"Do not harm Sasuke."
The first sentence out of Uchiha Itachi's mouth was somewhat painful.
Because saying this seemed somewhat feeble and powerless, he had once almost killed the person most important to Akihara Kagura by his own hands.
Uchiha Itachi believed that Akihara Kagura was hiding here, must have overheard his conversation with the Third Hokage, and must have learned the truth about the night of the clan's annihilation. He also knew that Uchiha Sasuke was still the most important person to him.
However…
Uchiha Itachi could not possibly silence him.
Even threatening Akihara Kagura was difficult to accomplish.
Because Uchiha Itachi knew just how extreme Akihara Kagura's personality was, it was impossible for him to be threatened by Itachi, and it might even put Sasuke in greater danger.
The only useful thing…
Might be Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo Sharingan left by Shisui.
But it was not yet the critical moment, and Uchiha Itachi did not want to use that eye, as the Kotoamatsukami required a significant cooldown period.
"Sasuke…"
Akihara Kagura looked up at the night sky, seemingly nostalgic for the past: "I still remember the Chunin Exams back then, that kid was very confident in you, and you treated him like a treasure. Thinking about it now, times have really changed…"
"Do not harm him."
Uchiha Itachi clenched his fist, quietly stating his condition: "I can secretly eliminate your enemies. Maybe you still trust Danzo, but tonight I saw Danzo, and he was very dissatisfied with you becoming the leader of the Root…"
"You saw Danzo?"
Akihara Kagura glanced at Uchiha Itachi, with an even brighter smile: "Did Danzo promise you anything? I no longer believe in Danzo. Have you always trusted him?"
Akihara Kagura spread his hands, smiling brightly: "Remember? Uchiha Itachi, I've warned you more than once to stay away from Danzo. Getting too close to him will make your life miserable…"
"..."
A bead of cold sweat appeared on Uchiha Itachi's forehead.
At this moment…
Uchiha Itachi vaguely understood everything.
Has Akihara Kagura been warning him to stay away from Danzo from the beginning?
"At that time, you…"
Uchiha Itachi clenched his fists, recalling the scenes where he and Akihara Kagura were under Kakashi's command, and how Kagura targeted him.
Every meeting…
Akihara Kagura was keeping him away from Danzo.
Uchiha Itachi remembered their final parting.
If back then, in the inn in the Land of Earth, he had chosen to go with Akihara Kagura to rescue Kakashi, instead of going to assassinate Yakushi Kabuto and Yakushi Nono…
Akihara Kagura knew his mission might be to assassinate Yakushi Kabuto and Yakushi Nono, so initially, he persuaded him to follow him to the Rock Village to rescue Kakashi.
Uchiha Itachi stared tightly at Akihara Kagura: "Back then, when we were in the Land of Earth, it seems you already knew about my mission…"
At that time, I myself was not sure who the assassination target was, but Akihara Kagura already knew for certain that I would assassinate Yakushi Kabuto and Yakushi Nono.
"I understand Danzo very well."
Akihara Kagura did not deny it and said softly, "Yakushi Kabuto and Yakushi Nono are very important to me, so I went to warn them when you were about to meet them."
"If at that time..."
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "If at that time I had not gone on the mission, but went to rescue Captain Kakashi with you..."
"..."
Akihara Kagura did not respond to his words but instead asked, "Do you remember the words that Captain Kakashi liked to say the most?"
Akihara Kagura looked at him and added his own answer, "Those who fail missions are trash, but those who don't cherish their comrades are worse than trash..."
"Moreover, you wouldn't do that."
Akihara Kagura stared at Uchiha Itachi, and chuckled, "The Uchiha clan is born proud, never liking to entrust their fates to others, always thinking they can solve everything by themselves, only to realize their powerlessness in the end, leading to their destruction..."
"..."
Uchiha Itachi could not refute.
"Enough."
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "Talking about this now is meaningless. It was my mistake in the past. What exactly do you want to do?"
"Help me take care of someone."
Akihara Kagura leaned slowly against the wall.
"Shimura Danzo?"
Uchiha Itachi thought of Shimura Danzo he had just mentioned. He didn't care about Shimura Danzo anymore, "If you need, I will find an opportunity to assassinate him."
