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***
Dinner time.
Because Itachi had returned from his mission, Mikoto prepared a more substantial meal than usual.
"I heard from Shikaku that you did a great job on this mission."
At the table, Fugaku looked at Itachi and nodded with a hint of satisfaction.
"As expected of my son."
Mikoto smiled beside him.
"I knew it, brother is the best," Sasuke said with a smug look on his face.
He looked at Itachi, who was sitting next to him, and asked curiously, "Brother, what happened on your mission out of the village this time?"
"Nothing special, just a fight with ninja from another village," Itachi replied.
"Then brother must have defeated them!"
Sasuke said without hesitation, with an almost blind confidence in his brother.
"The outcome of the fight is not important. As a ninja, my mission is to complete the task. Sasuke, when you become a ninja, remember this," Itachi said calmly.
As for the specific details of the mission, they were confidential, so he naturally would not share them with his family.
After dinner, Fugaku called Itachi to his room and conducted a brief inquiry and conversation.
Afterwards, Itachi left home on the pretext of daily training.
With Itachi's skills, no one would notice him sneaking out of the Uchiha clan.
Although he wanted to visit Shisui at the Konoha hospital, the latter was the captain of the ANBU and had suffered serious injuries, so there would likely be ANBU ninjas guarding him.
So Itachi did not go directly to the Konoha hospital, but went to the residential area in the center of the village, the home of the Fourth Hokage.
Knock knock!
Itachi knocked on the door politely, and soon there were light footsteps in the house.
"Brother Itachi, you're back from the mission."
Naruto opened the door to greet Itachi, and glanced behind him.
"I came alone, Sasuke is still practicing at home," Itachi chuckled and said.
"Oh," Naruto replied, flashing Itachi a bright smile.
He stepped aside and said, "Itachi-nii, please come in."
"Mom and Dad, Itachi-nii is here," Naruto said, already running into the house.
Itachi looked at the blond boy's back, feeling a slight pang of emotion.
Before his rebirth, he'd always noticed Naruto's desolate figure whenever he picked up Sasuke from ninja school.
When Naruto was born, his parents died protecting the village.
Although Naruto often wore a cheerful smile, it was to mask a deep loneliness.
After his rebirth, Itachi changed the fate of the Fourth Hokage, most importantly to save the Uchiha and his own family.
But the choice he made undoubtedly drastically altered the trajectory of Naruto's destiny.
In the Minato household's living room, "You're here," Minato, dressed in casual attire, put down his newspaper and smiled softly at Itachi.
In the kitchen, Kushina, still busy, took a moment to come out and greet Itachi.
"I've run into some problems with my ninjutsu training, so I wanted to ask the Hokage for advice," Itachi explained to Naruto and Kushina.
"Oh."
Naruto and Kushina's reactions were surprisingly consistent.
Common sense dictated that Itachi should have first sought guidance from his father.
While Fugaku wasn't as skilled as Minato, he was undoubtedly one of the most skilled ninjutsu masters in the ninja world.
But Naruto and Kushina didn't find anything strange, so Itachi could simply omit his prepared explanation.
"I've told you many times, when you're not in the Hokage's office, just call me Uncle Minato. Otherwise, it's a bit awkward."
Minato stood up from the sofa, patted Itachi's shoulder, and said, "Come with me."
Itachi followed Minato into a room.
"You came here to ask about Shisui's injury, right?"
Minato said, closing the door behind him, looking at Itachi, having already guessed his intention.
"Don't worry, his injuries are not serious anymore. It's just the mental exhaustion caused by excessive use of his eye power. He needs a day or two to recover before he wakes up."
"You should know this better than me."
Itachi was relieved and continued, "In fact, I didn't come here just to inquire about Shisui's injuries."
"After this battle with Deidara from Iwagakure, I think it will attract the attention of the Third Tsuchikage, and several senior officials in our village..."
Itachi said.
He didn't want to attract too much attention from the senior officials in the village.
After all, considering his Uchiha origin, it was not a good thing to show any strong talent and strength.
