In the forest outside the Uchiha clan grounds.
Itachi had already been waiting here for a long time.
He knew that person would definitely come.
Footsteps approached, and a person wearing a tiger-striped mask appeared nearby.
Itachi walked over and stood in front of Obito, "You're late."
Obito disguised his voice and replied, "Fine, as promised, I will lend you a hand."
Itachi turned his head, "Then let's do as we agreed."
Obito crossed his arms, "The reason I'm helping you annihilate the Uchiha isn't just for revenge. I have other goals as well."
"Just pretend you didn't see those things."
Of course, Itachi knew he was referring to collecting Sharingan.
But given the current situation, Itachi no longer cared about those things.
"You want me to avoid recording your actions with the Sharingan, right?"
"That's right. This is also the proof that I'm sparing your brother's life."
"I don't need a child without a Sharingan."
Itachi knew that Sasuke currently had no value. He turned his head and said, "So I can be at ease, right?"
"Besides trusting you, I have no other choice."
Obito knew that after this event, Itachi had no better place to go.
So he spoke again, "If you ever hit rock bottom, you can always come to our organization."
Itachi was slightly puzzled, "Your organization?"
"Yes, it's called [Akatsuki]."
———
[Hokage Office]
The Third Hokage was handling administrative work. As for the upcoming extermination of the Uchiha clan tonight, he had no major emotional reaction.
Everything had already been planned. Even if the Uchiha had become wary, the only loss would be to Danzo's Root.
It had nothing to do with him.
He only needed to lead the ANBU to clean up the aftermath.
"Urgent report!"
An ANBU member barged in without permission.
The Third Hokage frowned but didn't scold the ANBU. Instead, he asked, "What happened!?"
The ANBU immediately reported, "Kakashi and the two others monitoring Sasuke are missing."
"Sasuke's whereabouts are also unknown."
The Third Hokage paused his hand holding the pipe and asked in a deep voice, "What about Naruto?"
The ANBU replied, "Naruto is safe and currently at home."
The Third Hokage relaxed a bit and took a puff from his pipe.
But in his mind, he was wondering who took Sasuke, 'Danzo or Itachi?'
'If it is Danzo, there is no problem, I can just negotiate.'
'If it is Itachi, things can be troublesome.'
The Third looked up at the clock. It was already 10 PM, and it had long been dark outside.
If Itachi were going to act, this would be the time.
"Send more people to watch the Uchiha compound. Report immediately if anything happens."
"Yes! Lord third!"
———
The moon hung high.
Tonight felt especially quiet.
Itachi, who had already resolved to shoulder everything, arrived at the entrance of the clan grounds.
He put the mask on his face.
With a body flicker, he landed on the low wall.
"Sasuke…", Itachi murmured, then his gaze grew resolute.
He drew his weapon and leaped down from the wall.
Suddenly, from the shadows on both sides of the wall, two large nets sprang out.
Whoosh!
The nets howled through the wind and swept down at Itachi.
Itachi's heart tightened, 'How can this be?'
The moment he was covered by the nets, a crow's cry rang out.
Kaah! Kaah! Kaah!
Itachi's entire body turned into countless crows, scattering into the sky and flying wildly, finally reforming into Itachi's figure.
But before he could land, a barrage of shuriken flew out from the shadows.
Itachi swung his weapon, deflecting the shuriken, but still got two cuts on his shoulder.
At this moment, a figure stepped out from the shadows.
"Itachi, you really betrayed the clan!"
Itachi landed, his expression unchanged. The others in the clan didn't yet know he had the Mangekyou Sharingan.
So even though he was injured, he didn't use Susanoo.
But Itachi was still somewhat surprised. He thought it would be his father or the elder, but didn't expect it to be Rengoku.
Rengoku was from the same generation as Shisui, so Itachi naturally knew him.
After trouble befell Rengoku's family, he became busy with missions, and everyone gradually lost contact.
"Didn't expect it would be Senior Rengoku," Itachi's expression was cold and unreadable.
Rengoku didn't call for others, choosing to face Itachi alone. As he approached, he said, "You're going to be Konoha's accomplice and annihilate your own clan?"
Hearing Rengoku's question, Itachi's expression flickered, "At this point, what meaning is there in asking that, Senior Rengoku."
Rengoku chuckled lightly, "There's a kind of man in this world who is the easiest to deceive, the self-righteous."
"You just need to repeatedly tell him, 'Thanks to you, you think like a Hokage.'"
"Then this man will arrogantly believe that problems he can't solve, no one else can either."
Of course, Itachi knew Rengoku was talking about him.
But now he was completely lost, living in a world of lies.
When Shisui died, he passed the burden called "peace" onto Itachi.
But Itachi had no one to guide him.
Under the Third Hokage's repeated brainwashing, he couldn't accept that he had failed.
He lied to others, lied to himself.
He couldn't accept being someone who couldn't save his clan. Under immense pressure, he could only accept the mission to annihilate the Uchiha.
The current Itachi naturally couldn't be persuaded with just a few words.
Itachi remained silent, not because he was listening to Rengoku, but waiting for him to get closer.
But Rengoku had the same idea.
As a genjutsu master, Itachi immediately wanted to use genjutsu to subdue Rengoku.
After all, genjutsu, even if the target was wary, under the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, Rengoku definitely wasn't his match.
"AH!"
A childish scream suddenly rang out.
Itachi was instantly distracted, 'That is Sasuke's voice?'
From the corner of his eye, he saw Yusuke toss the unconscious Sasuke to the ground and stomp on him.
At that moment, Rengoku didn't even meet Itachi's eyes, he directly charged into Itachi's attack range.
With one slash, he knocked away Itachi's weapon and thrust toward Itachi's face.
Itachi didn't expect that Rengoku would abduct Sasuke right under Konoha's nose.
The current Itachi wasn't as skilled as eight years later. Seeing his beloved younger brother captured and his weapon knocked away, Rengoku's longsword was already at Itachi's face. He could even feel the sting of his cheek being cut.
"SUSANOO!"
Just after using the crow clone, Itachi had no choice but to summon Susanoo to defend.
As the skeletal frame emerged, Rengoku's longsword was directly repelled.
Itachi didn't hesitate, Susanoo's giant hand immediately grabbed Rengoku.
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