Incurably Insane

"Who the hell are you, you rude bastard?!"

The haughty little boy's dark pupils abruptly widened, clearly furious beyond measure.

Naruto frowned and shifted slightly to the side, but his gaze remained fixed on the figure several meters away. His hands began methodically removing the weighted lead blocks and arm guards he had bought from the ninja tool shop.

Ever since discovering this place, he had been wondering who its owner was. He had sensed the two men's Chakra long ago and guessed that the owners of the training ground might have arrived, so he had waited here.

Itachi Uchiha had been among his suspects. After all, this place was mostly filled with targets for throwing shuriken and kunai, and every target bore marks of flawless bullseyes without exception.

Still, Itachi bringing Sasuke here had surprised him somewhat. Given the current relationship between their clan and the village, shouldn't he have been quite busy?

Naruto quickly finished removing his weighted gear. Squatting down, he took out the Sealing Scroll he had bought at a steep price from the ninja tool shop and sealed the equipment into it one piece at a time.

The scroll alone had cost him half a year's savings. Compared to it, all the weighted equipment seemed like freebies. On top of that, the Sealing Scroll had a limited number of uses.

By the time Naruto finished what he was doing, Sasuke beside him had already clenched his fists in fury, his body trembling with agitation.

"Bastard! You're actually ignoring me!"

Normally, in the village, even if people did not know who he was, as long as they recognized the Uchiha Clan Crest on his clothes, no one dared to treat him as though he did not exist.

"Enough, Sasuke. We're all from the same village, so don't mind it. This place was meant to be used. Besides, this kid looks stronger than you."

As Naruto put away the scroll, Itachi Uchiha had already walked over.

"Hello. I'm Itachi Uchiha, and this is my younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Have you been training here these past few months?"

His low, magnetic voice carried over. The lines beneath his eyes—whether nasolabial folds or tear troughs—made him seem exceptionally steady and mature. His demeanor also gave him an air of mystery and aloofness.

Looking at Itachi Uchiha standing only two or three steps away, Naruto realized he had to raise his eyes slightly to look up at him. He was currently only one meter twenty tall.

He also felt that Itachi's gaze was somewhat sharp. He had probably recognized Naruto's identity.

Naruto nodded and replied, "I'm sorry for using your training ground without permission. Also, thank you for deliberately leaving those ninja tools behind."

"Hmph, hmph! You've heard of the Uchiha name, haven't you? Shouldn't you tell us who you are?"

After hearing Naruto's apology, the haughtiness on Sasuke's face immediately escalated into outright arrogance. He let out a heavy snort, then hurriedly stood close beside Itachi, trying hard to put on the air of an adult.

Naruto did not know whether to laugh or cry. This kid really was attached to his brother right now, but why did he feel like Sasuke was borrowing Itachi's authority? To endure that kind of blow after the clan massacre, Sasuke had truly been strong.

"Your brother already knows who I am. Since I was caught red-handed by the owners today, I'll be leaving first."

Naruto expressionlessly glanced at the still-childish Sasuke. As he spoke, he stepped forward, intending to leave from Itachi's side.

But at the instant he passed Itachi, the notification sound in his mind suddenly exploded.

Naruto immediately halted, then instantly turned back and extended his hand toward Itachi Uchiha.

"Hello! After thinking it over carefully, I feel that when facing such a prestigious clan as the Uchiha, I should properly introduce myself."

Itachi Uchiha looked down at Naruto, obvious surprise flashing through his eyes. However, he was a very polite person. Seeing Naruto's outstretched hand, he naturally reached out and shook it.

Data collection in progress.

"Hello, my name is Uzumaki Naruto."

Collection complete! Current data completeness updated to 5%. Please complete the data as soon as possible!

"Thank you very much! I should be getting home now!"

After hearing those words, Naruto sincerely thanked him, released his hand, then naturally turned around and walked away without looking back, leaving only his back for the Uchiha brothers.

"What a weirdo! Huh? Nisan! I've seen that guy before. I recognize his hair!"

Sasuke suddenly cried out excitedly as he watched Naruto walk away.

"Yes. He wore a mask last winter."

Itachi Uchiha softly prompted him. Watching Naruto leave the grove, he seemed to think of something, and an inexplicable trace of worry appeared on his face.

