The fire crackled and popped, while on the other side, the giant snake had swallowed all eight children, making its already thick body even thicker. It looked somewhat comical with its segmented appearance.
After a puff of smoke, the snake disappeared, and thankfully, nothing unexpected happened.
"By the way, Itachi, you're six years old now. Isn't it time for you to go to the ninja school?" Uchiha Yoru asked casually.
Uchiha Itachi, brought up in a family with strict teachings, was only six years old but still quite polite. Although he had countless doubts in his mind, he nodded politely and replied, "Because of the family's special training last year, I will be attending the ninja school in the village this year, but classes won't start until March."
After answering, Itachi hesitated. He had many questions in his mind and felt that his older brother, Shisui, treated him like a child. So he turned his gaze to the clan member sitting in front of him, a person highly regarded even by his father.
"Why were those children chosen for this mission?" Itachi finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind. Upon hearing this, Uchiha Yoru smiled self-deprecatingly. "What do you think? If we don't use children from other villages, they would naturally take children from the Land of Fire or even Konoha. Given the choice between our own people and outsiders, what would you choose?"
This question caught Itachi off guard, and after a moment of hesitation, he softly replied, "Naturally, we should protect our own people."
"Haha, that's right. In order to prevent some people within the village from turning against our own, we must take action against outsiders."
When Shisui seemed to want to say something to dissuade them, Uchiha Yoru's face grew serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Shisui, Itachi is the eldest son of the clan leader! He bears the honor of the Uchiha clan. After enjoying the privileges and material benefits that come with being the clan leader's son since his birth, he is different from other children. He has carried the burden of the clan from the moment he was born."
"Hehe, Shisui, don't talk as if he's just a child. Kakashi Hatake graduated as a Genin at the age of five and became a Chunin at six! A Chunin is already leading a team into battle. Do you think the Uchiha clan is inferior to the Hatake clan?"
Shisui let out a bitter smile, shaking his head and sighing, "Yoru-niisan, that's not what I meant."
Seeing Shisui still trying to defend Itachi, Uchiha Yoru laughed internally. He should have taught these two earlier. One might end up running away and committing suicide, while the other might become an incompetent fool. At that time, there would be no chance for regret.
"It's because Itachi is going back to ninja school that there are some things he can't learn there. That's why we need to teach him in advance."
Uchiha Yoru gestured for Itachi to sit by the fire, and Itachi respectfully knelt down beside him. Shisui, on the other hand, sat down with a wary expression.
As Uchiha Yoru looked into Itachi's innocent and confused eyes, he let out a sarcastic laugh. "Itachi, you are fortunate. As the son of the clan leader, you received something that countless people can't achieve in their entire lives. But at the same time, you have to bear the responsibility of protecting the clan."
"There are some classified missions that cannot be revealed, but as the son of the clan leader, there are dark aspects you will have to face. Therefore, let me tell you, wherever there is light in this world, there is darkness. Sometimes, darkness exists even beneath the light itself."
Seeing Itachi's slightly puzzled expression, Uchiha Yoru nodded, undeterred. He needed to take it slow and not rush things. The Nine-Tails incident had just passed, and Shisui was not the hopeless Shisui who couldn't see any hope. And Itachi was still just a little kid.
If he didn't bring these two back on the right track now, it would be like hitting his head against a tofu. Many people who transmigrated into the Uchiha clan worked hard to change the Night of the Massacre through intense training and relying on their extraordinary strength. But the best way would be to turn these two into his allies as soon as possible.
"Human experimentation, which is strictly forbidden in the ninja world, has always been happening. Not only in Konoha but also in other major countries and some smaller ninja villages. It's not that the smaller villages don't want to do it, but they don't have the means."
Itachi couldn't help but show surprise when he heard the term "human experimentation." And Uchiha Yoru, for the first time, saw Itachi's reaction. Meanwhile, Itachi secretly recalled the eight children from earlier. Could it be that the Clan had been conducting human experiments all this time?
Uchiha Yoru naturally didn't know what Itachi was thinking, but that was fine. Right now, he needed to stain Itachi's perception of the Hokage, a clean sheet of paper that couldn't be erased.
"The village has been secretly conducting human experiments, and now you know. After the Nine-Tails incident, the clan has been isolated. To seek external support, they had to place their bets on Orochimaru-sensei."
When Yoru mentioned Orochimaru, he couldn't help but reveal a look of excitement and admiration. His face showed a determined expression. "Itachi, you're still young and can't fully grasp the clan's predicament. But let me tell you, Orochimaru-sensei will undoubtedly become the Fifth Hokage very soon. Then the clan will return to the center of power in Konoha and regain the trust of the entire village."
Uchiha Yoru became a fanatic, placing his hopes for the future on the future Fifth Hokage. The most effective way to tarnish someone's image is not to directly criticize them, but to praise someone else. By establishing a new banner, it indirectly exposes the ugliness of the other person.
Seeing Uchiha Yoru defend Orochimaru in this manner, Shisui's expression also became resolute. He solemnly nodded and said, "Yoru-niisan, don't worry. When Orochimaru-sama becomes the Fifth Hokage, the clan will definitely return to Konoha."
He firmly believed in this! Shisui internally shouted with conviction. Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi, who had never met the future Fifth Hokage, Orochimaru, before, envisioned a glorious image of him in his mind.
Since the clan's hopes were now placed on the future Fifth Hokage, and everyone in the clan, including his family and Shisui, believed in it, then it must be true.
With a newfound determination in Uchiha Itachi's young eyes, even though he couldn't understand much yet and couldn't fully comprehend everything, he knew that the Hokage in his perception was a great person. Since Orochimaru was the future Fifth Hokage, he must be a great Hokage.
Seeing Itachi's determined gaze, Uchiha Yoru couldn't help but inwardly chuckle. Don't get brainwashed, you are the one capable of outshining Orochimaru, the one who is the bane of snakes. Don't become a loyal follower of Orochimaru in the future.
Uchiha Yoru wasn't a master of manipulation, but he knew that the Uchiha needed hope. Orochimaru, the future Fifth Hokage, was that hope. Before that hope crumbled, he wanted to magnify the positive aspects of the future Hokage in the eyes of Itachi and Shisui. After all, who could dare to criticize the Hokage's goodness?
And at the same time, he would use the shining image of Orochimaru to strike down the remnants of the old era. Wasn't it a bit excessive? Well, excessive or not, there were still precious gems ahead, the future Hokage.
This Hokage was hope, but what would happen when that hope crumbled? As Uchiha Yoru thought about this, a smile formed on his face. He didn't know what would happen, but one thing was certain—the pristine and noble image of the Hokage was already tainted. He wanted to see how Konoha would try to brainwash the Uchiha clan's little urchins by then.