Chapter 59
With this feeling of relief, he returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
As soon as he reached his doorstep, he vaguely heard conversation from inside.
"The higher-ups have once again cut our Police Force's budget! This is another act of oppression!"
"Not only you, Captain, but even Shisui-san has been recalled from the front lines! It's obvious… the higher-ups don't want our Uchiha to gain merit in this border conflict with Kumogakure!"
Yashiro's agitated voice, rising in pitch, reached Itachi's ears.
Itachi had heard similar complaints countless times.
As Yashiro and other hardliners grew increasingly dissatisfied with the Village, this dissatisfaction began to escalate into hostility towards the Village.
"We can no longer continue to swallow our anger…"
A moment later.
Yashiro and the others walked out of the living room. The three of them nodded slightly to Itachi, and Itachi returned the gesture.
After they left, his father's stern face appeared under the eaves: "Itachi, how were the exam results?"
"They were alright…"
As Itachi recounted the exam, his mind was on the increasingly terrifying atmosphere within the Uchiha Clan.
A shadow enveloped his heart, and Itachi's mood grew more downcast.
He wondered how Shisui-san was doing… "As expected of my son…"
When Fugaku heard that his son had broken the Forest of Death's completion record, his solemn face relaxed slightly.
This was also something that made him feel relieved.
"Where are Mother and the others?"
Itachi hadn't seen his mother or sister.
In fact, he was more worried about his sister, fearing she would go to see Uzumaki Naruto again.
"Sako and your mother went out to buy groceries." With that, Uchiha Fugaku walked outside. "I'm going out for a bit…"
Itachi speculated about his father's destination, thinking about the Uchiha's affairs, and only entered the house much later… Ten-odd minutes later.
Itachi, who was drinking tea in the living room, saw Shisui-san rushing to visit.
Seeing Shisui-san's anxious expression, Itachi knew that Shisui-san must have learned something.
"Itachi… that Uzumaki Naruto is truly too dangerous…"
After Shisui-san entered the house, he picked up the tea and drank it in one gulp.
He immediately told Itachi the results of his observations over the past two days.
The seemingly harmless Uzumaki Naruto actually harbored a huge evil power within him.
"The young man named Uzumaki Naruto… probably possesses a darker heart than anyone else…"
Shisui-san sat cross-legged, his face filled with worry.
"How do you know?"
Itachi was puzzled.
Could Shisui-san read other people's hearts?
"Did you forget, I possess the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Shisui-san pointed to his eyes.
Before these eyes, no detail could escape his observation.
The Uchiha's Sharingan, at close range, could see Chakra at a nanoscale with three tomoe.
The Mangekyo's ability to observe details even surpassed the Hyuga Main Family's Byakugan.
From head to toe, Uzumaki Naruto was emitting an indescribably terrifying Chakra, which was probably his true nature.
After a moment of hesitation.
Shisui-san decided to reveal a certain truth.
"Itachi… you children of the younger generation, there's actually something that the adults have kept hidden from you all these years…"
Itachi: "?"
"It all started with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack back then…"
Shisui-san sighed deeply and recounted the entire story.
"…Later, Hokage-sama ordered that no one should ever mention that Uzumaki Naruto is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox…"
Uzumaki Naruto is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?!
Shisui-san's information gave Itachi a huge shock.
Something all adults knew, but the new generation didn't… No wonder the villagers treated Uzumaki Naruto that way.
So Uzumaki Naruto was the Nine-Tailed!
As a survivor of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, Itachi remembered the tragedy of that night vividly.
Who knew how many people and families were broken or even destroyed because of it.
"At first, I thought it was some unreliable rumor… After all, how could the Nine-Tailed Demon Foxturn into a child?"
Shisui-san gave a bitter smile.
"Until I witnessed Uzumaki Naruto's true nature with my own eyes… That Chakra felt exactly the same as what I felt on the night of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack… Unfortunately, I wasn't very old then, so I didn't perceive some things deeply…"
Shisui-san shrugged.
"Don't mention this to anyone. After all, it was Hokage-sama's personal order…"
Then why did you tell me?
The answer was already very clear.
Shisui-san, who was both his mentor and friend, regarded him as his most important companion.
"Shisui-san~! You're visiting my house again~!"
Just as Itachi was immersed in emotion, his sister's cute voice rang out from the courtyard outside.
His sister, carrying large bags, had returned with their mother from grocery shopping.
"Haha, what, Sako, are you worried I'll steal your brother?"
Shisui-san's expression changed in a second, and he rose with a laugh, greeting his sister.
After teasing Sako for a bit, Shisui-san indicated that he wouldn't disturb them any longer.
"Aunt Mikoto, I'll be heading back now."
Before leaving, Shisui-san turned back and gave Itachi a meaningful look.
Itachi nodded slightly, understanding Shisui-san's good intentions.
Uzumaki Naruto was the Nine-Tailed's incarnation, and the Nine-Tailed was the demon fox that brought disaster to Konoha. The conclusion… he shouldn't let his sister continue to approach Uzumaki Naruto.
"Brother, how were your exams?"
After putting down her bags, Sako immediately ran over to ask her brother about the results of the first two stages of the Chunin Exams.
After learning what happened, Sako's eyes began to shine.
"Congratulations, Brother!"
My brother is indeed amazing.
Well then, for the upcoming Third Exam, I will go watch it myself! And that guy Uzumaki Naruto too.
However, before Sako could voice her prepared plans, her enthusiasm was completely extinguished by a bucket of cold water from her brother.
"Sako…"
As Itachi spoke, Mikoto had already gone to the kitchen.
"From now on, you are not to associate with Uzumaki Naruto… not even make contact."
"?!"
Sako looked shocked.
She had been so cheerful just a second ago.
"Eh?! Why…"
"Because…"
Shisui-san's observations, combined with his own assessment of Uzumaki Naruto.
From the depths of that young man's eyes, Itachi saw only malevolence.
His own instincts told him that this was the truth.
"…You should know how the villagers treat him."
Itachi offered a reason that wasn't really a reason.
But, Brother… I'm going to watch the Chunin Exams Third Exam with Uzumaki Naruto then. I've already promised him, and I'll accept him as a friend after that.
Remembering Naruto's bright and expectant eyes, remembering how lonely he was… "In any case, don't contact him again." Itachi reached out and patted his sister's head.
"I understand…"
Sako lowered her head… At the same time, at Naruto's house.
"This… should be enough, right…"
Hyuga Natsu glanced at Naruto with disgust and disdain.
Her fair, pretty face was flushed crimson with humiliation.
Maintaining this posture, her arms were trembling.
However, Naruto was unhurried, and with rustling sounds, he released the accompanying Tailed Beast.
The demonic Tailed Beast's ferocious form instantly appeared in the real world.
On the kitchen wall, tiled with ceramic, besides Naruto's shadow, the demonic Tailed Beast's ferocious projection was also cast.
The Tailed Beast, nourished and nurtured by Yin Release Chakra, grew even stronger.
And it yearned even more to invade this world.
Naruto's suppression of it had reached its limit.
Now… was the time for the Tailed Beast to be unleashed, for the demon to be released!
"…"
When Hyuga Natsu saw this scene, her disgusted expression instantly turned to horror.
A tumultuous storm churned in her heart, like the surface of the sea rolling in a tempest.
Fear, terror, awe, disbelief… ultimately coalescing into a mournful question from the depths of her heart.
'How is this possible~~~'
A hellish Tailed Beast that should not exist in reality had truly come into the human world.
Thud!
The next second.