"Huh?"
"What the hell is Itachi doing? Even if you're surrendering, you don't do it like that. He's got the old Third Hokage completely baffled."
"Proactively exterminating your own clan? What kind of galaxy-brain move is this!"
"The Third: My CPU is fried."
"It doesn't feel like a mistake; he might have actually come up with this himself. Incredible!"
The bullet chat was completely shocked.
Although they had long guessed from later plot points that the Uchiha Clan might have been wiped out by Itachi, saying those words in this context... was truly hard to process.
In front of his computer, Kishimoto's expression was blank as he repeatedly dragged the progress bar, processing the massive amount of information.
The Masked Man is Uchiha Madara.
Madara wants to launch the so-called "Eye of the Moon" plan to achieve peace in the Ninja World and ensure the Uchiha's survival.
Itachi surrendered to Konoha and even said he would exterminate the clan himself to go undercover?
Holy shit!
How did the plot turn out like this?
He had originally intended for Itachi to just exterminate the clan directly... Kishimoto pondered for a long while, looking at the screen, rewatching the scene, and then at his half-finished manuscript, clutching his hair in frustration.
"I'm not drawing this anymore!"
Kishimoto stood up, fuming with irritation.
But after a while, he still sat back down silently and continued watching the story.
The scene shifted; Itachi had already returned home from the Hokage Office and was kneeling before Fugaku.
"Father, this is the best solution I could think of."
"Itachi..."
Fugaku opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for how to evaluate this son who made him so proud.
After a long pause, he sighed softly: "You say it's the 'best.' Best for whom?"
"For Konoha, for the Uchiha, and for Sasuke."
Itachi replied.
Fugaku let out a long sigh, his expression complicated: "I know you are smart, but you are a bit too smart... these are your clansmen, your uncles, brothers, and cousins!"
"For the sake of the bigger picture, this is a necessary sacrifice, and besides..."
Itachi lowered his head and said, "Isn't the current situation caused by them?"
Fugaku fell silent.
Those words applied to him as well.
It was his neglect in teaching Itachi's character that allowed Itachi to become like this.
He was speechless for a moment, finally sighing: "Based on the situation you described, things haven't deteriorated to that point yet."
He was silent for a while longer, then added, "You want to join him, but I'm afraid it won't be that easy, because he has a better candidate."
"I understand."
Itachi replied, "But he and his organization are too dangerous. Even Shisui... the threat always exists."
Fugaku looked at Itachi and sighed: "So, you're doing this for Shisui?"
Itachi was stunned and didn't answer immediately.
Fugaku was silent for a few seconds before saying: "Shisui has his own circumstances and ideas; you can't change anything. Gambling the lives of the clan for that... it's not worth it."
He stood up.
Itachi saw his father's shadow completely covering him; he couldn't help but look up and then lower his head again, waiting for the subsequent scolding.
But what he received was—
"I'm sorry, Itachi. It is my incompetence that led you to this point. Even if someone has to kill, it should be me."
Itachi looked up, his expression dazed.
The audience was also confused; the bullet chat was full of discussions about the question of "who actually killed them."
Could it be... the "that man" Sasuke mentioned was his own father?
But.
In the next second, everyone knew they hadn't guessed wrong.
Itachi looked up and said: "Father, it still has to be me!"
"No... Itachi, my point is that the current situation hasn't reached the point of killing the whole clan."
Fugaku was speechless.
This son of his was a bit too stubborn.
He patiently asked: "You should have spoken with Hokage-sama already, right?"
Itachi didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Fugaku said: "Hokage-sama's intention is that we can do as we did during Setsuna's time: protect one faction and eliminate the other."
"Then... let me be the one to do it."
Itachi pondered for a moment and answered persistently.
Immediately, the bullet chat couldn't take it anymore.
"You want to do it yourself that badly?"
"Wait, do you have a personal grudge against your own clan?"
"Maybe it's because if Fugaku stays, he can still lead the survivors?"
"Setsuna's time... is that the imprisonment of the radicals Shisui mentioned to Danzo?"
