Chapter 51: Can You Be Normal, Uchiha Itachi?

Chapter 51: Can You Be Normal, Uchiha Itachi?

Uchiha Itachi never imagined that the answer he'd receive from Uchiha Ikeizumi would be like this.

He looked up, meeting Uchiha Ikeizumi's eyes.

Could those sharp black eyes actually see the "evil" he would commit in the future?

He, in the future… would personally destroy the entire Uchiha clan?

Itachi couldn't describe his current feelings.

Shock?

Astonishment?

Horror?

Or perhaps a combination of all these emotions?

So much so that when Uchiha Ikeizumi reached out and grasped his neck, Uchiha Itachi didn't even try to dodge.

Instead, he stood motionless, feeling the subtle sensation of suffocation as the other's fingers gradually tightened.

Itachi's lips trembled slightly as he managed to ask, "Is the future your eyes see something that is bound to happen?"

For some reason.

He found that among the people Uchiha Ikeizumi named, only his younger brother Sasuke was missing…

A faint sense of relief actually washed over him.

This also proved that, even without asking the question, he already believed Uchiha Ikeizumi truly possessed the ability to see future evil.

"Itachi-kun, Senior has never been wrong! Even the Hokage-sama's eldest son, Senior saw through his evil! This is an ability that even Hokage-sama and the others cannot refute!"

The one who answered him wasn't Uchiha Ikeizumi, but Izumi, whose voice behind him was already choked with sobs and trembling.

The young girl had long since unconditionally trusted every word Uchiha Ikeizumi spoke.

She believed Senior Ikeizumi wouldn't lie.

Which meant…

Both she and her mother would die at Uchiha Itachi's hands sometime in the future.

She couldn't accept it.

Izumi, whose vision had unconsciously blurred, hastily wiped the corners of her eyes.

She bit down on her teeth, asking the question that both she and the silent Fugaku beside her most wanted to ask: "Itachi-kun… why would you do such a thing? I'm your friend! My mom has no grudge with you either! And everyone else in the Uchiha clan, they have no ill will towards you, do they?!"

"Many of them are very kind! Even Senior Ikeizumi hasn't apprehended them, which proves they are genuinely kind! Why would you kill even these kind clan members?"

"You clearly told me you love Konoha so much!"

Izumi truly didn't understand. In her impression, Uchiha Itachi, though a bit introverted, was at least a kind person, wasn't he?

At least he was a ninja who deeply loved the village, wasn't he? But why would he turn the butcher's knife against Konoha's own people?!

Itachi didn't answer.

He was still thinking.

"Itachi…" At this moment, Fugaku Uchiha, who had been silent for over a minute, suddenly asked with a complex expression, "Once an irreversible conflict breaks out between the village and the Uchiha clan… you would stand with Hokage-sama and the others, right?"

Itachi froze.

He suddenly realized why his "future evil" would reflect the tragedy of the Uchiha clan's destruction.

If the situation truly reached that irreversible point.

Itachi knew that he wouldn't choose the Uchiha clan; he would choose the majority of Konoha.

To prevent Konoha from falling into a devastating civil war, and to prevent the honor of the Uchiha from being stained by rebels.

He would choose to be the one to stop it all.

He would willingly bear all the sins and infamy.

Even if it meant being forsaken by everyone, even if it meant being branded a rogue ninja, he would not hesitate to choose to protect Konoha.

"…I understand."

Uchiha Itachi felt all his doubts connect.

He understood why Uchiha Ikeizumi harbored such strong malice towards him, even though he hadn't offended him.

So…

His "future" would be like this?

Did that mean the conflict between the village and the Uchiha was fundamentally unresolvable?

Would the future inevitably lead to armed conflict?

And this "future" was just one year away?

Upon sensing that the suffocating grip on his neck had suddenly vanished.

Uchiha Itachi took half a step back.

He coughed gently a few times to ease the discomfort in his throat.

"No wonder you wanted to kill me…"

Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath, an indescribable complex emotion brewing within him. He looked up, meeting Uchiha Ikeizumi's gaze once more, and said: "You believe everything I do in my 'future' is wrong. You think that if you nip me in the bud beforehand, the 'Uchiha Clan Massacre' won't happen."

"But, Uchiha Ikeizumi, you don't seem to realize that you've unconsciously sided with the Uchiha. You haven't considered the immense tragedy that would befall future Konoha if I didn't do this."

"If the Uchiha clan and the village engage in intense armed conflict, all of Konoha will be plunged into terrifying war. At that time, thousands, even tens of thousands of people will die! Konoha will be crippled by this internal strife!"

"Uchiha Ikeizumi, I understand my future actions. This is something I must do, and have no choice but to do."

As he spoke.

A faint smile touched Uchiha Itachi's lips. Having realized what he would do in the future, he seemed to empathize with his future self, feeling his future emotions.

The smile held a hint of bitterness, and two lines of clear, hot tears slid down his face due to his self-pity.

He felt as if endless curses and misunderstandings were rushing towards him, and he would silently choose death, carrying his original intention of protecting Konoha and secrets that would never be spoken.

Right…

Perhaps his future self wouldn't kill Sasuke.

He might leave some contingencies, to train Sasuke and let Sasuke become Konoha's new protector.

To let Sasuke properly guard Konoha's future.

"Where the tree leaves dance, there the fire burns. Whether in the past, present, or future… I am willing to become a withered leaf burned to ashes by the flames, to illuminate the future of the village."

"Father, I apologize for disappointing you. If your future self truly intends to do that, I will turn against you."

"This is my unshakeable belief and capacity."

Uchiha Itachi said earnestly to Fugaku.

Fugaku was speechless.

His gaze towards this eldest son, whom he had always been so proud of, had become incredibly unfamiliar, even somewhat chilling.

Fugaku wanted to refute Itachi.

He wanted to slap Uchiha Itachi hard across the face.

He wanted to loudly rebuke and question him, asking why he was so cold-blooded? Why he wouldn't even spare his own blood relatives?

But…

Imagining the consequences of a fierce armed conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha.

A hint of despair also rose in Fugaku's heart.

Since the future Itachi chose to protect Konoha, then that must be the only choice he could make, right?

—Slap!!!

A sudden, loud slap rang out. Fugaku saw Itachi's face suddenly turn to the side, his naturally fair cheek visibly developing a bright red palm print.

This wasn't Fugaku's doing.

Nor Ikeizumi's.

"Uchiha Itachi!!!"

Izumi, tears in her eyes, glared at her friend, who was becoming increasingly unfamiliar to her.

Her chest heaved, and she choked out a loud rebuke: "Are your beliefs and capacity meant for you to commit such disgusting and repulsive evil? What are you so self-righteous about in front of [Absolute Justice]?! Do you, a person like you, even deserve to mention the Will of Fire?! You're a twelve-year-old brat, can your brain function normally?! What right do you have to decide the lives and deaths of innocent people?!"

...

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