Chapter 99: Uchiha Itachi, Could You Please Stop Being So Illiterate?!
Izumi felt the ambient temperature plummet, the bone-chilling cold making her hair stand on end. Her ninja blade was already drawn an inch from its sheath, and her Three-Tomoe Sharingan fixated on Itachi.
At this moment, her mind was highly focused, fine cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and every muscle in her body was subtly tensed.
But just then, Izumi suddenly saw a sight that made her eyes widen, filled with disbelief.
It wasn't Uchiha Itachi attacking her, but rather, strange characters had appeared in her line of sight!
Lines of text floated above Uchiha Itachi's head.
When she couldn't help but fix her gaze, she was immediately astonished—wasn't this the "evil" that Ikeizumi-senpai had mentioned Uchiha Itachi would commit in the future?!
She even saw, among the dense text, the heinous act of Uchiha Itachi killing her mother a year later!
Hiss, that was the tragic clan massacre Uchiha Itachi would cause one year from now!
This...
Could this be?!
The ability to see future evil!!! The girl couldn't help but let out a silent gasp within her heart. Her first reaction was that the reason she could see these special characters must be related to Ikeizumi-senpai's Mangekyo Sharingan!
Could it be that Ikeizumi-senpai, without her realizing it, implanted some Mangekyo ability into her body? Allowing her to share Ikeizumi-senpai's power to see future evil?
It must be like that!
Otherwise, she couldn't explain the sight before her eyes!
Hearsay and witnessing something firsthand were completely different experiences.
As she watched Uchiha Itachi's "future evil" manifest before her eyes, Izumi found herself even less able to forgive him.
Even if she hadn't embraced Ikeizumi-senpai's [Absolute Justice], merely witnessing Uchiha Itachi's future evil destined that she could no longer maintain their previous friendship.
"Izumi, I can see that you are hesitating now, you are wavering. Or, I can attribute your emotions to a guilty conscience."
While Izumi was still in shock, Uchiha Itachi suddenly spoke coldly again: "Although you haven't said a word, it seems your inner thoughts are indeed to choose to stand against Konoha. Huh, I once thought you were a relatively special Uchiha, very different from the other radical Uchiha clan members."
"Now it seems that you, with Uchiha clan blood flowing through your veins, ultimately cannot escape the curse of the Uchiha bloodline. In this state, you are no different from those radical clan members."
Izumi: "???"
What in the world is this guy rambling about? I didn't say anything; I was just shocked that I could see his future evil. How did that turn into me having a guilty conscience in his mouth?
"That's fine too." Uchiha Itachi's eyes gradually hardened. He stood silently and said, "At least this version of you strengthens my resolve to do what must be done."
"The Uchiha clan is sick, very sick. Everyone is trapped in the curse of the Uchiha bloodline, unable to break free. This restraint also limits the capacity of you people."
"And I, who tries to break free from this bloodline restraint, my capacity and perspective are above all of you. Izumi, from now on, you and I—are enemies."
"Konoha—cannot be destroyed by you."
Izumi held back for a long time, her expression peculiar, before finally uttering a sentence: "Can you please stop rambling in front of me with your mentally disabled, illiterate level of cultural knowledge from six years of ninja academy?"
She once again understood why Ikeizumi-senpai always told Clan Head Fugaku to take Uchiha Itachi to see a psychologist.
She also had her own new realization: Uchiha really needed to read more books!
Please, stop spouting that demonic, illiterate nonsense! Can you go back to the Ninja Academy and re-educate yourself?!
She was starting to feel embarrassed just listening to him!
"Izumi, some things can't be learned no matter how long you study at the ninja academy. Only by truly witnessing them, by experiencing them firsthand, can you understand the immense internal crisis Konoha faces now."
Uchiha Itachi's words silenced Izumi.
Perhaps...
She shouldn't have said anything frivolous to this guy.
Because he wouldn't listen.
