And who exactly had told Sasuke the truth? That Masked Man?
Itachi's eyes darkened. Aside from Konoha's upper ranks, only that Masked Man knew the truth about the Uchiha.
Then what was his purpose? Why tell Sasuke the truth while Itachi was still alive?
But he no longer had time to think through any of this. Uchiha Itachi turned his gaze back to Sasuke opposite him and sighed softly.
"My foolish little brother... I thought you had matured. I thought you could stand on your own now. Yet you still disappoint me so much. How far can those eyes of yours see now?"
Itachi sighed quietly. Which mattered more, the clan or the village?
Having inherited the so-called Will of Fire since childhood, Itachi had begun forming his own judgments very early. But what had truly driven him to make that decision back then was, ultimately, the will left to him by Shisui Uchiha, his mentor in life and a brother to him.
And Sasuke!
"Both clan and village are shackles upon people. They constrain your understanding, knowledge, thoughts, intuition, and will. Everyone faces moments when they must make cruel choices. Sasuke, do you understand?"
Itachi instructed him slowly, just like the gentle older brother in Sasuke's childhood memories, making his gaze shift slightly.
"And then you chose to kill your own clansmen? You chose to kill your own parents? Itachi, do you know what you did back then? For the sake of that so-called village, and me..."
Sasuke fell silent for a long while before speaking with mixed feelings. He understood Itachi's words, but...
He could not accept it! Breaking free of the restraints of clan and village to choose the path one believed was right-but Itachi's choice had been so cruel.
"The Uchiha Clan was exceptional, but being