Night.
The Uchiha Clan compound.
Uchiha Itachi trudged in through the compound gates, his hands wrapped in red bandages. The thick white bandages had been dyed red by the blood seeping from both hands.
The guards on duty at the entrance paled at the sight of Itachi and immediately rushed over to ask after him.
What had happened? Who had dared beat Itachi into this state?
Who had the nerve? Were they trying to provoke the Uchiha Clan?
Itachi was the clan head's son, after all-their future clan head and the hope of the Uchiha Clan.
Another guard hurried toward the clan head's home. With Itachi so badly injured, he had to notify Uchiha Fugaku at once.
Itachi waved off the guards in front of him. He was utterly exhausted and had no desire to explain everything to them.
Leaving the guards behind, Itachi headed straight home.
The compound was silent at night. Only the moon hanging in the sky and his own shadow kept him company.
Itachi had barely staggered to his front door when Uchiha Mikoto, who had heard the news from a guard, rushed anxiously out of the house and pulled him into her arms.
Seeing his tightly bandaged hands and the dark red blood staining the cloth, Uchiha Mikoto could not hold back her tears of anguish.
Your parents would always be the ones who loved you most.
"Itachi, who did this?" Uchiha Mikoto asked, her heart aching. "Weren't you training with Lord Chihane? Who beat you into this state?"
Itachi did not answer his mother. He simply gazed at Uchiha Fugaku, who stood sternly in the doorway, and struggled to part his cracked lips. "Father, today I finally understood what true strength is."
Then he resolutely raised his red-bandaged right hand and promised Uchiha Fugaku,