The New Year in the Hokage world was similar to Neon in my previous life. The activities were basically prepared in the preceding days, and on New Year's Day itself, people actually had free time. Everyone poured onto the streets to play to their heart's content: the elderly, adults, children... The streets were filled with cheers and laughter, a scene of festivity.
And when night fell, as fireworks bloomed in the sky, the atmosphere reached its climax. People looked up at the sky one by one, watching fireworks of various colors and shapes bloom in the sky, their faces brimming with smiles.
Afterwards, the fireworks gradually decreased, and people began to parade the streets. Adults and children alike wore masks, playing on the extraordinarily bustling streets. Lanterns, sparklers, masks... Cheers and laughter constituted this festive day.
Jokichi and Naruto also blended into the crowd to join the fun. Especially Naruto, who held two lit sparklers in his hands, swinging them to draw circles of fire, attracting countless children to watch. Jokichi did not like the noise, standing far away to the side to watch. However, in his heart, he was thinking about Itachi's matter. He had said yesterday that he would start his action today.
It was already night now, the climax of the Spring Festival, and also the time when people let their guard down the most. If he was going to act, it could only be now. Would it go smoothly for him?
"Jokichi, they are playing ring toss over there, let's go take a look!" From a distance, Naruto's voice woke Jokichi up. He looked up; the sparklers in Naruto's hands had already burned out, and at this moment, he was looking ahead at a stall surrounded by many people. During the New Year festival, there were many more stalls for playing games.
"Alright, let's go take a look!" Jokichi nodded and went over with Naruto. Why should I care so much, I just need to live my own life well.
Unlike the bustle on the streets, the Hokage Building was very quiet at this time. It was the New Year, the office staff and ninjas were all on holiday, and only one or two guards on duty remained. Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen was also here. As the Hokage, he had many things to do. In particular, the deepening conflict between the Uchiha and the village had made his already busy official duties even heavier.
Although it was the Spring Festival right now, he had no choice but to stay in the Hokage Building to work overtime. Under the lamplight, Sarutobi Hiruzen was reviewing documents. Suddenly, the light flickered for a moment, and when it returned to normal, an extra person was already in the office. Dressed in Anbu attire and wearing a tanuki mask, he knelt on one knee in front of the desk.
Hiruzen raised his head, shifting his gaze from the documents to this suddenly appearing figure, the wrinkles on his brow becoming even more furrowed. "Itachi, coming to find me at this time, did something happen?" Although he was wearing a mask and keeping his head lowered, Hiruzen still recognized the identity of the Anbu in front of him at a glance from his aura. It was just that... for him, who acted as a double agent constantly passing intelligence between the Uchiha and the village, to suddenly come to him during this Spring Festival holiday... This gave Sarutobi a bad premonition in his heart. Could it be that on the Uchiha's side...
Amidst his thoughts, Itachi raised his head, and in his pair of blood-red pupils, a hexagonal diamond shape resembling a snowflake spun rapidly. The surrounding environment suddenly became illusory, as if reality and dreams were alternating. Hiruzen calmly looked left and right, his face gradually turning solemn. He put the document in his hand back on the desk, then took out his pipe, lit it, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled, a layer of gloom covering his aged face.
"Itachi, do you know what it means to attack the Hokage?"
"Betraying the village," Itachi replied without the slightest hint of emotion.
Hiruzen looked at Itachi kneeling in front of the desk, his cloudy eyes flickering slightly as Uchiha Itachi's growth process turned over in his mind, his character, conduct, pursuits, and beliefs emerging one by one. He closed his eyes, took a deep drag of smoke, and then slowly exhaled.
"I believe you will not betray the village."
"I do not plan to betray the village."
Do not plan to, in other words, if necessary, you do not mind betraying either? Hiruzen pondered Itachi's answer in his heart. Meanwhile, Itachi generously looked straight at him and continued, "Tsukuyomi can pull another person's consciousness into a world entirely constructed of the mind. In this world, both time and space are controlled by me. No matter how much time passes here, only an instant passes outside, therefore it cannot be dispelled by normal means."
"This kind of genjutsu, and that bizarre Sharingan, Itachi..." Hiruzen looked at him with surprise and uncertainty.
"That is right, this is the Mangekyo Sharingan," Itachi said in a low voice. "After Shisui had one eye snatched by Danzo, he found me. He entrusted the remaining eye to me, hoping I could peacefully resolve the conflict between the clan and the village, and then committed suicide by jumping into the river in front of me." Hearing Itachi mention Shisui, Hiruzen's mood also became heavy.
He lowered his gaze, staring at the desktop, and sighed, "I am very sorry about Shisui's matter, but..." "I do not have any abnormal thoughts. Apart from feeling sad for Shisui, I have been thinking about how to resolve the conflict between the clan and the village." Itachi interrupted Hiruzen's words.
Although he knelt on one knee in front of Hiruzen, his gaze did not shrink back in the slightest. "Shisui's death allowed me to awaken the same eyes as his, no, it should be stronger eyes. Apart from my own unique visual jutsu, I also awakened the same visual jutsu as his."
"Could it be..." Hiruzen looked at Itachi in shock, his aged and hunched body trembling slightly.
"That is right, it is Kotoamatsukami."
Itachi generously admitted it, although some facts were not exactly as he said. Just as expected! Hiruzen's cloudy eyes widened slightly. Although he had such a guess when he heard Itachi mention it, hearing Itachi admit it, he still could not help but gasp.
It was truly because this jutsu Kotoamatsukami was too broken. As long as one knew of the existence of this jutsu and knew that the person who mastered this jutsu had appeared in front of them, they would not be able to help but doubt whether their thoughts had been changed and whether they had already been controlled.
But Hiruzen was worthy of being the Hokage who had been in power the longest. He was very good at controlling his emotions. Apart from the slight abnormality just now, no surprise regarding this news could be seen on his face. He looked at Itachi in silence for a good while before asking, "Do you want to use Kotoamatsukami on me?"
"I have already used it on the clan, and it will take more than ten years to use it again," Itachi said indifferently.
Hiruzen let out a deep breath, his restless heart due to Kotoamatsukami calming down a bit. At the same time, Itachi's words meant that the conflict between the Uchiha and the village could be resolved peacefully, and the heavy burden that had always pressed on his heart had loosened a lot. But facing the person in front of him, Hiruzen felt deeply guilty, yet at the same time very gratified.
Although he was an Uchiha, he had perfectly integrated the Will of Fire. Perhaps the new era of Konoha would be taken up by him. If possible, he also hoped to see the Uchiha's visage left on the Hokage Rock.
Hiruzen thought silently in his heart, but his face showed complete apology, "I am sorry, this was originally something I should have done as Hokage, but in the end, it required the Uchiha to sacrifice their own interests to make concessions."
"You do not need to apologize to me, I did not make the clan step back." Itachi shook his head gently.
"The Uchiha did nothing wrong. They have no reason to be treated like this. If you want to peacefully resolve the conflict between the clan and the village, the village needs to make concessions."