The Cause of Pain

Shisui's expression froze. He loved peace, but he had never imagined the Uchiha Clan being exterminated!

"Wh... how is that possible!?"

Zhengye snorted. "The moment you die, the Uchiha will immediately lose one of their top combatants."

"The Uchiha, who still had the confidence to resist Konoha, will become nothing more than the next piece of meat on the chopping block."

"The clan's destruction will only be a matter of time!"

Shisui groaned. His mind, which had reached a dead end, began to turn. He shook his head slightly.

"With Itachi here, he'll protect the Uchiha!"

Zhengye turned to look at Itachi. There was a touch of gratitude in the other boy's eyes at having been trusted.

An utterly absurd feeling washed over Zhengye.

He could not help laughing. "This idiot!?"

Itachi's expression shifted slightly, anger flashing through his eyes. Usually quiet and reserved, he had been provoked.

"My capacity is not something you can predict."

Zhengye narrowed his eyes as he examined Itachi.

"Capacity? Is that supposed to mean the Third Hokage praised you for being able to think like a Hokage at the age of seven?"

"Then he told you every day that you were the only clear-headed one among the Uchiha."

"That the peace between the Uchiha and the village rested in your hands?"

Itachi looked somewhat stunned, because ever since he had entered the ANBU, the Third Hokage had said these things every time they met.

"Y-you... how do you know that!?"

Tekka, standing nearby, was equally shocked. He had been ordered to monitor Uchiha Itachi, yet even he did not know that the Third Hokage said such things to Itachi every time.

At nineteen, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

Inabi was older still, already twenty-three this year. He was clearly more knowledgeable about the ways of the world.

He immediately sensed the Third Hokage's ill intent.

Zhengye, who had lived two lives, did not answer Itachi's question.

An eleven-year-old brat like this would not even have finished elementary school in his world.

What was more, this world had neither nine years of compulsory education nor moral education classes. How could Itachi possibly outplay that old fox Sarutobi Hiruzen?

Zhengye said to the dazed Shisui, "Itachi is only eleven, yet you're already placing the clan's burden on his shoulders."

"Proud as he already is, all he receives every day is Sarutobi Hiruzen's flattery and brainwashing."

"Are you sure he can protect the Uchiha Clan!? Rather than becoming Konoha's blade against the Uchiha!?"

Shisui fell silent. Having been Itachi's friend for years, he knew all too well about the boy's talent and pride.

With the Third Hokage praising him like this, Shisui was no longer sure what Itachi would become in the future.

Seeing Shisui visibly shaken, Zhengye rebuked him.

"You intend to die and leave the entire clan's future, its very life and death, on Itachi's shoulders!? Are you sure he can bear it!?"

Shisui took a deep breath, and the deathly resolve faded from his face. "I'm sorry, Zhengye. I was wrong."

The instant he abandoned his desire to die, a chime rang in Zhengye's mind.

[Ding, Uchiha Shisui's fate has been changed. Lottery draws obtained x3.]

[Historical event: Uchiha Shisui's suicide.]

[Event result: Uchiha Shisui survives, and his will to die has been dispelled. Rare Item Guaranteed Scroll obtained x1.]

Although he did not know what was in the prize pool, something of rare quality should be pretty good, right?

Zhengye did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately chose to use it.

A flash of brilliant light burst forth in his mind, and an item resembling a turtle appeared within his sea of consciousness.

Congratulations, Host, for obtaining: Plow—Experimental Version (Rare)

Effect: Input chakra to travel through time with yourself and those around you in the form of a viewing experience.

Note: During the viewing experience, you may experience it firsthand, but you cannot interfere with anything.

Uses: Can be used again after charging is complete.

Zhengye nearly failed to keep his expression together. This was a rare item?

Come on, I'm an Uchiha. If I want a viewing experience, can't I just use genjutsu?

Zhengye took a deep breath and used up his remaining three draws as well.

Congratulations, Host, for obtaining: Healing Scroll (Fine)

Effect: Upon opening, releases healing light that treats moderate wounds (blade wounds, fractures), but cannot restore severed limbs.

