Itachi's Body Flicker Technique was executed with incredible speed.
All along, Itachi had always given the impression of being a serious and unsmiling individual.
However, after betraying the Uchiha clan today, he knew he would become a missing-nin from Konoha in the future.
Yet, a smile unexpectedly appeared on Itachi's face, and he even felt a sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
For a long time, Itachi had been caught between the Uchiha clan and the village, feeling truly torn.
But now, the conflict between the village and the Uchiha clan had been completely resolved.
Although Akira's ideology was completely different from his own, the fact that only Danzo and the Third Hokage had to be sacrificed to completely eliminate the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha was astounding to Itachi.
In Itachi's eyes, achieving such a result seemed almost impossible, even more challenging than annihilating the Uchiha clan.
However, it was the perfect ending, and Itachi hadn't expected that Akira would actually succeed.
Even though he had betrayed the Uchiha and been imprisoned, Itachi found himself content, knowing he had witnessed such an almost perfect outcome. Even if he were to be executed, he would die with a smile.
But now, Akira had asked him to continue working for the sake of the Uchiha, the village, and even the peace of the entire shinobi world by monitoring the actions of the masked man.
Itachi Uchiha felt as though he had found a new purpose in life.
Akira, with his ability to foresee the future, had informed him that the masked man would become the root cause of future chaos in the shinobi world.
If Akira said so, then Itachi had no doubt about it, and he was more than willing to take on this task.
Using his Body Flicker Technique, Itachi left the clan grounds and soon arrived at the small forest at the edge of the clan's territory, where he saw Uchiha Sasuke waiting for him.
"Brother, I knew it! Akira really managed to save you!" Seeing Itachi appear before him, Sasuke's face lit up with a joyful smile.
Seeing Sasuke's expression, a gentle smile appeared on Itachi's face as well.
He beckoned Sasuke closer, then lightly flicked Sasuke's forehead with his finger. "Sasuke, forgive me, but I've come to say goodbye."
Itachi left, walking away peacefully.
Of course, by "left," it meant he departed from Konoha Village, not that he had died.
Sasuke watched Itachi's departing figure, wanting several times to ask him to stay, but the words just wouldn't come out.
Though only seven years old, Sasuke understood that given Itachi's current position, leaving the Uchiha clan and Konoha Village was the best choice for him.
Otherwise, staying would mean certain death.
Watching as Itachi carved the mark of a missing-nin into his forehead protector, Sasuke felt as if the knife had cut into his own heart.
Staring blankly at Itachi's retreating figure, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes turned a blood-red color.
At the same time, a tomoe appeared in each of his eyes.
This was the awakening of the Sharingan!
For now, let's set aside the situations of Itachi and Sasuke.
After letting Itachi leave, Uchiha Akira immediately returned home, just in time to see his grandfather, Uchiha Tai, preparing to head out.
The two left together, going to meet with the other elders and clan leaders.
Officially, this meeting with the other clans was to elect the Fifth Hokage.
In reality, the main purpose of this gathering was to announce that the position of Fifth Hokage would be taken by a member of the Uchiha clan and to secure the support of the other clans.
"I heard Sasuke came to you to ask for Itachi's rescue?" Uchiha Tai asked as they walked side by side.
"Yes, I let Itachi go," Akira replied honestly to his grandfather.
Given Akira's current status and position, he indeed had the authority to decide Itachi's fate.
"Hmm, Itachi's way of thinking is indeed extreme, but that doesn't necessarily make him evil," Uchiha Tai nodded, understanding Itachi's actions as being motivated by a desire for peace, and he showed no excessive reaction.
"It's just a shame that our Uchiha clan's pair of Mangekyo Sharingan will now be lost to the wider shinobi world," Uchiha Tai sighed quietly.
For him, the greater regret was not Itachi's life or death, but that such powerful eyes would be lost outside the Uchiha clan.
After all, the Mangekyo Sharingan is the pride and face of the Uchiha clan.
"Lost Mangekyo Sharingan outside the clan? There's more than just one pair out there!" Akira thought silently to himself, seeing his grandfather's regret. But he had no intention of saying this out loud.
"By the way, where do you think Itachi will go now?" Uchiha Tai asked after a moment of reflection.
Just as Akira was about to answer, he noticed that Clan Leader Fugaku was approaching with several other elders.
With all the key members of the Uchiha clan gathered, they headed towards the Hokage building.
By this time, many of the notable figures of Konoha had already assembled at the Hokage building.
These included the Hyuga Clan Leader, the Inuzuka Clan Leader, the leaders of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the Captain of the Anbu, elite members of the Root organization, and elite Jonin like Kakashi and Might Guy, representing the village's ordinary shinobi.
Looking around, there were dozens of people present.
As for the original advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane?
They hadn't been invited to the meeting, and wisely, they didn't show up uninvited.