"Do I look like I need to kill someone with your help?"
Akihara Kagura shook his head and looked up at the distant sky, "Didn't you just mention something about the Akatsuki organization?"
"I found out a bit of information. Orochimaru is in the Akatsuki organization. Although he is an S-rank rogue ninja, I think your strength is passable, so consider recycling trash..."
Akihara Kagura paused slightly at this point and revealed a sinister smile, "Give Orochimaru a bit of trouble for me..."
"Okay."
Uchiha Itachi nodded.
Although Akihara Kagura did not say why not to let him kill Orochimaru, perhaps he wanted to take revenge on Orochimaru personally, but he thought there was no problem with this.
"As for Sasuke..."
"I won't particularly trouble him."
Akihara Kagura waved his hand and continued, "I've always quite enjoyed watching the drama of brothers killing each other. That little guy might even cling to me, after all, I'm the only one who has ever defeated you. Maybe he will seek me out for the power of revenge?"
"..."
Uchiha Itachi became somber.
This was the destiny he had set for himself and for Uchiha Sasuke.
If one were to speak seriously, Uchiha Sasuke indeed might choose to seek Akihara Kagura for the sake of revenge.
Because in the entire village of Konoha, only Akihara Kagura had ever defeated him, whether in the Chunin Exams or this night, Akihara Kagura was the victor.
"Let's go."
As if Akihara Kagura knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to be coming down from the Hokage's office, he urged with a voice: "If we leave any later, I'll have to start pursuing Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja."
Uchiha Itachi dashed towards the outskirts of the village.
As long as Akihara Kagura would not harm Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi felt relieved. He also did not want to waste the trump cards he had left, by clashing with Akihara Kagura.
When Uchiha Itachi left, Akihara Kagura looked up at the light and his body slowly sank into the shadow of the ground.
The power of light and shadow was indeed convenient.
No matter where one wanted to appear, no one would notice.
After Akihara Kagura entered the world within the shadows, he saw a dense crowd of figures, all of whom were clan members Uchiha Shisui thought would not cause trouble.
These people...
Had all awakened the Sharingan.
Many were holding their heads, crying.
Because they had all witnessed the scene of Uchiha Itachi slaughtering their clansmen, filled with hatred for Uchiha Itachi, each of their eyes was a deep crimson.
"All have activated the Sharingan?"
Akihara Kagura even saw a few children with the Sharingan.
"Yes..."
Shisui could only nod.
These people had all witnessed the destruction of their clan, seeing Uchiha Itachi slaughtering the clan's powerhouses, the hatred for Uchiha Itachi was enough to awaken their Sharingan.
"Should we send them away?"
Shisui asked Akihara Kagura.
To be honest,
Shisui was also a bit worried.
Because he was no longer among the living, he also had no way to settle these clanspeople. Initially, he just wanted to save as many people as possible, without thinking about what to do after saving them...
The outside world thought the Uchiha clan had been annihilated, what should these survivors do? They surely couldn't live here, could they?
Just the problem of food and water was not easy to solve.
"My genjutsu world should be enough, right?"
Akihara Kagura touched his own eye socket, murmuring, "Let them live in the genjutsu world, to temper the strongest group of people to assist me..."
"The strongest group..."
"I will help them transplant Hashirama cells."
Due to genetic modification technology, the transplantation experiment of Hashirama cells is definitely effective on the members of the Uchiha clan. They have activated the Sharingan and can perfectly balance the power of Hashirama cells.
Not only can Hashirama cells enhance their power, but they also give these individuals a hope of awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan in the future, reducing the trouble of blindness.
Besides,
The most important thing is that it also facilitates the arrangement of their identities in the future. It can completely be regarded as a consequence of Shimura Danzo's unauthorized and secret experimentation with Hashirama cell transplantation.
"Shisui, he is not…"
An elderly Uchiha stood up.
"Do not ask."
Shisui sternly stopped the other party and said in a deep voice, "Never ask about things you shouldn't. Just follow his orders and don't endanger others!"
Shisui had already explained this matter.
