(June, year 52 AK)
'Well, at least I tried...' Yuta thought irritated, as he tried a few times to start a conversation with Itachi, but as he predicted before, Itachi is just not paying attention as if nothing around him exists. And when Yuta tried to start a conversation, it was like he was talking to a wall, even when he tried to involve some heavy topics like war and importance of peace, he was just being ignored.
There are also a bunch of girls from the class that are constantly around Itachi, trying to attract his attention, so there aren't many opportunities to catch him alone either.
It's like there is something very important on Itachi's mind right now, and he was going on autopilot mode through the academy hours, and even performing way above everyone else at that, during the theoretical and practical tests.
'I vaguely remember from the anime that he was thinking about something like the meaning of life at this point. If I remembered exactly his train of thoughts, I would've been able to strike a conversation about it and catch his attention, but whatever I tried so far, it doesn't work... I guess there is no other way than to use some future-knowledge instead, but what knowledge to use exactly...'
One more month has passed. During July the rumor quickly spread like a wildfire through the whole village – one of the heroes of the Third Great Shinobi War, the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, betrayed the village and defected, becoming a rouge ninja.
'That is a perfect opportunity!' Yuta thought as he heard the rumor at the academy, he quickly entered his mindscape and initiated the time-travel, as the knowledge about this event only has value before it happens.
Yuta used all of his spiritual energy to test how many days he could time-travel now, as it is a while since he used it last time, and his chakra has grown since then significantly.
As Yuta's soul traveled through the waters of the River of Time and reemerged from the water, Yuta stood on the surface of water and opened his eyes, there was no longer any discomfort or struggle during the time-travel process, and it happens naturally for him now.
Feeling mental exhaustion from the overuse of spiritual energy, Yuta quickly exited the mindscape before he would've been forcefully thrown out due to the lack of energy.
As Yuta exited the mindscape, he found himself in his classroom during the lecture. As he got used to time-travel, he was no longer jolting, stuttering or losing balance when he finishes the process, so there were no signs outside that something happened to Yuta at all.
Only if there were a sensory ninja would've been present and actively using the sensory technique on Yuta, that are able to sense the total chakra amount in a person, then the said ninja would've being able to tell that Yuta somehow lost a big chunk of his chakra in an instant.
Also, there are slight signs of tiredness appeared on Yuta's face, as he used up almost all of his spiritual energy and his mind was exhausted.
After a minute or so, Yuta recognized the content of the lecture and knew exactly what day it was.
'Twenty days, not bad, not bad at all!' Yuta thought excitedly, 'When I traveled all the way back last time, it was seven days max, my spiritual energy grown almost three times over since then! Well, it still not much, since my total chakra amount is about only 0.8 of a Genin right now, if my previous analysis of a normal Genin's chakra is correct.'
'But since my spiritual energy is growing gradually without me even doing anything specific to improve it, I guess it's fine, I'm not in a rush or anything. My only worry is the growing disbalance of spiritual and physical energies. It should be fine for now, since my physical energy also grows little by little, but the more my spiritual energy grows, the more severe the disbalance would be when I time-travel all the way back.'
'Last time I went back to my four-years-old not trained body, I was still didn't feel any discomfort or problems with my grown spiritual energy, but who knows what will happen in similar situation if my spiritual energy would be ten times or hundred times stronger... This needs further investigation.'
Yuta went through the day at the academy, but there wasn't any opportunity to speak with Itachi in private, those girls from class started to irritate him quite a bit.
'What the hell?' Yuta thought annoyed, as he observed Itachi walking through a hall with a bunch of girls following him and trying to speak to him and catch his attention, 'They are six years old god damn it!'
...
'What am I even doing... Why I want to interfere in this clusterfuck with the Uchiha clan at all? This is not my business or responsibility to do so!'
...
'But still, I'm here now, and I sure can do something about it, it just feels the right thing to do. I'm not a hero or anyone's savior, but since I found myself right here, able to prevent this massacre, and with my time-travel there is not even that much risk in doing so, so why not? There might be good benefits for me in the end of this matter as well.'
