The moment those words left his mouth, everyone nearby turned to look at Sasuke.
"That's a lie..."
Uchiha Sasuke staggered back several steps, disbelief written all over his face. If Naruto hadn't grabbed him from behind, he might have collapsed right onto the ground.
"That bastard!! It's all lies!!" Sasuke didn't know where to direct his anger, so he could only roar at Naruto beside him, desperate for the answer he wanted to hear. "The Uchiha is a proud clan! We exist to protect Konoha!!"
"My father… he would never start some kind of coup…" His voice weakened toward the end.
Naruto: "..."
He didn't understand things like this. And he couldn't just say whatever Sasuke wanted to hear. All he could do was stand beside him—as his teammate, no matter what.
[Shisui and Itachi, still just young boys, began discussing the ideological conflict between the Uchiha and the village.]
[Itachi: "The Uchiha's dissatisfaction with the village is growing by the day. If things continue like this, they'll eventually reach their limit."]
["So only if the village changes will the Uchiha change…?" Shisui's voice carried a trace of helplessness.]
[Itachi: "But if the Uchiha don't change first, the village won't change either. As long as both sides keep distrusting each other, things will only get worse over time."]
Yes. It was a paradox.
Uchiha Mikoto stood in the shadows, watching the projected images in front of the Ninja Academy. She knew several pairs of ANBU eyes were locked onto her.
Most likely arranged by the Second Hokage-sama and Third Hokage-sama.
There might be an element of surveillance—but the intent to protect her was stronger.
After all, skilled jonin in the village could sense her presence too. Some had glanced her way, only to notice the ANBU behind her and quickly pretend they hadn't seen anything.
If the village doesn't change, the Uchiha won't change. If the Uchiha don't change, the village won't change.
This had troubled Fugaku for years. If he hadn't concluded that the situation was hopeless… why would her husband have chosen to lead the Uchiha down the path of rebellion?
But Itachi…
Caught between multiple forces.
That child was suffering more than anyone.
Itachi… was too gentle.
As his mother, Mikoto often found herself thinking—
If only this child were a little more selfish.
["I'm going to try," Shisui said, standing at the edge of a cliff. The waterfall roared below him, as if it could wash away some of the weight on his heart. "I'll change this relationship and stop the Uchiha coup. Once it starts, neither the village nor the Uchiha will have a good ending."]
[Itachi stood beside him, watching his troubled figure. "I'm the same as you. I oppose the coup. But if we want to stop it… we'll have to use extreme measures."]
Sasuke's entire body trembled. "Extreme… measures…"
"Brother…" The extreme method you mentioned—did you mean killing Father and Mother with your own hands? Slaughtering the entire Uchiha clan yourself?!!!!
He couldn't accept it. He absolutely couldn't accept it!
["You shouldn't act rashly," Shisui warned Itachi. "The Military Police Force doesn't trust you either. They've ordered me to keep an eye on you."]
[Itachi's eyes widened in disbelief. So his own clan had already stopped trusting him.]
The Third Hokage let out a long sigh. "That child… Itachi… he carried too much."
Shisui lowered his head. "Yes."
Itachi…
It really was… too hard.
[In the following scenes, everyone witnessed something clearly—Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head, was pressuring his eldest son, Itachi.]
[Forcing him to choose between the village and the clan. Forcing him to prioritize the clan over the village.]
Again and again, Sasuke watched his father's stern rebukes toward his brother.
He saw the exhaustion and disappointment lingering in Itachi's eyes after their parents left the room…
Still so young, a question surfaced in his mind.
What is a clan? What is a village? Why must one be placed above the other?
…
At that moment, the person beside him—Uzumaki Naruto—finally spoke.
Arms crossed, cheeks puffed in anger.
"I mean, seriously! Gaara's dad was like that, and your dad too, Sasuke! Why do they all have to force their kids to do things they don't even want to do?!"
That didn't sit well with Sasuke.
Even though he basically felt the same, and was just as angry at how their father had pushed Itachi—angry that he'd never noticed any of it as a child.
While he had been naively attending the Academy, Itachi and the Uchiha had been carrying something far heavier.
And their father, Uchiha Fugaku, had grown further and further away from his eldest son through it all.
Why didn't anyone ever tell him? Was it because they thought he was too young? Too useless?!
He had hated his brother for so many years. When Kakashi had once asked them about their dreams, Sasuke had declared without hesitation that his ambition was to "kill that man and restore the Uchiha clan."
Now the images laid everything bare—like a public execution—stripping away flesh layer by layer, exposing nothing but white bone beneath.
Brother. Father. The Uchiha. The village.
When Naruto angrily criticized his father, Sasuke couldn't deny that resentment had existed in his own heart.
But if the village had trusted the Uchiha just a little more…
The people in the clan were so gentle.
Yet in these images, there were two different faces of the Uchiha—inside the clan and outside it.
The harmonious Uchiha. The kind and gentle Uchiha. The proud Uchiha.
And—
The Uchiha who tolerated no criticism. The arrogant law enforcers. The Uchiha who sought rebellion.
Sasuke's breathing grew ragged. His eyes were wide, pupils shrinking.
The occasional glances thrown his way, the whispers in the crowd—they had already worn down his patience to the limit.
And then, at the worst possible moment, Naruto repeated:
"I mean, seriously! Gaara's dad was like that, and your dad too, Sasuke! Why do they all have to force their kids to do things they don't even want to do?!"
"Someone who grew up all alone like you—what the hell would you know?!!"