Once these surviving Uchihas cause trouble, making Akihara Kagura feel embarrassed, Shisui believes that Akihara Kagura would act faster than Uchiha Itachi in drawing his sword. In order to continue the family legacy, everyone must not ask too many questions or cause trouble!
In the future…
They might not even be able to use their names.
Akihara Kagura glanced at Shisui, then left the shadow world and quickly headed to the Root's headquarters, as there were quite a few things to do tonight.
Root headquarters.
These Root ninjas had received the news that Akihara Kagura was about to become the head of the Root. They did not consider opposing it, nor could they.
It seems there was no need to oppose anyway.
When Akihara Kagura was at the Root, he pressured them to call him Lord Kagura, implicitly being the second in command of the Root. There have even been rumors circulating that Uchiha Itachi and Akihara Kagura were competing for the leadership of the Root.
Obviously,
Uchiha Itachi became a rogue ninja.
Akihara Kagura won in this competition.
However, they would still habitually follow Shimura Danzo's orders, as they have been controlled by Danzo's curse mark for a long time, and it had already become a habit.
Two Root ninjas planned to leave with several glass bottles. These bottles contained bright red eyes, all of which were obtained from the Konoha Police Force, clearly intercepted by Shimura Danzo after he forced Uchiha Obito to flee.
These two Root ninjas planned to deliver them to his house as per Danzo's orders.
Suddenly,
Two vines shot out!
Quickly wrapping around their bodies!
"Lord Kagura!"
The two Root ninjas immediately bowed their heads in submission.
"Destroy these things on the spot."
Akihara Kagura flipped through the scattered glass bottles, speaking coldly: "The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan... Don't you know I despise the Uchiha the most?"
"This is what Lord Danzo wanted," one of the Root ninjas whispered as a reminder.
"By inheriting Root, I've inherited Lord Danzo's will," Akihara Kagura stood in front of him, looking into his eyes. "Do you intend to defy my orders, to defy Lord Danzo's will?"
The Root ninja felt his head spinning.
Whose orders should he follow?
"Following my orders is the same as following Lord Danzo's," Akihara Kagura said, lowering his voice as he patted the ninja's shoulder. "First, go and notify everyone to assemble and see me!"
"Yes," the Root ninja could only obey.
All personnel of Root quickly arrived at the location.
Root's combat personnel were only the size of one squad. Due to Uchiha Itachi's defection tonight, now only sixteen remained.
In addition to this, there were logistics and training classes.
The training class consisted of orphans collected by Shimura Danzo, who were made to kill each other in a method similar to rearing gu, with the survivors becoming official members.
These children...
Would completely lose their emotions and become killing machines.
Akihara Kagura couldn't be bothered with these matters, taking time to send people to the orphanage, allowing children who wanted to attend school to do so, and giving something for the head of the medical department, Nono, to do.
"I am Akihara Kagura, the new leader of Root."
"I have inherited Lord Danzo's position and his will. Starting today, in this Root, my will is Lord Danzo's will!"
"Now, I issue the first prohibition since taking office; apart from me, no one else is allowed to mention Lord Danzo's name because only I, as the leader of Root, can represent Lord Danzo's will, and only I have the right to mention Lord Danzo's name..."
The group of Root ninjas still felt something was off.
However, when asked to elaborate, they didn't find anything particularly wrong; since Akihara Kagura had succeeded as the leader of Root, he indeed could represent Danzo's will...
"Furthermore,"
"The curse marks of tongue-binding in your bodies will be lifted."
"Because Lord Danzo can't be bothered to deal with you trash any longer."
When Akihara Kagura was sent to Konoha by Orochimaru, he had learned how to lift the curse mark of tongue-binding, simply to save the retired old man, Shimura Danzo, some worry.
"From this moment on..."
"Nobody is allowed to disturb Lord Danzo."
"If Root faces any issues in the future, I will consult Lord Danzo, and only I will be allowed to see him."
"Any member of Root who dares to defy my orders privately, to see Lord Danzo behind my back, to snitch on me in front of Lord Danzo, I guess you all know the consequences."
"You probably know me well..."
"You should remember..."
"What I like to do the most is killing…"
~~~
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