He had been recruited into the ANBU at the age of ten because his charisma was so prominent that the village's higher-ups sought to effectively control and monitor him.
Minato nodded, "Yes."
Itachi had caught the attention of the Third Tsuchikage, who would undoubtedly utilize Iwagakure's intelligence network to investigate everything concerning Itachi.
And how could the Third Tsuchikage's actions be hidden from Konoha's high-ranking officials, who had held high positions for decades and wielded their own power?
"But don't worry too much. They can't force you to do anything."
Minato gave Itachi a reassuring smile, but his azure eyes held an undeniable resolve.
Minato was kind and gentle, but that didn't mean he was weak.
Now that he was Konoha's Hokage, the higher-ups couldn't interfere too much in the village's affairs.
"Thank you," Itachi said.
He wasn't worried about the village's higher-ups' reaction, as they would know all this sooner or later.
"What's more troublesome is that you've been completely exposed to our enemies. You'll need to be more careful when you go out on missions in the future."
Minato frowned.
Itachi, now considered a high-priority target by the masked man and Pain, was likely acting for the same reason.
Shisui was one of his best young ninjas, and eliminating him would be like removing a wing of Minato's arsenal.
Minato's eyes suddenly grew cold at this thought.
"They probably won't make any major moves anytime soon."
Itachi lowered his eyes, his gaze thick with murderous intent.
Shisui was his dear friend, and he wouldn't let anyone who sought to harm his comrades or the village go unpunished.
"Hokage-sama, we must retaliate against the enemy's actions!"
Itachi raised his gaze to Minato, his eyes dark.
"How do you intend to retaliate?"
Minato asked.
"Of course, eliminate the vital force they have at their disposal."
"The Hidden Mist Village!"
Itachi said indifferently.
...
"What do you have in mind?"
Minato's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this, and he stared intently at Itachi.
He had long since learned from Itachi that the masked man was behind the Fourth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village.
Naturally, over the years, Minato had tried various methods.
However, under the masked man's manipulation, the Hidden Mist ninja rarely appeared outside the Land of Water.
The Land of Water and the Hidden Mist Village were also quite isolated, making it difficult for Konoha's ninja to infiltrate.
Convincing the Hidden Mist ninja that their current Mizukage was in trouble was even more difficult, as it could easily be seen as a divisive tactic used by Konoha against the Hidden Mist Village.
As one of the five great ninja villages in the ninja world, the Hidden Mist Village, with the masked man holding its power, naturally presented a formidable challenge.
If possible, Minato would undoubtedly want to uncover the masked man's true identity.
This would not only eliminate a significant enemy for Konoha, but would also improve the village's current situation.
Since the Third Shinobi World War, the Hidden Mist Village, known as the Village of the Bloody Mist, had been known for its brutal ninja selection system, and Minato was well aware of it.
"Hmm," Itachi replied, a smile suddenly breaking across his face.
"If it were in the past, to resolve the Hidden Mist Village's problems, we would have had no choice but to be patient and wait."
In later generations, the Hidden Mist Village wasn't entirely unaware of the Mizukage's anomaly.
Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, had planned an assassination attempt on the Mizukage, but it failed.
From that point on, the masked man's rule in the Hidden Mist Village became shaky.
He was eventually discovered, and the future Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, ended his bloody and brutal reign.
By that time, Itachi had already been a member of the Akatsuki for several years.
"I have a solution thanks to those guys at Akatsuki," Itachi said in a cold voice.
"What's the specific method?"
Minato asked, aroused by curiosity.
"Using Shisui's Mangekyo technique," Itachi replied.
"Shisui's eye jutsu?"
Because Shisui hadn't yet woken up, Minato only knew that he had activated his Mangekyo Sharingan during his battle with Pain, but he had no idea of its capabilities.
Itachi explained, "Shisui's eye power can manipulate an opponent's thoughts and actions without their knowledge. This is the most powerful illusion, Kotoamatsukami!"
Before his death, Shisui had entrusted his left eye to Itachi, asking him to use it to protect the village.
