Sasuke heard this, his body trembled suddenly, and he subconsciously took two steps back.
Immediately, anger surged into his heart like a tide.
"He killed his father, his mother, and his entire family - this is the fact that I saw with my own eyes!"
His voice echoed on the empty rooftop, carrying an uncontrollable tremor.
"No matter what the truth is, this utter hatred cannot be wrong!"
Ning Xue looked at the other party's hysterical appearance with calm eyes.
He knew that Sasuke couldn't listen to anything he said at this moment.
Those doubtful points that he deliberately ignored had already planted the seeds of doubt, and that was enough.
Hehe, Danzo...
Ning Xue lowered his eyes and said no more.
He put the mask on his hand back on, covering his white eyes.
Then, he turned around and walked steadily towards the edge of the roof.
Behind him, Sasuke stretched out his hand, wanting to say something else.
"You--"
"I hope you can think calmly."
Ning Xue interrupted Sasuke the moment he spoke.
He didn't look back, the voice came from the front, his tone was calm.
"Go to him with questions."
As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped from the eaves and disappeared into this abandoned street.
Only Sasuke was left standing alone on the empty rooftop, his hand still frozen in mid-air, and he had not yet taken it back.
The wind passed through the ruins, carrying the smell of dust and blowing the corners of his clothes.
Sasuke stood on the spot, motionless, his hand slowly lowered and clenched into a fist, his knuckles turning white from the pinching.
In my mind, the voice of Ning Xue is still echoing.
"If you hate the wrong person, if you kill the wrong person, what will you do then?"
What to do?
He clenched his fists and dug his nails into his palms.
He doesn't know.
He has never thought about this problem, or he dare not think about it.
For so many years, what kept him alive was that hatred.
He worked hard to become stronger, left Konoha, pursued power, and even gave his body to Orochimaru, all for that goal - to kill Itachi.
But what if... what if what that person said is true? What if everything that happened that night really had a hidden meaning? If Itachi exterminated the clan, was he not simply crazy, but to protect something?
Sasuke shook his head violently, as if to shake these thoughts away.
"Wrong."
He whispered, his voice hoarse.
"No... he killed his father and mother, that's a fact.
I saw it with my own eyes..."
But that voice came to mind again.
"Did you see it with your own eyes? What you saw was Itachi standing in front of the corpse.
But you didn't see how they died.
I haven't seen whether they resisted."
Sasuke's breathing began to become rapid.
Images of that night flooded through his mind - the figures of his parents lying in a pool of blood, Itachi's scarlet eyes standing in the darkness, and the corpses scattered on the ground.
But he also began to remember some details.
Those details that he had ignored or deliberately not thought about.
The expressions of parents falling to the ground.
And... Itachi's tears.
He remembered Itachi's stiff expression as he stood in front of his parents' bodies that night.
When I left, I shed tears in my scarlet Sharingan.
But how could such a murderer shed tears!
Sasuke clenched his fists violently, and his nails pierced his palms.
He didn't want to think about this, but he couldn't help it.
The doubts that he had deliberately buried emerged one by one like a tomb being pried open.
"Damn..."
He cursed in a low voice, raised his head, and looked at the sky that was dyed red by the sunset, like blood and tears shed by his tribe.
He didn't know how long he stood there.
He just looked at the sky, watching the sun sinking into the horizon little by little, watching the sky change from red to dark purple.
Then, he slowly closed his eyes.
"Weasel..."
His voice was very light, so light that it could be blown away by a gust of wind.
"Are you... really hiding something?"
No one answered him.
There was only the sound of wind, howling among the empty ruins.
At the same time.
Cat Granny's weapons store.
When Ning Xue pushed the door in, Suigetsu was teasing a cat lying on the counter.
He raised his head when he heard footsteps and saw that only Ning Xue came back, and blinked in confusion.
"Hey, where is Sasuke?"
Karin stood up from the chair in the corner, looked behind Ning Xue as well, and frowned.
"Sasuke why didn't you come back with you?"
Jugo stood silently on the other side of the room, his eyes falling on Ning Xue, and then looking at the empty place behind him.
His fingers tightened slightly and then relaxed, as if he was ready to take action at any time.
Ning Xue looked around at the people in the room and spoke in a calm tone.
"He said he wanted to have some fresh air on the roof to calm down."
Suigetsu The corners of his mouth twitched, and the expression on his face was full of "Who are you trying to fool?"
"Hey, little brother, do you believe what you say? That guy Sasuke has that ice face from the beginning to the end, and is extremely calm. Does he need a blower to calm down?"
Karin ignored Suigetsu's complaints.
She heard Sasuke blowing air above, her eyes lit up slightly, and the picture started to play automatically in her mind.
Sasuke sat on the eaves with a cold expression on his face, with the setting sun behind him. The breeze lifted the ends of his hair and blew the corners of his clothes, revealing his exposed chest muscles.
As she thought about it, her expression gradually became a little bit infatuated, the corners of her mouth raised slightly, and nosebleeds almost spurted out from behind the lenses of her glasses.
"Karin, wipe the corners of your mouth, it's going to bleed."
Suigetsu reminded me angrily.
"I want you to take care of it!" Karin came back to his senses instantly, glared, and then continued to immerse himself in his fantasy.
Jugo ignored the two people's bickering and just kept silent Earth Flow walked towards the door.
In his opinion, it was abnormal for Sasuke to go out alone to talk to the man wearing the mask, and then only the man wearing the mask came back. He had to go out and take a look.
However, as soon as he took a step, a hand stopped him in front of him.
