The truly dangerous question appeared on the second page of the assessment.
If an irreconcilable conflict arose between your clan and the village, which would you choose?
Itachi stared at the sentence without answering immediately.
When Fugaku saw it, he pressed his fingers down on the page.
Shisui's expression changed as well.
This question could not be left to a child alone.
It was not testing his judgment.
It was driving a minor into a desperate corner before his time.
Gen looked at that line, a bitter chill settling in his heart.
This was the deepest trap in Itachi's original fate.
It was not that someone had suddenly asked him to choose one day.
Rather, people had long been telling him, over and over in different ways, that true maturity meant severing ties with one side in the divide between village and clan.
Fugaku said gravely, "Suspend this question."
Danzo said coldly, "You cannot even face the question?"
Fugaku looked at him.
"It is not that we cannot face it. A child must not face it alone."
The conference room fell silent.
Fugaku continued, "If an irreconcilable conflict truly arises between the village and the clan, we must first establish its source, determine whether someone is driving it, and investigate whether misinformation is involved. We do not simply force the choice onto a child."
Those words made Itachi raise his head.
It was the first time he had heard his father say anything like that.
In the past, the Uchiha had too often been forced to declare where they stood.
Did you stand with the village or with the clan?
Were you loyal, or were you biased?
Could you sever ties? Could you make sacrifices?
But now Fugaku was saying to investigate the source of the conflict first.
To Itachi,