One night, broken by the weight of an unbearable burden, he will repeat the fate of White Fang. Plunging into the abyss of hopeless depression, under the yoke of monstrous social pressure, he himself will take his own life. And his eyes, the invincible Mangekyo Sharingan, will remain in the village as Konoha's greatest asset.
This was Sarutobi Hiruzen's new plan.
This plan seemed to him countless times more reliable than Jiraiya's naive idea. To think of convincing Uchiha Yue to commit suicide in plain text! What childishness! Even if Yue is overcome with guilt, the thought of suicide is not born overnight. A person who was ready for such a step would have been dead long ago. Most likely, such bluntness would only have ignited a new fire of anger in him and forced him to finally incinerate Konoha to ashes.
No, convincing a person to die is an art. You need to act stealthily, guiding his thoughts, as if pouring poison into wine — slowly, in small doses, until the poison permeates his entire essence. By the time the victim realizes what is happening, it will be too late.
And will Uchiha Yue agree to become the new Hokage and step into this deadly trap? Hiruzen had no doubts. Over the years of his reign, he has learned one thing: there is no one in Konoha who will give up this title. Even the renegade Orochimaru dreamed of him until his last day. It was an unshakeable confidence born of the very Will of Fire.
And he was right about that. If Uchiha Yue had been a native of this world, he would have jumped at the chance. For Konoha's Shinobi, this temptation was too great — it was like offering a man from Yue's previous life to take the throne of the emperor.
Unfortunately for Hiruzen, Yue was not one of them. But they believed that there was. A fatal mistake, comparable to trying to pet a tiger by mistaking it for a pet poodle.
The only problem remained Tsunade and Jiraiya. Hiruzen, continuing his persuasive speech, was feverishly thinking about how to convey to them the true meaning of his plan. He was especially worried about Jiraiya. The old sannin might have missed the subtleties of the plan and scared off his prey with his rude attacks. Hiruzen was well aware of his student's hatred, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
The current Jiraiya, who had lost not only his legs, but also his very manhood, was pathetic. From a legendary hero, he turned into a shadow of himself. After learning that Jiraiya allegedly "fought Yue for three hundred rounds and lost with only one punch," Hiruzen was initially amazed by his latent power. But the truth turned out to be much more prosaic and scary. He didn't even make it to the battlefield.
Nothing, Jiraiya, Hiruzen thought to him. "When the time comes, I'll make you bow your head and apologize to Uchiha Yue." All for Konoha's sake. All for the sake of the Will of Fire. I believe you will understand."
High in the sky, inside the gigantic frame of Susanoo, Uchiha Yue looked with cold curiosity at the trio below. It all looked like a senseless pantomime: someone was bowing, someone was sobbing, someone was hysterical over a lifeless body. Cheap theater.
As for their speeches, he had long ago absorbed the sound waves themselves, turning them into pure energy. After all, no one analyzes the chemical composition of their food before eating.
But in the next moment, he allowed their voices to reach his consciousness.
And he laughed.
"The nobodies... Do they want me to commit suicide? Ha ha ha! Funny... How funny! Uchiha Itachi, it's just like you!
Loud, joyless laughter rolled over the ruins of the village.
— Itachi!
Uchiha Itachi, sprawled on Sasuke's body, heard nothing but his own despair. He howled, choking on his tears. When Sasuke died, it was his, Itachi's, fault— something inside him finally broke. It wasn't Sasuke's fault. Nothing. It was only his fault, his older brother.
For the sake of his so-called Will of Fire, he destroyed his own clan, which eventually led to the destruction of the village, the death of his brother, and brought the entire Shinobi world to the brink of destruction. He didn't protect anything.
"If I hadn't... if I hadn't..."
And at that very moment, at the bottom of his despair, Yue's voice reached him.
A mad spark of hope flashed in Itachi's extinguished eyes. He jerked his head up.
— Uchiha Yue! Brother Yue, do you hear that? The village has forgiven you! So die, I beg you, commit suicide! Sasuke died so you could come back! Our clan has no future anymore! I beg you, for the sake of the village, for the sake of the Will of Fire, for the sake of Sasuke, for the sake of our clan... Please die! I'm begging you!
Incoherent, insane words escaped his lips.
"Brother Yue, I talked to you when I was a kid! Remember? Please, die!
A desperate, agonized plea echoed off the shattered walls.
— Ha ha ha... To die? Yue's voice was as cold as ice. "Why would I?" It is you who must die, Uchiha Itachi. Pathetic hypocrite. Who asked you for forgiveness? Who cares about Konoha?
— What other great crime have I committed? I don't care about your Will of Fire. However, didn't you betray her yourself?
"You keep talking about comrades and the Will of Fire. But weren't the Uchiha clan members residents of this village? Weren't they your companions? You, the one who talked the most about protection, killed them without the slightest hesitation! You must die. You're a traitor to your own ideals.
Yue's words hit Itachi's mind like a hammer blow. His face froze. If he were alive, it would have turned deathly pale.
— Don't you care?.. No... how... how can it not be exciting? Uchiha Yue, how can you not honor the Will of Fire?!
— And then... how can you compare a family and a village? These are different things... completely different.…
Uchiha Itachi was muttering, and with every word his world was falling apart.