Broken Defense Itachi and Obito

Upon hearing Uchiha Itachi expose his identity, Minagawa Uchiha was not the least bit surprised. He had been prepared for exposure before making his move. In present-day Konoha, there was no one left he needed to keep hiding from.

"Heh, a conspiracy? Who exactly is the Unstable Factor here?"

"Without you and Uchiha Shisui, would the Uchiha Clan have ended up in this situation? Don't you have any fucking idea who caused all this? How dare you shamelessly claim that I have some conspiracy?"

"If not for you two so-called geniuses constantly showing off before the Konoha High Command, why would they fear the Uchiha Clan so much?"

"At most, they would have suppressed the clan a little. Why would they become so extreme as to want to wipe out the Uchiha Clan entirely? Wasn't it because you had a little strength and flaunted it before them, making the Konoha High Command realize they could never control the Uchiha Clan? Coupled with the effects of the Nine-Tails Incident, that was what created this irreversible situation."

"How strong were the Clan Members who hadn't awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan? Would that little strength make Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others wary? What they truly feared was your and Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Because of your genius antics, even after all these years since the Nine-Tails Incident, the rift between the Uchiha and Konoha had not eased in the slightest. You talk about how the Uchiha are arrogant and look down on everyone—who isn't arrogant? Aren't you arrogant? Have you ever listened to the voices of Uchiha Civilians?"

"Has the Konoha High Command ever listened to the Conservatives? Heh, in the end, it was only because your two Mangekyō Sharingan made them feel that you were beyond their control, that you threatened them, that they feared you enough to want the entire Uchiha Clan Destroyed."

"What right did you have to think it was the Uchiha's fault and accuse me of malicious intent? In the eyes of the Konoha High Command, you and Shisui were probably the ones with malicious intentions. Otherwise, why would Shimura Danzō have ambushed and murdered Uchiha Shisui?!"

"What was even more laughable was that you actually worked with the culprit responsible for killing the Fourth Hokage Couple and causing the Nine-Tails Incident. Hahaha, how ironic. After all, even if he was Uchiha Madara, he did not belong to Konoha and posed no threat whatsoever to the Konoha High Command's power."

"I don't believe they failed to realize that this Masked Man was the one who released the Nine-Tails and killed the Fourth Hokage Couple back then. His Space-Time Dōjutsu was so obvious, and he even called himself Uchiha Madara. The fact that he could summon the Nine-Tails to attack the village should have come as no surprise at all."

"But the Uchiha might have succeeded in a Coup d'état. As one of the village's Founding Clans, they could truly threaten their status. Heh, otherwise, after seven years, no matter how great the rift was, it should have eased somewhat. It could not possibly have grown wider and wider instead."

"So the one who drove the village and the Uchiha further and further apart was no one else. The real culprit was you. It was you and Shisui, with your self-righteousness and inability to restrain yourselves, who led the Uchiha down the path of rebellion and annihilation."

"The irony was that you, the true culprit, still came here to accuse the Uchiha, becoming someone else's blade to slaughter your own Clan Members. Even stupidity could not begin to describe your actions. You had the brain of a pig or a dog."

Faced with Uchiha Itachi's malicious speculation, Minagawa Uchiha finally exploded. In one breath, he laid out all the resentment he harbored toward both Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.

At that moment, Uchiha Itachi's heart was in turmoil. Though he desperately wanted to refute Minagawa Uchiha's words, after witnessing Shimura Danzō's undisguised hostility toward the Uchiha in the Hokage's Office last night, he could not help but deeply consider the real reason the Uchiha had reached this point.

Before Minagawa Uchiha pointed out this reason, Uchiha Itachi had always believed that the Uchiha Clan Members were too fixated on their clan. They saw the trees but not the forest, seeing only the injustices they suffered without ever considering the village's difficulties.

Arrogant, conceited, and disdainful of others—these were the labels Uchiha Itachi had once placed on the Uchiha Clan Members. But now, it seemed he had never truly understood the other Clan Members. Only a portion of the Uchiha were truly arrogant and conceited; most were merely victims. And the reason the Uchiha had reached this point was even more due to the arrogance, conceit, and disdainfulness of himself and Shisui.

So what the Konoha High Command had truly feared was never the ordinary Uchiha Clan Members. What they truly feared were his and Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan. What had truly widened the village's rift more and more were the endlessly emerging Mangekyō Sharingan.

At that moment, Uchiha Itachi regretted everything beyond measure. He regretted his own naivety and ignorance. He had even suspected that Minagawa Uchiha had some conspiracy in hiding his awakened Mangekyō Sharingan. In the end, the greatest fool had been himself.

For a time, Uchiha Itachi sank into deep self-doubt.

Meanwhile, Obito Uchiha, who had watched everything unfold, felt anger rising within him. He had originally only been watching the show, intending to recruit the young man before him if his strength proved sufficient. Yet somehow, the spectacle had turned on him. This talented youth who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan was actually the enemy he had been searching for—the one impersonating him and plotting against him.

"Heh, Minagawa Uchiha, was it? I never expected someone like you to emerge among the Uchiha. You clearly possessed such formidable strength, yet for the greater good, you were willing to play ninja games alongside those brats at the Ninja Academy. You only revealed yourself once the Uchiha's crisis of extermination could no longer be reversed. Even I have to admire your magnanimity."

"However, with such immense talent, why didn't you just continue to stay out of trouble? Why did you insist on meddling in my plans, even daring to impersonate and scheme against me? Since that was the case, your life ends here."

To Obito Uchiha, Minagawa Uchiha knew of his existence and possessed the Space-Time Mangekyo. White Zetsu's disappearance was likely connected to him as well, and he was clearly not someone who could be used for his own purposes. As a result, Obito was even more wary of him than he was of Uchiha Itachi.

On top of that, Minagawa Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at such a young age and stolen the Hashirama Cells. His talent and scheming were both so formidable that Obito's determination to kill him only grew firmer.

"Hmph, you idiotic bastard playing mysterious games. I hadn't even mentioned you, and you were already acting smug? With the way you hide your head and show your tail, are you afraid someone will recognize you, or are you just too ugly to show your face?"

"Then again, anyone who knew you would have suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck. If someone had a thankless bastard like you as a friend or relative, they would be ashamed of themselves and would absolutely want to clean house at the first opportunity, cutting off every tie with you."

"Good thing you wore a mask. Forget your friends and relatives—even people who had nothing to do with you but whom you once liked would probably struggle to sleep or eat. After all, no one could accept a bastard like you. Everyone would want to kill you."