Fugaku sighed deeply. He had pretty much guessed that today's conversation wouldn't go smoothly, but he certainly didn't expect to receive such an overwhelming amount of information.
Would his proudest eldest son truly do such a thing in the future? To protect Konoha, to uphold his beliefs, would he genuinely possess the capacity to exterminate the entire Uchiha clan? Fugaku was lost. Because as the head of the Uchiha clan, upon learning that Itachi Uchiha would inevitably commit such an act in the future, what he should do is uphold justice and eliminate Itachi immediately!
"But..." Fugaku murmured, "What would be the point of that? Perhaps the future Akainu saw is the Uchiha clan's destiny. And destiny, well, you can't really break it, can you?"
Even after returning home in silence, his head still spinning, Fugaku hadn't fully recovered from the shock.
"Fugaku, didn't Itachi come back with you? You and Akainu didn't get into any fights, did you?" Mikoto Uchiha asked, approaching him with concern.
Fugaku, snapping back to reality, shook his head. "Itachi probably went to report to the Anbu, since it's morning. If Akainu and I had clashed, you might be seeing a wounded me right now."
Mikoto immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her son and husband had gone to see Uchiha Akainu. For less than an hour, Mrs. Mikoto had been on tenterhooks, terrified that something unexpected might happen.
"Is something wrong?" Mikoto acutely sensed that her husband's expression and mood were off.
"...Nothing." Fugaku chose to conceal the truth. After all, telling a mother, "Her eldest son will likely kill her with his own hands a year from now," would be too cruel.
"Meow! I have a mission for you all." On the roof of Uchiha Akainu's house, the ninja cat, Kikujirō, stood like a human, its paws clasped behind its back, pacing as it spoke in human tongue. Gathered before Kikujirō were over twenty ninja cats – its "descendants" from years of "spreading its branches."
"The mission is simple: spread the word about what happened at Lord Akainu's house today. I'll tell you the specifics in a bit," Kikujirō announced in a strange, loud voice. "Our goal is to expose Uchiha Itachi's future 'evil' to the public! And to expose Uchiha Fugaku's indulgence as well!"
A white ninja cat raised a paw, meowing loudly.
"Speak human!" Kikujirō glared.
"Is this Lord Akainu's wish?" the white ninja cat asked timidly.
"Ahem! This is something Lord Akainu tacitly approved," Kikujirō cleared its throat, then bristled with anger. "I won't deny a little bit of my personal cat-emotions are mixed in, because I just don't like that Uchiha Itachi, meow! What right does that guy have to criticize Lord Akainu's 'Absolute Justice'?"
"And that Uchiha Fugaku, I've never seen such a cowardly clan head! Lord Akainu was right from the start; the so-called 'Fugaku of the Fierce Eyes' is nothing but 'Fugaku of the Cowardly Eyes.' Like father, like son, meow!"
But soon, Kikujirō noticed that its feline offspring all seemed to have very peculiar expressions, as if they were trying to give it a hint. The next second, it found itself lifted by the scruff of its neck. Kikujirō instantly froze, not daring to struggle.
"Lor... Lord Akainu?" Kikujirō felt like the sky was falling. It trembled all over, its whiskers quivering. "I..."
"Don't add extra details," Uchiha Akainu said indifferently as he gently set it down. "Just stick to the actual facts."
Kikujirō paused, then immediately understood. "Meow! Lord Akainu, rest assured! I've got this!"
Kikujirō was invigorated. Having followed Lord Akainu for so many years, it only needed a word from him to discern his true meaning.
"Hokage-sama." Just as Fugaku suspected, Itachi Uchiha had come directly to report to the Anbu. He had changed into his Anbu uniform and sought out Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Itachi, my boy..." Even with Itachi wearing his Anbu mask, Hiruzen could recognize him by his build and voice. Hiruzen exhaled, dispelling the lingering gloom from the loss of his son. He asked curiously, "Is something the matter?"
Itachi Uchiha began, "Before dawn today, I met with Uchiha Akainu."
Hiruzen was silent for half a second before saying, "I recall you and Akainu had some misunderstandings, didn't you?" He observed Itachi, finding no injuries on him, nor did he look like he had just been in a fight.
"The 'misunderstanding' has been cleared," Itachi Uchiha said in a low voice. "However, the conflict seems to have deepened as well."
Hiruzen frowned. "What do you mean?"
Itachi Uchiha spoke with a revelation that startled Hiruzen: "Hokage-sama, Uchiha Akainu has very likely awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, the legendary and most powerful form of the Sharingan. His eyes can perceive an individual's future 'evil.' He... he saw the future 'evil' within me."
Hiruzen's pupils constricted.
"My future self will, for the sake of protecting Konoha, selflessly bear all the infamy and personally kill almost the entire Uchiha clan, bringing peace back to a Konoha besieged by conflict."
Hiruzen was stunned. The sheer volume of information in Itachi's words was so immense that he was momentarily unable to process it. Hiruzen quickly sorted through his thoughts: Uchiha Akainu allegedly awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and his eyes saw Itachi's future 'evil,' which is why their relationship was so tense. And Itachi's so-called 'evil' was the slaughter of his Uchiha clansmen for the village's peace.
As for the premise of Itachi taking such extreme action... Hiruzen had already guessed it. It was 100% certain that the Uchiha clan was finally going to attempt a coup d'état!
The massive amount of information made Hiruzen take a small, sharp breath. His old face became incredibly solemn as he sternly questioned, "Itachi... do you understand what you're saying? Can you assure me that what you're saying is true?"
Itachi Uchiha lowered his head and replied, "Hokage-sama, this was told to me by Uchiha Akainu. Although his stance differs from mine, I believe his words can be trusted."
Hiruzen fell silent.
"A special dōjutsu that can see future evil, huh?" Hiruzen murmured, his gaze distant. "I see..." Hiruzen knew Akainu's eyes could see the 'evil' a person had already committed. But he didn't know they could see future 'evil'! This dōjutsu power... it was indeed terrifying, yet also not that terrifying, because this power couldn't be converted into direct combat ability.
Hiruzen believed it. He believed Itachi's words, and by extension, he believed Uchiha Akainu. If the Uchiha were truly to be annihilated in the future due to a coup, who would give that cold-blooded order? Would it be him, Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Hiruzen looked with a complex expression at the twelve-year-old child standing before him.
"Itachi..."
"Hokage-sama," Itachi Uchiha responded.
Hiruzen said, "You've worked hard... Don't tell anyone else what you just told me. Let's just pretend nothing happened today, and that you didn't hear anything from Akainu today."
Itachi Uchiha looked up in confusion.
Hiruzen stood up, walked over to the young man, and said kindly, "Itachi, I don't want to see such things happen in the future. You are a rare new bud of Konoha, and I don't want a child like you to fall into such pain."
"Especially if your clan members were to find out about these things, they would certainly ostracize you, and you might even be in mortal danger because of it. Just pretend nothing happened."
Hiruzen thought for a moment, then added with a sigh, "You truly are the child I respect the most, and I'm proud of you. But... let's try our best to prevent such a thing from happening."
"...Yes, Hokage-sama."
Itachi Uchiha bowed deeply, certain thoughts in his mind becoming even firmer because of Hiruzen's words.
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belamy20
thank for reminder