Yamanaka Chujiu quickly figured out why he had made a mistake.
The reason was that Heart Severing Realm worked so well that he had grown accustomed to sensing things through it and neglected the basics of being a ninja.
That was only natural. People who could see with their eyes would never hear as well as the blind.
But Uchiha Itachi was only five. Just how much of a genius was this child?
The reason he couldn't sense Itachi in Heart Severing Realm was simple: the child was insane.
Uchiha Itachi was lucky. He was born into the strongest clan, the Uchiha, and was exceptionally gifted and intelligent. From the moment he was born, he stood where many people hoped to end up.
Uchiha Itachi was also unlucky, because he had an ignorant and foolish father.
When Uchiha Fugaku discovered that his son was a genius, he decided he couldn't raise him the way he would an ordinary child.
So he sent four-year-old Itachi to the battlefield.
Four years old. Still just a child!
Itachi's worldview, outlook on life, and values had only just begun to take shape when he was thrown onto the battlefield. He endured humanity's greatest malice and witnessed the most brutal slaughter with his own eyes.
As expected, it shattered his entire worldview.
Uchiha Itachi really was a genius. He didn't die when his worldview collapsed. He endured it with astonishing resilience, then used his superhuman intelligence to force the broken pieces back together.
But he knew too little about the world. He could only piece his worldview back together with a child's imagination, creating a bizarre logic that ordinary people couldn't understand.
This laid the groundwork for him to suddenly wipe out his entire clan in the future, slaughtering his whole family.
The logic of the insane was beyond Yamanaka Chujiu's comprehension. Since he couldn't understand Uchiha Itachi's logic, he couldn't tell what the boy was feeling.
Strangely, though, he could precisely locate Orochimaru, who was just as insane.
Yamanaka Chujiu's thoughts raced. He quickly pushed aside his jumbled ideas, then looked at the two Uchiha boys and asked, "The Execution Line involves the darkest side of Konoha. Are you sure you want to know about it?"
Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui shouted in unison, "Please teach us, Chujiu-senpai!"
Yamanaka Chujiu solemnly confirmed once more, "I know you've both been to the battlefield and seen the cruelty of the Shinobi World."
"But I have to warn you: the truth behind the Execution Line is dark and cruel, no less horrific than the mountains of corpses left on the battlefield."
"Are you really prepared for this?"
The two answered together again, "We're ready. We're not afraid!"
Yamanaka Chujiu nodded. "Then come with me."
"The Execution Line isn't something I can explain in just a few sentences. Let's find somewhere we won't be disturbed."
Beside a stream deep in the Forest of Death, Yamanaka Chujiu cleared a patch of ground, gathered firewood, and boiled water for a pot of fruit tea.
The crackling bonfire, the burbling stream, the sweet scent of fruit, and the white steam combined to create a pleasant, soothing atmosphere.
After taking a cup of fruit tea in the gentle breeze, Yamanaka Chujiu gradually felt his mind settle.
The two Uchiha boys weren't impatient. They quietly kept him company as he lit the fire, brewed the tea, and drank it, their eyes brimming with anticipation.
Uchiha Itachi, who had only just turned five, was especially composed.
As they brewed and drank tea, Yamanaka Chujiu sorted through everything he had seen and learned, classifying and organizing the Shinobi World's many phenomena according to the theory of the Execution Line.
As he finished organizing his thoughts, he also figured out how to deal with Itachi and Shisui.
He would influence Uchiha Fugaku through them, getting the Uchiha Clan to stand tall and demonstrate their true strength, turning them into a target that would draw attacks from the Third Hokage.
This wasn't about harming the Uchiha Clan. It was about pulling them back from a dead end.
Every living Uchiha was immensely valuable to Yamanaka Chujiu.
Yesterday, with just a slight nudge to their emotions, Yamanaka Chujiu had drawn a powerful surge of love from the three young Uchiha—Shisui, Inabi, and Tekka.
One Uchiha boy's emotions were worth as much as those of ten children. Their quality was high enough to convert into Chujiu's mental energy instantly, clearly boosting his strength.
Yamanaka Chujiu was certain: the Uchiha were a precious emotional resource. He couldn't let Shimura Danzō ruin them!
Yamanaka Chujiu began to explain, "The so-called Execution Line is a boundary in Konoha, a line between life and death that people cross when they fall down the social ladder."
"Anyone who falls below this line will be executed by the rules, plunging irreversibly into the abyss of death."
Uchiha Shisui couldn't help asking, "When you say 'executed,' do you mean those villagers from yesterday?"
Yamanaka Chujiu replied, "Yes. The Shanty Town is hell. The villagers driven in there are doomed."
Shisui couldn't believe it. "How could that be?"
Yamanaka Chujiu said, "Today the Uchiha clashed with Root over this. It probably won't be long before the truth is fully exposed. You'll understand then."
"Many people have seen the executions, but some believe they aren't a problem."
"In their eyes, the weak, who can barely stay alive, are a burden. If Konoha abandons these useless burdens and moves forward unencumbered, it will grow stronger."
"They're convinced that everyone executed is weak, while they themselves are strong and will never be executed."
"In reality, they're wrong. The people of Konoha are like a pyramid. The Hokage stands at its peak, while the poor and weak villagers form its base."
"If the villagers at the very bottom are left to be executed, it's like letting the pyramid's foundation weather and rot. The collapse will spread upward, layer by layer, and even the strongest ninja clans will fall when the base gives way."
"Even the Hokage at the very top could fall. That's why it's called the Execution Line."
Uchiha Itachi licked his lips. "When I first heard you say 'Execution Line,' Chujiu-senpai, it hit me hard. Now that I understand what it means, I feel even worse."
Chujiu smiled. "That's why I told you to prepare yourselves."
He went on to explain that the Execution Line took different forms for different people.
For ordinary villagers, the Execution Line was rent.
Only a small number of villagers—founding elders who had built the village in Konoha's first year—had received land under the First's supervision and built houses of their own.
Forty-eight years had passed, and Konoha's population had grown nearly tenfold.
The villagers who owned homes were still the founding elders and their descendants. Ninety-nine percent of the newcomers had no homes of their own and could only rent.
As the population continued to pour in, rents rose year after year. Villagers who couldn't afford rent ended up on the streets.
But Konoha was a military organization, and its curfew had never been lifted.
Homeless villagers couldn't spend the night on the streets. They could only go to that living hell, the Shanty Town, and cling to life there.
Yamanaka Chujiu analyzed calmly, "On the Night of the Nine-Tails, tens of thousands of houses in Konoha collapsed. Countless villagers were left homeless, yet there wasn't a single one to be seen on the streets. The only possibility is that they were all sent to the Shanty Town."
"I don't know how many people the Shanty Town can hold, but the fact that it can accommodate so many people is abnormal in itself."
"But think about it: why does the Shanty Town have so much extra capacity?"
Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi's faces changed dramatically.
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