Uses: Single-use.

Shuriken (Pack of 10) (Common)

Standard throwing ninja tools.

Uses: Single-use consumable.

Mental Attribute Point (Fine)

Mentality +1.

Uses: Single-use, absorbed directly.

As Zhengye took stock of his gains, Itachi looked somewhat embarrassed.

Ever since entering the ANBU, he had been brainwashed every day, and he had developed his own pride.

After just being entrusted with such a heavy responsibility, he had been doubted.

Itachi could not accept it, especially now that he had just awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan.

He said in a low voice, "I would never act against my own clan!"

"Shisui, believe me!"

Shisui moved his lips, unsure how to comfort his proud friend.

Zhengye glanced at Itachi, mockery filling his eyes.

Every Uchiha was a lunatic—proud and conceited.

Itachi, who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan at only eleven, was the finest among them.

"You've already been brainwashed into an idiot by Sarutobi Hiruzen, and you don't even realize it."

Itachi's cheek twitched slightly. He was far younger now than he would be seven years later when he returned home through the morning mist, and he was still unable to keep his temper in check. His three-tomoe Sharingan began to spin unconsciously.

"Zhengye, what do you mean by that?"

His voice was not loud, but it carried the sharpness of someone who had been wounded.

Zhengye met his gaze without backing down.

"It means—you think far too highly of yourself. The Third Hokage praises you a few times, and you really think you're the chosen one?"

Itachi's pupils contracted slightly, and he clenched his fists.

"Enough." Shisui spoke weakly, stopping the argument.

Zhengye no longer had any desire to argue with Itachi either. There was still much to do tonight.

"Take out Shisui's left eye first."

Itachi looked around. There were only the four of them, and he hesitated. "There's no medical ninja here."

Zhengye said impatiently, "Just take it out when I tell you to. I have my own way."

Itachi looked displeased, but he still summoned a crow as instructed and took out the Kotoamatsukami eye Shisui had just given him.

Zhengye took the eye. It was still warm.

He lifted Shisui's eyelid and carefully placed the eyeball back into its socket, aligning it with the optic nerve.

"Bear with it."

The moment he spoke, Shisui's body suddenly arched, and he let out a suppressed groan.

Itachi looked shocked. "Zhengye, what are you doing!?"

Zhengye ignored him and immediately took out the Healing Scroll he had just obtained.

A streak of white light spread out from the scroll in his hand.

Milky white light enveloped Shisui's left eye.

Flesh writhed and reconnected within the light. A few seconds later, the pain on Shisui's face gradually subsided.

His pained expression vanished completely. He blinked his left eye; the optic nerve had fully reconnected.

"What an amazing medical ninjutsu scroll."

Shisui sighed. Sealing medical ninjutsu into a scroll was not particularly advanced technology, but such scrolls were expensive and therefore rare.

"Zhengye, you even prepared a medical scroll. Did you know in advance what would happen tonight?" Tekka asked in surprise.

After all, Zhengye had told him beforehand that tonight would be the day of the Uchiha's transformation.

Zhengye's gaze swept over the Plow—Experimental Version, and an idea came to him.

He glanced at Itachi and Shisui.

His face filled with pain and solemnity. "Do you want to know why I know everything that will happen today?"

"Why did I say Shisui's death would lead to the extermination of the entire Uchiha Clan!?"

Itachi, Shisui, Inabi, and Tekka were infected by his emotions, and their hearts sank.

Tekka frowned. "Zhengye, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Zhengye did not answer directly. Instead, he pulled something glowing pale yellow from his robes—a turtle.

It was the Plow—Experimental Version.

"This is the 'Plow.'" Zhengye's voice was low. "It can take us to see—the not-too-distant future."

"What do you mean?" Inabi narrowed his eyes. "You're taking us through time?"

Zhengye did not explain. He activated the Plow. Yellow light suddenly expanded, swallowing all five of them.

The next second, not a single person remained on the banks of the Naka River.