People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

Deidara snapped out of his daze, coughed awkwardly, and said, "It's nothing. Just like you said, I'm going to continue improving my artistic skills and make everyone unable to reach my level!"

Chapter 189 An Irreconcilable Conflict

Far away in the Land of Forest, Itachi, who was on a mission with Kakashi, couldn't help but sneeze several times, feeling like he was being targeted by a big trouble.

A sneeze can easily reveal one's location, so Kakashi, who was lying in wait, frowned and asked, "Itachi, what's wrong?"

Itachi shook his head and said, "It's alright, Captain."

"Be careful to stay hidden, don't get spotted!" Kakashi warned.

This mission is to exchange confidential documents between Konoha and the Hannya sect of the Land of Forest. Might Guy will lead the team, while Itachi and Kakashi will lie in wait in the shadows to prevent any unforeseen events from occurring.

At that moment, Kai was exchanging scrolls with the leader of the Prajna sect. However, the instant the leader of the Prajna sect handed the scroll to Kai, Kai kicked the scroll out of the leader's hand.

The scroll opened automatically in mid-air and exploded.

Kai rushed up to the leader of the Prajna Clan and demanded, "The scrolls should have been exchanged!"

The entire Prajna Clan retreated to the mountainside and unilaterally declared to Kai and the others: "Konoha violated the agreement and launched an attack on us, so we must take retaliatory action!"

"How dare you! You are the ones who broke the agreement!"

The only response to Kai was the mocking laughter of the Prajna disciples.

Itachi and Kakashi appeared in front of Guy and the others. Kakashi said, "Leave the rest to us, you guys run!"

The Prajna disciples were the first to attack: "Earth Release? Rock Collapse!"

Large amounts of rocks continued to roll down the mountainside towards the group.

Kakashi quickly formed hand seals: "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

A rock face carved with four dog heads rose abruptly from the ground, blocking all the rocks.

The Prajna disciples used Rock Collapse once again, and a large number of rocks once again crashed down on them.

"Eight Gates Formation? Gate of Closure? Open!"

Guy opened the Fifth Gate directly, his skin turned red, and his body was surrounded by green chakra. He leaped up and used the falling rocks to get closer to the Hannya.

Kai easily defeated and knocked out several members of the Prajna sect using his powerful physical skills.

Itachi also drew his katana from behind him.

"Sun Breathing? First Form? Waltz!"

Itachi unleashed a fiery arc-shaped slash forward, instantly cleaving the three Hannya disciples in half at the waist.

Now only one leader of the Hannya sect remained on the field, and Kakashi used Lightning Blade to take his life.

In just a moment, the entire Hannya Clan was wiped out by Guy, Kakashi, and Itachi.

Kakashi handed the confidential scroll from the leader to Guy: "Your mission is over. Go back to the village..."

Before Kai could answer Kakashi, a scream came from behind.

It turned out that Itachi was finishing off the ninjas who had been stunned by Guy.

Kai yelled at Itachi, who was finishing off the enemy, "Hey! What are you doing?!"

Kakashi explained to Itachi, "This is the mission we accepted."

"That's still not allowed..."

Before Kai could even speak up to stop them, even Kakashi used shuriken to kill all the remaining surviving members of the Hannya sect.

After checking to make sure no one was still alive, Itachi reported to Kakashi, "No problem, Captain, the enemy has been completely wiped out."

Kai looked at his former friend in disbelief. He was so close, yet he felt like he was drifting further and further away.

As soon as Itachi returned to Konoha, he was summoned back to the clan's territory by Fugaku Uchiha.

Fugaku Uchiha informed Itachi that he would be attending the Uchiha clan gathering the next day.

However, Itachi refused. After joining the Anbu, Itachi felt more and more that the Uchiha clan was narrow-minded and that the Konoha leadership was foolish.

When Itachi first joined the Anbu, he also wanted to change the status quo of the Uchiha clan. He actively acted as a bridge between the Uchiha clan and the Konoha leadership, hoping to resolve misunderstandings and change the status quo through dialogue.

But it was all in vain.

In Itachi's view, the hatred between the Uchiha clan and the Konoha leadership had reached its peak, and a small trigger was all it took for war to break out.

After repeated disappointments, Itachi lost all hope for the Uchiha clan and the Konoha leadership.

Therefore, Itachi no longer pinned his hopes on resolving the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha, but instead hoped to use his own strength to help some innocent Uchiha clansmen who did not want to join the war escape from the vortex of this conflict.

Itachi was well aware of the content of the Uchiha clan gathering. As the resentment deepened, the voices within the clan wanting a coup grew louder. Fugaku Uchiha, who was already hesitant, was now gradually leaning towards initiating a coup.

Therefore, the content of the gathering was nothing more than the hawkish members of the Uchiha clan mobilizing the entire Uchiha clan to launch a coup against Konoha.

"Itachi, don't you know what day tomorrow is?! Haven't you figured out your own position yet?" Fugaku Uchiha demanded sternly.

"I have a mission tomorrow," Itachi reported to Fugaku Uchiha with a blank expression.

"What mission!"

"I can't say, it's a classified mission."

Fugaku Uchiha stared at Itachi with sharp eyes: "Itachi, you are also the conduit connecting the clan and the village's central authority, you should understand that!"

"I see..."

"Remember this well: you are a ninja of the Uchiha clan! And you must attend tomorrow's gathering!"

As Itachi left the room and was about to return to his own, Uchiha Shisui suddenly appeared and stopped him.

