As the blinding light finally faded from the battlefield, Itachi appeared somewhat disheveled. His sword arm, struck by Kakashi's lightning, throbbed with pain like countless needles stabbing into it. His katana had already fallen to the ground.
Kakashi, however, was in no better condition. The flames from Itachi's Sun Breathing had burned away the sleeve of his arm, leaving him with varying degrees of burns.
Although the fight appeared to end in a draw, Itachi knew clearly that he no longer had the strength to continue.
From the stands, Sarutobi Hiruzen began applauding.
"Excellent. I hereby announce that Uchiha Itachi is now promoted to Chūnin!"
Witnessing Itachi's strength put Hiruzen in a very good mood.
Although the Hidden Leaf was still considered the number one village among the Five Great Shinobi Nations, that status was maintained only by fortunate geography and the legacy left by its founders.
In terms of sheer military might, the power-driven Hidden Cloud currently held first place.
Konoha's top-tier fighting strength was in decline.
The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had died in the Nine-Tails' attack.
Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, had defected.
Jiraiya wandered the world, and Tsunade had left the village.
Many elite shinobi had also perished during the Nine-Tails' rampage.
This had resulted in one of the weakest eras in Konoha's history.
To Hiruzen, Kakashi possessed the potential to become a top-tier combatant—but his psychological state was the greatest obstacle.
Even though Minato had once arranged for Kakashi to join the Anbu in hopes of helping him recover, Kakashi never truly did. Instead, he was edging closer to becoming a cold, emotionless executioner.
Among his Anbu peers, Kakashi was already known as "Kakashi the Cold-Blooded."
Now, however, Hiruzen saw new hope in Itachi.
A young ninja who had fully embraced the Will of Fire—Uchiha Itachi becoming one of Konoha's top forces was only a matter of time.
But… there was one problem.
Itachi was an Uchiha.
Once the exam concluded, Kakashi pulled down his forehead protector to hide his Sharingan and vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
Hiruzen took a slow draw from his pipe before speaking to Itachi:
"Itachi, after you get your injuries treated, come see me at the Hokage Building."
"Yes, sir!"
When Itachi returned to the Uchiha compound, Uchiha Fugaku immediately summoned him to his room.
"You passed the Chūnin Exam?"
Itachi nodded. "Yes."
"I heard the Third Hokage personally attended your match this time. After you passed, how did he respond?"
Itachi answered truthfully,
"He seemed to value me highly. He told me to go to the Hokage Building after I get my injuries treated."
Fugaku instructed,
"Good. Make sure you stay within the Third Hokage's line of sight. The connection between the Uchiha Clan and the village leadership has been completely severed. We urgently need a bridge—someone who can re-establish communication between the Uchiha and the higher-ups. That role can only be filled by you, Itachi."
"I understand."
Itachi bowed respectfully and left the room.
Now alone, Fugaku let out a weary sigh.
The pressure he felt recently was immense—both from outside the clan and from within.
Because of the Nine-Tails incident, Konoha's leadership grew suspicious of the Uchiha. Combined with the countless rumors circulating around the village, distrust and resentment toward the Uchiha spread among the villagers.
The Uchiha district had been relocated to the edge of the village under the pretext of "restructuring clan layouts."
The explanation sounded pleasant, but the reality was clear: the Uchiha were now positioned where the other clans could monitor and suppress them.
A series of oppressive policies followed, fueling deep dissatisfaction within the clan.
Many Uchiha had already petitioned Fugaku, urging him to lead the clan in seizing control of Konoha to restore their lost honor.
But Fugaku had forcibly rejected all such requests.
Unless absolutely necessary, opposing all of Konoha was sheer foolishness—a single misstep could doom the clan forever. Fugaku could not gamble the fate of the entire Uchiha Clan.
More than once, Fugaku had wanted to meet Hiruzen to express that the Uchiha were loyal to the Leaf, harboring no ill will—but every attempt had been blocked.
Now that Itachi had entered Hiruzen's field of vision, he had become the only possible avenue for dialogue between the two sides.
"Big brother, are you hurt?"
As Itachi was having his wounds dressed, young Sasuke ran over on tiny legs and wrapped his arms around him.
Only when facing Sasuke did Itachi ever show a warm smile.
"No, your brother isn't hurt."
"Liar! Brother is obviously hurt."
Itachi changed the subject.
"Did anything interesting happen today?"
Sasuke's attention shifted immediately.
"Big Sister Izumi came to look for you yesterday! But you weren't home, so she trained with me for a little while before leaving."
Uchiha Izumi—one of Itachi's classmates at the Academy and one of his few genuine friends.
"And also, lately I keep seeing a blond kid around my age by the river. He always looks really lonely."
Itachi smiled.
"Did you try to make friends with him? If you had a friend, you could train together."
"No way. Having you is enough. Teach me to train, big brother!" Sasuke begged, clinging to him.
Itachi tapped Sasuke gently on the forehead.
"Sorry, Sasuke. I have something to do. Next time, I'll teach you."
Soon after, Itachi appeared at the entrance of the Hokage Building. Led by the guard ninja, he was brought to Hiruzen's office.
"You're here, Itachi. Your injuries aren't too serious, I hope?" Hiruzen asked kindly.
"Thank you for your concern, Hokage-sama. I'm fine."
Hiruzen's gentle expression became somewhat solemn.
"Itachi, as Hokage, I would like to invite you to join the Anbu directly under my command."
Itachi stared at Hiruzen in surprise. He had expected at most a Chūnin promotion—but to join the Anbu?
For an Uchiha, this was no trivial matter.
Since the Anbu's inception under the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, no Uchiha had ever been permitted to join.
Even more importantly, the shinobi assigned to monitor the Uchiha were—almost without exception—Anbu.
After thinking it over, Itachi understood.
His inclusion wasn't a sign of trust.
Hiruzen was certainly aware of the resentment building within the Uchiha.
Allowing Itachi into the Anbu served two purposes:
First, to placate the Uchiha.
Second, to use Itachi as a source of information about the clan's internal movements.
Itachi sighed inwardly.
On the surface, joining the Anbu might seem like a bridge to reconnect the Uchiha and Konoha's leadership.
But in reality, it was simply another form of surveillance.
The Uchiha's position in Konoha was growing more and more precarious.