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"Fine. If you don't want to tell me who you really are, then answer this. Why are you impersonating my son?"
Like I want to?!
Akira cursed silently, but his expression remained calm and unbothered. He replied lightly,
"That question isn't actually that important."
Fugaku: "..."
Here we go again. If he weren't painfully aware that he couldn't beat this guy, he would've slapped him on the spot.
So infuriating.
Just because you're strong, you get to act this arrogant?
Yeah. When you're strong enough, you really do get to act this arrogant.
Right now, Akira was clearly in a playful mood. He wasn't taking Fugaku, a Kage-level powerhouse, seriously at all.
"Then where is my son, Uchiha Akira, right now?" Fugaku forced himself to stay calm, his voice heavy."This question is extremely important. It concerns my son's life and death. Don't brush it off again."
He was already on the verge of exploding. One more push, and he'd be activating his Mangekyō and summoning Susanoo.
"All right, all right. I'll stop teasing you," Akira said."The questions you're asking, I can't answer right now. When the time comes, you'll know everything."
Oh, so you finally admit it? You bastard were messing with me this whole time!
Inside Fugaku's head, a hundred thousand alpacas stampeded past.
Same old story. If he could win, he would've already attacked.
Akira didn't care what Fugaku was thinking and continued calmly,
"Right now, there's something you need to face. Something that determines whether the Uchiha live or die.
"The Uchiha clan is about to be wiped out. Did you know that?"
"I don't know the exact timing, but my guess is… within the next few days."
"What? The Uchiha will be exterminated? Are you out of your mind?!"
Fugaku's attention snapped away instantly.
The shock hit him so hard he sprang to his feet from the tatami.
"Impossible. You're talking nonsense!"
"Yes, the higher-ups in Konoha have been suppressing our clan lately. The rift between us and the village is growing by the day…"
"But I still believe the Third would never do something as insane as slaughtering the entire Uchiha clan!"
His face was full of disbelief.
"Heh." Akira sneered, his eyes dripping with contempt."You think too highly of the Third's character, and you seriously underestimate just how black-hearted that old man is."
"No!" Fugaku shook his head. "He may be hostile toward the Uchiha, but he wouldn't go that far!"
"And besides, I have an informant planted within Konoha's ANBU. If anything unusual happens, I'll know immediately."
"There's been no relevant intelligence coming back. That alone proves things aren't as serious as you claim. You're just guessing wildly."
Fugaku lifted his chin and shot Akira a sideways glance, pleased with himself for finally gaining the upper hand.
But Akira remained calm, as if everything were already under his control. He spoke in an almost casual tone,
"Oh? Have you ever considered the possibility that your informant has already defected to the Sarutobi side?"
Fugaku smiled confidently, pride written all over his face.
"Defected? Impossible. The person I placed there would never betray us."
Akira was speechless. He looked at Fugaku the way one might look at an idiot.
Itachi had already been thoroughly brainwashed by Sarutobi, yet Fugaku, his own father, had no idea at all.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Fugaku frowned, clearly displeased."Are you mocking me? Are you saying there's something wrong with my arrangement?"
"No need to wonder," Akira replied bluntly. "I am mocking you. Laughing at how stupid you are."
"You—! I'm not stupid!"Fugaku growled, clenching his fists. This guy was unbelievably irritating.
"Heh. Not stupid?"
Akira laughed coldly, his eyes full of ridicule.
"The informant you arranged is Uchiha Itachi, isn't it? You thought your plan was flawless."
"You had no idea that Itachi has already betrayed the clan. For all you know, he's already handed over countless Uchiha secrets to the Third."
Bang!
Fugaku slammed his palm onto the tea table.
"Impossible! Itachi is my son! He has no reason to betray me! Stop spouting this baseless nonsense!"
"Believe it or don't," Akira said with a shrug."I'm just telling you the truth. Whether you accept it is up to you."
Fugaku's expression darkened.
He absolutely refused to believe that his own son would betray him.
Yet Akira's attitude made him hesitate.
Someone this powerful had no obvious reason to lie to him, right?
Unless… he was just lying for fun, purely to satisfy some twisted sense of amusement.
…Actually, knowing this guy's personality, that wasn't impossible.
Damn it. Should I believe him or not?!
In just a few sentences, Fugaku's thoughts had become as tangled as a pair of earphones stuffed into a pocket.
Suddenly, his brows furrowed, as if he'd found a solid counterargument. He spoke in a deep voice,
"Let's put aside whether Itachi betrayed us or not. Back to your earlier claim."
"You said the Third would wipe out the Uchiha. I say that's complete nonsense."
"He's the Hokage. If he did something like that, every ninja clan in Konoha would panic."
"And when that happens, Sarutobi's days as Hokage would be numbered."
"No clan would tolerate a mass-murdering butcher sitting in the Hokage's seat."
"So I believe this firmly. Sarutobi would never make such an irrational decision!"
Fugaku looked deadly serious, silently giving his own analysis a perfect score.
At this point, the man across from him looked more and more like a fraud.
"..."
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