"It's been a long time, Itachi. Can we chat?"

Itachi nodded silently.

Uchiha Shisui and Itachi arrived at the mouth of a waterfall. Itachi asked, "What's the matter?"

"I want to hear your true feelings, Itachi. I used to think you were like me, but now I can't see through you anymore. You feel like a stranger to me. I still have the same question: are you a ninja of the Uchiha clan or a ninja of Konoha?"

"I am a ninja, nothing more," Itachi replied calmly.

Shisui stared at Itachi for a moment, then laughed, but there was a hint of bitterness in his smile.

"Itachi, do you remember how you answered me when I asked you this question? You replied, 'I am a ninja of the Uchiha clan, and I am also a ninja of Konoha. These two are not contradictory.'"

Now you're answering me, 'I'm a ninja, that's all.' Can I take that as meaning you're neither a Uchiha ninja nor a Konoha ninja?

Itachi remained silent.

Uchiha Shisui laughed nonchalantly and said, "Never mind, the answer is no longer important, but that's precisely why I can ask you a question."

"What's the problem?"

"Is your father, Fugaku Uchiha, really planning a coup?"

"The Uchiha clan's discontent with the village is growing daily. If the village maintains the status quo, I fear the Uchiha clan will reach their limit of patience."

Itachi didn't give a direct answer, but his meaning was self-evident.

"If the village changes, will the Uchiha clan change too...? But if the Uchiha clan doesn't change, the village won't change either..."

Itachi nodded and said, "As long as the two sides continue to distrust each other, the situation will only continue to worsen."

"I want to dispel these suspicions. If the Uchiha launch a coup, it will only bring unfortunate results to both sides. So, Itachi, can you help me?"

Uchiha Shisui extended his right hand, wanting to invite Itachi to change the future of the Uchiha clan together.

Chapter 190 Future

Instead of taking Shisui's hand in response to his sudden invitation, Itachi asked, "Why me?"

"Because you are different from the other members of the Uchiha clan, Itachi. You are not bound by the boundaries of the Uchiha clan and the village, and you have the ability to think independently. Although I don't know what you are thinking now, didn't you tell me before that you wanted to change the Uchiha clan?"

"That was then, Shisui. I also want to ask you the same question: were you a ninja of the Uchiha clan or a ninja of Konoha?"

Shisui declared resolutely, "I am a Konoha ninja!"

"If the Uchiha clan and the village go to war, would you choose to take action against your own clansmen?"

Faced with Itachi's question, Shisui hesitated, but then firmly said, "I won't let that happen! I will definitely stop it from happening!"

Itachi shook his head and said, "One person's strength is ultimately limited. Even with me, there are only two of us. It's too idealistic to think that two people can stop the imminent battle between the Uchiha and Konoha."

"No, I'm confident!"

Shisui revealed his hidden Mangekyou Sharingan.

Itachi looked at Shisui's Sharingan in surprise, not expecting that his former friend had already awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"My Mangekyou Sharingan has a unique genjutsu called 'Kotoamatsukami,' which can directly invade the other person's brain without their knowledge and permanently and thoroughly modify their will."

"The Eye of Domination... Such a powerful ability must come with extremely strong side effects," Itachi guessed.

Zhi Shui didn't hide anything and nodded, saying, "That's right. The drawback is that it can only be used by individuals, and after use, it cannot be used for more than ten years."

"So, who do you intend to use it on? The Uchiha clan, or the Konoha leadership?"

Shisui revealed his plan without reservation: "I want to observe Fugaku Uchiha's attitude at the Uchiha clan gathering tomorrow. If the coup cannot be stopped, I will use Kotoamatsukami to change his mind and thus stop the rebellion."

"You're too naive, Shisui. Even if you change my father's will, what about the other Uchiha clan members? You should know that my father was not willing to start a coup at first. It was only because the Konoha leadership was oppressing the clan members that they were forced to plan a coup."

Furthermore, even if the Uchiha clan doesn't initiate a coup, what about Konoha? What about Danzo? What about the Third Hokage? A coup isn't one-sided. Even if you change the will of one side's leader, a new leader can be elected. Sooner or later, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha will reignite.

Zhi Shui's expression was grim: "Is there really no way to resolve this situation?"

Itachi's tone was somewhat forlorn: "That's right. The conflict between the two sides is now irreconcilable. Whether it's the high-ranking officials, the ninjas, or the common people, Konoha can no longer tolerate the Uchiha clan. If the Uchiha clan wants to maintain its foothold in Konoha, then they need to regain control of the narrative and reshuffle the landscape of Konoha. A battle is now unavoidable."

Shisui advised again, "Itachi, since you see things so clearly, are you just going to let things continue like this without doing anything? At least if we try, we still have a chance."

"I've already tried my best. The entire ninja world isn't just Konoha; there's always a place that can accommodate the Uchiha."

Shisui guessed Itachi's thoughts and was utterly horrified: "Itachi! Do you intend to betray the village?!"

"No, I'm just trying to find a place for my innocent people who don't want war to live."

"Shisui, if you want to stop the coup, you need to use your Kotoamatsukami to at least change the will of my father, Fugaku Uchiha, Danzo, and the Third Hokage. Considering the ten-year side effects of your Mangekyou Sharingan, you'd need at least twenty years. But now, there's no time left, is there?"

Shisui calmed down and asked, "But will the clansmen really be willing to leave Konoha? You know, the Uchiha clan's roots are in Konoha."