On the way to the Land of Rain, the Masked Man looked at Itachi, who was walking ahead, and asked, "Itachi, aren't you curious about that child? Could he be one of Danzo's people?"
Without turning around, Itachi responded, "I'm a little curious. The child can use Adamantine Sealing Chains, which means he's from the Uzumaki Clan, and he's very strong. But I've never seen him in Konoha."
The Masked Man asked curiously, "Oh? Could he be Naruto Uzumaki? I heard Naruto is very strong too. He managed to injure the Raikage at such a young age."
Itachi replied, "Impossible. Naruto was caught in my Tsukuyomi. There's no way he could have woken up so quickly. And Naruto has blond hair, while that child has red hair. Besides, Naruto's Space-Time Ninjutsu is the Flying Thunder God, but the child wasn't using the Flying Thunder God. He was using the same kind of Dōjutsu as us."
The Masked Man said in surprise, "Dōjutsu? But I didn't see his eyes change at all."
Itachi said calmly, "His eyes didn't change. He used space-time movement twice in front of me. The first time, I noticed a powerful surge of ocular power when he moved. The second time, I realized that the surge from his Dōjutsu wasn't coming from his eyes, but from his forehead. So he should have another eye there."
The Masked Man asked curiously, "His forehead? I did notice some power fluctuating there. I thought it was the surge from his jutsu, but I didn't expect it to be Dōjutsu. Still, that surge didn't seem like the Sharingan's. If it's Dōjutsu, then besides the Sharingan, what other eyes could have space-time powers? Even the Sharingan rarely has that kind of power."
Itachi recalled, "I remember there's another kind of eye with space-time powers. I heard about it from my father: the power of the White Eye."
The Masked Man said in surprise, "The White Eye? Impossible. If the White Eye really had such power, why has the Hyuga Clan never had a shinobi who could use space-time jutsu? Most of them specialize in Taijutsu."
Itachi replied calmly, "That's because no one in the Hyuga Clan has truly unlocked the White Eye's full power. And I think enormous amounts of chakra are needed to bring out its true strength. It's like the Sharingan of our Uchiha Clan: without powerful chakra to back it up, it can't unleash its full power either. But the amount of chakra needed to use the White Eye's power is clearly much greater than what the Sharingan requires."
The Masked Man said, "I didn't expect you to know so much about the White Eye. I'm curious how you found out."
Itachi replied, "Nothing special. I've just read a lot. It's written in the Uchiha Clan shrine, but hardly anyone cares to read it. I imagine it's the same in the Hyuga Clan. Aside from the clan head, few people pay attention to this kind of thing."
Itachi paused, then continued, "According to the records in our Uchiha Clan, the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans are related by blood. The Uchiha ancestor was Indra, the son of the Sage of Six Paths, while the Hyuga ancestor was the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother. There are very few records about the Sage of Six Paths' brother. We only know that he had the White Eye. We don't know anything else, but as the Sage of Six Paths' brother, he certainly wasn't an ordinary man."
The Masked Man said with sudden understanding, "So that's it. But why would that child have the White Eye? He's clearly from the Uzumaki Clan."
Itachi replied, "I don't know. But I do know that child is dangerous. I don't know the full extent of his abilities, but I feel he's no weaker than me, so I don't want to provoke him. He must be someone Danzo sent."
After hearing Itachi's words, the Masked Man asked nothing more. The two continued silently toward the Land of Rain.
Underground in Konoha, the child wearing the Ghost Mask appeared behind Danzo. Danzo seemed to have expected him and wasn't surprised.
He simply asked, "Is it done?"
The child replied, "Yes. All the rebels are dead, and Itachi Uchiha has left with the Akatsuki. Here's what you wanted."
The child took a bottle from a storage scroll and set it on the table. It was filled with some kind of liquid and numerous Sharingan, each with Three-Tomoe.
After looking at the bottle, Danzo took out a scroll and tossed it to the child. "Here's the Spirit Transformation Technique you wanted."
The child caught the scroll, glanced at it, and said, "Thanks. If there's nothing else, I'll be going. I hope we can work together again." With that, the child vanished.
Danzo didn't mind. He stared at the bottle for a while, then called over an Anbu and said, "Deliver this to Orochimaru."
The Anbu answered, "Yes," and left with the bottle.
The child appeared in Konoha's Forest of Death. He opened the scroll and read it, then burned it once he was finished.
