Young Itachi stood properly beside Yan Uchiha.
The upbringing he had received from childhood left him unable to show even a trace of youthful liveliness, even around his own family.
Quite some time passed.
Watching Jin, who was still deep in thought, he finally could not hold back.
"Teacher, I still don't understand."
"Since you knew the Hokage was plotting against you, why did you agree?"
"Were those two Forbidden Techniques really worth it?"
Confusion was written all over Itachi's face.
He had turned Teacher's decision over and over in his head, but still could not make sense of it.
In his eyes, Teacher was already strong enough.
The Uchiha's Mangekyo was more than enough to handle any trouble.
Under those circumstances, they were merely two Forbidden Techniques.
Was it worth going that far?
Meanwhile...
Hearing the question, Jin's expression grew serious as he emerged from his thoughts.
When it came to Itachi's ninjutsu training, he generally only guided the overall direction and rarely interfered with the details.
He knew all too well just how disciplined Itachi was.
But when it came to his thinking...
He kept a tighter grip on that than anyone.
He had read the original story. He knew just how gifted this disciple of his was, and how deeply he pondered things.
Without proper guidance, who knew whether one little question might lead him into a dead end he could never escape?
He turned it over in his mind and fell silent for a few moments.
Only after organizing his thoughts did he lower his voice and speak slowly.
"Itachi, you're looking at this the wrong way."
"In this round against the Hokage, whatever benefits I gained weren't really important."
"Those two Forbidden Techniques just happened to come along."
"I didn't particularly care whether I got