He had never had a truly clear understanding of Uchiha Itachi's strength.
That only changed after watching the footage of how Uchiha Itachi instantly defeated Hatake Kakashi. Only then did everything finally click into place.
He finally understood that above what he considered the pinnacle of ninja, elite Jonin, there was another tier altogether.
Kage Level.
"Kage" was not just a title for a village leader. It was also a benchmark for combat strength.
A Kage Level ninja completely crushed elite Jonin. As for himself, if he faced an elite Jonin head-on, he would likely be killed in seconds.
Hatake Kakashi was the perfect example. Kakashi was far stronger than him, yet whether against Uchiha Itachi or Orochimaru, he stood no chance at all. Even attempting mutual destruction was nearly impossible.
Hatake Kakashi had seen this reality clearly. That was why, before finding a way to break through, he wanted to reclaim the Hatake kenjutsu left behind by his father.
The impact on Uchiha Sasuke was just as profound.
He had once planned to defect to Orochimaru, gain power, and then kill Uchiha Itachi.
But the footage he had seen told him that idea was nothing but wishful thinking.
Even if he took everything Orochimaru had and became the next Orochimaru…
Orochimaru himself had been instantly crushed by Uchiha Itachi, like an adult swatting a child.
At Sasuke's age, his understanding was still shallow. He did not know what the soul truly was, nor did he know that Orochimaru's soul had been split too many times, leaving his mental strength dangerously weak. Against a genjutsu master like Uchiha Itachi, Orochimaru was facing his natural counter.
All Sasuke saw was that Uchiha Itachi was overwhelmingly stronger than Orochimaru.
Clearly, even within Kage Level, there were vast differences in strength, and Uchiha Itachi stood among the very best.
Sasuke even began to doubt whether, three years from now, after killing his closest friend and awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, he would truly be able to defeat Uchiha Itachi.
It could be said that Kaede Kitahara's earlier diary entries had inflicted massive psychological damage on Uchiha Sasuke.
And then there was Akatsuki, the organization backing Uchiha Itachi. Several of its members were clearly Kage Level at minimum.
Trying to seek revenge alone would be nothing short of suicide.
Sasuke's reasoning was not wrong.
What he failed to account for was the fact that Uchiha Itachi had gone unbelievably easy on him, deliberately creating one-on-one battle scenarios just for his sake.
If Uchiha Itachi truly were a heartless final villain, then Sasuke's conclusions would have been completely correct.
Faced with an enemy who had multiple Kage Level allies and strength far beyond reason, Sasuke needed teammates.
At that moment, Sasuke's mindset quietly shifted.
If he chose to defect from Konoha like in the original timeline, he would face pursuit from the village and the risk of being taken over by Orochimaru.
Even if he was willing to sacrifice his own body and let Orochimaru possess him, all for the sake of killing Uchiha Itachi…
Reality proved that while Orochimaru was an excellent teacher, he simply had no ability to deal with Uchiha Itachi.
In the end, Sasuke would likely be crushed again in an instant.
Seeking revenge alone held no hope at all.
The only force capable of standing against such a terrifying organization was a giant like Konoha.
Uchiha Itachi was still an S-rank wanted criminal of Konoha. Only by leveraging Konoha's power would revenge even be possible.
No need to betray Konoha.
No need to abandon the village.
He could even revive the Uchiha Clan within Konoha itself.
If that happened, his father and mother would probably be happy.
Kaede Kitahara was the teammate Sasuke had chosen.
From the diary, Sasuke knew that from the moment Kaede Kitahara awakened the Sharingan, it had not taken long for him to reach three tomoe. His overall strength was already on par with elite Jonin.
Give him a little more time, and he would unquestionably become a reliable partner.
More importantly, he was also a descendant of the Uchiha Clan.
He, too, had a responsibility to avenge the clan.
Kaede Kitahara had no idea that in such a short span of time, Sasuke had already thought through all of this and placed him firmly in the category of trusted allies.
Most importantly, Sasuke's desire to leave Konoha had been completely overturned.
Those diary videos had caused Sasuke to overestimate Uchiha Itachi's strength and resolve, but they also made him realize one thing with brutal clarity.
Without Konoha, revenge was impossible in this lifetime.
Uchiha Itachi was no ordinary elite Jonin. He stood at the very peak of the ninja world.
If Sasuke were still a child, he might have felt pride at having such a powerful brother.
But now, all he wanted was to kill Uchiha Itachi.
"Keiko, write this down. I'm making the following arrangements," Kaede Kitahara said with his hands behind his back. "You and Ryuji will escort Rokusho Aoi back to the village and hand him over to Anbu. As for the Sword of the Thunder God, I'll keep it with me for now. It's a high-value item. If you carry it, you could be targeted by powerful ninja. I'll take responsibility for bringing it back."
