For Freedom

"I want Konoha thrown into chaos." Ning Qi smiled like a villain as he said it.

Everything was already beyond saving.

Looking at Ning Qi before him, Itachi shook his head.

Konoha had produced its greatest traitor.

War would inevitably erupt tomorrow.

Although Konoha had made preparations, now that the intelligence had leaked, the Uchiha Clan's preparations would only be more thorough than Konoha's.

What kind of fanatical, ambitious clan was that?

They did not lack the courage to make hard decisions. Itachi could easily imagine that tomorrow's war between the two sides might very well destroy all of Konoha.

—Although the Uchiha Clan would certainly lose, the ambitious forces who had suffered greatly at Konoha's hands during the Third Shinobi World War might think they had found an opportunity and return in force.

And once a war of such scale began, the whole world would be devastated.

Thus, the Uchiha's defeat could not serve as proof of Konoha's success. It would merely mean that the Uchiha lost more thoroughly than Konoha did.

—So thoroughly that the Uchiha would lose even the chance to die as innocents.

"Why?" Itachi's voice returned to calmness.

"I hate the Uchiha Clan because it gave birth to ambitions it should never have had. It disregards the bigger picture, and it is narrow-minded and selfish."

"And you? Why do you hate Konoha?"

"What exactly are you planning to do?"

Without Itachi taking the initiative to release Tsukuyomi Space, Ning Qi could not leave it either. Genjutsu: Substitute could only help him resist spiritual damage from genjutsu; it could not protect him from genjutsu itself.

Perhaps in the future, he could optimize the technique in that direction.

But honestly, Ning Qi did not care much. Three days in Tsukuyomi Space were less than an instant in the outside world, and his goal had always been merely to prevent the Night of the Clan Massacre and allow the Uchiha rebellion tomorrow to proceed as planned.

"Actually, I don't hate Konoha," Ning Qi corrected calmly. "It's just that a half-dead Konoha better serves my interests."

Itachi was visibly surprised. He stared at Ning Qi for a long while, then after some thought, suddenly looked up. "—The Hyuga Main Family?"

"You're going to move against them?"

Ning Qi raised an eyebrow.

As expected of Itachi. His mind worked rather quickly.

Ning Qi's relationship with the Hyuga Main Family was not good. Having been Ning Qi's friend and rival for ten years, Itachi understood that very well.

When they were young, Ning Qi had been bullied by those young masters of the Main Family who held the secret commands for the Caged Bird Seal. Unable to stand it, Itachi often stepped in to help. He found it absurd that those Main Family boys could obtain commands capable of controlling Ning Qi at such a young age.

As they grew older, such bullying had become far less common, but that was likely because Ning Qi had learned to maintain the proper politeness and reverence toward the Main Family.

Those young masters who had once flaunted their secret commands were more like a lesson the Main Family had arranged to teach Ning Qi the rules.

The young masters and ladies of the Main Family held something that could determine your life or death, so you had to understand superiority and inferiority, status and rank—through such bullying tactics, the Main Family instilled this truth into every branch family member who possessed both potential and a "rebellious spirit."

With that background, Itachi could readily understand Ning Qi's hatred for the Main Family and the Caged Bird Seal on his own forehead.

"Yes. For freedom, this is a necessary step," Ning Qi said indifferently.

For freedom, the Main Family had to perish.

For freedom, Konoha had to decline.

For freedom, war had to erupt.

Ning Qi had originally planned to wait for Itachi to launch the Night of the Clan Massacre, then exterminate the entire Hyuga clan at the Hyuga Clan Council the next day and defect from Konoha. Other than making Konoha's Twin Prodigies famous throughout the Ninja World, there was little other benefit.

Losing two top-tier noble clans in a single day would inevitably weaken Konoha. It would even surely draw the covetous eyes of other ninja villages. That alone would be a massive blow. Konoha might not be able to muster a sufficient pursuit force, and once war broke out, they might not even bother with Ning Qi after he disappeared like a fish into the sea.

That had been Ning Qi's original plan.

It could only be called conventional. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it.

But after Ning Qi saw the surveillance footage of the Uchiha initiating their rebellion, he suddenly came to his senses.

In truth, he did not need to wait.

In truth, he did not need to flee either.

Konoha should not have been the one hunting him down.

He could invade Konoha instead.

Between Konoha and him, Konoha could be the one that feared!

Directly igniting a war between the Uchiha and Konoha was far more satisfying than letting Itachi launch the Night of the Clan Massacre.

Following the original story, all the Uchiha's Sharingan would be divided between Danzo and Obito.

Konoha would not lose a thing.

War would not break out.

After defecting from Konoha, Ning Qi would still have to worry about Konoha's pursuit and bounty.

But once he made a change, stopped Itachi from carrying out the massacre, and gave the intelligence to the Uchiha Clan, everything above would be reversed.

The Scroll of Seals.

The Sharingan.

And Danzo's Wood Release experiment records, along with all sorts of things Ning Qi might never have even been able to touch before, would all have a chance of falling into his hands.

Not to mention the many potential enemies of Konoha who would perish in this war.

This was an arrangement far grander than Genjutsu: Hell of This World.

The Uchiha and Konoha would battle fiercely.

Not just the Hyuga clan—he could turn all of Konoha into his hunting ground!!!

"Yes, all of this is for freedom," Ning Qi repeated.

Even Itachi could not help marveling at the depth of Ning Qi's obsession.

A long needle lifted Ning Qi's forehead protector, revealing the bluish curse mark beneath, which still displayed astonishing resilience even within this genjutsu space.

"I'm sorry. I can't let you have freedom if the price of gaining it is sacrificing all of Konoha." Itachi shook his head. He did not sympathize with the Hyuga Main Family, but Ning Qi would clearly have to first plunge Konoha into chaos if he wished to successfully wipe out the Hyuga Main Family.

Ning Qi, bound to the cross, glanced at him and sneered. "You think that's your decision?"

Their current situation was almost theatrical.

Ning Qi, who had been born a Hyuga, was here stopping Itachi, born an Uchiha, from destroying the Uchiha.

And Itachi, born an Uchiha, was also going to stop Ning Qi, born a Hyuga, from destroying the Hyuga Main Family.

It was as though Ning Qi were the eldest son of the Uchiha clan head.

And Itachi were the branch family genius who should have protected the Main Family.

"How many times has this been, us fighting?" Itachi suddenly looked up and asked.

"The first time." Meeting Itachi's puzzled gaze, Ning Qi's smile was dazzling. "Because this will be the first time you see me fight at full strength."

So he had been hiding it deeply... No wonder he dared stand before me with only half his chakra remaining.

Itachi shook his head. He now completely believed Ning Qi's bold claim.

"I actually sensed it faintly whenever we fought before."

"But you're not the only one who has been hiding trump cards."

"I... won't let you stop me, Ning Qi."

Their positions were completely different, and neither could persuade the other. Ning Qi had Genjutsu: Substitute, while Itachi could do nothing to him in this Tsukuyomi Space. In the end, they would still have to return to the real world and decide the matter in battle.

The genjutsu space was slowly fading away.

Ning Qi shook his head faintly.

"That's not your decision."