True and False Showdown

Hearing Uchiha Izumi's words, the few children also looked over in unison.

They had yet to emerge from the panic and grief, and now they were even more desperate to know the truth.

"What do you want to know? I'll state this first: I don't know much, and I can't piece everything together perfectly. You can ask questions, and I will tell you whatever I know."

Uchiha Arashi sat directly on the ground; there was no dirt here anyway, so even lying down would have been fine.

"Itachi... is he really the murderer?"

"Yes."

"Proof!"

"Konoha will soon issue a warrant for his arrest. Shizuka's parents were killed by him; I saw it with my own eyes."

If other evidence hadn't been enough to shake Izumi, this one point was impossible to refute no matter what.

Before Uchiha Arashi brought Uchiha Shizuka into the Shadow Space, the little girl had hidden in the room and witnessed her parents' deaths with her own eyes. She had almost screamed out loud, but fortunately, Arashi arrived in time, covered her mouth, and dragged her away—getting bitten on the hand by Shizuka in the process.

"He, why did he do it? Why, why would he massacre his own kin..."

Izumi's breathing began to grow rapid.

Because her mother was dead too. Although she hadn't seen the body yet, they were the only ones left alive from the entire clan. Could a mother who wasn't even a ninja possibly have survived?

In other words, the person she had always admired was the murderer of her mother!

"I don't know."

Uchiha Arashi shook his head.

He knew everything, of course, but he had to pretend he didn't for now.

"Fine, then I'll change the question!"

Uchiha Izumi froze for a moment, took several deep breaths, and managed to calm her emotions.

"Besides Itachi, who else took action?"

"The village, and enemies from outside the village."

"The village took action? Really?"

"Heh, otherwise, where do you think I snatched this eye from? Oh, right, you don't know whose eye this is yet. Uchiha Shisui—have you heard that name?"

Arashi held up the test tube and shook it in front of them.

"I, I know. Uncle Shisui used to live not far from my house..."

In the crowd, a little boy said timidly.

His name was Uchiha Dan; he was eight years old this year, one year older than Sasuke.

"Are you talking about Body Flicker Shisui? But didn't he already..."

Izumi had certainly heard the name. Shisui had been very active just a few years ago and was a famous genius within the clan. As for the cause of his death, one could say there were many conflicting stories. Among ordinary Uchiha clansmen, some believed Shisui died in an assassination by the village, while others believed Itachi had killed him. Izumi hadn't sided with either; she had never even thought about such questions before.

Only at this moment did she suddenly realize there was something fishy about Shisui's death.

"He was forced to his death by Danzō. Shimura Danzō, a Konoha advisor and the leader of the Anbu special squad, Root. I encountered him on the outskirts of the clan grounds and discovered this eye on him.

Just like Uchiha Shisui's fate, since the Konoha higher-ups couldn't tolerate an Uchiha genius living, they couldn't tolerate the Uchiha clan living either. It's just that they hadn't had the opportunity to act until now. Now that Itachi has taken the initiative to strike at the clan, Konoha doesn't even need to send many people. They only need to seal off the clan grounds to ensure not a single Uchiha can escape."

Uchiha Arashi's voice was calm, but when these words fell into everyone's ears, they were no less than a thunderclap.

"But, but why? Isn't the Uchiha, isn't the Uchiha also a part of Konoha?"

Another girl asked with a sobbing tone.

Her name was Uchiha Ayatsuki, ten years old, and she hadn't even graduated from the academy yet.

"Because the Uchiha clan threatened the status of those higher-ups. Some of you are young and might have forgotten, but Sister Izumi, you remember, right? The Uchiha didn't always live here."

Arashi raised his finger and pointed overhead.

Izumi nodded, looking at the group of younger siblings.

"The Uchiha used to live in the center of the village; we moved here gradually over seven years."

"Why did we have to move?"

"Because seven years ago, someone released the Nine-Tails, causing damage to the village and leading to the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife. At the time, someone saw the pattern of a Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes, so the village believed it was an Uchiha conspiracy and began to suppress the Uchiha.

And the Uchiha... heh, during the last Great Ninja War, the clan paid a huge price to deal with the Mist Village. Yet, after the war ended, the entire clan didn't get a single benefit; instead, we continued to be suspected by the higher-ups.

Many people within the clan were dissatisfied, and their dissatisfaction became the reason for the higher-ups to further suspect the Uchiha. The conflict between the two sides became increasingly impossible to bridge. And that idiot Fugaku couldn't suppress the voices of the radicals in the clan, leading us step by step to today. It was too good for him to die at Itachi's hands. I really wish he were still alive so I could properly deal with him myself."

Uchiha Arashi's tone was filled with hatred.

He actually didn't care about Fugaku, but the thought of that idiot ruining such a massive clan made his blood boil.

The others, including Izumi, were shocked on the spot upon hearing this.

"Arashi, how do you know all these things..."

"Of course I investigated it bit by bit. You didn't think I'd done nothing but run a bookstore all these years, did you? I'm not as simple as you, Sister Izumi, thinking only of Uchiha Itachi every day. I had long sensed that the atmosphere in the village was wrong, so I investigated in secret while trying to turn the situation around. Unfortunately... heh, who would listen to a loser like me who couldn't even awaken the Sharingan?

The war faction clamored for a coup, the peace faction was timid and subservient, and Fugaku was a total waste who couldn't control either side."

"Once I became certain that nothing could be changed, I immediately began preparing to save myself. Although I am not sure exactly when all of this will happen, I know that it will happen. Fortunately, I survived, and I managed to save you all as well."

These words were a mix of truth and lies, but it did not matter; these people had no way to verify them.

Even if there were still many people in this world who knew the truth, who could they go to ask? Itachi? Or the higher-ups of Konoha?

I fear that once they possess the strength, the first thing they will do is grind those people into dust.

Besides, the truth is not important; knowing who the culprit is and seeking revenge is enough.

"Ran, thank you... and you are not a failure. This ability of yours..."

Izumi looked around, "I have never seen or heard of it. Is it an ability of your Sharingan?"

"No, this is another one of my abilities. I will tell you about it slowly in the future."

Ran shook his head and pointed toward the wooden crates on the other side, "Eat something and get some rest first. The events of tonight are not completely over yet."