Clan meeting, funeral.
Hokage-sama's roll call commendation, and finally, the special promotion to a new position.
This series of events concluded several days later.
As a meritorious hero in the 'Bloody Night Incident', Uchiha Itachi, at the age of twelve, became the first young Jonin in Konoha in over a decade to achieve the same accomplishment as Kakashi Hatake.
At the same time, he was specially promoted to one of the vice-captains of the Konoha Military Police Force.
If it weren't for his young age and lack of prestige, under the Konoha Leadership's clan-balancing mindset, he would likely have been promoted to Konoha Military Police Force captain much earlier, as a means to balance Uchiha Shisui.
Third Hokage used to say he was a young man with Hokage-like thinking, but Uchiha Itachi only felt he was unworthy, far inferior to the highly talented Third Hokage, and simply didn't deserve that evaluation.
However, after experiencing all this, Uchiha Itachi felt he was increasingly able to understand what 'Hokage-like thinking' truly meant.
It must be said, a tragic life always seemed to play cruel jokes on him.
After truly gaining all these honors, achieving the peace he had yearned for, and the recognition from those he once could only look up to, Uchiha Itachi only felt how ironic it all was.
He strolled down the street, watching the Uchiha Clan Compound's households, which had resumed production, his gaze distant.
Even though he was walking on a bustling street, he felt as if he were all alone.
However, he was growing to like this feeling of not needing to think.
"Whoosh—!"
Just as he was lost in thought, a faint buzzing sound suddenly echoed in his ears.
Almost instinctively, he flashed and twisted, catching the shuriken from behind him with an uplifted hand, and with a swift pivot and step, he kicked the charging, reckless figure to the ground with a thud.
Sasuke, with his eyes burning red, was about to get up again when a whooshing sound immediately cut through the air.
"Chhh!"
The shuriken that had just been shot at Itachi had grazed his hair and was now pinned to the corner of his shoulder's clothing.
A thin trail of fresh red blood ran down the side of his neck.
Yet, even so, Sasuke still clutched his stomach and straightened up, glaring at the other person with his crimson Sharingan:
"Uchiha Itachi!"
"You bastard!"
"If you have the guts, kill me too!"
The sudden battle ended in less than a single round.
The Uchiha Clan members around, who were still hawking their wares, initially flinched, but seeing that it was the two brothers, they all fell silent, resuming their own activities as if they had seen nothing.
Uchiha Itachi turned to look at him, his gaze completely devoid of emotion:
"Are you having another episode?"
"Since your treatment isn't over, you shouldn't have left the hospital, Sasuke."
Hearing his calm voice, Uchiha Sasuke became even more agitated.
He shouted at the surrounding clan members, seemingly trying to elicit some empathy from them:
"I'm not sick!"
"I saw it with my own eyes!"
"It was clearly you who personally killed Father and Mother! You killed them all!"
"Father was still fighting the enemy, but you attacked him from behind!"
"Everyone! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"These eyes of mine are the proof!"
Little Sasuke's voice grew more and more agitated as he shouted, until finally his voice was hoarse and tears continuously overflowed from his eyes.
But, looking at the indifferent clan members around him, his heart was filled with increasing fear and despair.
Even his three-tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, intense sadness almost swallowing him whole.
Uchiha Itachi, however, merely watched him quietly.
Without a word.
How could this be?
At this moment, Uchiha Sasuke couldn't understand everyone's reaction.
He couldn't understand why his always gentle older brother would personally kill their father.
He couldn't understand why the surrounding clan members remained silent about it.
And he certainly couldn't understand why Hokage-sama, after receiving just one report from that bastard Uchiha Itachi, stubbornly believed that he had gone mad from the shock of losing both parents and had hallucinated the scene of Itachi personally killing their father.
He had clearly seen everything...
"If you've made enough of a fuss, then go back," Uchiha Itachi's voice was devoid of any fluctuation, and not a hint of his former gentleness, as if all of it were Sasuke's own delusion. "Before his condition stabilizes, don't let him come out and make a spectacle of himself."
The last sentence was directed at the Anbu who had just arrived on the rooftops.
"Yes."
Two Anbu immediately descended beside Sasuke, one on each side, helping him up and bowing to Uchiha Itachi.
Although the other party was still young, his Jonin rank was undeniable.
In the Ninja World, a military zone with strict hierarchy, even if they were displeased, obeying orders was only natural.
"Let go! You let go of me!"
