Days passed, one after another.
Uzumaki Sōnagi and Neji Hyuga were both attending the academy now.
With little else to do, Chinya mostly stayed at home, observing the village through snakes stationed all over Konoha.
You could say Chinya had a handle on everything going on in Konoha.
Chinya's main purpose for speaking to Itachi Uchiha was to gain Witness Points.
He wanted to use this Uchiha Clan Downfall Massacre event to gather enough points to exchange for an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
His vision was already quite blurry. Though it wasn't affecting daily life yet, continued use of the Mangekyo Sharingan would start to worsen it.
Originally, Chinya had a total of 206,000 Witness Points, but because he'd used some to exchange [Gentle Fist], the method to Release the Caged Bird Seal, and [Water Breathing] for Neji, only 195,000 remained. He still needed another 55,000 Witness Points to obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Before the Uchiha Massacre night ended, Chinya planned to exchange something for Naruto Uzumaki.
Just passively witnessing the Uchiha Massacre wouldn't earn enough Witness Points.
So Chinya had to get involved and find ways to alter the events of the Uchiha Clan's annihilation to some extent in order to gain extra Witness Point rewards.
That was why Chinya approached Itachi Uchiha.
The reason Chinya talked so much about the past of the Uchiha Clan with Itachi was because Chinya believed Itachi saw Konoha as the victim in the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha.
If Itachi changed his mind even a little, he might end up making a different choice when the time came.
In Chinya's view, Itachi couldn't stop the fate of the Uchiha Clan's destruction, because he alone couldn't go against the clan's long-standing anger.
If Itachi didn't massacre the Uchiha, Hiruzen Sarutobi would send someone else to kill them.
Even if Hiruzen needed the Uchiha Clan's strength, he wouldn't tolerate their rebellion for control of Konoha.
Of course, given Hiruzen's personality, he might spare some young Uchiha members and, through control, make them serve Konoha loyally.
Among the Uchiha Clan, the real strong ones included Fugaku Uchiha. As for the others who hadn't awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, most were no more than elite cannon fodder.
Shisui Uchiha stood on Hiruzen's side.
Itachi obtained his Mangekyo Sharingan by witnessing Shisui's death, so his current power wasn't particularly overwhelming.
The Uchiha Clan was under constant surveillance from Danzo's Root Division around the clock, while Hiruzen's Anbu also continuously monitored them and reported any movement back to Danzo and Hiruzen. What chance did the Uchiha have of pulling off a coup?
Therefore, in Chinya's view, even if the Uchiha managed to launch a rebellion, failure was inevitable.
Even if Itachi truly made a different choice, Chinya was still curious what kind of decision he'd ultimately take.
Naruto Uzumaki was now at the Ninja Academy, enduring everything silently without fighting back or even uttering a word.
No matter how much others beat or insulted him, Naruto just shrugged off every beating and insult without batting an eye.
But Sōnagi Uzumaki couldn't bear it. He knocked down everyone who bullied Naruto.
Sōnagi pulled Naruto aside angrily and said, "Hey, Naruto, they've been bullying you so badly. Are you really not angry at all?"
Naruto shook his head and replied, "I'm not angry. Let them do whatever they want."
Sōnagi frowned tightly and examined Naruto up and down. "Why are you suddenly so weak? You don't seem like a weak person to me."
"Because I don't care. They're family, after all. So what if they hit or yell at me a little?"
Naruto smiled toward Sōnagi.
Sōnagi narrowed his eyes. He sensed that this smile of Naruto's was actually cold.
Sōnagi realized something and didn't ask why anymore.
Still, he muttered with dissatisfaction, "I'll punch them whenever I can! Those morons seriously get under my skin!"
The teacher of both Sōnagi Uzumaki and Naruto Uzumaki was Iruka Umino.
But maybe because Naruto had changed so much, Iruka never even tried to offer any comfort anymore. He treated Naruto like any other student—no more, no less.
Before attending the Ninja Academy, Naruto could avoid discrimination and insults as long as he stayed indoors.
However, now that Naruto had entered the Ninja Academy, he had no choice but to face daily discrimination and verbal abuse without any escape.
At first, Naruto was furious and desperate to fight back.
But gradually, he stopped caring. He'd become used to it—just like Sōnagi said, those people were all idiots anyway.
Moreover, thanks to Sōnagi, almost nobody dared to bully Naruto right in front of him. Only when Naruto was alone would they come looking for trouble.
That was because Sōnagi punched people as if trying to kill them. One time, a student had ended up staying in the Ninja Hospital for a week after being beaten by Sōnagi. But due to Sōnagi's status, the student's parents didn't dare to confront him.
However, Naruto rarely told Sōnagi about the bullying he experienced—it was just this time that the footprints on his body were too obvious, which eventually caught Sōnagi's attention.
Naruto looked at the angry Sōnagi and smiled. "Alright, Sōnagi, don't be mad anymore. Class is going to start soon. Let's go back to our classroom."
"Yeah. Today, I'm ready to punch anyone who dares to provoke you!"
Sōnagi clenched his fists and walked into the classroom with Naruto.
...
One month later, at night.
Itachi Uchiha was summoned into a room by Fugaku Uchiha.
Fugaku questioned Itachi sternly: "Don't you know what day tomorrow is? Have you still not clarified your stance yet?!"
Itachi replied flatly, "Tomorrow, I'm going on a mission."
"What kind of mission?"
"It's a Top-Secret Mission."
Fugaku Uchiha looked at Itachi Uchiha, whose expression had grown cold and unfamiliar, and said seriously, "Itachi, you must understand that you're also the bridge connecting our clan and the village's core leadership, right?"
"Yes."
Itachi knew exactly what Fugaku meant about being the bridge between the clan and the village's leadership—he was referring to his role within the Anbu, which gave him direct access to intelligence from Konoha's upper echelons.
Fugaku commanded firmly without room for refusal, "Remember this well. Also, you must be present at tomorrow's gathering!"
Pain flickered across Itachi Uchiha's face. For days now, he'd been torn over what to do if Shisui Uchiha failed—whether to stand with the village or his clan.
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