Chapter 474: Kisame: Itachi-san, do you want to kill me?

"Itachi-san..."

Kisame was choked up, the words of concern stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.

Fine, fine, fine, so when the Konoha ninja said I would die, he meant me, Hoshigaki Kisame, not the Konoha hero Itachi Uchiha.

He himself was nearly bitten into pulp by the clones of the vengeful infant, while Itachi Uchiha, by contrast, looked as if he were back home, not even breaking a sweat.

I said it was dangerous and to leave quickly, yet Itachi-san rushed forward without even blinking; it turns out he wasn't fearless, he just knew he wouldn't die.

Although he knew in his heart that Itachi-san hadn't done it on purpose.

A trace of resentment still rose in Kisame's heart.

"Kisame, I'll help you!"

Seeing Kisame's predicament, Itachi Uchiha hurriedly activated a dark curse and rushed toward his companion's direction.

The vengeful infant clones that had been circling him, docile until then, turned their heads to bite at Kisame once he drew near.

Hiss...

The sudden attack caused Kisame's abdomen to be bitten through, to the point where light could pass through it.

"Itachi-san, please stay a little further away from me."

Blood seeped from the corners of Kisame's mouth as he hurriedly increased the distance between himself and Itachi Uchiha.

Although Itachi Uchiha would not be attacked, the dense resentment would condense into vengeful clones around him; if he came over, it was equivalent to Kisame having to endure double the damage.

Itachi Uchiha also realized this and began to release Reinforcement curses from a distance.

Roaring black flames steamed up from Kisame's shoulders, condensing into a phantom figure entirely wrapped in black robes.

Accompanying Kisame's swing of his blade,

the phantom that had emerged on his shoulder also threw dark light waves in all directions.

Zzzzz...

The dark light waves shot at the vengeful clones, but instead of causing damage, they nourished the vengeful infant clones like sweet rain.

Bang, bang, bang.

The vengeful clones, which had previously been in a phantom state, suddenly landed, condensing into physical forms from the dense dark curse energy.

Two vengeful clones pounced over, nearly biting through Kisame's Samehada.

"Itachi-san, you'd better not help me!"

Kisame bared his teeth and grimaced, dodging constantly; he dared not stop moving, otherwise he would be ambushed by the vengeful clones condensing in the mist.

He was afraid that if Itachi Uchiha helped him again, he would kill him outright.

Just like how he said he was protecting the glory of the Uchiha, yet slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan without a hint of mercy.

Unaccountably, Kisame felt a sense of empathy for those slaughtered Uchiha clansmen, and a nameless anger welled up in his heart.

By the time they escaped the attack range of the Wall Orb, Kisame was already on the verge of death.

Itachi Uchiha wanted to support him, but Kisame reached out to block him, truly afraid of further complications.

"Let's go."

Tenzo looked at the unscathed Itachi Uchiha, feeling very dissatisfied; his goal had originally been to kill the thug who had killed Lord Aizen.

He hadn't expected that, by some twist of fate, the other party would dodge it.

Itachi Uchiha did not continue to explain; in the current situation, only Hiruzen Sarutobi could clear his name.

Following Tenzo the whole way, they wove through the streets of Konoha.

"Lord Tenzo!"

A little girl passing by handed a bouquet of flowers to Tenzo.

A flash of surprise crossed Itachi Uchiha's eyes.

He had once been a member of the Anbu; the Shadow Organization and the Anbu, to put it plainly, were the same nature of work: handling very thorny problems for the Hokage.

However, the Shadow Organization was actually able to walk openly on the streets without needing to hide their identities.

And looking at the civilians, they felt not the slightest bit of fear toward the Anbu.

"Please help me give these flowers to Lord Aizen; I have already graduated from the Ninja Academy and will soon be able to fight alongside him!"

The little girl said with a face full of longing.

Tenzo took the flowers, his nose stinging; he didn't have the heart to tell her the truth of Lord Aizen's sacrifice, so he just nodded silently.