He murmured, "Still not enough. I'd better go back first. Maybe that guy will have a solution." As he spoke, the child dissolved into a cloud of black smoke.
At dawn the next day, all of Konoha was shaken. The Uchiha family had suffered a devastating blow: everyone at the police station had been killed by Itachi Uchiha, who had betrayed the village.
The Third Hokage issued an S-rank arrest warrant for Itachi Uchiha. It was the biggest event in Konoha since the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice, and the whole village was gripped by fear and uncertainty.
The entire village held funerals. Naruto and Sasuke also went to Konoha's Memorial Stone to mourn the dead.
At the funeral, Naruto saw the grief and pain of the bereaved, and it hit him hard. He had tried so hard to stop this tragedy from happening, but he had greatly underestimated how dark this world was. Itachi had still carried out the mission.
Konoha had still moved against the entire Uchiha family. Itachi had still become a missing-nin and joined the Akatsuki. For the first time, Naruto wondered whether he could really change this sorrowful world. The only thing that comforted him was that at least the Uchiha Clan hadn't been wiped out.
At noon, everyone else had left, but Naruto and Sasuke saw Shizuka Uchiha still standing before the Memorial Stone, silently weeping.
Sasuke started to go comfort her, but Naruto stopped him. "Let Big Sister Shizuka stay a little longer. After all, this was done by the person she loves most. She must be heartbroken, so it's better to let her stay for a while. Besides, you're not doing so well yourself."
Sasuke looked at Naruto with determination. "Tell me what's really going on. Why would my brother do this? Why don't Father and Mother seem to care about what he did? Father is the head of the Uchiha Clan. Something like this has happened to the clan, but he doesn't seem to care. Why? Tell me. I know you know."
Seeing Sasuke's determined gaze, Naruto knew that if he didn't tell him the truth, Sasuke might do something terrible.
Besides, Naruto didn't want to keep it from Sasuke. Sasuke was perceptive and determined, and telling him the truth wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe it would give him another choice.
Naruto looked at Sasuke and said, "Do you really want to know? Once you know the truth, you might not be able to accept it."
Sasuke answered firmly, "Whether I can accept it or not, I want to know. I want to know the whole truth. I want to know why my brother did this, and why Father and Mother were so indifferent to the upheaval in the clan."
Naruto looked Sasuke in the eye. "All right, I'll tell you why it happened. But you have to tell me what you'll choose once you know the truth."
Sasuke readily agreed. "All right."
"Then let's go talk on Kage Rock." Naruto headed for Kage Rock, and Sasuke followed.
When they reached Kage Rock, Naruto told Sasuke why Itachi had killed his clan and joined the Akatsuki, and why Fugaku and Mikoto had seemed so indifferent.
Seeing how hard Sasuke found the truth to accept, Naruto said, "Big Brother Itachi, Uncle Fugaku, and Aunt Mikoto kept it from you because they were afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it. After all, you're the most precious younger brother and son they have. They didn't want you to face this dark reality. They only wanted you to live happily."
Sasuke said emotionally, "Did they really think I could live happily like that? They took everything upon themselves. Did they think I was that useless?"
Naruto said, "You can't blame them. They just didn't want you to get hurt. I know you can't accept something like this right away. There's no rush. I'll wait for you here tomorrow. Then you can tell me what you've decided."
Naruto left, giving Sasuke some time alone. Not everyone could bear something like this, especially when Sasuke was only seven. Even an adult might struggle to accept it.
So Naruto gave Sasuke time to calm down, but he believed Sasuke wouldn't disappoint him.
Early the next morning, Naruto went to Kage Rock. He saw Sasuke waiting for him in the distance. Naruto walked over and said, "You're up early. Tell me what you think and what you're going to do next."
Sasuke looked out over Konoha and said, "I hope this world can be peaceful, with no more darkness and no more sorrow. I've thought about it for a long time, and then I thought of you. You said you wanted to become Hokage and change this world, and you asked me to help. Now that's my dream too. I think we can change this world together."
Naruto looked out over Konoha too, his heart filled with joy. Sasuke had lived up to his hopes and hadn't disappointed him. He smiled. "Yeah. We'll change this world."
At that moment, Naruto thought of Hashirama and Madara. History was repeating itself in a startling way, but Naruto believed that he and Sasuke wouldn't share the same fate as Hashirama and Madara. Sasuke wasn't like Madara, and he wasn't like Hashirama either. Naruto believed that he and Sasuke could bring true peace to this world.
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