"You're… too strong!"
Hearing those words again, Shisui's face was blank with confusion.
But he wasn't stupid.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly understood.
Whether it was the Nine-Tails, the Uchiha, or Hatake Sakumo…
All three had one thing in common, the very point Uchiha Kai had made from the start—
They were too strong.
Yes.
Just like the Uchiha, how strong was Hatake Sakumo?
Captain of the Anbu, head of the Jounin corps, and chief of the Torture & Interrogation Department—
Out of the seven great power centers of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo alone held three.
And only a few months before his death, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had bestowed upon him the title of "Half-Kage of Konoha."
In other words—
Before his suicide, Hatake Sakumo was already practically a second Hokage.
And now?
After Hatake Sakumo's death, the Anbu captain was replaced by Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
The Jounin commander became Nara Shikaku.
And the chief of Torture & Interrogation turned into Morino Ibiki.
These three men… all had one thing in common.
They were all firmly part of the Hokage faction.
Morino Ibiki, born a commoner, had risen only thanks to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Nara Shikaku? The Ino-Shika-Cho trio had always been loyal to the Hokage line, no matter who wore the hat.
As for Sarutobi Shinnosuke—he was literally the Hokage's own son.
Good grief!
Shisui had never thought of it this way before. But now that Uchiha Kai had pointed it out…
When he thought it through carefully, a chill crept down his spine.
Was this really the same kindly, benevolent Hokage he remembered?
The so-called "Half-Kage" of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo, had died without explanation…
While the Hokage's faction had walked away with everything.
And then?
Hatake Kakashi had been folded neatly into the Hokage's camp.
And just like that, the entire power base of Hatake Sakumo had been swallowed whole.
"Why?"
"This still doesn't make sense…"
"Why would Hatake Sakumo commit suicide?"
Shisui's face twisted in bewilderment, unable to accept it.
His worldview was shattering, and like a drowning man clutching at straws, he seized upon the one question he could grasp, blurting it out in desperation.
After all, this version of events was nothing like the one he had believed in.
Uchiha Kai, however, only sighed in quiet admiration.
"That's exactly what I respect most about Hatake Sakumo."
"He was a true shinobi… which left him no choice but to take his own life."
"He was afraid—for Konoha."
"If he didn't choose suicide, then the only path left was open conflict with the Hokage faction."
"And if Konoha's leadership fractured… do you really think the other villages would pass up such a golden opportunity?"
"On the other hand, with his death… everything was neatly resolved."
"Konoha wouldn't fall into chaos. And Hiruzen, in order to contain the fallout, wouldn't dare lay a hand on his son, Hatake Kakashi."
"And sure enough, that's exactly what happened."
"Kakashi took Minato as his teacher and, through him, was absorbed fully into the Hokage's camp."
"That's how the Hokage faction managed to claim all of Hatake Sakumo's loyalists for their own."
"The downfall of Hatake Sakumo… was inevitable."
"The pass of the vile is their shamelessness; the epitaph of the noble is their righteousness."
"How can a man of pure honor possibly triumph over the shameless?"
"The more upright you are… the easier you are to defeat."
"The Hokage faction's so-called victory was nothing more than exploiting Hatake Sakumo's refusal to let Konoha suffer for his sake."
"That's the part of him I admire. But it's also why I will never be like him."
With that, Uchiha Kai fell silent.
He had said all that needed saying.
Any more would only throw Shisui's mind into deeper chaos.
This much was enough.
Let him wrestle with it himself—if he could truly grasp the meaning, then they would talk again.
So Kai leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and basked in the sound of the surf and the golden sunlight overhead.
Shisui, meanwhile, sat in a daze, his thoughts racing.
Cold sweat drenched his body.
He wasn't stupid. Unlike Itachi, he wasn't quite so fanatically stubborn.
It wasn't hard for him to understand Kai's words.
But the more he understood… the darker the Uchiha's future seemed to him.
What now?
He kept turning it over and over, but no answer came.
As time slipped away, his face grew paler, his eyes filling more and more with fear.
He no longer dared to place his trust so easily in Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Even though Kai's words were ultimately just speculation, with no hard proof—
Still, it shook him to his core.
And when it came to something as weighty as saving his entire clan, he couldn't afford even the smallest mistake.
Wait… Uchiha Kai!
Yes!
If this guy could think all this through, how could he not have a plan?
Seizing on that thought, Shisui immediately leaned over and shook Kai awake from his sun-soaked rest.
"Kai, wake up!"
"You must have a way! Tell me what it is!"
"I know you don't care about the clan because of the radicals, but we still share the same blood!"
"How can you stand by and let our people be wiped out?"
"…."
Uchiha Kai was speechless.
Of all things, he hadn't expected Shisui to beg him for help.
Good grief!
This wasn't what he wanted at all.
He'd never planned to say too much in one go—especially not to someone like Shisui. He wasn't Nara Kazama, after all.
With Shisui, the only way was slow, steady guidance.
So even with Shisui's desperate plea, Kai still didn't want to say much.
Of course, tossing a little more mud on Hiruzen's name? That was easy enough.
So Kai shook his head.
"Shisui, stop shaking me."
"I'm just a kid—what kind of master plan do you think I'd have?"
"The gap between the Uchiha and the Hokage faction is far too great."
"Think about it: our clan is arrogant, simple-minded, full of itself, strutting around as if 'the Uchiha are second only to heaven.'"
"Being stupid isn't the worst part—it's that they don't even realize they're stupid."
"They actually believe the 'glory of the Uchiha' means they can take on heaven, earth, and everything in between."
"But they don't see that the times have changed!"
"In the Warring States era, yes—back then clans fought separately, and raw strength was enough to crush all rivals."
"But now?"
"Ever since Konoha was founded, we've entered the era of villages."
"No matter how strong the Uchiha are, the others are already united."
"You think all we have to do is topple the Sarutobi? But the moment we make a move, we'll be facing not just the Sarutobi, but the Shimura, the Mitokado, the Koharu, the Ino-Shika-Cho, the Aburame, the Inuzuka, plus the entire commoner faction."
"Even the Hyuga—who may look cowardly as hell—at worst just lose a bit of face."
"But the Uchiha? No chance."
"To be honest, forget all of Konoha. Even the Sarutobi clan alone is more than the Uchiha can handle."
"Do you think this is still the early days of the village, when the Uchiha were founders and the Sarutobi mere newcomers?"
"Hiruzen has been Hokage for decades. Do you know how many shinobi the Sarutobi clan has now?"
"Over three thousand—closer to four."
"While the Uchiha bust our asses on missions just to scrape by, the Sarutobi control the village finances, using Konoha's treasury to fatten their clan."
"And the Uchiha? At most, what, six or seven hundred shinobi left?"
"Every war, it's our clans who bleed. How many Sarutobi do you ever see on the battlefield?"
"The Sarutobi keep swelling in number, while the Uchiha keep dwindling."
"How can we compete?"
"Talk about overthrowing the Hokage and seizing power? What a joke."
"Even if every Uchiha could fight three men at once, what then? Three or four thousand Sarutobi could drown us in spit alone."
"Now do you see why I hide my strength, Shisui?"
"Our clan is a pack of fools, split into factions by that useless chief Fugaku. They can't even manage the most basic unity."
"With a force like that, why on earth would I throw it in my lot?"
"And the Hokage faction? They're a den of old foxes. Stick with them and you'll probably thank them while they sell you out."
"I'd rather keep my head down and mind my own business. Whatever happens, happens."
"And you should think the same. Stop wasting energy on lost causes."
"In this world, nothing is truly hard—so long as you're willing to give up."
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