As Izumi gripped her blade, holding her breath and standing ready, she suddenly noticed that Uchiha Itachi in front of her seemed to have noticed something. He shifted his gaze to the other side. Moreover, she noticed that Uchiha Itachi's expression suddenly changed.
Izumi furrowed her brow in confusion and shifted her gaze as well.
"...Sasuke-kun?!"
She saw a small figure standing under the alley corner streetlamp not far away. It was none other than Uchiha Sasuke!
She realized that the two brothers were looking at each other across the distance.
Uchiha Itachi's eyes held a hint of undeniable complexity; Uchiha Sasuke's small face was filled with anger and bewilderment. Izumi immediately realized that Sasuke might know about Uchiha Itachi's "future evil" a year from now.
Of course.
This matter had already spread throughout Konoha.
It would be strange if Sasuke didn't know!
"I've been looking for you!" Sasuke's rather childish voice echoed particularly loudly in the silent night. He bit down on his teeth, looking at Uchiha Itachi, his tone both angry and sorrowful: "Why would you do such a thing to the Uchiha clan? Why would you lay hands on Father and Mother? Why will your future self become like that? You've never given me a clear explanation!"
Uchiha Itachi was silent for a moment, clearly, Sasuke's sudden appearance was somewhat unexpected for him.
Since that night when he had stimulated Sasuke into unconsciousness, Uchiha Itachi had not met with Sasuke again.
He had been selectively and intentionally avoiding Sasuke.
Unexpectedly—
They still met tonight.
"Because of capacity." Uchiha Itachi slowly said, "Your vision is always limited to the Uchiha clan, always limited to a single family. Everyone's capacity is too narrow. Even Father is equally narrow-minded. All he thinks about is balancing the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha, but he doesn't know that such a balance is meaningless."
"The moment the Uchiha clan began to show dissatisfaction with Konoha, everything became irreversible. Father cannot grasp this situation; he is merely patching up holes, continuously patching one after another."
"When the situation spirals out of control, Father will also be swept up by clan members with even narrower capacities than his own. This is bound to happen; this is the Uchiha's destined fate."
Seeing tears seemingly welling up in Sasuke's wide eyes, his lips curled into a hint of mockery: "Sasuke, do you wish to die by my hand prematurely, thus avoiding a painful existence?"
"Heh, truly a weak and naive little brother!"
Just as he took a few steps forward, intending to continue provoking Sasuke.
A sudden sound of a blade being drawn made Uchiha Itachi halt.
He looked at Izumi, seeing Uchiha Izumi holding a sword with one hand, blocking his path towards Sasuke.
The night breeze stirred the girl's black long hair, and a pair of scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan eyes held indignation and hostility.
"Uchiha Itachi, don't instill your hopelessly illiterate and low-capacity worldview into a child as young as Sasuke-kun."
Uchiha Itachi said calmly, "You are not my match."
Izumi's small face was tense, but she spoke with firm resolve: "[Absolute Justice] cannot retreat even half a step in the face of the strongest foes! If justice doesn't stand before the innocent, then in this twisted and diseased ninja world, who else would be willing to sacrifice themselves to protect them?"
Uchiha Itachi's brows furrowed. Just as he was about to say something more, his peripheral vision caught sight of someone walking behind Sasuke under the streetlamp. He and the newcomer looked at each other from a distance for several seconds.
Finally, he cast a deep glance at Izumi, said nothing more, and instantly disappeared.
Izumi was stunned.
She turned her head and found that the person standing behind Sasuke was Uchiha Mikoto!
"Thank you, Izumi."
Uchiha Mikoto forced a grateful smile, but Izumi could discern an indescribable sorrow within that smile.
Izumi couldn't tell for now what effect Uchiha Itachi's "nervous breakdown" had on Clan Head Fugaku; however, it seemed that Aunt Mikoto, as a mother, was utterly heartbroken by Uchiha Itachi.
Izumi took a deep breath.
She sheathed her blade, suppressing the tension in her heart, and said, "It's what I should do. That person has gone mad; he could commit evil at any time, and Sasuke-kun is innocent. In such a situation, stepping forward to stop that person is my responsibility and duty."
