"Arrogance..."
Jokichi chewed on this word carefully, his thoughts drifting to the past.
As the Konoha Police Force, the Uchiha clan could be said to be dedicated and responsible, and Jokichi often saw Uchiha patrolling on the streets.
As a great clan, the Uchiha's upbringing was quite good, and they were polite to others.
But somehow, when conversing with the people of this clan, even if receiving their help, it was difficult to have a favorable impression of them.
Jokichi did not know the reason before, but now hearing Itachi mention it, he roughly knew.
It was arrogance and prejudice.
Although it could not be seen on the surface, the people of the Uchiha clan held immense arrogance and prejudice in their every word and action.
The sense of belonging to the clan, the esteem for the clan...
They were proud to be Uchiha, but never proud to be Konoha ninja.
They were dedicated and responsible in their posts in the Police Force for the glory of the Uchiha, but never dedicated and responsible for the prosperity of Konoha because they were people of Konoha and the Konoha Police Force.
As fellow people of Konoha, it was difficult to relate to them.
Even though they did not deliberately show off, nor did they despise anyone.
But that arrogance and prejudice carved into their bones made them unintentionally widen the distance between each other in their words and actions.
Perhaps they themselves did not realize that it was not Konoha that isolated the Uchiha, but themselves.
If saying it this way is unclear, then giving a simple and easy-to-understand example will make it clear.
A guard who frequently works overtime to serve the people and create a harmonious society, a guard who punches the clock for a salary, actively sweeps away pornography and illegal activities for bonuses, and struggles for their own reputation and future...
Both are equally dedicated and responsible, but who would be more popular is self-evident.
If you put on a high and mighty appearance...
Heh! If I cannot afford to offend you, can I not afford to hide from you?
Jokichi thought carefully.
In the five years he lived in Konoha, he had never seen anyone propagating the grudges between the Uchiha and the Senju.
Combined with the situation in the anime where the younger generation also did not know about the grudges between the Uchiha and the Senju, the village was intentionally eliminating the barriers between the various clans.
The grudges between the Uchiha and the Senju had already passed for more than fifty years.
It was already the third generation, and the past barriers no longer existed.
It was impossible for the villagers to distrust the Uchiha because of reasons left over from history.
If the Uchiha did not have such arrogance and prejudice, as the Police Force who had always been dedicated and responsible, they would definitely be respected and trusted by the villagers, and even loved and supported by the villagers.
At that time, even with a paranoid like Danzo, he could not stir up any storms, at most secretly playing some small preventive tricks.
When Obito fooled Sasuke, he said the village's distrust of the Uchiha was due to reasons left over from history, and the Nine-Tails attacking the village incident magnified this distrust even more.
Jokichi used to think so too.
But now hearing Itachi say this, he realized this was all nonsense.
The true root cause was the Uchiha's arrogance and prejudice.
And the reason Obito used such words to fool Sasuke was that Sasuke also had this arrogance and prejudice, and it was even more severe than the average Uchiha.
However—
"Although the cause of all this is the Uchiha's arrogance and prejudice, the Uchiha did not do anything wrong. Are you pushing all the blame onto the Uchiha?"
Arrogance and prejudice are certainly annoying, but are arrogance and prejudice a crime?
No.
The Uchiha also did nothing wrong.
On the contrary, as the Konoha Police Force, they had always been dedicated and responsible, and making outstanding contributions to Konoha's public security was an undeniable fact.
But despite their contributions, not only did they not receive the rewards they deserved, they were targeted everywhere. Was this fair to them?
Jokichi stared at the back standing at the door, looking at that small and lonely figure.
Only at this time would he notice Itachi's true age.
He is not even 13 years old now.
Uchiha Itachi smiled.
He looked at the white snow falling from the sky, the corners of his mouth rising slightly, outlining a knowing smile.
"This world itself is unfair. If you want to survive in the world, you either conquer it or adapt to it. The Uchiha do not have the power to conquer, so they can only adapt to it. Unable to let go of the clan's arrogance and prejudice, being exterminated is only a matter of time."
"So you..."
"That is right, I want to obliterate the Uchiha's arrogance and prejudice." Itachi said resolutely.
Jokichi pondered slightly and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"I already have a plan."
"How sure are you?"
"I do not know." Itachi shook his head gently. "It is hard to say about this kind of thing, but I will remember Shisui's lesson and will not trust anyone."
"Not even me?" Jokichi teased with a smile.
Itachi turned back around, quietly gazing at him, remaining silent.
The room quieted down, with only the sound of the wind and snow blowing echoing.
After a long time, Jokichi smiled gently. "I was just curious about what you are going to do, I will not intervene and find trouble for myself."
Saying that, he threw Shisui's Sage Crystal to Itachi and continued, "But to prevent your action from failing and wasting my investment in vain, get two things done for me before you act."
"What things?"
"The blood or hair or something of the Uchiha clan, get a little bit from everyone for me. I do not need too much, a little bit is enough."
Itachi did not answer immediately, but looked at the Sage Crystal in his hand and fell into deep thought.
"Hey, you do not need to be so smart!" Jokichi shouted loudly.
Itachi looked up at Jokichi who was throwing a tantrum like a child, and his indifferent expression could not help but reveal a smile. "It is not that I am smart, but that your intention is too obvious."
"Tch, that is because I did not intend to hide it from you. After all, a lot of things rely on you to collect."
"Then do you need me to thank you for your trust?"
"No need, just do the things I entrusted you well."
"This is no problem, it can be done in a week. What is the second thing?"
"Teach me ninjutsu."
"What?"
Itachi's expression was obviously stunned. Although he quickly recovered his indifference, it was still caught by Jokichi.
"What is so strange?" Jokichi curled his lips and said, "I am only five years old now, I haven't gone to the Ninja Academy, I do not have family-inherited ninjutsu, let alone a master. Is there anything wrong with finding someone to learn ninjutsu?"
"No, there is nothing wrong." Itachi said, "However, I do not recommend you learn ninjutsu right now."
"Why?"
"For the past two months I have been investigating you, so I also know your training progress very well. My recommendation is to become proficient in ninja tool mastery first before practicing ninjutsu."
"But no matter how proficient one is with ninja tools, it is not as formidable as ninjutsu, right!"
"Speaking purely of power, it is indeed ninjutsu that is more formidable."
"Then there you have it."
"But ninja tools do not consume chakra and can handle most missions. In most situations, ninja tools are more useful than ninjutsu."
"I have a lot of chakra, I am not afraid of wasting it."
Itachi: "..."
Itachi fell into silence.
For some reason, he had the urge to beat the other party up.
But considering the positions both sides were in, after thinking twice, Itachi suppressed this urge very well.
"Even so, I still do not recommend you learn ninjutsu right now. It is hard to explain the specifics to you all at once. After I go back, I will make a long-term training plan for you, and you can just follow this plan."