inside.
Creeeak.
The sound of his wheelchair scraping against the wooden floor was especially clear in the silence.
When Itachi saw him like this, his usually calm, unreadable eyes couldn't help but tremble—just slightly.
So faint that no one could see it in the darkness.
But Shisui wasn't just looking.
"Your heart is unsettled," he said after a brief pause, gesturing toward the seat beside him. "Sit. Have some water."
Watching his movements, Itachi frowned faintly.
"Shisui… you seem a little… different."
The Shisui before him was nothing like the sunny, cheerful young man from before.
He was like a pool of dead water—no ripples, no warmth, no change.
"Different?" Shisui tugged at the corner of his mouth, trying to summon the familiar smile, but failing. "I'm already a dead man."
The darkness before his eyes seemed to be slowly swallowing what little light remained in his heart.
The two fell into silence.
After a moment, Itachi finally spoke.
"Shisui… I… I'll be going to rest."
Splash.
When he pushed the door open, the moonlight outside had already vanished, leaving behind only heavy, ink-black darkness.
It quietly swallowed the entire Uchiha district.
Only the dim yellow lamplight remained inside the room.
Just as Itachi lifted his foot to step into the darkness, Shisui suddenly spoke behind him:
"Itachi… have you made your choice yet?"
Tap.
The raised foot froze on the threshold.
His back stiffened at the doorway, unmoving.
Only when the lamplight behind him finally went out—leaving everything pitch-black—did he chuckle softly and reply:
"Shisui, it's late. You should rest early."
His foot came down.
His figure was swallowed by the night.
Gone.
Drip.
Drip.
Outside the window, the faint sound of night dew falling could still be heard.
"That kid… leaving without even closing the door."
After a long while, Shisui finally moved his wheelchair forward to shut it himself.
Whoosh.
Bang!
Just as the wooden door was about to close, a small hand suddenly slipped in and stopped it.
"Hm? Itachi, you—huh?"
Shisui froze, instinctively starting to speak, but halfway through he realized something was wrong.
"…You're Ren?"
"Yo, Shisui-bro. Pretty free tonight, huh?"
Shisui: ...
Uchiha Ren's mouth really was something else.
The dead stillness in Shisui's heart stirred slightly.
He gave a bitter smile.
"In the middle of the night, not sleeping, you…"
"What do you mean 'you this, you that'? If Itachi can come in, why can't I?"
Ren ignored him completely, pushed the door open, and squeezed inside.
His small figure wandered around the dim room lazily, like a landlord inspecting his own territory.
Finally, Shisui couldn't hold back anymore and asked the question weighing on his heart:
"Why did you save me?"
"I didn't save you," Ren replied unexpectedly. "I saved the Uchiha."
That answer made Shisui think of many things—
The clan.
The village.
Itachi's wavering position.
His whole body stiffened. Even the hand he'd lifted didn't know where to go, eventually gripping the armrest of the wheelchair tightly.
Ren looked at Shisui—who barely reached his chest in seated height—and smiled, tapping his head lightly.
"Shisui, your heart is unsettled."
Shisui: ...
That line felt strangely familiar.
Only now, the roles were reversed.
He raised his head and faced forward.
Though he couldn't see, a youthful face quietly took shape in his mind.
Just a child.
And honestly—his behavior didn't even seem particularly clever.
Yet every time Shisui spoke with Ren, he felt as if he were being completely seen through.
Like he was standing naked before him.
As if a giant stood above fate itself, looking down at him.
More than once, Shisui had wondered whether Ren's eyes could truly see destiny.
He'd never had proof.
After hesitating, he finally asked:
"Why save me? I've lost both my eyes. My dōjutsu is gone. My legs are broken. My body is crippled."
"…I'm already useless."
Ren answered casually, "A cripple is great. Easier to farm traits that way."
Shisui didn't understand a word of that.
He waved it off, assuming Ren was just talking nonsense again.
"So… what do you need me to do?"
"Oh? You sensed that already?"
Ren looked mildly surprised. After surviving death, it seemed Shisui's mindset really had changed.
Ren didn't waste time.
"I need you to be a fighter. The Uchiha clan's fighter."
"Oh, and a reminder—you're alive because I saved you."
"So strictly speaking… you, Uchiha Shisui, belong to me now."
As he said this, the playful laziness on Ren's face vanished completely, replaced by seriousness.
He stared at Shisui, and in his right palm, delicate golden chakra chains emerged.
Three chains twisted together, intertwined around a single eyeball at their center.
Kotoamatsukami.
The reason Ren hadn't brought this up until today was because he'd been figuring out exactly how to use it.
Now, he finally understood it completely.
If Shisui dared to say even a single word of refusal—
Ren would activate it immediately.
Shisui's Kotoamatsukami was extremely useful to him.
At worst, he'd treat the coming massacre like collecting SSR cards.
As for Danzo's version?
Not even dogs would want that garbage.
"So… Ren has already decided to stand completely against the village?"
Hearing this, Shisui fell silent again.
He vaguely sensed where this was heading—he could almost see a future where brothers turned against each other.
It filled him with helplessness.
And deepened the torment in his heart.
Escape.
Maybe death really was the only way out.
Sensing Shisui's emotional shift, Ren stepped closer and leaned down to whisper by his ear:
"Of course, Shisui-bro, if you really want to die, that's even simpler. Ever heard of the Second Hokage's forbidden technique… Edo Tensei?"
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