A few bullet chats tried to justify Itachi's actions, while others analyzed the plot.
But without exception... Itachi's 'galaxy brain' truly shocked everyone.
Masahiko felt the same way.
At this stage, the plot was clearly very different from the original massacre. Hiruzen Sarutobi's choice was also different from the original, as he didn't quite approve of the extermination plan.
But.
Even so, Itachi was still obsessed with killing his clansmen, not considering any other options at all.
He could only express his amazement.
With a plot like this, it was no wonder he only got a tiny bit of screen time in this episode, and even that was forced.
"The Uchiha are all lunatics!"
Masahiko continued watching.
Fugaku naturally didn't agree, but he didn't clearly state what specifically should be done either. Still being indecisive at this stage, he was clearly a lunatic as well.
By comparison, Shisui could only be said to have a milder 'illness' and might still be savable.
The most normal one was Sasuke, who had been screwed over the most.
He felt a bit sorry for Sasuke.
Being born into such a family, it would be hard not to become twisted; it was truly impressive that Sasuke could maintain a normal worldview.
After a brief moment of sentiment, the episode reached its conclusion.
The final segment was the scene of Shisui and the Masked Man meeting at the Valley of the End. There wasn't much dialogue; they just stood on opposite sides beneath the two stone statues.
Afterward, the two shook hands.
Above them, two crows perched on a branch, staring down at Shisui and the Masked Man.
As the episode ended, Masahiko was still reflecting, pondering the possible future developments—
This concerned his subsequent actions and choices.
A few seconds later, his gaze turned toward the floating reward text in front of him.
[Popularity Rating: A]
[Comprehensive Evaluation...]
[Reward Received: Genjutsu Random Card.]
He could still get an A rating; Masahiko figured it was mainly due to his previously accumulated popularity and the contributions from the haters.
As for the reward.
A Genjutsu Random Card... he didn't really need orthodox Genjutsu, and at this level, he probably wouldn't pull anything practical that could fit into his system.
"Let's swap it for a personalized projection."
Masahiko entered the training space.
Soon—
On the personalized projection, four choices appeared: "Senju Tobirama," "Uchiha Shisui," "Maruboshi Kosuke," and "Kurenai Yuhi."
Among the four, Senju Tobirama and Shisui were the most expensive, lasting only half an hour.
Next was Maruboshi Kosuke.
One hour.
Finally, there was Kurenai Yuhi, who could last four hours.
What Masahiko needed was to integrate Genjutsu into Taijutsu; in this regard, Kurenai Yuhi clearly wouldn't do, so he ruled her out immediately.
The first three... he pondered for a long time and decided to think about it more, spending a few days studying Shisui's notes first.
Setting it aside for now, Masahiko began to think about the clues from this episode.
The direction of the Uchiha didn't need his attention for the time being.
No matter how the Uchiha situation developed, he would step in to get a piece of the action. The key right now was Shisui's attitude.
Those two crows... Masahiko watched that scene repeatedly.
He felt that the visual language of this shot was very subtle.
Shisui kept crows.
Those two crows didn't seem ordinary. Could they have been left there intentionally by Shisui?
But, he thought about it... it was also possible they were left by Obito or Zetsu.
If it was Shisui, were the crows left to test his own abilities or to pass on information?
Or... both?
Masahiko pondered for a long time and decided to send a Shadow Clone to check—
Regardless of which it was, the situation with the crows likely had a time limit.
"I need to avoid the Naka River."
"The Valley of the End..."
"If I take the other path, I should be able to bypass the Anbu's search."
"By using a Shadow Clone, even if I'm encountered, I can just dispel it. As long as my attire is the same as Orochimaru's subordinates, the Anbu and Root won't suspect me."
Having finished his calculations, Masahiko wasn't in a hurry to leave.
He waited until the next morning.
In the morning, he went out for a run. Only in the wilderness on the outskirts of Konoha did he silently create a Shadow Clone, sending it over the mountains via another route toward the Valley of the End.