Chapter 30: Danzo’s Schemes — Shisui and Itachi

With a face as dark as storm clouds, Danzo left the Hokage’s office and returned directly to the Root headquarters.

Once there, he summoned his trusted subordinate, Aburame Ryoma.

"...Uchiha Shisui is already one of his people. Now Hiruzen wants Uchiha Reiji as well. And judging by what he said, he probably doesn’t intend to let go of Uchiha Itachi either!"

Back on his own turf, Danzo no longer bothered restraining his anger.

Why?!

Just because Hiruzen was the Hokage, he could effortlessly recruit Uchiha talents and make them work for him!

While he, the Root of Konoha, was only allowed to play the villain whenever the Uchiha were involved?!

And now—

Hiruzen had even warned him not to do anything unnecessary!

"If you won’t let me have them, then don’t expect to get them either!"

A ruthless glint flashed through Danzo’s eyes.

"Ryoma, find a way to kill Uchiha Reiji!"

Aburame Ryoma was somewhat surprised.

"Weren’t we planning to approach him when the opportunity was right and see if we could recruit him into Root?"

"Heh!"

Danzo sneered.

"After recruiting him, there are ultimately only two possible outcomes. He either sides with the village, or he sides with the Uchiha."

"The latter can be put aside for now. But if Uchiha Reiji joins the village, he’ll end up working for Hiruzen. What benefit does that give us?"

"If Hiruzen’s strength increases further, I’ll only be even farther away from the position of Hokage!"

Aburame Ryoma immediately understood.

So, in the end, the main reason Danzo wanted Uchiha Reiji dead was to compete with the Third Hokage.

The Uchiha issue was secondary.

If Uchiha Reiji ended up siding with the Third Hokage, he would simply become another Uchiha Shisui.

What benefit would that bring Root?

"I understand."

After figuring it out, Aburame Ryoma nodded.

Danzo’s expression softened slightly as he continued:

"Of course, this isn’t entirely about competing with Hiruzen."

"With Uchiha Reiji’s talent, if we let him grow for a few more years, he’ll probably become another Uchiha Shisui."

"The Uchiha are already strong enough. We can’t allow them to continue growing unchecked."

"Eliminating Uchiha Reiji is also for the good of the village."

On the outskirts of Konoha, beside a waterfall—

Two figures flashed back and forth along the edge of a cliff, engaging in a fierce battle.

After a while, one of them finally retreated, breathing heavily.

Yet his eyes still showed no willingness to give up. He struggled to steady himself and wanted to charge forward again.

"Take a break, Itachi. You can’t be too impatient when it comes to training."

Shisui kindly tried to persuade him.

He had already said the same thing many times recently.

But Itachi remained unmoved.

Although Uchiha Itachi didn’t want to give up, he knew his body had already reached its limit.

The moment he relaxed, his body collapsed.

He sat down heavily on the ground and rubbed his eyes, feeling an intense soreness in them.

He knew this was a sign that he had overused his Sharingan.

But then—

That person appeared in his mind once again.

Scene after scene surfaced in his thoughts.

His defeat during the practical examination at the Ninja Academy.

Learning that Reiji had awakened his Sharingan during the graduation examination.

After awakening his own Sharingan, wanting to challenge Reiji, only to be told that Reiji had already reached the Two-Tomoe stage.

And then—

The recent Chunin Exams.

His greatest specialty was supposed to be genjutsu.

Yet Reiji had simply used the power of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to reflect his genjutsu back at him!

"Itachi, power exists to protect people, not to compete with them."

"Besides, Reiji isn’t just a fellow shinobi from the same village. He’s also one of our own clan members."

Seeing Itachi’s condition, Shisui helplessly tried to persuade him.

How could he not know why Itachi was pushing himself so desperately?

Someone who had been a genius since childhood naturally wouldn’t be willing to accept that he had lost to someone his own age.

"Speaking of Uchiha Reiji..."

"I haven’t interacted with him very much. What kind of person do you think he is?"

Shisui suddenly thought of something and asked.

"He’s very strong, and he trains extremely hard!"

Itachi answered instinctively.

"That’s not what I meant."

Shisui looked somewhat amused and helpless.

He then told Itachi about the task the Hokage had assigned him.

It wasn’t a classified mission, and Itachi wasn’t someone who couldn’t keep a secret, so there was no harm in telling him.

"The Hokage wants you to assess how much he accepts the Will of Fire?"

Itachi thought for a moment before remembering something.

"Regarding the incident between Kumogakure and the Hyuga clan, Uchiha Reiji was extremely dissatisfied with the Hokage’s decision."

"He even seemed to think that the Hokage’s decision went against the Will of Fire."

In Itachi’s view, the Third Hokage’s decision had unquestionably been correct.

He had successfully prevented a war and stopped countless meaningless deaths.

However—

Shisui’s opinion on the matter wasn’t completely the same as his.

"The Hyuga incident..."

Shisui scratched his head somewhat troubledly.

"Sigh. That’s really difficult to judge."

"In my opinion, sacrificing an innocent villager to obtain peace can’t exactly be called the correct choice."

"But if we allowed a war to break out directly, that would be even less acceptable to me."

"If I were sitting in the Hokage’s position, I honestly wouldn’t know what decision I would make."

"And the Third Hokage, who was actually sitting in that position, must have been in an extremely difficult position when he made his decision as well."

The two had discussed the matter before, and Itachi knew Shisui’s position.

He didn’t pursue the topic.

Instead, he asked curiously:

"Why does the Hokage want you to approach Uchiha Reiji?"

"The Hokage wants me to assess how much Reiji accepts the Will of Fire, and then see whether he can be recruited into the Anbu."

As he spoke, Shisui smiled.

"I also recommended you to the Hokage."

"The Hokage agreed to let you join the Anbu as well."

Uchiha Itachi’s expression stiffened.

He felt absolutely no joy at this supposed piece of good news.

Instead, one thought immediately surfaced in his mind.

Why did the Hokage personally want to recruit Uchiha Reiji into the Anbu, while he himself had to rely on Shisui’s recommendation?

Once again—

He had lost to Uchiha Reiji.

If you want to read 60 Chapters ahead of the public release, head over to: Patreon.com/RedString