Chapter 52: Can You Use Your Brain Normally? Uchiha Itachi
Uchiha Itachi never imagined that the reply he received from Uchiha Ikeizumi would be like this.
He looked up and met Uchiha Ikeizumi’s eyes.
Those rather sharp black eyes in his line of sight could actually see through the “evil” he would do in the future?
His future… would personally wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan?
Itachi couldn’t describe his current mood.
Shock?
Stunned?
Horrified?
Or all of these moods together?
So much so that when Uchiha Ikeizumi reached out and gripped his neck, Uchiha Itachi didn’t choose to dodge.
Instead, he stood motionless, feeling the faint suffocation brought by the gradual force of the other’s five fingers.
Itachi’s lips trembled slightly as he asked with difficulty, “The future your eyes see, is it something that will definitely happen?”
He didn’t know why.
But when he realized that among the people Uchiha Ikeizumi mentioned, his younger brother Sasuke was the only one missing…
A faint sense of relief actually rose in his heart.
This also proved that he actually didn’t need to ask the question; he already believed that Uchiha Ikeizumi truly had the ability to see future evil.
“Itachi, Senior has never been wrong! Even the Hokage’s eldest son, Senior has seen through his evil! This is an ability that even the Hokage can’t refute!”
But the one who answered him wasn’t Uchiha Ikeizumi, but Senior Izumi, whose voice from behind was already choking and trembling.
The girl had long since unconditionally trusted every word from Uchiha Ikeizumi.
She believed Senior Ikeizumi wouldn’t lie.
That meant…
Whether it was herself or her mother, they would both die at Uchiha Itachi’s hands someday in the future.
She couldn’t accept it.
Senior Izumi, whose vision had unconsciously blurred, hurriedly wiped the corner of her eye.
She gritted her teeth and asked the question that even Fugaku beside her most wanted to ask: “Itachi… why would you do this? I’m your friend! My mom has no hatred for you either! And everyone in the Uchiha Clan has no grudge against you, right!”
“There are so many kind people! Even Senior Ikeizumi has never captured them, which proves they are truly kind! Why do you have to kill even these kind clan members?”
“You clearly told me you love Konoha so much!”
Senior Izumi really didn’t understand. The Uchiha Itachi in her impression was a bit introverted in personality, but at least he was a kind person, right?
At least a ninja who loved the village very much, right? But why would he turn the cleaver toward Konoha’s compatriots!
Itachi didn’t answer.
He was still thinking.
“Itachi…” At this moment, Uchiha Fugaku, who had been silent for over a minute, suddenly asked with a complex expression: “If an irreconcilable conflict arises between the village and the Uchiha Clan… you would stand on the side of the Hokage, right?”
Itachi was stunned.
He suddenly realized why his “future evil” reflected the tragedy of the Uchiha Clan’s extermination.
If the situation truly reached that irreconcilable point.
Itachi knew that he wouldn’t choose the Uchiha Clan; he would choose the majority of Konoha.
To prevent Konoha from falling into a vortex of devastating internal strife, and to keep the Uchiha’s honorable name from being tarnished by rebels.
He would choose to be the one to stop it all.
He would willingly bear all the sin and infamy.
Even if it meant being forsaken by all and labeled a rogue ninja, he would unhesitatingly choose to protect Konoha.
“…I understand.”
Uchiha Itachi felt all his doubts could now be connected.
He understood why, even though he hadn’t offended the other, Uchiha Ikeizumi harbored such great malice toward him.
So…
His “future” would be like this?
Did that mean the conflict between the village and the Uchiha was truly irreconcilable?
The future was destined to lead to armed conflict?
And this “future” was just one year away?
After noticing the suffocating restraint on his neck suddenly disappear.
Uchiha Itachi stepped back half a step.
He coughed lightly a few times to ease the discomfort in his neck.
“No wonder you want to kill me…”
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath, his heart brewing an abnormal emotion even he couldn’t explain, then looked up to meet Uchiha Ikeizumi’s eyes again and said, “You think everything in my ‘future’ is wrong. You believe that by killing me in the cradle ahead of time, the ‘Uchiha extermination’ won’t happen.”
“But, Uchiha Ikeizumi, you seem not to realize that you’ve unconsciously taken the Uchiha’s stance. You haven’t even thought about what kind of disaster Konoha would face in the future if I didn’t do this.”
“Once the Uchiha Clan engages in fierce armed conflict with the village, all of Konoha will fall into terrifying chaos. At that time, the dead would number in the thousands or even tens of thousands! Konoha would be crippled by this internal strife!”
“Uchiha Ikeizumi, I understand my future actions. This is something I must do, something I have no choice but to do.”
As he spoke.
A faint smile curved Uchiha Itachi’s lips. After realizing what he would do in the future, he seemed to empathize with his future self through his body, feeling his future self’s emotions.
The smile carried a barely perceptible bitterness, and two lines of clear hot tears slid down his face under the self-induced emotion.
He could almost feel endless abuse and misunderstandings crashing toward him, yet he would silently choose death, carrying the original intent to protect Konoha and a secret he would never voice.
Right…
Maybe his future self didn’t kill Sasuke.
He might leave some contingency to nurture Sasuke, making Sasuke Konoha’s new guardian.
Letting Sasuke properly protect Konoha’s future.
“Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire continues to burn endlessly. Be it past, present, or future… I am willing to become a withered leaf burned to ashes by the flames, illuminating the village’s future.”
“Father, sorry for disappointing you. If you truly do that in the future, I will turn against you.”
“This is my unshakeable belief and resolve.”
Uchiha Itachi said earnestly to Fugaku.
Fugaku was speechless.
The way he looked at his eldest son, whom he had always been so proud of, had become extremely unfamiliar, even somewhat chilling.
Fugaku wanted to refute Itachi.
Wanted to slap Uchiha Itachi hard across the face.
Wanted to shout and question him loudly, why be so cold-blooded? Why not spare even blood relatives?
But…
Imagining the consequences of fierce armed conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha.
A trace of despair rose in Fugaku’s heart.
Since the future Itachi chose to protect Konoha, that was probably the only choice he could make, right?
—Slap!!!
A sudden loud slap rang out. Fugaku saw Itachi’s face jerk to the side, a bright red handprint visibly appearing on his naturally pale cheek.
This wasn’t Fugaku’s doing.
Nor Ikeizumi’s.
“Uchiha Itachi!!!
Senior Izumi glared at the friend in front of her, who felt increasingly unfamiliar, tears in her eyes.
Her chest heaved as she choked out loudly, “Is your belief and resolve to commit such disgusting, nauseating evil deeds? What are you getting all self-moved about in front of「 absolute justice」! Do you, of all people, deserve to mention the Will of Fire? You’re just a twelve-year-old kid—can’t you think straight? What gives you the right to decide the life and death of innocent people!”
……
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