Evening.
As he left the Hokage's office and prepared to go home, Uchiha Itachi recalled the Third Hokage's warning:
"Itachi, don't return openly tonight. Make sure no one sees you—especially members of the Uchiha clan."
Itachi understood the Hokage's concerns and felt a faint twinge of emotion.
He could sense an endless malice closing in on him.
Yet at the very least, the Hokage still trusted him.
Obeying Hiruzen Sarutobi's advice, Itachi waited until night had fully settled before entering the Uchiha district, slipping silently to the front of his own house.
But as he reached for the door, he hesitated.
"Sasuke…"
If everyone in the village was spreading rumors about his "future evil," then Sasuke must have heard them too.
How would Sasuke look at him now?
Would he still cling to him as always?
Would he confront him in anger?
Or shrink away?
Unable to guess, Itachi gave up thinking and stepped inside.
The first person he saw was his mother.
"…Itachi."
Uchiha Mikoto forced a gentle smile, her gaze toward her eldest son filled with mixed emotions. She said softly, "Dinner is ready."
Itachi walked in wordlessly until he reached the dining table, where Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Sasuke were seated.
He immediately noticed that Sasuke's eyes were a bit red, and his heart tightened.
"Eat," Fugaku said hoarsely, breaking the silence. He did not bother with the usual "I'm starting" and did not even look at Itachi when he came in.
Sasuke, however, could not manage a single bite.
Staring blankly at his brother, he asked, voice trembling with hope and pleading:
"Onii-san, it's all fake… right? That kind of thing can't possibly happen… right?"
Itachi sighed inwardly. Seeing Sasuke's near‑tearful face, the hesitation in his eyes hardened into resolution.
"It's true," he said expressionlessly. "If anyone threatens Konoha's peace, those things will inevitably happen."
Mikoto's hand froze.
Fugaku's chopsticks halted.
Sasuke stood paralyzed.
"Why…? We—we're a family! Father, Mother… they're not bad people; they're family!"
Sasuke clenched his shirt, choking out the words and shattering the renewed silence.
Itachi gazed at his brother.
He realized that with Sasuke's excessive dependence and softness, he could never become an outstanding shinobi.
If his future self spared only Sasuke while annihilating the Uchiha clan, it must mean he wanted Sasuke to inherit his will to protect Konoha.
But to Itachi, Sasuke now seemed far too weak—too cowardly.
Suppressing all softness, Itachi spoke in a cold, deliberate tone:
"Sasuke, you don't understand the real me."
Sasuke's eyes widened in confusion.
"In my heart, there is no concept of 'family.' I have things I must do, and whoever stands in my way—I will kill them."
Having only just sat down, Itachi rose again.
Without turning back, he added:
"When that time comes, you won't be an exception, Sasuke. The future will bend to my will. I won't 'leave you alive' like Uchiha Chizumi said."
"You're far too weak—just a tag‑along who clings to me every day. With your pitiful cowardice, you haven't the slightest chance of stopping me."
"Foolish otouto, live out this last year of your life in fear and unease."
"A year from now, I'll kill you along with the others—"
SMACK!
Itachi never finished the last two words, for Uchiha Mikoto had already slapped him across the face.
The blow was light—far lighter than Izumi's earlier slap.
"Itachi, take back everything you just said… and apologize to Sasuke."
Tears welled in Mikoto's eyes as she spoke through clenched teeth. In that moment, her own child felt like a stranger.
Itachi drew a deep breath. He did not apologize. Instead he said slowly:
"Father understands why I made that choice. Mother, you may not understand now, but when the time comes… you will."
Sasuke stared blankly at the scene.
Only when his brother's silhouette vanished into the darkness outside did a torrent of negative emotions crash over him.
His young head swam, and just before losing consciousness, he faintly heard his mother's panicked cry of his name—then everything went black.
…
At the same time – Root Headquarters
From a Root shinobi, Danzō learned bad news: none of the agents he had sent out today to steer negative rumors about Itachi had returned.
Eight Anbu operatives—each at least elite chūnin, some even special jōnin—disappeared without a trace on a mission with little danger?
Danzō's face darkened; the secret satisfaction of smearing the Uchiha evaporated.
"Well? Start searching! Bring them all back!"
"Yes, Danzo-sama!"
"Wait!" Danzō stopped the subordinate, a grim possibility occurring to him.
A vein throbbed on his forehead as he hissed:
"Go straight to the Yamanaka clan!"
The Root ninja froze. "The Yamanaka clan…?"
Danzō growled:
"This must be tied to that innately evil Uchiha brat! If he truly sees the evil of past and future, then my men would be exposed from the start—no disguise could fool him."
He strongly suspected the eight missing agents were now eight corpses.
By the brat's killing habits, the dead would be handed to the Yamanaka clan, for Uchiha Chizumi seldom conducted interrogations—he simply executed those he deemed evil.
The Police Force could only rely on Yamanaka techniques to extract evidence.
Danzō's guess was correct.
At the Yamanaka compound, Yamanaka Inoichi looked wearily at eight bodies covered with white sheets.
"Sigh…"
He let out a heavy sigh, sensing yet another night of secrets he never wished to know.
He had no idea why, but since Uchiha Chizumi began enforcing his "Absolute Justice," the Yamanaka had become Konoha's clan with the closest ties to the Uchiha—even if it was mostly professional contact and little more than nodding acquaintance, it was still far better than any other clan's relations with the Uchiha.