Shisui was recounting the Nine-Tails incident.
Satsuki wasn't unfamiliar with this event. She'd already learned the truth about the Tailed Beasts from Naruto—how for thousands of years, humans had used and imprisoned their power, viewing them as weapons and symbols of disaster rather than as beings with emotions and will.
Until Naruto's generation.
"The Tailed Beast's seal is at its weakest when the jinchuriki gives birth... The person who pushed the Uchiha clan toward the abyss saw this opportunity precisely."
Shisui's voice was steeped in lingering bitterness. "I don't know what channel he used to learn about the Fourth Hokage's wife, Uzumaki Kushina's due date, but he chose that night to strike."
If the Nine-Tails' rampage had rely been an accident caused by a loosened seal, then the Uchiha clan would have suffered a complete and utter injustice.
However, the cruel truth was—Konoha's suspicions at the ti weren't entirely unreasonable.
"The Sharingan pattern in the Nine-Tails' eyes... confird it was being controlled by a genjutsu at that ti." Shisui's voice was heavy. "Therefore, Konoha's leadership determined the culprit was within the Uchiha. After that, the entire clan was relocated to the village outskirts, placed under strict surveillance and guard."
"Wait a minute!"
Satsuki suddenly interrupted, her face changing drastically. "You're saying... the one who controlled the Nine-Tails and killed Naruto's parents... was an Uchiha clan mber?" Her voice trembled slightly. "It wasn't slander? It wasn't soone framing the Uchiha?"
Shisui was silent for a mont before slowly nodding.
He understood Satsuki's shock and resistance. He himself had once been indignant and resentful, suspecting whether soone had deliberately used the Sharingan to fra the Uchiha. However—
Several years ago, on the day of Konoha's Crush Plan, when Shisui was supporting Konoha... he'd encountered that very culprit.
He'd struck again. This ti, he controlled the One-Tail Shukaku and attacked Konoha.
If not for Konoha's Nine-Tails jinchuriki at that ti, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
"That was definitely Mangekyo Sharingan ocular power fluctuations... I couldn't have been mistaken. That masked bastard... really was an Uchiha clan mber."
He looked at Satsuki sowhat confused—after he nodded in confirmation, her face had beco sowhat fearful, even unconsciously retreating half a step.
Just then, the silent nma stepped forward, gently patting Satsuki's shoulder.
He didn't speak, only nodded at her. This was a gesture of trust.
The tense line of Satsuki's shoulders relaxed slightly. She took a deep breath, straightened her body again, and continued waiting for Shisui's account.
"After the entire clan was relocated to the village outskirts, discontent within the Uchiha began fernting day by day."
"Most clan mbers refused to believe the one who controlled the Nine-Tails could be one of their own. They firmly believed the entire matter was a fabricated charge by Konoha's leadership to suppress the Uchiha—nothing more than an excuse to drive the clan from the center of power and reduce our resources and status."
"For the proud Uchiha, this was unbearable humiliation. So... the hawks within the clan at that ti proposed a plan."
Shisui paused for a mont, his fingers unconsciously clenching. "A plan... to use military force to launch a coup d'état and completely seize control of Konoha."
Fugaku closed his eyes, that heavy lancholy wrapping around his brow once more. Those days... the clan was in uproar, war-mongering voices spreading like wildfire.
As clan head, he'd spent each day diating between appeasent and suppression, exhausted physically and ntally, yet still able to feel that uncontrolled undercurrent growing increasingly turbulent.
"Clan Head Fugaku did everything to pacify the clan mbers while desperately waiting for a turning point... But everyone knew that given the situation then, being unable to completely suppress this plan was only a matter of ti."
"However, no one expected... a turning point actually ca."
Shisui's gaze fell on Satsuki.
"And that turning point—was you, Uchiha Satsuki."
"...?"
Satsuki froze, her face filled with disbelief. Back then she hadn't even entered the ninja academy yet. How could a child possibly beco the clan's "turning point"?
"Because at that ti, you established contact with another key figure, even beca friends. That person was—the Fourth Hokage's son, Uzumaki Naruto."
Satsuki's breathing caught slightly.
She'd never imagined... those childhood mories of eting Naruto, gradually drawing closer, would beco the clan's turning point?
"Uzumaki Naruto, as the Hokage's son and Nine-Tails vessel, was destined to beco the core of Konoha's future governnt. But precisely because he was the Nine-Tails container, Uchiha clan mbers shouldn't have had contact with him."
"But at that ti, the Third Hokage gave the Uchiha an opportunity." Shisui's gaze turned to Fugaku. "He privately approached Clan Head Fugaku, stating he wouldn't interfere with your relationship with Naruto, but had one condition—you absolutely couldn't bring Naruto into Uchiha territory, nor let him have contact with other Uchiha clan mbers."
"This was a test. If your relationship with Naruto could continue, the Uchiha clan might eventually use this bond to return to the village's center..."
"But all of this—"
Shisui's voice suddenly dropped, anger and incomprehension suppressed for years surging in his eyes.
"Was destroyed."
"The clan head's daughter having a close relationship with the Nine-Tails jinchuriki... The hawks saw an 'opportunity' in this." He almost ground his teeth saying these words. "They began spreading a new plan—"
"Use the clan head's daughter to lure Uzumaki Naruto into Uchiha territory."
"Then, use the Sharingan's power to completely control the Nine-Tails. With this... launch a coup and seize power."
Satsuki's face turned pale bit by bit.
"...Wait a minute." She interrupted softly, her voice trembling.
But Shisui didn't stop.
"The voices supporting this plan grew louder and louder... The rebellious sentint the clan head had worked so hard to suppress was once again ignited by ambition."
"At that ti, Itachi and I, as double agents, revealed this plan to Konoha's leadership... But among them, soone who harbored deep malice toward the Uchiha exploited this intelligence."
"His na was—"
"I said wait!"
Satsuki suddenly shouted, her voice sharply cutting through the stone chamber's silence.
Her face had lost all color, pupils slightly contracted, chest rising and falling with rapid breathing. Her fingers clutched tightly at the hem of her clothes, as though she needed all her strength just to stand steady.
***
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