"You rude bastard—who the hell are you?!"
The tsundere boy's dark pupils widened with fury as he shouted, clearly enraged.
Naruto Uzumaki furrowed his brows slightly and glanced aside—but his gaze quickly returned to the figure a few meters away. Calmly, he began removing the weighted lead blocks and arm guards he had purchased from the Ninja Tool Shop.
Ever since he discovered this place, he had been wondering who the owner of this training ground was.
Earlier, he had already sensed the chakra of two people approaching. Guessing they were the rightful owners, he simply waited here.
Uchiha Itachi was one of the names he had considered. After all, this area was filled with targets used for throwing shuriken and kunai, and every single one had a clean bullseye—without exception.
Still, the fact that Itachi brought Uchiha Sasuke with him did catch Naruto off guard. Given the rising tension between the Uchiha Clan and the village, Naruto assumed Itachi would be far busier.
Soon, Naruto removed the last of his weights. Squatting down, he pulled out a high-grade sealing scroll he had bought at great expense and began sealing the equipment inside it, one piece at a time.
That scroll alone had cost him six months of savings. Compared to it, the weighted gear felt like a bargain. Worse still, the scroll had a limited number of uses.
As Naruto finished, Sasuke—off to the side—clenched his fists so hard his whole body trembled.
"You bastard! How dare you ignore me!"
Even if most villagers didn't know his face, they surely recognized the Uchiha fan crest on his clothes. No one ever dared treat him as if he didn't exist.
"All right, Sasuke," Itachi said calmly. "We're all from the same village. Don't make a big deal out of it."
"The training ground is for everyone's use," he continued, glancing at Naruto, "and besides, this young man looks stronger than you."
As Naruto tucked away the scroll, Itachi had already walked up.
"Hello. I'm Uchiha Itachi. This is my younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke." His voice was low and composed. "You've been training here for the past few months, haven't you?"
His tone was polite, but his gaze was sharp. The faint lines beneath his eyes gave him a mature, almost detached air—calm on the surface, unreadable underneath.
Standing only a few steps away, Naruto realized he had to tilt his head up slightly to meet Itachi's eyes. He was only about 1.2 meters tall.
And Itachi had almost certainly recognized who he was.
Naruto nodded.
"I apologize for using your training ground without permission," he said evenly. "And thank you for the ninja tools you left behind."
"Hmph! So you've heard the name of the Uchiha, haven't you?" Sasuke immediately snapped back into arrogance, puffing out his chest and stepping up beside Itachi. "Shouldn't you at least tell us who you are?"
Naruto found it faintly amusing.
As expected, Sasuke was deeply attached to his brother right now—borrowing Itachi's authority like armor. The fact that Sasuke survived what came later was proof of his resilience.
"Your brother already knows who I am," Naruto said flatly, glancing at Sasuke's still-childish face. "Since I've been caught trespassing today, I'll take my leave."
With that, he stepped forward, intending to walk past Itachi.
But the moment he drew level with Itachi—
A loud system notification detonated in Naruto's mind.
He stopped instantly.
In a single motion, he turned back and extended his hand toward Itachi.
"Hello. Upon reflection, it's only proper to formally introduce myself when facing such a prestigious clan like the Uchiha."
Itachi's eyes flickered with faint surprise. Still, polite by nature, he didn't hesitate to take Naruto's hand.
"Data collection in progress…"
"Hello," Naruto said smoothly. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto."
"Data collection complete! Current progress: 5%. Please continue to collect relevant data."
"Thank you very much," Naruto said, satisfied. "Time for me to head home."
He released Itachi's hand and walked away naturally, without even glancing back.
Only his departing figure remained in the grove.
"Weirdo! …Wait! Nii-san!" Sasuke suddenly blurted. "I've seen that guy before—I recognize his hair!"
"Yes," Itachi replied softly. "He was wearing a mask last winter."
As Naruto disappeared into the trees, a faint, inexplicable trace of concern surfaced in Itachi's eyes.
After leaving the grove, Naruto used the Transformation Jutsu to alter his appearance. After a swift trip back, he returned to his small house.
With a thought, he entered the Mirror World.
After reading the update notes carefully, he followed the system's instructions to the Uchiha District—and soon located Itachi.
Naruto approached Itachi's in-world avatar, triggering a prompt window:
"View character-related story cutscene?"
Naruto selected Yes.
The scene shifted instantly to a chaotic battlefield, ninjutsu exploding everywhere. The "camera" zoomed in to reveal a seven- or eight-year-old Uchiha Itachi wielding kunai, moving through the carnage like a phantom—killing with ruthless precision.
Kinda feels like I'm watching a movie, Naruto thought, intrigued by this new feature.
The cutscene flowed forward:
Itachi joining ANBU Black Ops, with familiar faces like Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, and even Orochimaru flickering past.
The night of the Nine-Tails' Attack.
Konoha's suppression and marginalization of the Uchiha Clan afterward, widening the rift between clan and village.
Uchiha Fugaku ordering Itachi to act as a spy within ANBU, especially to watch Uchiha Shisui.
Only then did the scene fade out.
Naruto noticed the cutscene wasn't presented purely from a third-person view.
It was laced with Itachi's private inner monologues—pain, struggle, and contradiction.
It also revealed details about the power dynamic between Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha.
For example:
Minato Namikaze had nearly not become Hokage.
More importantly, many Uchiha were already sliding toward extremism—practically becoming full-blown lunatics.
And nearly all of them had awakened the Sharingan.
Even those who seemed "stable" were overwhelmingly arrogant—arrogance pushed to the brink. In the minds of certain elite Uchiha, the rest of their clan were simply pawns.
Itachi himself had already awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. From the monologues alone, Naruto could tell Itachi's mental strain was immense—he was already teetering on the edge, one emotional shove away from snapping.
Even based on Naruto's memories of the anime, Itachi's "mature and composed" image had always been partially an act.
No wonder Yakushi Kabuto once said Itachi was the most deceptive ninja he had ever met.
After being resurrected through Edo Tensei, Itachi even admitted it: in the name of peace, he never trusted anyone else's power—he trusted only his own way of saving the world.
After Shisui's death, Itachi genuinely believed the Uchiha Clan Massacre was justified—necessary.
And instead of going after Shimura Danzō, who pulled strings in the shadows, Itachi chose to uphold Shisui's dying wish to preserve peace in the village.
He blamed the tragedy on the Uchiha's internal pressure—rather than the true masterminds.
That kind of mental gymnastics had baffled Naruto when he watched the story in his previous life.
But now, living here, he finally understood the root of it.
This was the legacy of Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage.
Long ago, after Hashirama killed his best friend Uchiha Madara, he declared that protecting the village was his only conviction—and that if even his friends, brothers, or children threatened the village, he would strike them down without hesitation.
Itachi Uchiha inherited that Will of Fire to perfection.
But wasn't that responsibility supposed to belong to the Third Hokage?
Did Itachi truly need to be the one swearing loyalty?
The Third Hokage spoke of "negotiation," yet never acted.
Danzō issued veiled threats and exploited Itachi's love for Sasuke.
One played the good cop.
The other played the bad cop.
And in the end, they forged Itachi into their executioner—the blade that slaughtered his own clan.
What baffled Naruto most was this:
Itachi knew Danzō coveted the Sharingan…
…and yet he still left his younger brother—who had the potential to awaken it—inside Konoha.
Danzō was the kind of man who would secretly implant First Hokage cells into his own body.
And Itachi wasn't worried his "foolish little brother" would be used?
If that wasn't insanity…
What was?
(End of Chapter)