Kakashi had been tasked with investigating Naruto's Rasengan, but naturally, he found nothing.
No matter what angle he pursued, all he got was a blank. As time passed, the matter was shelved.
Meanwhile, the Uchiha Clan and Konoha drifted further and further apart. The attention of the Third Hokage and the other higher-ups was almost entirely drawn to the Uchiha, and even he himself had pushed the matter of Naruto being taught the Rasengan by a mysterious person to the back of his mind.
After all, ever since Naruto enrolled in the Academy, he had been unusually well-behaved and showed no signs of being different from before. Naturally, there was nothing to arouse suspicion.
Time passed amid this situation.
Before they knew it, the year had reached Konoha's sixty-fifth year. This was Uzumaki Naruto and Second Pillar's second year at the Academy.
This year, Uchiha Itachi was twelve years old and had already become an Anbu squad captain.
This year, the Uchiha Clan and Konoha reached their most critical juncture.
Within Konoha, in the underground Anbu headquarters.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other three highest-ranking Hokage officials sat in a row. Below them, Uchiha Itachi, dressed in Anbu attire, knelt on one knee. His cat-face mask was lifted halfway and hung at his side.
"According to what you just said, the Uchiha have begun discussing the possibility of launching a coup and seizing power in their secret meetings?"
Utatane Koharu spoke first. Now past sixty, she had truly become an old woman, no longer possessing the beauty and radiance of her youth.
Itachi lowered his head. "Yes. At the Uchiha's secret meeting yesterday, the clan discussed the possibility of an armed coup. They believe the current situation has reached a critical point, and that taking even one step back would