Chapter 63: The Uchiha Brothers
He had always been blinded by rage,
But as his strength grew and his perspective widened, doubts began to stir in his heart.
Even if Uchiha Itachi had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and possessed overwhelming power, to silently slaughter the entire clan was still extremely difficult.
The Uchiha, hailed as Konoha's greatest noble clan, had nearly a hundred Jonin alone.
Even if none of them could match Itachi, creating enough of a disturbance to alert the village shouldn't have been hard.
Could there have been some hidden truth behind it all?
Kabuto Yakushi dangled the answer before him but didn't say it outright. Instead, he smiled and said, "If you want the truth, you should ask the Hokage himself."
That was Lord Orochimaru's intention.
Revealing the full truth all at once would only breed suspicion. Only by guiding Sasuke to uncover the truth on his own would he believe it wholeheartedly.
Sasuke's face turned cold. "Do you have a death wish?"
Was Kabuto suggesting that the Hokage was involved in the Uchiha clan's extermination?
If it was false, then it was just a rogue ninja trying to sow discord. But if it was true, then going to question the Hokage would be suicide.
Kabuto didn't care about his reaction and smiled again. "Go look for the Uchiha clan's journals. You'll find something."
The Uchiha had been plotting rebellion for years. No matter how thorough Konoha's purge was, there would always be remnants.
Sasuke wasn't as clueless as Naruto Uzumaki. Once he found the clues and connected them with the current state of the village, the truth would hit him all at once.
And then, he would willingly cooperate with Orochimaru to destroy the village drenched in Uchiha blood.
"I'll give you one more secret," Kabuto said, lowering his voice and placing a finger to his lips. "The ones who attacked you that day were a covert unit of Konoha called 'Root', under the command of the Hokage's old friend, Danzo Shimura."
Sasuke's brows furrowed even deeper.
He too had found it strange that enemy village ninjas could so easily infiltrate Konoha. Now that it was mentioned again, the whole thing felt suspicious.
In the end, Sasuke and Kabuto made the trade.
For twenty thousand reward points, Sasuke obtained the purple accessory set.
"The truth, huh?"
A tremor rippled through Sasuke's heart. The more he thought about it, the more his head throbbed. Just recalling the night of the massacre made him feel suffocated.
Now, he began to peel open those wounds, combing through every detail.
As Sasuke questioned his entire life—
Two figures clad in black cloaks adorned with red clouds strolled casually through Konoha's shopping district.
The tall, shark-faced man wore a straw hat, which made him stand out even more. "What a prosperous village. Is this where you grew up, Mr. Itachi?"
"Keep quiet."
Uchiha Itachi spoke sternly, but didn't stop Kisame from talking.
From a ninja's point of view, this was a terrible infiltration.
There were no disguises—just straw hats that didn't even conceal Kisame's gills.
Their chakra signatures weren't suppressed either; they were like walking beacons.
They had entered Konoha so boldly,
That the ANBU had long since detected them. They just hadn't made a move yet, unsure of the intruders' intent.
"Itachi-san, are we really here to capture the Nine-Tails?"
Kisame couldn't believe it. The usually calm and composed Uchiha Itachi was taking such a reckless action?
"No. This is just a probe," Itachi replied calmly.
In truth, it was about Sasuke.
While on a mission for the Akatsuki, Itachi had heard that Sasuke had been attacked within Konoha. He suspected that something had changed within the village—possibly Danzo making a move on Sasuke.
That was something he absolutely could not allow.
So he took the risk of returning to Konoha, hoping to silently warn Danzo that he was watching—
To prevent any rash action.
"Quite the show they've put on, Itachi-san."
Kisame raised his head and looked at the center of the village. A massive coliseum had been built. "I heard the Five Nations are holding the Chūnin Exams in Konoha. With an arena this size, even I could go all out in a fight."
Before his defection, Kirigakure had never built such luxurious structures, despite not being a poor village.
Elsewhere—
Inside the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi Hiruzen received ANBU's report. He puffed on his pipe and muttered, "Uchiha Itachi has returned to the village?"
An S-class rogue ninja infiltrating the village—
Under normal circumstances, this should have triggered the highest alert.
But instead, Sarutobi simply waved his hand, signaling ANBU not to take any action, and said nothing more.
He calmly activated the Telescope Jutsu and happened to hear Itachi speaking about capturing the Nine-Tails.
"Is he passing intel to the village? Is there an organization trying to capture the Nine-Tails?"
Guilt filled Sarutobi's heart.
Itachi's return at this time surely had something to do with Danzo's attack on Sasuke.
He had promised to protect Sasuke—but had failed to do so.
Just then,
A crow landed on the power line outside the window, holding a note in its beak.
On the note were secret details about the Akatsuki and signs of upcoming unrest.
It warned that someone might be targeting Konoha.
At the end of the note, Itachi had written his request—to test Sasuke's growth and strength, with the Hokage's approval.
"Sasuke's strength might just surprise you, Itachi."
Sarutobi's lips curled into a gratified smile.
The new generation's growth was something even he could no longer ignore.
With Itachi's silent guidance, Sasuke could definitely become a towering tree that would protect Konoha.
"Go tell Danzo to stay quietly in his Root base. He is not to act without my direct orders."
"Yes, sir."
Itachi had sacrificed too much for the village.
This was the least Sarutobi could do in return.
Meanwhile, at the Nakano Shrine—
Sasuke rummaged through old drawers and cabinets, finally finding a hidden compartment with traces of activity.
"This is… a secret Uchiha letter?"
There wasn't much content, but it recorded large purchases of kunai, explosive tags, and military ration pills.
The sheer quantities far exceeded what a single clan would need—more than enough to stage a rebellion.
Sasuke's brow furrowed as he sensed something wrong. He could almost picture the scenes from back then.
No wonder—
His father had grown increasingly stern and stopped coming home. He and the clan elders had been gathering constantly for secret discussions.
"Did the Uchiha really intend to rebel?"
Now the truth was nearly undeniable.
Sasuke's throat went dry.
Even he could sense something off just by reflecting on those memories. The village must have known long ago that the Uchiha planned to rebel.
The Uchiha clan's destruction was tied to Konoha!
"Itachi… What role did you play in all this?"
A wave of confusion and fury surged inside Sasuke, sending his chakra into a frenzy.
A unique energy gathered in his optic nerves.
His crimson Sharingan activated—
And the tomoe began spinning wildly.
Three tomoe.
Just then, a cold voice rang out behind him.
"A fully matured Sharingan, huh? Looks like you've made some progress while I was away."
It was none other than Uchiha Itachi,
Who had come to the clan compound to check on Sasuke.
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