[Ōnoki: Is this Uchiha Itachi really so arrogant? He doesn't take anyone seriously.]
[Hanzo of the Salamander: When it comes to showing off, I, Hanzo of the Salamander, hereby declare you the strongest.]
[Tokuma Hyuga: You arrogant brat of the Uchiha Clan, don't get too full of yourself!]
Hyuga Hiashi was relaxing at home, drinking tea with his younger brother, Hizashi Hyuga, when the clan elder's words shocked him so much that he spat out his tea.
"Sorry, Hizashi!" Hiashi hurriedly wiped the tea off his brother, sighing inwardly.
The perceptive Hizashi spotted his brother's weariness at once.
"People in the clan have gotten too arrogant lately. They keep going on about being Konoha's number one ninja clan and don't take anyone else seriously," Hiashi said with a sigh.
As clan head, he knew the Hyuga Clan's situation better than anyone. His troubles could rival those of the Uchiha Clan, yet someone was still making such outrageous boasts.
It was no wonder the clan had become so hard to manage. The Uchiha Clan had been keeping a low profile lately, leading the elders in the village to believe the time had come to restore the Hyuga Clan to its former glory.
Even those red-eyed people in the Uchiha Clan could see the situation for what it was, so why couldn't the old holdouts in his own clan?
Day after day, they enjoyed their status as members of the Main Family and the branch family's services, yet never gave a thought to doing anything for the Hyuga Clan.
"They're getting harder and harder to manage," Hiashi sighed again.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Fugaku was overwhelmed with self-reproach as he watched his son on the screen. He had never imagined that his son would one day become like this.
"Fugaku, are you all right?" Mikoto asked with concern.
Her voice brought Fugaku back to reality. He hadn't expected his son to actually side with the Hokage in the future, or to disregard even him.
"Fugaku, look. Itachi still has something he cares about in the footage," Mikoto said considerately.
So that's how it is. Will I have another son in the future? Seeing how sweet and adorable Sasuke was as a little boy on the screen, Fugaku temporarily put his other thoughts aside.
"A boy this cute will surely grow up to be a well-mannered young man."
Then he looked at his eldest son again, and anger surged through him once more. The boy really didn't know how to show him any consideration.
"Clan head, why don't we..." Uchiha Inabi said at that inopportune moment.
Before he could finish, Uchiha Mikoto unleashed a torrent of abuse on him. The usually good-tempered Mikoto simply couldn't hold back today, and she scolded Uchiha Inabi until he couldn't lift his head.
Uchiha Inabi could only look to Uchiha Yashiro, hoping Yashiro would put in a word for him. Instead, Yashiro hurriedly looked elsewhere, refusing to meet Inabi's eyes.
Seriously, man, are you stupid? Do you hear what you're saying? You want to go after the clan head's son, who's only a few years old? Aren't you just amazing? Why don't you fly up to heaven while you're at it?
Uchiha Fugaku looked furious as well. Uchiha Inabi, if you don't know how to speak, keep your mouth shut instead of blurting out everything that comes to mind.
Inabi looked embarrassed and hurriedly apologized to Uchiha Mikoto, then tucked his tail between his legs and left the clan head's house.
"Please calm down, clan head. Uchiha Inabi has always spoken without thinking," Uchiha Yashiro hurriedly explained.
Mikoto didn't even want to be civil to them now. Other people could talk about her son, but what were these people, who couldn't even beat her son in the future, doing stirring up trouble?
They could only withdraw helplessly. After all, the situation was a little awkward.
At the same time, Shisui looked at the Itachi beside him, then at the Itachi on the screen. He couldn't help wondering whether his death in the footage had caused Itachi too much pain.
How could the considerate Itachi of today have been driven to become like that?
Does this mean I can't die in the future? Shisui wondered.
"Don't worry, Shisui. Maybe something happened in the future that caused the conflict between the village and the Uchiha to grow." Although Itachi was only a few years old now, he could already make out the situation.
Ultimately, it all went back to the Nine-Tails' Attack. The Konoha High Command no longer trusted the Uchiha Clan, and on top of that, the Uchiha Clan was proud by nature.
Once the Uchiha Clan was falsely accused, asking them to explain themselves was like asking to kill them.
Whatever happened, the Uchiha Clan kept it bottled up inside and rarely confided in others.
"Sigh, we can only hope things turn out differently from that future," Shisui said.
The Hokage's office was in chaos.
"Hiruzen, we absolutely cannot leave the Uchiha Clan alone this time," Danzo said.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had a headache. Why had he thought to ask Danzo for his opinion? Now that he had summoned Danzo, Hiruzen immediately regretted it.
"When the time comes, we can bring all the Uchiha Clan's genius ninja into Root, especially Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi." Danzo continued, completely oblivious to the change in Hiruzen's expression.
"Enough, Danzo. I called you here to discuss our attitude toward the Uchiha Clan, not to have you deal with them," Hiruzen said angrily.
"Hiruzen, the Uchiha Clan will never settle down. You saw it too—they aren't content in the future," Danzo pressed.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said firmly.
Danzo wanted to say more, but Hiruzen Sarutobi kept staring him down, so he could only drop the matter quietly.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this."
At this stage, the village wasn't that harsh toward the Uchiha Clan. On the contrary, it gave them a great deal of autonomy, and most members of the Uchiha Clan had never considered betraying Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew this, and something must have happened in the future to make the Uchiha Clan so radical in the footage on the screen.
The people in the chat room were still discussing Uchiha Itachi's ranking.
[Mei Terumi: By the way, didn't you notice?]
[Ōnoki: Notice what?]
Seeing that the others looked confused, Mei Terumi spoke slowly.
[Mei Terumi: Uchiha Itachi looks so handsome in the footage!]
[Yugito Nii: !!!!]
[Rin: !!!!]
[Anko: !!!!]
[Mei Terumi: Why are you all so surprised? Uchiha Itachi really is handsome.]
[Ōnoki: It looks like Uchiha Itachi had a serious conflict with his clan in the footage. Was it because of Shisui's death?]
[Shikaku Nara: Whatever the case, it's an internal matter for the Uchiha Clan. It wouldn't be right for outsiders to discuss it.]
[Tokuma Hyuga: Look, Uchiha Itachi is clearly dissatisfied even with his own father.]
Everyone was stunned by this oddball from the Hyuga Clan. It wasn't as though they were blind. They had all seen it, so why hadn't they said anything? Wasn't it because they were afraid of offending the Uchiha Clan?
They hadn't expected there to be a hothead who really wasn't afraid to die.
[Fugaku: Indeed, the Hyuga Clan need not trouble itself over the Uchiha Clan's internal affairs.]
[Itachi: My father is right.]
The father and son silenced Tokuma Hyuga. Then he smiled contemptuously. So this is all the Uchiha Clan amounts to.
[Tokuma: I only hope your clan's disgraceful affairs won't become a laughingstock for people from other villages.]
[Hizashi Hyuga: Be quiet, Elder Tokuma. This isn't something we should interfere in.]
[Tokuma: Since when does someone from the branch family get a say here?]
[Hyuga Hiashi: What, can't even I tell you to be quiet?]
At that point, Hyuga Hiashi finally stepped in to stop him. If he stayed silent any longer, there was no telling how many more people Tokuma would offend.
Hearing the clan head speak, Tokuma could only shut his mouth, though he clearly remained unconvinced.