After parting ways with Shisui, Uchiha Itachi did not go home but wandered the streets alone.
He followed the Naka River, circling the entire Uchiha Clan Compound, measuring the clan that had raised him step by step, watching the bright lights under the night sky gradually dim.
It was as if he was scrutinizing this final resting place.
Just as Shisui had said.
He was a member of the Uchiha Clan, but even more so, he was a Ninja of Konoha.
If he were to choose in the past, he would probably abandon his clan identity without hesitation and choose to give up everything for Konoha, right?
However, after seeing and scrutinizing more, Uchiha Itachi suddenly began to waver.
So many people chose to dedicate everything to Konoha, but had Konoha truly become better?
Or had this dedication simply been taken for granted?
This contradiction clashed violently within him.
The long night, under this contemplation, passed like a fleeting moment.
Soon, dawn broke.
After another sleepless night, Uchiha Itachi still performed his Hokage guard duties as usual, still truthfully reported the clan meeting's contents to Third Hokage, and still quietly observed various official duties in the Hokage's Office.
Only now, his state of mind had become completely different.
When the day's tasks were over and he was about to leave work, Uchiha Itachi walked out of the office door, turned to look at Kakashi Hatake beside him, and hesitated for a moment:
"Kakashi-senpai."
"May I ask, are you free tonight?"
Kakashi Hatake looked at him in confusion, but remembering his duel with Might Guy tonight, he squinted at him:
"Is it urgent?"
His meaning was clear.
If you just insist a little, I'll immediately cancel my appointment with Might Guy!
"No."
"It's nothing major."
Unfortunately, Uchiha Itachi had few friends.
Therefore, his sensitive and fragile social thinking, after he proactively probed, would immediately reflexively retreat the moment it touched upon the possibility of rejection.
Moreover, it really wasn't anything major.
He just wanted to find someone to talk to.
"You, ah..."
Looking at his hesitant appearance, Kakashi Hatake sighed with a hint of helplessness.
But he said nothing.
He had been through it before.
Some hurdles could only be overcome by oneself.
Clearly.
In some respects, Kakashi and Itachi were indeed similar types of people.
So, with Uchiha Itachi in a respectful posture, he strode towards the Konoha training ground.
He was about to face a tough fight, and he needed a good warm-up.
Uchiha Itachi continued to patrol the Hokage's Office Building.
Unknowingly, he walked to the entrance of the Third Laboratory, where he had once been with Kakashi-senpai.
Through the window by the door, he saw Sōusuke-senpai.
Sōusuke-senpai, wearing a white lab coat, was a completely different person from when he was at the banquet, serious and focused, writing his report while meticulously instructing two other researchers in white lab coats beside him; everyone around was busy, most having no free time.
Just seeing this sight, Uchiha Itachi's heart instinctively shrank by half.
'It's better not to disturb him.'
However, just as he was thinking this and preparing to turn and leave.
As if sensing the gaze from outside the door, Aizen subconsciously turned his head and happened to catch sight of the young man peeking in through the doorway on tiptoe.
Uchiha Itachi froze.
Then, he saw Sōusuke-senpai suddenly say something to the people around him, and a cheer immediately erupted in the laboratory.
Before he could leave, Sōusuke-senpai had already strode towards the door, still with that heartwarming smile.
"What a coincidence, Itachi-kun."
"Our work here just finished; would you like to go have dinner together?"
Uchiha Itachi's lips pursed.
Sōusuke-senpai had clearly put his work aside temporarily because he saw him.
Although he felt a little guilty, a warmth involuntarily rose in his heart.
However, when he spoke, there was still a hint of hesitation:
"Sōusuke-senpai."
"Actually, it's not anything urgent..."
"Being hungry is the most urgent matter!"
Sōusuke-senpai said earnestly, adjusted his thick-rimmed glasses, looked down at his dazed expression, and then suddenly smiled: "I know a good little shop, shall we go together?"
This time, after only a brief hesitation, Uchiha Itachi immediately nodded heavily:
"Yes!"
..."Teuchi-san, one large soy milk ramen without egg, and another sweet miso ramen."
"Coming right up!"
Teuchi at the stall responded, smiling as he looked at him: "Mr. Aizen, it's rare for you to get off work early today. Ayame said yesterday she hadn't seen you in a while."
"Dad!!"
The half-grown girl beside him immediately blushed and playfully slapped him.
But when she turned her face, she switched to a shy expression, greeting him with some delight:
"Big Brother Sōusuke!"
"Dad specially saved you a portion of soft tofu, still no soy sauce?"
"Thank you, Ayame."
Aizen smiled gently at her and sat down at the stall with Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi looked at the busy Teuchi, then at the girl who had inexplicably glanced at him twice, feeling a little emotional.
A gentle person like Sōusuke-senpai truly gets along well with everyone.
However, upon hearing 'sweet miso ramen,' he involuntarily froze again and turned to look at Aizen.
"Sōusuke-senpai, how did you know...?"
Aizen sat down, his tone somewhat matter-of-fact: "I noticed it when we ate barbecue before; you don't really like overly salty flavors, do you?"
"It's just because I put so much on your plate that you had no choice but to eat it all. Compared to the barbecue, you actually ate quite a few sweet dango."
"So at that time, I thought, it would be great if I had another chance to make it up to you."
"Today is just perfect."
He even noticed such details.
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head.
Whether it was his father or mother, their love for him carried a sense of duty derived from their status.
They loved not Uchiha Itachi, but the excellent eldest son, the genius heir.