Jugo looked down and saw Ning Xue standing in front of him, raising his arm and blocking his chest.
The expression under the mask is not clear, but the lenses on the mask reflect his figure.
"Jugo."
Ning Xue's voice was very soft, but it carried an unquestionable certainty.
"I know what you are thinking. But Sasuke really needs to be alone at this moment to think about some things calmly."
Jugo stared at him for a few seconds.
In the end, Jugo took back the steps he took and nodded silently.
He didn't ask any more questions, just retreated to the corner of the room, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes.
Suigetsu looked at this scene and raised his eyebrows, but did not ask any more questions.
He just lazily leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and held a toothpick he found from nowhere in his mouth.
roof.
Sasuke was sitting on the edge of the eaves, with his feet dangling in the air, overlooking the abandoned town.
The wind passed through the ruins, carrying the smell of dust and twilight, blowing the tips of his hair.
His eyes had no focus, just looking blankly at the sunset sinking into the horizon in the distance.
The voice of Ning Xue kept echoing in my mind, over and over again, like a dull knife cutting flesh.
"Do you really think this is reasonable?"
"A teenage boy killed the entire Uchiha in one night?"
"Where is Anbu? Where is the perception team? Where is the patrol unit? Why didn't anyone find it?"
"Unless someone is helping him, or someone allows this to happen."
"Why didn't Itachi kill you?"
"What if the person he really wants to protect is you?"
"Will your father really die at the hands of his own son without any resistance?"
"If you hate the wrong person, if you kill the wrong person, what will you do then?"
"That's enough..." Sasuke whispered, his voice hoarse, as if he was resisting something.
"That's enough!" He growled lowly and tried to dispel it, but he still couldn't control his thoughts.
Those details that he had deliberately forgotten, those doubts that he had once turned a blind eye to, now came like a tide, drowning him.
He finally began to think carefully and began to seriously recall everything that night.
Father Fugaku Uchiha, patriarch, captain of the security force, a very important figure in the entire Konoha.
Would such a person really kneel on the ground without resistance, waiting for his son to kill him?
He remembered that in the illusion given by Itachi, his father was kneeling on the tatami, with his back straight and his eyes calmly looking at Itachi.
There was no fear, no anger, or even sadness in those eyes.
There was only something he couldn't understand, like... relief.
And mother.
She knelt beside her father, folding her hands on her knees, her posture was as dignified as if she was not facing death.
When Itachi's knife fell, she didn't scream or struggle.
It's too quiet.
The whole Uchiha Clan Compound, that night, was too quiet.
Hundreds of lives, men, women, old people, children, were killed at night, but it was obviously not time to go to bed? No one noticed and resisted?
No matter how strong Itachi is, he can't be silent.
Unless... someone made preparations in advance.
Or maybe it's so strong that you can't resist...
Sasuke clenched his fists, his nails dug into his palms, and blood dripped from his fingers.
One more thing.
When he came back, the whole clan was in deathly silence.
Itachi stood in front of him, covered in blood, looking at him with those scarlet Sharingan.
He said - "My foolish brother, if you want revenge, hate me, hate me."
But why did Itachi wait until he came back before leaving?
For such a big thing as genocide, time should be very urgent.
The longer you stay, the higher the risk of being discovered.
But Itachi was waiting there, waiting for him, waiting to finish talking to him, and then leave.
This is unreasonable.
Unless...
He remembered Ning Xue's words.
Itachi's real purpose here, from beginning to end, was not to exterminate the clan.
But him.
Sasuke's heartbeat accelerated sharply, and a thought he had never had before emerged from the depths of his heart, making him feel cold all over.
If Itachi exterminated the clan, was it to protect him?
If Itachi killed the entire clan, was it really just to keep him alive?
If Itachi said those words, let him hate him, let him become stronger, let him come to him for revenge.
Are they all forcing him to grow up and be able to protect himself in this dangerous world?
Sasuke stood up suddenly, his chest beating violently.
"No way..." he whispered, his voice trembling.
"Impossible... this is impossible..."
But those doubts were placed there one by one, making his brain confused, and at the same time, more pictures began to emerge in his mind.
Those things that he had ignored, those things that he deliberately did not think about.
When he was a child, Itachi was always busy, busy with tasks and training, but whenever he was free, he would come to accompany him.
Take him hunting, teach him Shuriken's throwing skills, poke him on the forehead and say "Forgive me, Sasuke, next time."
He still remembers the temperature of that finger.
Itachi has never been a cold person.
But that night, Itachi's eyes were terrifyingly cold.
That was not the brother he knew, that was a stranger. No, that was a stranger deliberately pretending to be.
Sasuke covered his head, his temples twitching.
He felt that his world was collapsing, and the things he firmly believed in, the beliefs that supported his life until now, were being shattered inch by inch.
"Damn it... Damn it...!" He cursed in a low voice and slammed his fist on the tiles of the roof.
There was a "click" and the tiles shattered. The fragments cut his fingers and blood dripped from them.
But he felt no pain, and the pain in his heart was a hundred times stronger than the pain in his hands.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
The air was filled with the smell of dust and dusk, with a hint of coolness.
Then, he opened his eyes again.
In those eyes, the confusion gradually faded away, replaced by a complexity that he had never seen before.
He turned around, jumped off the roof, and landed on the dilapidated street with a hint of urgency.
He needs more information.
He needs to know what really happened that night.
He needs to know why the genocide was exterminated.
He needed to know if Itachi was really hiding something.
He needs answers before he kills him.