"No, that's not right, Uchiha Itachi."
"Besides him, there's also Uchiha Shisui. Both of them are Uchihas who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"With their abilities combined, setting off a Tailed Beast explosion wouldn't be a difficult task."
Sakura Haruno gazed at Uchiha Itachi, a fleeting, almost imperceptible glint of mockery flashing in her eyes.
"If you just cut down problems with a single stroke, never considering solutions and simply eliminating the people who cause them…"
"Humans are called humans because they possess compassion."
"Even the most heinous villains have a soft side in their hearts."
Hearing this, Tobirama Senju instinctively retorted, "We are shinobi."
"Shinobi are human too."
Sakura cut off Tobirama's words without hesitation.
"Would you kill an infant still in its cradle?"
Sakura's question left Tobirama silent.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, cast an unexpected glance at Sakura.
He had thought Sakura was the ruthless type, willing to do anything to achieve her goals. But now…
"If you don't uproot the grass completely…"
A trembling voice broke the silence—it was Uchiha Itachi.
He wanted to prove something, to prove that what he did was right.
He hadn't done anything wrong!
He was right!
"Then why is Sasuke still alive?"
!!!
The calm, succinct words struck Uchiha Itachi like a bolt of lightning, piercing straight through his core!
Itachi's head snapped up, his eyes wide with terror as he stared at Sakura's serene expression.
Sasuke…
Sasuke…
Why is Sasuke still alive?
It was me!
It was me!
It was my selfishness!
Me?!
Who am I?!
Where am I?!
What have I done?!
Father!
Mother!
Did I really do the right thing?!
What have I done?!
Itachi stumbled back a step, his usually stoic face now a mask of panic, fear, regret, and dread…
"Does that mean… I was wrong?"
Itachi's trembling gaze fixed on the pink-haired girl, whose calm demeanor bore no trace of the innocence expected of a thirteen-year-old.
A chilling indifference.
"That's the same inexplicable feeling I had when I first learned the truth about the Uchiha."
Sakura's words were like daggers, each one stabbing into Itachi's heart.
"If you were truly a villain, that would be one thing—after all, a devil's actions need no explanation."
"But you, for the sake of so-called 'peace,' slaughtered your own father, mother, lover, and clan with a single blade."
"Did you ever consider another way?"
"Did you ever fight for your parents' lives?"
"Did you seek help?"
"Did you ever open your heart to the old man and ask for his aid?"
"If you had truly killed everyone, including Sasuke, I might even have praised you for your 'selfless sacrifice.'"
"But you didn't. Under the pretext of 'peace,' you killed them all to secure Sasuke's safety."
"The lives of over a thousand Uchiha, from top to bottom, were your offering."
"An offering to secure Sasuke's safety."
With every sentence Sakura spoke, Itachi took another involuntary step back.
Hiruzen Sarutobi silently smoked his pipe. As someone who had lived through those events, he hadn't been able to stop the tragedy, but as Hokage, he bore significant responsibility as well.
Itachi wanted to argue, to say he had tried, that he had sought help!
He had gone to… Danzo.
The name stuck in his throat, refusing to come out.
Why had he gone to Danzo?
It was as if all the strength in his body drained away in that moment. Itachi collapsed to his knees, his will to live already fragile, now shattered by this verbal onslaught, giving rise to thoughts of death.
"Hah, just as expected from your actions."
"When you can't solve a problem, you eliminate the person who caused it."
"And this time, that person is you."
Looking at Itachi, steeped in an aura of death, Sakura spoke coldly.
"Hah…"
Itachi, still kneeling, looked up at Sakura with a bitter smile.
"You won't let me live, but you won't let me die either…"
Tobirama watched the scene unfold, his gaze calm.
The Senju name had been tarnished by association.
This Uchiha Itachi was, without a doubt, another Uchiha lunatic.
"Who said I won't let you die?"
"If you're so eager to die, go do it somewhere else—don't dirty my sight."
"If death could solve everything, humanity would have vanished long ago, instead of being embroiled in endless wars like now."
Sakura's mocking words left Itachi speechless.
Jiraiya couldn't hold back and interjected, "Isn't that chaos your doing?"
Sakura shot Jiraiya a glare.
"Would there be no wars without me?"
"Can you use your brain for once?"
Jiraiya fell silent again.
"Hah, fine, tell me—what do you want me to do?"
Itachi looked at Sakura with a bitter expression.
At this point, he had no desire to say more.
Right or wrong, it all fell on him.
"Since you keep claiming it was for peace…"
"Was your 'peace' for Sasuke, or for Konoha?"
Sakura's words silenced Itachi and drew Hiruzen's scrutinizing gaze toward him.
The bystander sees more clearly than the one involved.
When Itachi had entrusted Sasuke's care to him, Hiruzen had thought him a Konoha-obsessed lunatic.
Now, it seemed he was just a deranged brother complex.
"It's…"
"It's…"
"Sasuke…"
The words came haltingly from Itachi's mouth, stripping away the excuse of peace.
"Sasuke is doing well now. He's working hard to grow stronger, training tirelessly, all so he can one day kill you with his own hands."
"But he hasn't drowned in hatred."
"He has his own life."
"Until the day he kills you, you'd better atone for your sins with that life of yours."
"Tell me everything you know."
The shinobi world was like a tangled mess of paste.
Sakura needed information on the Akatsuki organization, their personnel, and their future plans.
Listening to Sakura's questions, Itachi spoke slowly.
"The night of the clan massacre, I wasn't alone."
"There was another person that night."
"His name… was Uchiha Obito."
The name caused Hiruzen and Jiraiya to narrow their eyes.
"Moreover, he was the one responsible for the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha thirteen years ago, which led to the death of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."
???
!!!
The revelation sent Hiruzen and Jiraiya reeling.
Uchiha Obito was Minato Namikaze's student!
How could that man have dared to kill his own teacher?!
"Uchiha Obito was Minato's student!" Jiraiya roared, unable to contain his anger.
Tobirama's expression shifted slightly.
Another formidable figure?
The Uchiha clan truly deserved their fate.
"Yes, what does that have to do with it?" Itachi looked up at Jiraiya.
"…"
Jiraiya, seeing Itachi's defeated demeanor, felt his teeth itch with frustration.
"Obito held significant influence in the original Akatsuki organization."
"But after his identity was exposed, he lost much of his authority."
"He's now completely suppressed by the Akatsuki's leader, Pain."
Another name emerged from Itachi's mouth.
Following that came the revelation that Pain possessed the eyes of the Sage of the Six Paths—the Rinnegan.
Sakura listened patiently.
Jiraiya, hearing this, couldn't hold back again.
"The Rinnegan?"
"That's Nagato's eyes!"
Itachi didn't know the name Nagato; he only knew Pain.
"Nagato was one of the three students I took in during my three years in the Land of Rain," Jiraiya explained, addressing Hiruzen's confused look while suppressing his unease.
"What?!"
"Jiraiya!"
"You took a Rinnegan wielder as a student and didn't bring him back to Konoha?!"
"Have I been too lenient with you?!"
Hiruzen's face darkened as Jiraiya recounted the details, his expression grim enough to drip water.
Tobirama glanced at Jiraiya.
Another formidable figure.
"Uh, old man, let me explain. I heard a prophecy from the Great Toad Sage, saying my student would save the shinobi world."
"That person must be Nagato!"
Jiraiya's explanation only worsened things, and Hiruzen's face grew even darker.
"Saving the shinobi world by destroying Konoha, right?!"
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