Before his final battle with Sasuke, Itachi transplanted Shisui's eye into a summoning beast, the crow, and used Shisui's Mangekyo eye jutsu to create a jutsu called "Protect Konoha," then entrusted it to Naruto.
Itachi knew that after his death, the masked man would surely seek out Sasuke, even though he had already injected his final strength into Sasuke's Sharingan, intending to use it to kill him.
However, Itachi didn't fully understand the masked man's true nature.
If the remaining power wasn't enough to kill him, Sasuke would likely be led astray.
If that time came, Sasuke would likely transplant Itachi's Mangekyo to gain even greater power.
Itachi had already learned of Naruto's unwavering determination to retrieve Sasuke.
When Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes, imbued with Itachi's power, "Protect Konoha" would activate.
At that moment, even if Sasuke intended to turn against the village, Shisui's eye technique would influence his mind.
Itachi knew that with Shisui's eye technique, his plan would be unstoppable!
"The power of the Mangekyo Sharingan could actually do something like this?"
Minato was astonished.
While he knew Shisui was skilled in genjutsu, a technique that could alter another's mind at will was truly unbelievable.
"Using the power of Kotoamatsukami, we could completely alter the mind of a Kirigakure ninja, allowing him to expose the Fourth Mizukage's true identity," Itachi said.
"Then the ninja you've chosen to unleash Kotoamatsukami on should be..."
After learning of Shisui's Mangekyo abilities, Minato paused for a moment, then raised his gaze to Itachi's.
"Ao of Kirigakure," Itachi and Minato said simultaneously.
"That's him," Itachi nodded.
"Hehe, using the Byakugan to see through the Sharingan?" Minato chuckled.
During the Third Shinobi World War, among the Hyuga ninjas who fought against Kirigakure, there were members of the Hyuga clan.
The Kirigakure ninja who killed that Hyuga clan member was Ao, and he got a Byakugan as a trophy.
After the war, the Hyuga clan asked Konoha's high-level officials to negotiate with Kirigakure.
However, Kirigakure did not give any response.
But as the Fourth Hokage, Minato knew the name of the Kirigakure ninja who got the Hyuga Byakugan.
Now that he knew the core content of Itachi's plan, Minato could of course infer that Itachi wanted to use Ao's Byakugan to expose the masked man.
Although he lacked the Mangekyo Sharingan, he knew full well that even with the masked man's eye power, he couldn't remotely control the Fourth Mizukage, a perfect Jinchuriki.
There was no more convincing method than allowing the Kirigakure ninja to see the truth with their own eyes.
"That's a good idea, but it's extremely difficult to implement," Minato said.
The Kirigakure ninja rarely ventured beyond the Land of Water these days.
To use Shisui's eye power to control the minds of the Kirigakure jonin would require Shisui to travel to the Land of Water, or even to Kirigakure, where the masked man still controlled the village from behind the scenes.
This was tantamount to walking into a trap.
"Yes, so when we implement this plan, I want to go with Shisui," Itachi said firmly.
The plan was indeed extremely risky, which was why he had to go.
Once Shisui could fully harness the power of the Mangekyo, the two of them, together, would have the power to handle even the most dire situations.
Itachi believed that by then, he would be even more powerful than he was now.
Upon hearing this, Minato frowned.
He certainly understood Itachi's considerations, but with Itachi already exposed, even if both of them possessed the power of the Mangekyo, they would be in danger at any moment once they entered the Land of Water.
The danger might even be greater than last night.
He pondered this, then his gaze fell on the Flying Thunder God Kunai hanging on the nearby wall.
"If they could all master the Flying Thunder God Technique, they'd absolutely be safe," Minato muttered to himself.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was his signature jutsu and one of the most powerful jutsu he possessed.
If that were the case, Minato would have generously taught Itachi and Shisui the Flying Thunder God Technique.
However, the Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't a jutsu developed by Minato.
It was a legacy passed down by the Second Hokage.
Even Minato didn't have the authority to teach it to anyone else without permission, especially not to a member of the Uchiha clan.
.....
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