Shisui’s face darkened, looking pretty bad, and he stayed silent.
He was the one who threw that kunai.
He knew that if he died, everything would fall onto Itachi.
But he never expected that the clan would suspect Itachi had something to do with his death.
For a moment, he regretted the whole suicide plan.
He had meant to leave everything to Itachi, but not . He didn’t want his death to become a burden on Itachi’s shoulders.
Hatake Satoru didn’t push him further. The answer was already written all over Shisui’s face.
"Your plan was long-term, sure, but you were way too naïve about how things would turn out."
Hatake Satoru let out a short laugh and flicked Shisui on the forehead.
"There’ll be more stuff happening in the next few days. You better focus on healing up first."
"The smell of blood will only make people suspicious."
Shisui paused, then hesitantly touched his sleeve. His black shirt sleeve was already half-soaked with blood.
Shisui’s death felt like a full stop.
The shouts for an Uchiha coup suddenly died down.
Even though a few radicals were still stirring up trouble in the village,
it was a lot more peaceful than before, when you could see arguments breaking out just walking down the street.
Hatake Satoru kept going to class like usual, and Shisui stayed home to recover.
Both the village and the Uchiha clan seemed to settle into a strange kind of peace on the surface.
But under that quiet, there was tension and chaos brewing.
Neither side trusted the other.
Danzo didn’t believe that Shisui’s body really disappeared after jumping off the cliff. His men from Root kept secretly searching for it near the Uchiha district and the Naka River.
The Uchiha clan stopped acting so openly hostile in the village, but they started holding meetings more and more often.
Their isolation from others grew worse, too.
Every now and then, while on his way to class, Hatake Satoru could sense Kakashi going in and out of the Uchiha district.
That guy used to be busy doing missions all the time.
Even though things seemed calm, Hatake Satoru could feel the signs—the Uchiha coup was getting close.
Hatake Satoru chewed on a bamboo skewer, shaking his head and resting his chin on his hand as he stared at the almost empty dango shop.
Itachi had asked him to come out, saying the shop had a new flavor of dango and wanted to try it together.
But the "new" flavor had already been out for almost two weeks.
There was no one left in line now.
"How come you’re suddenly free today? Isn’t your clan always in meetings lately?"
The Uchiha clan had been holding internal meetings as often as an old man gets up to pee at night.
As a double agent between the village and the Uchiha, Itachi had been busier than ever.
Even though after Shisui’s death, many hardliners in the clan no longer trusted Itachi either.
But right now, he was the only one who could still bring them useful information.
In the end, they didn’t really have a choice but to rely on him.
Itachi’s eyes stayed fixed on the dango in front of him. Ever since Shisui died, it was like he’d put on a permanent, frozen mask.
He’d always been mature for his age, and now he looked more like an adult than ever.
"There’s no meeting tonight."
"I came here today to ask you for a favor."
Hatake Satoru raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Itachi with a questioning grunt.
"If something happens to our clan, I want you to take care of Sasuke."
Itachi’s voice was as calm as if he were asking Satoru to buy some dango for him.
The Uchiha wouldn’t stage a coup—he was going to stop it for good.
He and Satoru were close friends, and he had worked with Kakashi before, so there was at least some connection there.
Leaving Sasuke with the two of them made the most sense.
"Your little brother’s got a bad temper. He doesn’t even get along with me."
Satoru pulled a long face and gave Itachi a helpless look.
Itachi lowered his head in silence.
"But since it’s you asking, I guess I’ll do it anyway~"
"Hey, taking care of someone’s kid comes with a fee."
Satoru grinned like always, tilting his head and holding out a hand toward Itachi.
Itachi finally looked away from the half-eaten dango and turned to face him.
His stiff face finally relaxed a little. He reached out and gave that pale palm a light slap.
"This time, I’ll pay."
"And don’t buy this flavor again. Tastes awful."
Satoru grumbled as he walked out of the dango shop.
By the time Itachi finished paying and came out, Satoru was already long gone—no sign of him anywhere.
If Itachi was already making arrangements , the coup must be happening in the next day or two.
Satoru opened his front door, deep in thought.
Why do Uchiha always act like they can carry the whole world on their own?
They could just ask others for help, but instead they all try to live like orphans.
The date of the coup had been changed after Shisui’s death, so the one he’d known before was no longer useful.
Now he had to guess the actual date based on little signs and hints.
Shouldn’t be far off. When the time comes, he’d be ready.
Shisui, already fully healed, was hanging clothes on the rack. He didn’t have much to do these days.
Aside from training with his newly implanted Sharingan near the Hatake household, he spent his time gathering intel.
Satoru tilted his head and glanced at Shisui out on the balcony, then suddenly raised his hand with excitement.
"Whoa~? You’re looking like a housekeeper I hired, Shisui."
"Your clan’s probably going to make a move in the next couple days!"
"Get over here, we’ve got work to do!"
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