"You're ten minutes late today, is there something wrong, Itachi?"
Arriving at the surveillance room of the Root, the Root Ninja asked Itachi.
Wearing a mask, Itachi didn't answer the Root Ninja's question.
In fact, he was already trying hard to control his anger, desperately wanting to kill the Root Ninja in front of him...
But doing so would be meaningless.
The one who made a move against Shisui was Danzo, and these Root Ninjas had long lost their own thoughts, merely puppets following Danzo's orders.
Kill these people, and it wouldn't bring any sense of revenge fulfillment.
Moreover, indulging oneself in meaningless hatred only takes you further from your ideals.
Shisui didn't wish for him to live a lifetime filled with hatred and pain.
Carrying his best friend's will, he should substitute him in seeing the far-off future, living bravely and strongly is what he truly should do.
Killing a man like Danzo who hypocritically holds peace would only make living difficult in Konoha and could tarnish the clan's reputation.
Such a thing must not happen.
"It's nothing, just feeling a bit under the weather."
"Do you need to go back to rest?"
"No need, it's nothing major, I'll be fine if I just endure it."
"Alright then, if there's any issue with your health, we have Medical Ninjas here."
The Root Ninja showed some simple concern for Itachi, but he also knew Itachi was just being perfunctory.
"Thanks, how's the situation?"
Itachi asked while looking at the monitors.
This Root Ninja said, "Except for the meeting last night, the Uchiha Clan has been quite quiet lately. However, one person's actions seem a bit strange."
"Who?"
Curious, Itachi asked.
The Root Ninja pointed at a monitor, where a man, quite elderly, seemingly in his fifties, was playing with a group of Uchiha Clan children in the park like a child himself.
"He is..."
Itachi squinted his eyes.
"His name is Uchiha Rika, formerly a confidant of Uchiha Shikora. According to what Root has found, even after Uchiha Shikora's retirement, there is still some lingering connection between him and Uchiha Shikora. There are records in the Anbu regarding this as well."
"Have you discovered anything from that?"
"No. Originally thought they were still plotting some dangerous plan against the village, but over the years, they have both been living honestly in the Uchiha Clan, enjoying a leisurely retirement life."
"Perhaps you've overthought it. Uchiha Shikora is even older than the Hokage, now needs a cane to walk steadily. Uchiha Rika is quite marginalized in the clan, idling through the family all day."
Itachi commented, thinking that the Root people were overly suspicious.
Monitoring the entire Uchiha Clan, the Root was already short on personnel. Wasting effort on a marginalized figure like Uchiha Rika was simply time squandered.
"It's precisely because he's idle that it's suspicious."
The Root Ninja insinuated.
"Are your brains malfunctioning?"
Itachi snorted coldly.
The Root Ninja shrugged, showing indifference.
Within the list of the Uchiha Clan that required monitoring, the status of Uchiha Shikora and Uchiha Rika far exceeded Itachi's father, Uchiha Fugaku.
The seemingly inconspicuous, marginalized, and hard-to-catch people are the most troublesome.
He could only tell that Uchiha Rika's behavior seemed odd, but wasn't sure exactly how.
Whether he's being paranoid or should follow up cautiously was worth considering.
◎
Days passed, Konoha and the Uchiha Clan continued amidst turbulent undercurrents.
At home, Itachi was holding his younger brother Sasuke's report card, showing a satisfied smile.
Without doubt, his brother Sasuke is a child of outstanding talent, despite being only seven years old, his performance at the Ninja School matched his own back then, flawless.
Ninja Techniques, Taijutsu, team cooperation, personal battles, tactical application—all undeniably ranked first in his year.
Except for the theory class, where he was surpassed by a girl named Haruno Sakura, but also achieved the fantastic grade of second place.
This piqued Itachi's curiosity.
Sasuke's knowledge of ninja theory was always taught directly by him, even if second-grade theory exams included challenging questions, Sasuke could easily tackle them, yet he only achieved second place.
Did Sasuke underestimate the exam or strive to his limit achieving second; Itachi leaned towards the latter.
As an elder brother, Itachi always taught Sasuke that even in fair competitive exams, facing classmates meant not holding back; defeating them with all might is necessary.
Not only for oneself but as a respect to the opponent's strength.
Sasuke wouldn't make such a basic mistake, which only implies that the girl named Haruno Sakura has remarkable talent in theoretical application.
"Sorry, brother, I didn't achieve first in one subject this time, but next time I'll achieve first in all subjects."
Uneasy, his younger brother Sasuke, with a tense look, vowed to achieve first in all subjects next time.
"It's alright. Don't underestimate anyone better than you. If others surpass you, humility in acceptance is important. There's no such thing as a perfect person in this world."
Even he would face moments of helplessness and frustration.