Everything Was for Konohagakure!

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked at Uchiha Itachi, his eyes filled with regret, sorrow, and a trace of guilt.

"Itachi, I'm sorry. As Hiruzen Sarutobi, I sincerely want to apologize to Uchiha Kazuna. But as the Hokage, I must take responsibility for the entire village."

"A Hokage is destined to place the whole village in his heart, not any single individual."

"That is the Hokage's duty!"

"Ever since Uchiha Kazuna took control of the Uchiha, the conflict between the Uchiha and the village has only grown more intense."

"I feel it too," Itachi said gravely. "So, we kill Kazuna first and return the Uchiha to what they were before. Then, I will continue guiding the Uchiha."

"Once the Uchiha directly clash with the village, the final result will undoubtedly be all of Konohagakure engulfed in war."

Itachi's voice was firm and powerful. "That must never happen!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed again. "Yes, it absolutely must not."

"Itachi, did you come here because you have intelligence on Kazuna?" Mitokado Homura asked.

"I have two pieces of intelligence."

"What?"

F4 perked up.

Including Danzo!

Although the assassination attempt against Kazuna had failed, he would not place the blame on Itachi.

He clearly remembered that Itachi had told him more than once that Uchiha Kazuna was strong—extremely strong. He was the strongest person Itachi had ever seen!

With that being the case, how could the failed assassination be blamed on Itachi?

It could only be said that Uchiha Kazuna was too strong!

"The first piece of intelligence concerns the Mangekyō!"

Itachi said in a deep voice, "According to my investigation, the Mangekyō Sharingan has enormous side effects. The more it is used, the blurrier one's vision becomes, eventually leading to complete blindness."

"Moreover, using the Mangekyō also causes the user tremendous pain."

"Hmm?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

They had long known this.

As Tobirama Senju's disciples, they knew that his research into Uchiha power had been even more thorough than the Uchiha's own.

Naturally, terrifying forbidden power like the Mangekyō had not been an exception.

Still, though they had already known this information, hearing it from Itachi carried a different meaning.

Without question, in the eyes of the four of them, Itachi had become even more trustworthy.

"The second piece of intelligence is that Uchiha Kazuna will most likely leave the village for a period of time."

F4 immediately grew tense.

Mitokado Homura said, "Leave the village? What is he going to do?"

"I don't know." Itachi said regretfully, "He does not trust me. Or rather, he trusts no one. Even his closest subordinates, such as Yashiro, are only given assignments by Uchiha Kazuna. He forbids them from contacting one another in private."

The eyes of the others flashed.

To Danzo and the rest, this intelligence was worth more than the previous two pieces combined.

Any Konohagakure ninja leaving the village had to go through the Hokage and the others. Kazuna could not hide it at all.

Unless he wanted to become a Rogue Ninja.

If that happened, it would be wonderful. The Hokage and the others were just worrying over the lack of a reason to deal with him and the Uchiha!

As for the secret of the Mangekyō, they had known that long ago.

Yet Itachi's seemingly casual final remark contained important intelligence instead... Kazuna was naturally suspicious and did not trust even his own subordinates.

That left plenty of room for manipulation.

"Hmph!" Danzo snorted. "What a man filled with darkness!"

Huh?

Huh?!

Everyone, including the Third Hokage, could not help turning to look at Danzo.

Itachi nearly bit his tongue.

Danzo was calling someone else filled with darkness?

That was truly something he never thought he would see in his lifetime!

"Why are you all looking at me?" Danzo snorted angrily. "Could it be that in your eyes, I am that... Hmph. Everything I do is for Konohagakure!"

The looks in their eyes grew even stranger.

The Hokage looked at Itachi and said gently, "Itachi, on behalf of Konohagakure, I thank you. You are a great ninja. For the peace of Konohagakure, you have made enormous sacrifices. Thank you!"

Itachi was somewhat at a loss. "Y-you are too kind."

He glanced at Danzo and said, "Everything was for Konohagakure!"

Danzo: "..."

The Hokage: "..."

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura: "..."

Why did they suddenly have such a bad feeling?

Whenever Danzo said those words, what was usually happening?

Damn!

It was an illusion!

It had to be an illusion!

Itachi was utterly loyal to the village. He was unquestionably a trustworthy inheritor of the Will of Fire!

When he said those words, they came from the bottom of his heart.

They should not overthink it!

Still, they could not help feeling uneasy!

Uchiha Itachi used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the Hokage's office.

This time, Kazuna was not drinking tea or carrying a birdcage. Instead, he was reading the palm of an Uchiha Beauty.

"Oh my, Shiraha, if you ask me, your palm says you are destined for great wealth and status. In the future, you'll become the wife of the Uchiha Clan Head, perhaps even the wife of a village leader. How extraordinary!"

The beauty rolled her eyes fiercely, but she did not withdraw her delicate hand, allowing Kazuna to hold it as he continued feeling her bones and reading her palm.

Whoosh!

Itachi appeared.

The beauty glanced at him, withdrew her hand, and rose to stand behind Kazuna.

Kazuna looked deeply reluctant to part with her. "Itachi, if nothing's wrong, don't come looking for me. If something is wrong, don't come looking for me either."

Uchiha Itachi was visibly stunned for a moment, staring at Kazuna speechlessly.

The beauty stretched out her hand and pinched Kazuna hard.

"Fine, fine!" Kazuna said helplessly. "Go on, what is it?"

"Following your instructions, I just came from the Hokage's office." Uchiha Itachi nodded to the beauty before turning to Kazuna. "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?"

"You can leave the village without anyone noticing. Why deliberately tell the Hokage? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

A ninja who left the village without authorization would be judged a Rogue Ninja, though that depended on who it was.

There had been more than one or two such examples in Konohagakure!

"If I leave quietly, how will the Hokage and the others send people to assassinate me?" Kazuna asked in return. "My goal has always been very simple: continuously weaken the Hokage Faction's power."

A chill appeared in his eyes. "Let them come. The more, the better. Moths flying into the flame, seeking their own destruction. And besides..."

He looked at the Divine Tree within his Sea of Consciousness.

The Divine Tree needed to devour life energy in order to bear stronger Fruit.

Although he had killed twenty Jonin, he had not absorbed a single bit of their life energy.

Why?

First, he was worried someone observant would notice. If a perfectly good corpse turned into a Mummy, anyone would investigate. Second, leaving body parts behind made for a better deterrent.

There were so many ninjas in the Shinobi World. He did not lack those twenty!

There would be plenty of opportunities to feed the Divine Tree!

Itachi fell silent for a moment. "And what about that last sentence? Why did you specifically make me say, at the end, 'Everything was for Konohagakure'?"

Everything was for Konohagakure, my ass.

"Haha!" Kazuna could not help laughing out loud. "Quick, tell me, what expressions did the Hokage and the others have? I'm really curious!"

"You really do have a twisted sense of humor." Itachi gave a bitter smile. "The Hokage and the others had, well, very peculiar expressions. Yes, peculiar. In your words..."

"They looked like they'd eaten shit!"

Kazuna finished for him, then burst into laughter.

Danzo had that phrase on his lips all day long.

Yet whether it was Danzo himself or the Third Hokage and the others, they all knew that Danzo only used those words as an excuse for himself.

Everything was for Konohagakure?

When had Danzo ever done anything for Konohagakure?

He merely sacrificed others to benefit himself.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, how did you feel now, hearing those words from someone else—especially when that someone was an Uchiha?

Did it leave a shadow in your heart?