Mind Your Own Business, Itachi

"Why?!"

Rejected by Kaze, Sasuke immediately widened his round eyes and blurted out a retort without thinking.

"You're not my disciple, so why should I teach you Ninjutsu?" Kaze replied teasingly, folding his arms across his chest.

Sasuke was the male lead of Naruto.

Whether it came to combat instincts or practical talent, neither was lacking.

If not for the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall, he would not have become a avenger at such a young age.

Living beneath a shadow every day.

In other words, if Kaze prevented the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall and gave him proper guidance—

Sasuke would not only have a happy childhood.

One day in the future, he would also become a bright, cheerful young man.

Most importantly...

Unlike Shisui and Itachi, Sasuke did not possess a deeply ingrained Will of Fire.

Kaze could take advantage of the fact that Sasuke's worldview had not yet been shaped incorrectly.

And raise him into a successor of socialism.

Of course, although Kaze had such intentions, he did not make them too obvious.

Instead, he used a tactic of playing hard to get, planting a seed in Sasuke's heart.

"Then I can also..."

Just as Sasuke was about to say that he could become Kaze's disciple too, his voice abruptly cut off. His vision went black, and he tipped backward, falling stiffly to the ground.

At the crucial moment, Kaze reacted quickly and grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder, preventing him from hitting the ground.

"He probably used up too much Chakra and collapsed from exhaustion," Shisui said as he scrutinized Sasuke with his Sharingan, finding that he had almost no Chakra left.

So-called Chakra was actually the combination of spiritual energy and physical energy.

No matter how gifted a child was, the amount of Chakra they possessed could not compare to that of an adult.

And after using the Great Fireball Technique so many times in a row, even a Chunin would have had a hard time handling it.

Not to mention Sasuke, who was only five years old.

"This kid really works hard."

Kaze looked at Sasuke, whose delicate, adorable features resembled those of a girl, then simply carried him in a princess hold. "I'll take him home."

"See you, Shisui."

With that, Kaze ignored Shisui's reaction, kicked off hard with both feet, and vanished from the spot.

"Come to think of it, Kaze will be attending tonight's Clan Meeting too, won't he?"

Shisui stared at the empty clearing ahead and suddenly recalled it.

After the roof-blasting incident, Fudaku, as Clan Head, had granted Kaze permission to attend the Clan Meeting.

"I hope tonight's Clan Meeting passes peacefully."

With that, Shisui headed off in another direction, leaving the Naka River.

As the Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan—

Even though he had been driven to the edge of the village, Fugaku had still been assigned the largest house.

After running for several minutes, Kaze arrived at the entrance to Fugaku's home.

"Kaze?"

Just as Kaze was about to enter Fugaku's courtyard and hand Sasuke over to Mikoto, a deep voice called out to him.

Hearing it, Kaze instinctively turned his head and discovered that the newcomer was none other than Sasuke's older brother.

The Uchiha Clan's number-two traitor.

Itachi Uchiha.

He had just finished his work in the Anbu and happened to be returning home for dinner.

He had not expected to see Kaze holding Sasuke at the door.

Itachi immediately raised an eyebrow. "What happened to Sasuke?"

Both his expression and tone revealed a hint of nervousness.

"Overexertion of Chakra."

Kaze met Itachi's gaze. "Sasuke has been working very hard recently to practice the Great Fireball Technique."

As he spoke, Kaze flashed directly in front of Itachi and tossed Sasuke into his arms.

"All right, I should get going."

Itachi first looked down at Sasuke in his arms. Only after confirming that, as Kaze had said, Sasuke had merely overexerted his Chakra did the weight in his heart finally lift.

"Wait, Kaze... Brother."

Itachi paused, but ultimately added the honorific.

Earlier that day, he had attended the meeting with Fugaku and personally witnessed Kaze's Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

He had instantly defeated a powerful opponent like Aburame Ryoma.

His strength was in no way inferior to Itachi's own.

"There's something I don't understand."

"Hmm?" Kaze stopped and turned back to look at Itachi.

"Brother Kaze clearly possesses such great strength, so why did you deliberately disguise it?" Itachi asked with a serious expression.

Before Kaze made his move, Itachi had always believed that Kaze had only become a Chunin because of the Uchiha Clan's backing.

That he was a weak Uchiha.

But the truth was completely the opposite.

Not only was Kaze not weak, he possessed tremendous power.

Itachi even suspected that if Aburame Ryoma had not made the first move today and injected the poisonous Phosphorus Blight Worms into Kaze's body—

Kaze's greatest secret would still not have been exposed.

Compared with those arrogant Uchiha clansmen who thought highly of themselves and pursued strength above all else, Kaze was practically a breath of fresh air.

He wanted to know what Kaze's motives were for doing this.

And...

What his stance was.

In Kaze's heart, was narrow clan-first ideology truly more important—

Or was he, like Itachi and Brother Shisui, an outstanding ninja who had inherited the Will of Fire?

"When did you get the mistaken impression that I was deliberately disguising myself?" Kaze tilted his head and scrutinized Itachi with an expression of confusion.

If they were talking about concealing his Sharingan, that was true enough.

But when it came to Lightning Release, he really had not been pretending.

Because he had truly only gained this power recently.

If he had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit five years ago, he would have charged out on the Night of the Nine-Tails' Rampage and done everything possible to protect Minato Namikaze.

"Uh..." Itachi was briefly stunned.

Naturally, he had no way of knowing the truth that Kaze had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

He merely understood Kaze's words to mean that Kaze had never had any reason or motivation to act before.

You were the ones who decided from the start that I was weak.

Deliberately?

Disguising myself?

Those things had never had anything to do with me.

"Indeed."

Itachi nodded. "We have always underestimated your strength."

"But..."

"Brother Kaze, with power like yours, remaining in the Security Force is like burying gold in the dirt."

What Itachi meant was that he hoped Kaze could, like him, break free from narrow clan-first ideology.

And devote himself wholeheartedly to serving the village.

"Mind your own business."

Yet Kaze only dismissed Itachi's well-intentioned advice with disdain.

After all, when Itachi was four years old, Kaze had tried to change his way of thinking.

The result had not only ended in failure, but Kaze had even been lectured by Itachi at the time.

Now, whenever he saw Itachi's irritating face, as though he had seen through everything, Kaze had no desire to argue.

He simply turned around and left.

In another two hours, the Uchiha Clan Meeting would begin.

And the contents of that meeting were also of crucial importance to him.

"Kaze."

Left standing where he was, Itachi watched Kaze's departing back, his emotions complicated.

He remembered that when they were children, Kaze had treated him very well. Like the older brother next door, Kaze often invited him over to play and prepared delicious Three-Colored Dango.

But at some point, a barrier had gradually appeared between him and Kaze.

Their relationship had not only grown more distant and estranged.

Sometimes, when Kaze looked at him, there was also a trace of irritation in his eyes.

To the point where Itachi understood Kaze less and less.

"He clearly possesses such power, yet lacks the bearing to match it..."

Shaking his head, Itachi carried Sasuke into the house.