The moment Naruto left the grove, he used the Transformation Jutsu to change his appearance. Then, after hurrying all the way back, he returned to his small building.

With a thought, he entered the Mirrored World. After carefully reading the update description, he followed the prompt to the Uchiha Clan Compound and soon found Itachi Uchiha's figure.

Naruto walked straight up to Itachi Uchiha's character, and a Pop-up Box appeared.

"Would you like to view this character's related story?"

Naruto pressed play, only to find himself on a battlefield filled with flying ninjutsu. The scene suddenly zoomed in, and he saw Itachi Uchiha, around seven or eight years old, wielding kunai in both hands as he moved through the battlefield like a ghost, continuously taking one fresh life after another.

"This does feel a little like watching a movie." Naruto found the functions from this update rather interesting.

Soon, the story reached the part where Itachi Uchiha joined the Anbu. Kakashi, Might Guy, and even Orochimaru kept appearing onscreen.

Before long, the story reached the night of the Nine-Tails' Rampage. From that point onward, the village began suppressing and excluding the Uchiha Clan, and the divide between the clan and the village began. The images continued until Itachi's father, Fugaku Uchiha, ordered him to act as the clan's informant in the Anbu and monitor Konoha's higher-ups—especially Shisui Uchiha—before finally disappearing.

After watching it all, Naruto discovered that aside from Itachi Uchiha's many agonized inner monologues, there were also many interesting details about Konoha's higher-ups and the Uchiha Clan.

For example, his father, Minato Namikaze, had nearly failed to become Hokage. More importantly, most of the Uchiha Clan had already gone to extremes. Some of them could even be called severely mentally ill.

Moreover, every one of those lunatics had awakened the Sharingan. Even the ones with somewhat normal personalities were incredibly arrogant. Yet that arrogance was also nearing its breaking point. In the eyes of those lunatics, the ordinary Uchiha were nothing more than dependents.

Itachi Uchiha had also reached the Three Tomoe stage of the Sharingan. After reading his inner monologues, Naruto realized that Itachi was already under immense mental strain. He was not far from becoming mentally ill himself; he only needed to cross some threshold in his heart.

Even from the anime plot Naruto knew well, it was clear that while Itachi Uchiha was now lost because of the tense relationship between his clan and the village, he was no different from the other Uchiha Clansmen. At his core, he was just as conceited and arrogant.

Looking at it now, that mature and steady impression Itachi had given him during their earlier meeting had really been a convincing act. No wonder Kabuto Yakushi had said that Itachi Uchiha was the best at deceiving people.

After being brought back through Impure World Reincarnation in the anime, Itachi himself had admitted that, in order to protect the peace of the village, he had never believed in anyone else's strength while alive. He had only been willing to save things in his own way. After Shisui died, he believed that slaughtering his clan had been unavoidable and completely justified.

Instead of first settling the score with Danzo, he had immediately blamed Shisui's sacrifice entirely on the tragedy caused by the clan's pressure, because Shisui had entrusted him with protecting the village's peace.

Naruto had never been able to understand that line of thinking when he watched the story in his previous life.

But now that he had come to this world, he understood it somewhat.

This was the First's fault.

After killing his best friend, Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju had said that protecting the village was his only belief. To protect the village, whether it was his friends, brothers, or children, as long as they dared to become enemies of the village, he would never spare them.

Itachi Uchiha had indeed perfectly inherited the Will of Fire, but shouldn't this have been something the Third Hokage, also a Hokage, did personally?

When was it Itachi Uchiha's turn to prove his loyalty here?

In the end, the Third Hokage only talked about communicating with the Uchiha, but from beginning to end, he was merely a nice old man who never acted. Danzo only needed a few threats, exploiting Itachi's desire to protect Sasuke. One played the good cop, and the other played the bad cop.

They directly made an Uchiha kill the Uchiha, turning him into a blade in their hands.

What Naruto found even stranger was that Itachi clearly knew Danzo coveted the Sharingan, yet afterward he still left his younger brother, who could awaken it, in Konoha.

Danzo had even dared to secretly transplant the First's cells. Wasn't Itachi afraid something might happen to his foolish little brother?

If that was not insanity, then what was?