"We really couldn’t find a better place, so Itachi suggested we come here."
"And as we walked over, we did notice there were fewer people the closer we got."
Shisui picked up the conversation, pressed his palms together, and gave a friendly smile.
"It’s fine, don’t bother with all the polite stuff—just make sure you brought snacks."
Hatake Satoru squinted his eyes and held out his palm to the two of them.
Shisui and Itachi exchanged a look, then shook their heads with a bit of a sigh.
Shisui of the Body Flicker and the genius Uchiha Itachi—two Uchiha prodigies—ended up looking like two kids paying tribute as they handed over two bags of sweets to Hatake Satoru.
"Ooh, two flavors too."
Hatake Satoru eagerly opened the bags.
It was always in moments that he gave off a strange feeling—like something didn’t quite fit.
Not that Hatake Satoru cared how these two saw him. He just chewed on the sweets while quietly watching Shisui.
The Anbu and Uchiha clashing wasn’t too surprising.
But why were people from Root involved too? Isn’t this usually Anbu’s thing?
If Root was getting involved, that meant Danzo had stepped into the mess too. And if that shady guy was sticking his nose in, then the Uchiha were in real trouble.
It’d be like a bunch of angry rabbits being caught and cooked into spicy rabbit heads.
Shisui wouldn’t have already let it slip that he had Kotoamatsukami... right?
While Hatake Satoru was busy munching on his snack, Itachi’s expression—already not the friendliest—grew even darker.
"I’ve been trying everything I can to stop the planned coup," Itachi said.
"But it hasn’t really worked. All I’ve done is delay things for a few days."
Hatake Satoru leaned on his hand, thinking out loud.
"Well, this is a full-scale coup from your whole clan. Buying even a few days is pretty impressive."
Shisui patted Itachi’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, this kind of thing doesn’t just go away because someone says so."
"I couldn’t convince many people either. Good ones or bad ones—they’re all still Uchiha, and in times , they’re surprisingly united."
Even though he was talking about bad news, Shisui seemed calm.
Hatake Satoru started to feel more sure about what he had suspected earlier.
If he was right, Shisui had probably already told the higher-ups about his Mangekyou Sharingan.
He planned to use Kotoamatsukami on the entire clan.
That’s why Root had sent in so many people to keep watch—if Shisui showed even the slightest sign of using his power, they’d step in immediately.
"Well, you’re already buying time anyway. But hey, there are still two strong people in the Uchiha—me and you."
"If we keep trying, there must be a way."
No matter how you look at it, it sounded more like Itachi was being comforted.
"Hey—you two are really strong, right?"
"Why not just use force to take control?"
Hatake Satoru raised a hand, his eye behind the blindfold looking straight at the two of them.
Itachi and Shisui were a bit confused at first, staring blankly at Hatake Satoru.
His eye hidden under the blindfold, cheeks puffed from sweets, he looked oddly serious—so much so that they couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.
"There’s no way we could do that. Not just the Uchiha clan—Anbu and Root both know us well."
Shisui muttered, still not understanding what was going on.
He was already prepared to sacrifice himself and put the whole clan under genjutsu.
But now it sounded like Hatake Satoru had an even stranger plan.
He pressed his lips together, the corners curling up like a mischievous white-haired cat.
He waved the two over, and both dark-haired heads leaned in.
Hatake Satoru whispered a few words, and Shisui and Itachi widened their eyes in shock.
"Well... I guess that could work, but can you really—"
Before Itachi could finish, a small dark head suddenly popped up outside the window.
A pair of black eyes curiously peeked at them.
"What are you guys talking about! Nii-san! Shisui-nii!"
"Why do you always whisper the moment I show up!"
Itachi forced himself to swallow his words and looked at Sasuke, caught off guard.
Hatake Satoru turned his head lazily, resting his cheek on his hand, and waved at Sasuke.
"Because we didn’t want you to hear it, that’s why it’s a secret."
"Your brother already promised me not to tell you."
Sasuke pouted and looked annoyed. He stepped on the window, about to climb inside.
Hatake Satoru pointed at the tatami mat under his feet.
"Nope. No shoes inside. If you do, your brother has to stay over and clean up the mess."
Sasuke looked at the three of them, grumbled, and ran off the windowsill, heading for the front door.
Now that Sasuke was here, Itachi naturally stopped discussing the matter. He sighed and walked to the entrance to put on his shoes.
"As long as you two are okay with it, just trust me."
Hatake Satoru opened the door and gave Itachi an "OK" hand sign.
Itachi hesitated, then nodded, coaxing Sasuke as they walked home.
Shisui watched them go with a gentle smile, full of envy.
"I don’t want them to fall apart because of the clan. And I really don’t want to drag someone like you, an outsider, into this either."
"Even though I don’t really get what your plan is."
"If possible, I want to take this burden on myself."
Hatake Satoru tilted his head with a grin, shrugged, and opened his hands.
"We’ll see when the time comes."
After sending Shisui and Itachi off, Hatake Satoru picked up the two porcelain cups on the wooden table.
But as soon as he touched one, a small piece chipped off the rim.
"Guess luck’s not really on my side..."
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