Ryousuke watched Itachi's radiant smile.
Even though Itachi was smiling, Ryousuke knew this guy had been faking it since he was a kid—never showing what he really felt.
If he didn't know that Itachi would one day wipe out the entire Uchiha clan with his own hands, he might've actually believed him.
There was no way Itachi would be swayed by just one question.
Ryousuke wasn't even sure yet whether Itachi had been fully brainwashed by the Will of Fire and completely sided with Konoha.
A normal clansman should side with the clan. But this bastard Itachi abandoned family and love, all for Konoha's so-called peace.
Like seriously, what the hell did a village without family or love have to do with him?
Itachi had been taken to the battlefield at age three by his father, Uchiha Fugaku, and had witnessed the cruelty of war.
He started pondering the meaning of life.
And by the time he was a kid, he could already think like a damn Hokage.
Now he was probably contemplating the relationship between the clan and the village, thinking he was gonna protect true peace.
Then, in his holy savior delusion, he decided to "transcend" human emotion and straight-up massacred his entire clan.
But let's be real—even if the Uchiha had their flaws, that didn't justify total extermination.
He didn't even spare the women, the kids—hell, not even the clan's damn dog.
The real beef between the Uchiha and Konoha's higher-ups was all about power.
The higher-ups were scared the powerful Uchiha might snatch their top positions.
That's why they kept trying to suppress the clan.
But why the hell couldn't the Uchiha hold high positions?
The Senju were basically extinct. The Uchiha were clearly the strongest clan in the ninja world now.
They had monsters like Itachi and Shisui.
Meanwhile, the so-called backbone of the Hokage faction—the Sannin—had basically disbanded.
Tsunade had PTSD and hemophobia after losing her loved ones in the Second Great Ninja War and now wandered around as a broke gambler.
Orochimaru got caught doing human experiments and peaced out of the village.
And Jiraiya? Wandering around writing porn books and looking for some "Child of Prophecy."
The Hokage faction was a wreck. No wonder the Third Hokage panicked when the Uchiha started rising.
What, the Uchiha take the top spot and suddenly can't protect Konoha?
With beasts like Shisui and Itachi, Ryousuke didn't believe for a second that other villages wouldn't get steamrolled.
But the cowardly Third Hokage thought the Uchiha were a threat to village stability. And Danzo? Called the Uchiha an evil clan.
Let's be honest, the real reason was they were scared the Uchiha might take over.
Plus, the Third was old and useless.
In the Third Great Ninja War, he didn't even go to the front lines. Just sat in the back sipping tea.
Compared to the other village leaders, he was pathetic. Konoha's shinobi bled to win that war against Iwagakure, and in the end, he signed an unfair treaty.
And during the Nine-Tails incident? Useless again.
How the hell did that guy still have the balls to keep sitting in the Hokage's chair?
Danzo? Not even worth bringing up. That guy was the King of Scumbags. Everything wrong in the Naruto world was his fault.
Ryousuke really didn't get why Itachi would devote himself to trash like that.
Trying to snap him out of it, Ryousuke said, "Honestly, if our Uchiha clan ran the village, we'd probably protect peace better than that shriveled-up Third Hokage."
"Itachi, don't you agree?"
Itachi's pupils shrank. He was shaken.
So Ryousuke really was one of the radicals—he actually wanted to seize power. Itachi felt a surge of disgust.
To him, the Uchiha were a selfish clan. If they ever gained control, it would only bring disaster to Konoha.
He remembered when his friend Tenma died and he awakened his Sharingan. He went home crying, and his father didn't comfort him—just said "congrats."
That moment made Itachi lose faith in the clan.
He truly believed the Third Hokage had already done enough, guiding the village toward peace.
He spoke slowly.
"You shouldn't say things like that. The Third Hokage has brought peace and prosperity to the village."
"He's not old and useless—he's still one of the strongest shinobi we have."
Ryousuke was speechless.
Okay, maybe the Third still had some power—if not the strongest, he was at least top-tier.
But in the Third Great Ninja War, the guy didn't even show up at the front.