Uchiha Mikoto pursed her lips. She first knelt down and used the back of her hand to wipe away Sasuke's tears.
Standing up, she held Sasuke's small hand and asked Izumi, "Izumi, could I ask you for a favor?!"
Izumi said, "Please speak."
"Could you take Sasuke and me to see Ikeizumi?" Uchiha Mikoto bowed slightly.
Izumi was taken aback.
Even Sasuke, who had run out in the middle of the night to "find his brother" and was caught, sniffled his runny nose and looked up in surprise.
Meanwhile, within the Utatane Clan Compound.
The entire Utatane clan members were gathered in one hall, each gazing at a corpse lying in the center of the hall. Around the corpse's neck, there were obvious traces of needle and thread stitching.
"Lady Koharu! Uchiha Ikeizumi killed our clan member! And a very talented junior at that! His future achievements would have at least been that of a Special Jonin!"
The father of "Utatane Ryuji" stared at Koharu Utatane with bloodshot eyes, unable to stop his mournful cry: "And he was still just a child, he hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet!"
"Why did that Uchiha clan murderer have to kill Ryuji? Even if Ryuji did commit some mistakes, as a child, he shouldn't have had to pay with his life!"
And Utatane Ryuji's mother knelt beside her son's corpse, sobbing uncontrollably.
A father's grief, a mother's tears.
It made Koharu Utatane feel very distraught.
"What do you want this old woman to do?" Koharu Utatane took a deep breath, her face grim as she said, "Kill Uchiha Ikeizumi? You dream very naively, but can he be killed?!"
"This old woman—"
"Advisor Koharu!" A sudden voice interrupted Koharu Utatane's words, also drawing the attention of all the Utatane clan members in the hall. An ANBU shinobi had somehow entered and was standing at the hall's entrance.
Before Koharu Utatane could question him, the ANBU shinobi spoke rapidly: "Shimura Danzo has been killed by Uchiha Ikeizumi!"
Koharu Utatane: "—???"
Utatane Clan: "!!!"
"Danzo wasn't at the ANBU base? Even if most ANBU shinobi return home after their shifts, there are usually at least seven or eight elite ANBU guarding the base, right?"
Koharu Utatane's face suddenly turned ugly: "With seven or eight elite ANBU protecting him, Danzo was still killed by Uchiha Ikeizumi? What in the world are you ANBU shinobi doing?!"
The ANBU shinobi could hear the accusation in Koharu Utatane's tone.
Originally, the ANBU shinobi was just there to inform them, but hearing Koharu Utatane's direct accusation, he couldn't help but add a few sentences: "At the time, Advisor Homura Mitokado was also present, and it was Advisor Homura Mitokado who told us not to act rashly. If Advisor Koharu wishes to accuse someone, you can go find that Advisor-sama."
ANBU was originally the Hokage's direct secret force.
Who would put up with a temporary Root leader who merely picked up scraps?
When the ANBU shinobi finished speaking and left directly, the expressions of the Utatane clan members were all quite colorful.
"That murderer even dared to kill Danzo, a Konoha elder." An Utatane clan ninja muttered as if possessed, "Did Ryuji's mistakes perhaps make his death relatively quick and painless?"
Everyone fell silent again for a moment, then someone lightly coughed: "The immediate priority should be to prepare a funeral for Ryuji."
An elder of the Utatane clan said, "You two are still very young; you can actually have another child."
The meaning was clear: Perhaps it's best to put this matter aside for now! The iron plate is too hard; we dare not kick it! Rerolling a character is better than sending ourselves to death and implicating the clan, right?
Utatane Ryuji's parents: "..."
On the other side, within the Shimura Clan Compound.
Tonight, the atmosphere in the Shimura clan was even more silent than in the Utatane clan.
They couldn't even see Shimura Danzo's corpse because Danzo's corpse held too many secrets, and the ANBU would never return Danzo's body to the Shimura clan.
