On the way, Itachi also encountered other clan members.
But no one gave him a good look; the better ones only nodded at him as a greeting.
Ever since Uchiha Shisui died, he had been suspected by the clan members.
Many people believed that he was the one who killed Shisui.
In order to obtain the forbidden visual jutsu, he killed his best friend with his own hands.
Uchiha Itachi took everyone's attitudes into his eyes, but he had no thoughts in his heart.
He just felt that they were very pitiful.
Because the clan's situation in the village was similar to his situation in the clan; both dedicated their utmost efforts for the collective, but ended up being suspected and suppressed everywhere.
Everyone was the same kind of pitiful creature, no one was nobler than the other, and no one was in a better situation than the other, so there was nothing to be angry about.
Returning home.
Itachi heard the sound of busying about in the kitchen, and through the paper sliding door, he could also see his mother's figure.
"Is Sasuke back?"
His mother Uchiha Mikoto's gentle voice came from the kitchen.
"No, it is me who is back," Itachi said indifferently.
"It is Itachi!"
The kitchen door was suddenly pulled open, and Uchiha Mikoto's joyful figure holding a spatula came into view.
"The Anbu missions must be very hard. Hurry up and come in to rest for a while, I will go brew a cup of tea for you."
Looking at his mother, who was jumping for joy and busying herself because he came home, Itachi's heart was touched.
He opened his mouth, originally wanting to say there was no need, but in the end, he said nothing.
He took off his shoes, went straight to the low table in the center of the living room, and knelt down properly.
Mikoto just happened to bring over the brewed teapot and teacups, and poured him a full cup.
"Drink it quickly to warm your body."
"Mhm!"
Itachi nodded, picked up the teacup, and took a gentle sip.
It was not very fragrant, incomparable to his father who was skilled in the tea ceremony, but it was very warm, filling his heart.
Gently putting down the teacup, Itachi looked at his mother whose smile had not diminished, and asked softly, "Where is father?"
"He is out patrolling, it will be a while before he comes back."
"I see!"
Itachi let out a deep breath, then stood up. "Mother, I am a bit tired. I will go back to my room to rest for a while. Call me when father comes back."
"Hurry up and go rest, Mom will make you something delicious."
"Mhm!"
Bidding farewell to his mother, Itachi returned to his own room.
He locked the door from the inside, then used his Sharingan to observe the situation in the room. Only after finding nothing suspicious did he take out Shisui's Sage Crystal and swallow it.
The crystal melted as soon as it entered his mouth, turning into a scarlet stream of energy that flowed through his entire body along with his blood, washing every cell in his body.
Itachi felt great pain. His whole body hurt, especially his head, which was particularly severe. His Sharingan uncontrollably transformed into the Mangekyo form.
The Uchiha inherently possessed a chakra volume far exceeding others. Although it could not compare to the Senju and Uzumaki, it was far superior compared to other clans.
Shisui's Sage Crystal was strengthening Itachi's bloodline, and his chakra and Mangekyo visual prowess were continuously increasing.
Gradually, Itachi's Mangekyo began to spin, getting faster and faster.
"Ah!"
Itachi could not help but groan in pain, and two trails of bloody tears flowed from his eye sockets.
An unknown amount of time passed, the pain gradually faded away, and the Mangekyo also stopped spinning.
It was just that the Mangekyo, which originally looked like a three-bladed shuriken windmill, had turned into a hexagonal diamond-like pattern.
—Eternal Mangekyo.
Itachi felt the visual prowess within his eyes.
It was extremely powerful, as if it were omnipotent.
Most importantly, his body also seemed to have become stronger.
His whole body was filled with power. It was no longer like before, as if he was constantly being pressed down by an invisible heavy object, where using a visual jutsu even once would cause a tremendous burden on his body.
Now, although he had not tested it yet.
But Itachi could feel that using the Mangekyo's visual jutsu in the future, although it would still put pressure on his body, would absolutely not cause damage to his body like before.
"It can work. With these eyes, I have a greater certainty of resolving this matter."
Itachi clenched his fists, feeling the power brought about by the changes in his body.
It made one somewhat obsessed.
He originally thought the crystal would replace his own eyes with Shisui's Mangekyo. He did not expect it to combine the visual prowess of both, allowing his eyes to take a step further based on the Mangekyo.
"Itachi, your father is back. Come out and eat!"
"Coming."
After responding, Uchiha Itachi loosened his fists, and his expression returned to its usual indifference.
The sky was getting late, but the wind and snow were getting heavier.
Even with the door closed, Jokichi could hear the roaring of the wind and snow.
He stopped his sword-swinging movements. After panting slightly for a few breaths, he sheathed the sword and placed it back on the sword stand.
Then, he went to the door and slid open the paper sliding door.
The wind and snow instantly blew in, beating against his sturdy body covered in sweat, making Jokichi feel a trace of coolness.
He closed his eyes, comfortably enjoying the coolness after sweating.
Only when his body shivered did he close the door again.
"This damn weather, it really is unpleasant."
Complaining a bit, Jokichi used a towel to dry the moisture on his body, and then went to the kitchen to make dinner.
He had bought a lot of beef and stored it in the refrigerator before. Now he was preparing to make a tomahawk steak.
Even living alone, one must live exquisitely and interestingly.
That night, Jokichi enjoyed his solitary feast, then washed up and went to sleep.
The next day, early morning.
Jokichi woke up on time.
He glanced at the alarm clock; it was exactly six o'clock.
He got dressed, went to the desk, and opened the window.
A branch of plum blossoms peeked its head out, bringing a fresh fragrance.
The wind and snow had already stopped. The outside world was clad in silvery white, extremely quiet and beautiful.
Such a world is truly beautiful!
Jokichi sighed with emotion in his heart, then stretched and went to wash up.
With such heavy snow yesterday, he had to sweep the snow in the courtyard clean. Otherwise, when the accumulated snow melted into water and froze into ice again, the lifespan of this courtyard house would be greatly shortened.
He quickly finished washing up. Jokichi held a large broom and swept the snow in the courtyard.
After about two hours, when the sky cleared up, he had just finished sweeping the snow from the courtyard and the roof.
He was just preparing to go to the kitchen to make breakfast when he found a scroll at the entrance of the dojo.
Jokichi picked up the scroll and looked at it, then opened it. Inside was the training plan Itachi made for him.
"It is done so quickly?"
Jokichi somewhat suspected that Itachi was just doing it perfunctorily.
However, thinking of the other party's character, the possibility of doing so was not high.
He took a rough look. The initial training content remained unchanged; it was still practicing ninja tool mastery.
Itachi told him to practice the basics more now. Once he entered the Ninja Academy and participated in sparring courses, he would quickly be able to summarize a set of killing skills suitable for himself.
At that time, his combat power would reach the level of a Chunin.
If, on this basis, he learned as much other ninja knowledge as possible to increase his ability to cope with more situations, he could be called an elite among Chunin.
After reaching this stage, he could start concentrating on practicing ninjutsu and advance towards the Jonin level.
Of course, this only referred to combat power.
If he wanted to truly become a Chunin or Jonin, he still needed to execute missions to increase his personal experience.