This little girl seemed to be from the time Lord Aizen was looking after the orphanage... what was her name? Tenzo couldn't recall, and a wry smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Perhaps only a true inheritor of the Will of Fire like Lord Aizen could clearly remember the names of every insignificant civilian.

Such a perfect Lord Aizen had actually been killed by this guy, Itachi Uchiha.

"Itachi Uchiha, no matter what, I will kill you!"

Tenzo turned his head, his cold gaze fixed directly on Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi Uchiha remained silent.

He did not fear the threat from this Elite player Tenzo, but was merely worried that Aizen's methods were truly too terrifying, having reached the point where even civilians could be bewitched.

Even if Lord Hiruzen cleared his name, could he still integrate into the village? Just like the Uchiha Clan back then—despite having made such great contributions to the village during the Shinobi World War, they were still ostracized...

No!

It wasn't that they were ostracized; it was because of the Uchiha Clan's self-inflation, their unwillingness to take the initiative to integrate into the village, and their constant clamoring about the glory of their clan.

That was why they ended up being exterminated.

Itachi Uchiha trembled all over, a fine layer of cold sweat appearing on his back.

"How could I have such thoughts?"

"It couldn't be that the village isolated the Uchiha Clan; it was because of the Uchiha's arrogance and conceit!"

Itachi Uchiha's lips moved silently, repeating this sentence over and over, only then gradually calming his emotions.

You don't know the pain until the stick hits your own body.

At that time, the immense pressure faced by the Uchiha Clan rested entirely on Clan Head Fugaku Uchiha and several Uchiha Elders.

Starting with the Second Hokage's policy of isolation, they first relocated the Uchiha Clan's territory to the very edge of the village.

Then, through public opinion campaigns, they caused the Uchiha Clan, who controlled the Police Force, to fall out with the commoners.

Fugaku Uchiha was considered a very peaceful dove, striving to find ways to integrate into Konoha, yet he kept hitting walls; first, during the Shinobi World War, he led the Uchiha clansmen to fight desperately, hoping to trade military merit for the village's trust.

But it had little effect.

He compromised several times after that, until the Uchiha Clan was squeezed to the point of having nowhere left to retreat.

Only then did the Uchiha hawks finally raise their heads, plotting internal strife.

Clansmen as young as Itachi Uchiha only knew that the relationship between the clan and the village was tense and that the Uchiha were going to rebel, but he had no idea about the pressure the Uchiha Clan faced from all sides.

In the end, Itachi Uchiha held the butcher's knife of justice, slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan, prevented the internal strife, and protected Konoha.

He did what he believed to be the right thing.

The Uchiha Clan deserved to die.

But now,

Similar pressure has fallen upon Itachi Uchiha himself, and he has begun to waver.

Clearly, he is a hero who once protected Konoha; clearly, he has made such great contributions and sacrifices; clearly, Aizen is the real culprit.

But why is his own situation now so terrible?

If it were exposed that he was the one who killed Aizen, that surging, tidal wave of public anger would swallow him whole, and he would likely have to commit suicide to end the wave of fury.

But why? Clearly, Aizen is the one who is evil!

Itachi Uchiha took a deep breath; he was unwilling to admit, and did not dare to admit, that his current situation was similar to the situation of the Uchiha Clan back then.

The Uchiha back then were guilty, while he is innocent now.

As long as the truth comes to light, everything will pass.

"Mist Village rogue ninja, Hoshigaki Kisame, halt; you have no qualifications to enter the Hokage Building."

Tenzo pulled out a chain, bound his hands, and said, "This is the Forbidden Magic Chain; most of your abilities will be sealed until Itachi Uchiha and the Hokage finish their meeting."

This kind of security measure was, at least, acceptable.

Kisame did not resist, letting the people from the Shadow Organization put the shackles on him, and immediately felt his four-dimensional attributes being suppressed.

In this state, even if two or three Elite players attacked together, they could kill him.

But looking at Itachi's confident appearance, there shouldn't be any problems.

He just needed to wait patiently.

(End of this chapter)