Next day the situation repeats and Yuta wasn't able to speak to Itachi in private again. This time he decided to follow Itachi after the end of classes at the academy.
When classes ended, Yuta followed Itachi maintaining some distance but without trying to hide, he knew that it was pointless to try to sneak up on Itachi, as he was way above Yuta in shinobi skills, as he was trained rigorously from the very young age in the clan.
After ten minutes of following, Itachi turned into a narrow and dark alley between two tall buildings. Yuta was a little worried that he might lose him and hurried to catch up.
As Yuta hurriedly entered the ally and walked some distance inside, he saw that there was no one in sight.
...
"Why are you following me?" Yuta heard a calm voice from a few meters behind.
'Got you... Well, more like he got me, but whatever...' Yuta thought as he knew it was the opportunity to speak in private that he was looking for.
"I have a vital piece of information I want to share with you." Yuta responded calmly without turning around.
"If it is vital, then why you want to tell it to me and not report it to the higher-ups?" Itachi asked.
...
'Good question. Maybe because I want to save your clan and not get captured by that piece of trash Danzo...' Yuta thought annoyed, as he turned around and looked Itachi in the eyes, trying to convey how serious the matter is.
"I can't explain my reasons to you right now, neither I can explain how I know the thing I'm about to tell you."
"If that the case then don't bother, you are acting suspicious like a spy right now, and I probably should capture and bring you to the higher-ups." Itachi said coldly as he made a step forward.
Yuta stood unbothered, watching as the situation deteriorate rapidly in the wrong direction.
'How sure am I that I want to help him and save the Uchiha clan? My motivation to do so took a major hit right now...' Yuta felt some anger start to build up inside.
"Sure, go ahead!" Yuta said, louder than before, with some anger sipping into his voice, "But don't blame me when in less than ten years the whole Uchiha clan will cease to exist!"
Next instant Itachi appeared right by his side, moving faster than Yuta could see, with a kunai in his hand pressed against Yuta's neck, his face as calm as before, but there was some coldness in his eyes.
Yuta was a little startled, but he wasn't really worried about the threat, he didn't believe Itachi can kill him like that, based on the words alone, and even if by small chance he could, Yuta was on guard and ready to initiate time-travel at any moment. In his understanding, as long as his brain isn't destroyed instantly, he would have enough time to do so as long as he was prepared and ready, or so he thinks.
'Why did he reacted so strongly I wonder, he wasn't really cared for his clan... Ah, I see, Sasuke is already born and he is the part of the Uchiha clan as well, and what I said could be considered a threat to Sasuke from his perspective, how bothersome...'
"You better start talking." Itachi said coldly as he pressed kunai a little harder, even a bit more and it will cut the skin.
'Sigh, all the plans for the conversation are already ruined, I might as well drop the act and tell him the truth and see what happens, well at least that part of the truth that I possibly could tell. I always could try again later after all.'
"Sigh, what a drag!" Yuta dropped his serious act and looked Itachi in the eyes with annoyance, "I'm on your side, believe it or not, all I want to do is to prevent the tragedy that will destroy the Uchiha clan. If you are not ready to have a peaceful and clear-minded conversation then so be it, do whatever you want, I don't care." As Yuta heatedly said so, he without any care in the world adjusted his posture to a more relaxed one and crossed his arms, looking into Itachi's eyes with annoyance.
But as Yuta moved, his neck wasn't cut by a kunai that was pressed against it, as Itachi reacted in time and pulled it back.
'Huh, I was trying to get his attention all this time, and now I sure have it!'
--- AN ---
Would you try to prevent the Uchiha clan massacre if you were the MC? Or would you do something else entirely and let the Uchiha clan be destroyed the same way it happened in the original story?
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Thanks to Loalola, waltersaaron16, Denuncia, jv1juncjvc, and Jayroy_63 for the power stones! Last week we got 34 stones at the end of the week, this time it's Saturday and it's already 40, with this progression we should be able to reach the top200 next week!
UPD: I'm trying out a scheduled release, if I did everything right, the next chapter will be published 9pm EST, and that would be the schedule time for the following chapters as well. I'm also increasing the time I spend on writing and hopefully there would be a new chapter each day from now on.