The Sword of the Thunder God was the Second Hokage's personal weapon and carried significant fame. If word leaked out, they could easily become targets, so Kaede Kitahara decided to hold onto it himself.
"As for Team Kakashi, until Kakashi-senpai recovers, I'll take temporary command. We'll continue the mission and return to Konoha together once the bridge is completed."
"Understood."
Hyuga Keiko and Amakusa Ryuji nodded. They were already accustomed to following Kaede Kitahara's orders.
"Sasuke, Naruto, you two take turns carrying Kakashi-sensei," Kaede Kitahara said, glancing at Tazuna. "We'll stay at our employer's house for now. Any objections?"
Tazuna nodded repeatedly.
He had witnessed the scale of the ninja battles firsthand. If Team Kakashi had not shown excessive kindness and agreed to escort him to the Land of Waves, he would have been dead long ago.
His family was poor. There was no way he could ever afford ninja of this caliber.
The battle he had just seen left him in awe. The Land of Waves had no ninja village, and he rarely interacted with ninja. He had never imagined they could be this powerful.
They were no different from gods.
Letting them stay was more than fine.
In fact, it was necessary.
Even though the ninja Gato had hired were dealt with, Gato himself was filthy rich. He could easily hire more. Without these Konoha ninja protecting him, Tazuna suspected he would die without even knowing how.
The group soon split up and carried out Kaede Kitahara's plan.
That night, after settling the unconscious Hatake Kakashi, Kaede Kitahara and the others stayed at Tazuna's house.
Tazuna's home had plenty of rooms. Though poor, the wooden structure itself was not worth much. It was just labor-intensive to build.
Kaede Kitahara's arrival did draw hostility from Tazuna's young grandson, but Kaede Kitahara chose not to interfere.
He did not possess Talk Release.
That job could be left to Uzumaki Naruto.
Late at night, after everyone washed up, they went to sleep.
For a long time, the group had rarely been able to rest in towns. Their living conditions had been harsh. Having a proper house to stay in allowed both body and mind to relax.
After washing up, Kaede Kitahara dried his hair and opened the diary, ready to make his entry for the day.
[Just like in the original history, Hatake Kakashi overused his chakra and passed out. He'll probably be unconscious for a few days. After all, he carries a Sharingan. Even an ordinary Sharingan is a massive chakra drain. His is a Mangekyo Sharingan, though he doesn't even realize it has already awakened.
The chakra consumption of the Mangekyo Sharingan goes without saying. When Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke use theirs, they end up bleeding tears. That's partly due to the specific abilities of their Mangekyo. Amaterasu is truly bizarre. It's hailed as the strongest physical attack in the world, yet it often fails to kill anyone. Just like most Fire Release, it somehow can't finish people off.
Well… that's not entirely true. It did burn Danzo to death several times. He just used Izanagi to cheat death.
Hahaha. That means Amaterasu still has some use. It just doesn't look great in actual fights against top-tier opponents. Still, I'd say Itachi and Sasuke were definitely holding back.
Later on, when fighting God Tree clones, Amaterasu's power barely shows at all. For a top-tier Fire Release technique, that performance really explains why people say Fire Release can't kill anyone.
Turns out it's not that Fire Release is weak. It's that the user is.
If Madara hadn't used Great Fire Annihilation to deliver a dimensionality-reducing strike and restore Fire Release's reputation, it would really look bad.]
As Kaede Kitahara wrote, he drifted into his usual tangents.
But for those waiting for the diary to update, the impact was enormous.
The past few days had been spent traveling, and Kaede Kitahara had barely recorded anything. His entries were rushed and low on useful information.
Tonight, after finally settling down, his very first entry dropped a bombshell.
"What?"
"Kakashi has a Mangekyo Sharingan too?"
Uchiha Sasuke clenched the diary, his expression filled with disbelief.
Through the diary, he already knew Hatake Kakashi possessed a Sharingan.
He just did not know how Kakashi had obtained it. He only knew it was clearly not awakened through Uchiha blood like Kaede Kitahara's.
From everything he had seen so far, Kakashi's Sharingan appeared to be no more than three tomoe.
How could it possibly be a Mangekyo?
Within the Uchiha Clan, what did the Mangekyo Sharingan represent?
It was a legendary evolution, one that only a handful of people throughout history had ever awakened.
As far as Sasuke knew, only two people possessed it.
One was Uchiha Itachi.
The other was his future self.
Beyond that, there should not be anyone else.
[A/N: Enjoying the story? You can read more chapters early and support me here:patreon.com/Aeroscissors]