In the original story, after the deaths of the Third Hokage and Danzo, Tsunade took over, and those two old advisors immediately began throwing their weight around, acting as if they were in charge.
But now, with the Uchiha clan having killed Danzo and the Third Hokage and seized power, those two, who were known for picking on the weak, wouldn't dare step out of line.
Realizing that their time had passed, they wisely refrained from doing anything foolish.
With Uchiha Akira and the others present, the ninja began to discuss the issue of the Hokage's succession.
The coup had been led by the Uchiha clan, and the Uchiha's power was now the strongest in Konoha.
With Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan and, most importantly, Akira's survival after opening the Eight Gates, no one in Konoha could compete with the Uchiha for the Hokage position.
Of course, while no one could challenge them, securing the Uchiha's succession to the Hokage title required negotiating certain benefits with the other clans.
Despite his invincibility in battle when opening the Eight Gates, Akira found himself growing drowsy during the endless political discussions. He sat quietly on the side, not intending to intervene.
It was just the usual exchange of favors—dividing one piece of land here, handing over control of a business district there—to gain the support of the other clans for the Uchiha's claim to the Hokage seat.
"Akira, it seems you don't enjoy these kinds of situations," a voice said quietly.
In the midst of the clan leaders' negotiations with Fugaku, while Akira was nearly dozing off, Might Guy had somehow found his way to Akira's side and spoke to him in a low voice.
"Do you enjoy them?" Akira asked in return, glancing at Guy.
Although the two had clashed the previous night, forcing Akira to open the Eighth Gate, it was merely due to differing loyalties.
Now that the Third Hokage was dead, there was no reason for them to be at odds.
Guy chuckled, and with his straightforward nature, it was clear that he didn't enjoy such situations either.
"I never imagined that the Uchiha would produce a Hokage," Guy said, somewhat wistfully.
Over the years, the Uchiha clan's members had been known for their arrogance, which hadn't made them particularly popular with the villagers of Konoha—a fact that even Guy was aware of.
"Actually, the position of First Hokage should have belonged to our Uchiha clan in the first place, but unfortunately..." Akira began, but his words trailed off with a resigned shake of his head.
"What? The First Hokage was supposed to be an Uchiha?" Guy looked at Akira in surprise.
Clearly, this statement caught him off guard. The idea that the First Hokage, widely known to be Hashirama Senju, could have been an Uchiha was hard to believe.
"Do you know that Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha ended the Warring States Period by founding Konoha Village, marking the start of the shinobi village era?" Akira continued, realizing he might as well share some lesser-known history with Guy instead of dozing off.
"Of course, that's taught in the Ninja Academy textbooks!" Guy nodded, understanding.
"And what was Hashirama Senju's most famous ability?" Akira asked.
"Wood Release," Guy replied.
"Exactly, and what was Madara Uchiha's most famous ability? Or rather, what is the Uchiha clan's signature ability?" Akira pressed on.
"The Sharingan?" Guy responded, somewhat uncertain.
"And what about the Uchiha who haven't awakened their Sharingan?" Akira asked.
"Oh, that would be Fire Release, right? The Uchiha clan's emblem is shaped like a fan used to control fire!" Guy, prompted by Akira, finally gave the correct answer.
"That's right. So back then, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju made a pact," Akira began to explain.
"The village's name, Konoha, was chosen by Madara Uchiha to reflect Hashirama Senju's mastery of Wood Release," Akira continued. "And the title of Hokage, given to the village leader by Hashirama Senju, was meant to honor Madara's mastery of Fire Release."
"So, the original agreement was that the First Hokage should have been Madara Uchiha, to reflect this balance between them."
"But unfortunately..." Akira trailed off, shaking his head with a sigh.
Unfortunately, ever since Indra, the character was designed to be powerful but hard to approach, and Madara Uchiha, as Indra's reincarnation, was no different.
As for Ashura? He was designed to be someone who could easily get along with others, and Hashirama Senju, as Ashura's reincarnation, was no exception.
So when it came time to choose the First Hokage, almost everyone in the newly-formed Konoha Village agreed that Hashirama Senju was the best candidate.
Moreover, Hashirama's strength slightly exceeded Madara's, albeit by a small margin.
Of course, Akira wasn't lamenting Madara Uchiha's loss of the Hokage title.
What he regretted was that this situation ultimately led to Madara's departure from Konoha, which in turn set off the chain of events that would lead to Obito's corruption, the Moon's Eye Plan, and everything else that followed...
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Here are your 12 chapters, including 2 bonus chapters as a thank you for helping me reach the rankings for the first time! The first four chapters will have a 2-hour gap between releases, and the remaining chapters will be released every hour until the new week's ranking starts. I hope you can wait and enjoy reading everything together!
If you can, please consider supporting me on Patreon at patreon.com/Emik01 so I can dedicate more time to translating and bringing you even more content.