It was the Uchiha who held back Kirigakure on the eastern front.
And Minato, who was just a jōnin at the time, led forces against Iwagakure and the Lightning Village's AB combo.
That's what brought peace to Konoha—not the Third sitting on his ass in the back.
Ryousuke couldn't figure out how Itachi gave the Third Hokage all the credit.
Must've been brainwashed by the Academy's propaganda.
Ryousuke was honestly impressed.
The Third Hokage really knew how to market himself—no shame about being called the "Strongest Hokage" in the Academy textbooks.
If he was the strongest, then where did that leave Hashirama the God of Shinobi and Tobirama the Forbidden Jutsu Master?
If those two heard Sarutobi Hiruzen being called the strongest, they'd probably be rolling in their graves.
Itachi's words made it clear—he was already brainwashed by the Will of Fire.
No wonder he followed Danzo's fake order to massacre the Uchiha without a second thought.
Ryousuke was feeling kind of hopeless. He didn't have Naruto's mouth-jutsu powers.
It was hard to shake Itachi's mindset.
Still, he tried again.
"Itachi, you could choose to stand with your clan. Danzo is clearly a dangerous man."
"You must've felt how he views our clan—he openly calls us evil."
"He even covets the Sharingan's power."
Before Ryousuke could finish, Itachi's face darkened.
He didn't like Danzo's ruthless methods...
But he truly respected the man's dedication to protecting Konoha through the shadows.
Thanks to Danzo's "sacrifices," the village had peace.
Ryousuke didn't get any of it.
Itachi snapped, "Do you have any idea what Danzo has done for Konoha?"
"How many enemies he's eliminated?"
"And you dare slander him like that?"
Ryousuke stared in shock. He hadn't expected Itachi to see Danzo as some kind of noble hero.
This was next-level delusion. No wonder he followed Danzo's order to wipe out the Uchiha clan without hesitation in the original story.
Ryousuke could tell Itachi was genuinely angry.
He sighed deeply. How could someone so smart be so damn gullible?
This wasn't intelligence—this was brainrot.
Itachi wasn't just brainwashed by the Will of Fire—his whole thought process had gone to the damn dogs.
Danzo's list of sins was endless.
He claimed to follow Tobirama's ideals, calling the Uchiha evil and dangerous.
He was the one who pushed to relocate the Uchiha compound away from the village center after the Nine-Tails incident.
He practically begged for rebellion with that move.
And now? That guy had a whole arm and eye wrapped in bandages—both packed with Sharingan.
He screamed about how evil the Uchiha were, but he wanted their power for himself. Total hypocrite.
Yet Itachi saw that guy as a role model. Ryousuke didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He didn't know if Itachi could still be saved, so he dropped a bomb.
"I'm not gonna argue with you about what kind of person Danzo is."
"But if the village's higher-ups demanded you to wipe out the Uchiha clan—including Izumi—what would you do?"
Ryousuke hoped this would shock Itachi into some sense.
Izumi was important to him. Maybe she could be the wake-up call.
Itachi's pupils shrank. He was stunned, then furious.
What Ryousuke said was completely absurd.
He'd become a spy to ease tensions between the clan and the higher-ups, to protect the village's peace.
How the hell could he ever massacre the clan? Let alone kill Izumi?
The kind-hearted Third Hokage would never give such an order.
And Itachi didn't have that kind of power anyway.
To him, Ryousuke was delusional. His thinking was way too extreme—even worse than the radicals.
Even the radicals didn't dare imagine the entire Uchiha clan being wiped out.
The merciful Third would never let that happen.
It wouldn't help the village in any way.
Ryousuke stared Itachi down seriously.
"Don't get mad. Just answer me—if that situation happened, what would you do?"
Itachi refused to answer such a hypothetical.
It was meaningless.
If this was how the Uchiha really thought, then maybe they weren't worth protecting at all.
He'd rather protect Konoha than a narrow-minded clan.
Still, he didn't bother arguing. He just calmed down and said:
"That kind of situation is impossible. I won't answer impossible scenarios."