The silent atmosphere lasted for an unknown duration.
Finally, someone spoke.
"Lord Danzo, throughout these years, has dedicated himself tirelessly and diligently to Konoha's prosperity. He even transferred the money earned by the Shimura clan to Root to develop it. In essence, the vast Root organization's development to this day is due to Lord Danzo and the Shimura clan's financial contributions."
A junior member of the Shimura clan gritted his teeth, clenching his fists tightly, his eyes filled with hatred: "As a result, the inherently evil Uchiha clan constantly sought to put Lord Danzo to death, and that extreme Uchiha Ikeizumi even succeeded!"
"Are we to stand by and do nothing? Is Lord Danzo to die in vain? Is the Root organization, which Lord Danzo poured countless efforts into, to be handed over to the Utatane clan just like that? Are we to let Uchiha Ikeizumi continue to be so arrogant?!"
One after another, biting questions filled with resentment made the other Shimura clan ninjas clench their teeth in anger.
These individuals, as ninjas of the Shimura clan.
They had long since been assimilated by Danzo.
Like Danzo, they believed the Uchiha clan was an inherently evil ninja clan that needed to be completely eradicated.
They also believed that the current Hokage was too weak, and that only their Lord Danzo from the Shimura clan was qualified to be Hokage.
They had once taken pride in being able to join Danzo's Root organization.
It was said that the Uchiha clan was extremely extreme.
But under Danzo's years of influence, under the influence of bad company,
The Shimura clan was not far behind!
"As far as this old man knows, the Uchiha clan is not a single, solid bloc." A Shimura clan elder, his gaze deep and his tone hushed, said: "Uchiha Ikeizumi is also an eccentric within the Uchiha clan, one who has offended many evil Uchiha ninjas."
He squinted his eyes, his voice cold and ominous: "With the Shimura clan's strength, after losing Lord Danzo, it will be difficult for us to deal with Uchiha Ikeizumi. However, we can hold our noses and exploit the internal discord within the Uchiha clan."
Someone seemed to understand his meaning, pondering, "It seems that neither the radical faction of the Uchiha clan, who advocate for rebellion and evil, nor the moderate and stable faction led by Uchiha Fugaku, have good relations with Uchiha Ikeizumi."
"Uchiha Fugaku cannot possibly move against Uchiha Ikeizumi. Lord Danzo once said that he is a very weak Uchiha."
"What about Uchiha Setsuna?!"
Meanwhile.
Izumi, standing in front of a simple two-story house, felt a little nervous. Had she acted presumptuously by agreeing to Uchiha Mikoto's request to take her to see Ikeizumi-senpai? Would it displease Ikeizumi-senpai?
But she was already standing at her senpai's doorstep, and Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Sasuke were both standing behind her.
The girl took deep breaths to calm her inner tension.
She took two steps forward and pressed the doorbell to her senpai's house.
Click—the moment the door opened, a strangely sharp voice rang out: "Oh, it's you, rookie."
"Kijiro-senpai?!" Izumi instinctively looked down and found that it was indeed the ninja cat Kijiro who had opened the door.
Of course...
Kijiro already lived at Ikeizumi-senpai's house. He was said to be a ninja cat with a cooperative relationship, but in reality, he was more like a pet kept by her senpai.
"Hm?" At this moment, Kijiro also noticed Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Sasuke standing behind the girl.
"Meow, two rare guests have arrived." Kijiro's cat face showed surprise.
"Excuse our intrusion." Uchiha Mikoto forced a smile.
Sasuke stared at Kijiro curiously, then looked up at his mother in confusion. He still didn't understand why his mother wanted to take him to see Uchiha Ikeizumi.
He had a deep impression of Uchiha Ikeizumi; this man had once killed someone in front of him.
Moreover, it was also this man who spoke of his brother's "future evil."
When he saw a figure appear in the doorway, Sasuke couldn't help but hide behind Uchiha Mikoto.
He didn't know why he felt the need to hide.
Perhaps it was an instinctive fear.
.....
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