Itachi's Truth

The many Shadow Clones had completed their tasks well.

In an extremely short time, they had already gone through every episode and chapter of the Naruto anime and manga.

After the Shadow Clones dispersed, those scattered fragments gathered in Naruto's mind, connecting into a complete storyline.

Naruto had only just briefly reunited with his parents before being separated from them again. Before he even had time to feel much sorrow, his mind was completely occupied by the countless pieces of future information that had appeared out of nowhere.

Setting aside the pure filler flashbacks and irrelevant content.

The major events at every key point in the future—the main storyline—could be distilled as follows.

It began with graduating from the Ninja Academy, being assigned to Team 7 and forming bonds with Sakura and Sasuke, earning the approval of Kakashi, their Jonin instructor, through the bell test, and then beginning the routine missions of a Genin.

Then came the Land of Waves mission, the Chunin Exam, the Konoha Crush Plan, and Sasuke's defection.

Tsunade was brought back to become the Fifth Hokage, foreshadowing the great threat of Akatsuki. After that, he left the village to train with his master, Jiraiya.

The first part of Naruto ended there.

After that came Shippuden.

This arc began with Naruto returning to Konoha after nearly three years of training.

Akatsuki, which had been dormant for years, finally completed its final preparations and began carrying out its plan to capture the Tailed Beasts. They sent out two S-Rank Rogue Ninjas, Deidara and Sasori, whose strength rivaled that of Kage.

The two attacked Sunagakure and captured Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki who had already become the Kazekage.

Sunagakure appealed to Konoha for help. Naruto and the others accepted the mission and began their efforts to rescue Gaara.

After that came Akatsuki's immortal duo, Kakuzu and Hidan, also S-Rank Rogue Ninjas. Sarutobi Asuma died, and Naruto created the Wind Style S-Rank Ninjutsu Rasenshuriken and killed them.

After that came the emergence of the Three-Tails, Jiraiya infiltrating Amegakure, Sasuke defeating Orochimaru, who had wanted to take over his body, forming Team Hawk, and battling Deidara...

Naruto quickly scanned through the information in his memories. Although most of it concerned him, as well as his future enemies, friends, and family, he did not feel much connection to it.

After all, the real him and that hot-blooded idiot from the manga were completely different people.

Aside from the other Naruto's techniques and the information on hostile ninja, which held some reference value for the real Naruto, there was no further sense of immersion.

He simply could not understand why the Naruto in the manga, who had grown up in the same environment as him, could still remain so passionate and sunny, as if he had permanently equipped a positive-energy personality buff.

Was the brainwashing effect of the Will of Fire really that strong?

Put anyone else in that kind of environment, and it would already be impressive if they did not seek revenge against society.

And the extreme avenger Sasuke from the manga was fundamentally different from the real Sasuke, who was somewhat gloomy but still fairly normal and knew right from wrong.

Naruto could understand Sasuke's changes to some extent. After all, the real Sasuke had Naruto's companionship and encouragement.

But the one in the manga had endured the betrayal of the person closest to him and carried everything alone as he moved forward.

Until Naruto saw Sasuke's final battle with Itachi.

And heard the truth about Itachi from the mouth of that masked man who called himself Uchiha Madara.

For the first time, Naruto's expression shifted.

Skipping over the rest, Naruto deliberately began searching for information about Itachi. In the end, he finally reconstructed the full truth behind the Uchiha Clan's massacre.

"From the era when the village had just been founded, because of the hatred left behind between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan during the Warring States Period, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, one of the village's leaders, had always regarded the Uchiha Clan with suspicion and distrust."

"So the Second Hokage handed the Military Police Force, a department that appeared powerful and prestigious but actually made enemies everywhere, to the Uchiha Clan."

"On top of that, the Uchiha Clan was naturally proud and quick-tempered. They were a hereditary ninja family, poorly educated and limited in wisdom. They did not understand crisis management, did not understand putting on a smiling face, and understood even less that the duties of the police and city inspectors needed to be separated."

"So they easily fell into the Second Hokage's trap, successfully offending most of the villagers and becoming targets of public criticism, cutting off their clan's possibility of producing a Hokage."

"But the Second Hokage did not go too far. He accepted Kagami Uchiha, an Uchiha clansman who did not limit himself to his clan and possessed the Will of Fire, as his disciple, rather than completely isolating the Uchiha from the upper ranks."

"It was a form of appeasement amid vigilance, showing a deep understanding of balance."

"Afterward, the Second Hokage died. Sarutobi Hiruzen became the Third Hokage and formed the new leadership with Tobirama Senju's three other disciples: Utatane Koharu, Shimura Danzō, and Mitokado Homura."

"They inherited the Second Hokage's practice of excluding the Uchiha Clan, but not his understanding of balance. They had no idea that excess was as bad as deficiency."

"So their other fellow disciple, Kagami Uchiha, either due to a plot or an accident, died young while protecting Shimura Danzō."

"After that, the Uchiha Clan, one of the key clans that had founded the village, continued to be excluded by everyone in the village. They were also completely shut out of the upper ranks, their path of advancement severed."

"Then came the Nine-Tailed Riot. Kurama was controlled by that Masked Man, and the Sharingan in his eyes became evidence for the leadership to continue excluding the Uchiha Clan. This time, the entire Uchiha Clan was driven to a place far from the village center."

"At that point, the Uchiha had completely lost the people's support within the village and had even stirred up deep resentment."

"Living in such an environment, the Uchiha Clan came to hate the leadership even more and sought to reclaim the authority and status that should have been theirs. The conflict between the two sides intensified, and the Uchiha began to consider a coup."

"Against this backdrop, Uchiha Shisui appeared. He worried about both the village and his clan, wished to ease the conflict between them, possessed a broader heart and greater vision than ordinary Uchiha, was a descendant of Kagami Uchiha, and had been deeply influenced by the Will of Fire."

"He possessed extraordinary ninja talent. At a young age, he had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, along with a dojutsu called Kotoamatsukami, which could silently alter another person's will."

"But in the end, Shisui's efforts failed. The conflict between the village and the clan only grew more intense, reaching the point where it could no longer be eased. They saw Shisui, who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, as their trump card and wanted to launch a coup."