"I'm going to complain to Hokage-sama! Damn it, you guys..."
Sasuke struggled in the Anbu's grip, kicking and punching, his voice fading into the distance.
A trace of sadness unconsciously flickered in the depths of Uchiha Itachi's pupils.
Innocence was the nature of children.
But in their family, it was an original sin.
Uchiha Itachi didn't care if Sasuke would hate the Village after learning the truth.
However, he, who couldn't keep anything to himself, didn't even have the right to know the truth.
With the Third Hokage and himself coordinating, Sasuke had become a 'poor child' in the hearts of most Konoha villagers, a child who had suffered a mental breakdown due to the overwhelming shock of losing both parents.
The number of such children in Konoha was not small, so it naturally wouldn't cause any stir.
However, in an environment like the Uchiha Clan Compound, it was naturally very different.
Uchiha Itachi turned around.
What greeted him were cold stares.
If the Konoha villagers didn't know the truth, did the Uchiha Clan members not know it either?
That was naturally impossible.
It was just what their clan members had done, and what leniency the Hokage had then granted to those who survived, which left everyone conflicted.
Their perception of Uchiha Itachi was also too complex to articulate.
Thus, they could only remain silent.
If this phenomenon continued, it would likely become an unwritten understanding between them.
Just like that Nine-Tailed brat.
However, Uchiha Itachi seemed completely oblivious to the gazes from around him, walking forward step by step.
He no longer cared...
It wasn't until he had crossed the entire street and reached the edge of the secluded Naka River forest, watching the endlessly flowing river, that he finally stopped, turning around to face behind him:
"Come out."
"Following me for so long, you must have something to say, right?"
There was no one behind him.
After waiting for a moment, Uchiha Itachi's brows furrowed slightly.
Then, a pale figure slowly dissolved out from the center of a giant tree trunk, wearing an ugly smile.
"Oh my? I was actually discovered."
"What incredible perception."
"That night, did you really awaken those eyes too?"
Uchiha Itachi looked at this creature, which had a human form but didn't resemble a natural organism at all, and frowned slightly:
"What are you?"
"Ah! I forgot to introduce myself."
The pale figure greeted him with a playful grin, looking nonchalant:
"Hello, hello! I'm White Zetsu!"
"I just watched quite a show, Itachi-kun. Being hated so much by your beloved younger brother, you must feel terrible, right?"
"Speaking of which, what exactly does 'feeling terrible' feel like?"
The more sincere his expression, the more sarcastic his voice sounded.
Uchiha Itachi's expression first darkened.
Immediately after, his figure quickly vanished from the spot, leaving only a blurry afterimage in the air.
"Slash!"
The next moment, White Zetsu, who had been greeting him, froze, looking confusedly at his own shoulder.
His outstretched hand was severed at the elbow.
"Oh dear! I got cut."
"That hurts so much."
Uchiha Itachi's expression was cold as he held the severed half-arm, his gaze puzzled.
Inside this severed arm, there were no blood vessels or bone structures a human should have; instead, it was completely solid, like clay.
Not human?
He turned his head to look at White Zetsu, who was rolling on the ground.
"Alright, it actually doesn't hurt at all."
"After all, I can regenerate!"
The guy climbed up from the ground again, still with that grinning, cheeky look.
Uchiha Itachi's gaze gradually swept over his limbs and head, seemingly thinking about how to kill him.
Seeing his murderous demeanor, White Zetsu immediately became serious:
"Wait a moment!"
"I actually do have something to say."
Noticing Uchiha Itachi's gaze slowly retracting, White Zetsu seemed to relax slightly, still with that malicious smile:
"Itachi-kun."
"To save the lives of your entire clan, you had to kill so many of your own people; you must feel terrible, right?"
"But do you know?"
"Just recently, Root has been planting operatives in the Uchiha Clan Compound and the Konoha Military Police Force again."
"The war between the Uchiha and Konoha is far from over."
Uchiha Itachi naturally knew about this small matter.
He wasn't as naive as Shisui.
However, an outsider who knew these secrets still piqued his curiosity.
"What do you want to do?"
Seeing that he had taken the bait, the smile on White Zetsu's face grew wider:
"We are kind people who came to help you."
"The anger festering in your heart, we see it clearly."
"And what I represent is the true master of the Uchiha Clan."
At this point, the corners of his lips gradually curved upward, and he deliberately lowered his voice:
"—Uchiha Madara."