This kind of concern for 'Uchiha Itachi' he had only ever felt from Shisui-kun.
"Sōusuke-senpai, I..."
"Alright, alright."
Aizen patted his shoulder reassuringly: "You suddenly sought me out, so you must have something you want to ask, right? Is there something you couldn't tell Kakashi?"
Hearing this topic, Uchiha Itachi, who had just raised his head, lowered it again:
"I... recently broke off my friendship with my best friend."
Although the person in front of him was so gentle and tolerant, matters concerning the Uchiha Clan, and even Root, were simply too sensitive.
He couldn't bring himself to tell Aizen.
Naturally, he could only express his feelings in another form.
"A few days ago, because of... the Hidden Cloud Village attack, we had some conflicts regarding our differing stances."
"He believes that anyone from Hidden Cloud Village should be eradicated, and only through such extreme methods can all possible resistance be completely eliminated."
"His other companions share this view."
"However, our family has some business dealings with Hidden Cloud Village, and we even have some distant relatives living there, so we feel that if war can be avoided, it's best to maintain peace. Neither Konoha nor Kumogakure would suffer too many casualties..."
Perhaps it had been bottled up in his heart for too long, with no one else to confide in.
As soon as these words started, Uchiha Itachi, who usually appeared so reserved, suddenly became voluble, as if he wanted to pour out all the conflicts between the Village and the clan in one go.
As for whether Sōusuke-senpai would realize that he was actually talking about the Uchiha Clan, he wasn't too worried.
Although Sōusuke-senpai was a Jonin, he was, after all, a non-core researcher who didn't deal with the front lines. He would surely be completely unaware of the extent of the conflict between Konoha Leadership and the Uchiha Clan, or whether it would lead to civil war.
Moreover, the Hidden Cloud Village Anbu attack had been widely reported in the newspapers these days, so saying these things now felt perfectly natural anywhere.
While they were talking, the ramen had already arrived.
Aizen sat quietly beside him, listening to his outpouring, while slowly eating a piece of tofu, nodding occasionally to indicate he was listening.
By the time he finished speaking, even the ramen in his bowl had gotten clumpy.
Uchiha Itachi then suddenly realized and looked apologetically at Sōusuke-senpai beside him.
"I'm sorry, Sōusuke-senpai."
"I said too much."
"It's alright, I can probably understand."
Aizen, however, had a calm, almost somber expression.
He picked up a few strands of ramen with his chopsticks, seemingly lost in thought, and narrated in a low voice:
"Itachi-kun, you probably didn't participate in the Third Great Ninja War, did you?"
"Most of our generation experienced it."
"Although I was just a Medical Ninja busy in the rear at that time, I often faced similar problems."
Hearing the words 'war,' Uchiha Itachi's attention was immediately drawn to him, and his gaze became a few shades more serious.
"Being on the Land of Wind battlefield, thousands of kilometers deep in enemy territory, even as a Ninja, when the numbers reached tens of thousands, it was very difficult to remain completely hidden."
"Sunagakure's widespread intelligence network would send our information to the checkpoints, Sunagakure Anbu would hide in merchant caravans to poison our supplies, Ninja with relatives in the Land of Wind would secretly send out messages..."
"None of it was unusual."
"Under the life-or-death crisis, Ninja often took the opportunity to vent their hatred while pursuing Sunagakure detachments, even killing civilians."
"Do you know how Orochimaru-sama handled it?"
Uchiha Itachi shook his head.
Aizen smiled, breaking the noodles in his hand:
"Mutual supervision."
"If someone in a squad violated discipline and killed, the entire squad would be killed, but the informant would live."
"If an entire squad collectively violated discipline, the entire team would be killed, but the informant would live."
"After these two rules were issued, such collective behavior basically ceased at higher levels."
Uchiha Itachi instinctively widened his eyes.
Orochimaru's methods for rectifying military discipline were actually so... He only thought halfway before he suddenly realized this was about dealing with the killing of civilians, and he couldn't help but swallow the word 'cruel.'
Doing so seemed to be the correct approach.
Aizen's voice grew even calmer: "Humans use morality to divide others into good and bad people, and then use position (stance) to divide people into friends and enemies. This intersecting relationship often confuses one's self and leaves one at a loss."
"Just like you are now."
"But many times, the solution to a problem is actually very simple."
"The more you are unable to decide, the more you must strengthen your inner resolve and not be swayed by the opinions of those around you."
"Seriously, choose the people you should kill."
"Regardless of whether the other party is an ally or an enemy, a good person or a bad person."
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head, murmuring softly, repeating his words:
"Seriously... choose the people who should be killed."
Then, who should I kill?
The Uchiha who are planning a coup, the rebellious clan members, Danzo Shimura who is driving the Village and the clan apart, and... the Third Hokage, who tacitly allows all of this to happen?
Whether it's the clan members who desire an ordinary life, or the Konoha Village residents who desire a peaceful life, they are all innocent.
They are not within this scope.
But, do I really have to do this?
Can someone like me truly... do it?
Under the guidance of these calm words, Uchiha Itachi's thoughts, unknowingly, gradually shifted from one extreme to another.
Aizen quietly watched this scene, his gaze, hidden behind his glasses, growing even deeper.
Even Uchiha Itachi himself didn't notice.
The moment he repeated that sentence, as if under the influence of some power, his black pupils gradually turned a crimson red, adorned with three tomoe.
What beautiful eyes.
But, does it need a little more fuel?