Chapter 84: Truth and Rage
In Naruto's eyes, loyalty and filial piety came first.
If you couldn't even protect your own parents—your own family—
Then what right did you have to protect anything else?
What right did you have to protect others?
As a member of the Uchiha clan, Itachi had done something utterly outrageous.
What was the point of lecturing Sasuke?
The Uchiha clan had been persecuted to such an extent, yet Itachi was still unwilling to fight back. Unwilling to resist. Unwilling to take action.
If it had been Naruto, he would have led the Uchiha clan to rebel.
After all, if you give in once, you'll give in a second time. Konoha would only become more arrogant and aggressive.
And the final result was that the entire Uchiha clan had been slaughtered.
In Naruto's eyes, this was the greatest mistake.
Itachi frowned when he heard Naruto's words. He didn't seem to be listening at all. He only felt as if Naruto had seen right through him. He said coldly:
"Shut up. What do you know?"
After Uchiha Itachi shouted angrily, the chakra and pressure emanating from his body exploded with his rage.
Everyone around felt the pressure bearing down on them.
But when that pressure swept over Naruto, he waved his hand, and it dissipated.
Naruto looked at Uchiha Itachi calmly and said without restraint:
"I don't know? Heh. I know everything you've done. Including why you slaughtered your clan."
"Do you think that by massacring the Uchiha clan, you could stop Konoha's persecution of them?"
"Do you think you could protect Sasuke by doing all of this?"
"Do you think Konoha's darkness ends here?"
"No. You're wrong. Your indulgence—your weakness—only pushes Konoha further down this path. The entire Uchiha clan was killed, and they were still branded as traitors."
"And Sasuke—the one you wanted to protect—has been closely monitored by Konoha's leadership for all these years."
"Even the eyes of your relatives and friends have been stolen by Konoha's leadership."
"Is this the village you wanted to protect? Is this the Konoha you've been protecting?"
"How ridiculous."
His words rang out one after another, piercing Itachi's heart like sharp knives.
After Itachi heard this, his body began to tremble continuously. The anger he had suppressed for so long gradually surged up.
Uchiha Itachi's scarlet Sharingan began to spin wildly.
His originally pitch-black three-pointed tomoe eventually transformed into the shape of a shuriken.
Massive pupil power erupted from Itachi's body.
Uchiha Itachi had suddenly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
As soon as the Mangekyō Sharingan appeared, Uchiha Itachi stared fiercely at Naruto. His enormous pupil power spread outward.
The power of the Mangekyō was revealed at that moment.
A terrifying burst of pupil energy shot forth.
A powerful spiritual pressure attacked Naruto.
This pressure seemed to want to transport Naruto to another world—to cast a genjutsu on him.
Seeing this, Naruto snorted coldly.
Massive pupil power erupted from Naruto's body instantly and shattered Uchiha Itachi's spiritual pressure.
The genjutsu was also broken.
Then, Naruto looked at Uchiha Itachi and said calmly:
"What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve? That's the truth."
"Not only did you fail to protect Sasuke, you also failed to protect your own parents. And you failed to protect your clansmen."
"So I say—you're the one who's stupid. Not Sasuke."
His indifferent words echoed in Uchiha Itachi's ears, making him unable to accept what he was hearing.
Uchiha Itachi clenched his fists and shouted:
"I told you to shut up!"
But Uchiha Itachi's anger didn't stop Naruto at all. On the contrary, looking at the extremely enraged Uchiha Itachi, Naruto continued:
"Also—I can tell you this right now."
"The Konoha you've been protecting has already been destroyed by me."
As the words fell—
Hearing Naruto's words, Uchiha Itachi was stunned. He looked at Naruto in disbelief.
But then he saw the ruins around him. The devastated wasteland. The village that looked like it had been bombarded by a nuclear weapon.
Uchiha Itachi finally understood why Konoha had ended up in such a miserable state.
He finally knew that Naruto wasn't joking.
What he said was true.
Konoha really had been destroyed by Naruto.
A single Rasenshuriken—complete annihilation.
The entire village of Konoha had been turned into a barren wasteland. Like a nuclear bomb had hit it.
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath.
He couldn't believe it was actually true.
The Konoha he had tried so hard to protect had been destroyed by Naruto.
What was even more unbelievable was that Naruto had destroyed Konoha all by himself.
Of course, what made Uchiha Itachi even more unacceptable was what Naruto had just said.
Everything—just as Naruto had said—was unbearable.
The Uchiha clan's fate was utterly tragic.
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, frowned, stared at Naruto, and asked:
"Why did you do that?"
Naruto sneered and said calmly:
"Do I need to explain? Everything Konoha has done for the past thirteen years—I remember it vividly. I haven't forgotten for a single moment."
"I'm not like you. I'm completely different from you."
"Anyone who hurts me—I will never let go. Even if that someone is Konoha, one of the five great ninja villages—I will wipe them off the face of the earth."
His firm, indifferent words echoed in everyone's ears.
Uchiha Itachi frowned. Naruto's words were something he couldn't agree with—and they were hard for him to accept. A surge of anger rose in his heart.
Besides, the purpose of this trip was to capture Naruto.
Immediately, Uchiha Itachi decided not to waste any more words with Naruto. He snorted coldly, turned his head, and said to Hoshigaki Kisame beside him:
"Kisame. Do it. Take him down."
Kisame was taken aback for a moment. After hearing Uchiha Itachi's words, he finally recovered from the shock Naruto had caused him.
Then, Hoshigaki Kisame smiled bloodthirstily, looked at Naruto with amazement, and said with great interest while hefting Samehada:
"I didn't expect that Konoha—one of the five great ninja villages—would be destroyed by the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Tsk tsk. If word of this gets out, it'll send massive waves through the ninja world."
Naruto was noncommittal.
What Hoshigaki Kisame said was right. When news of this spread, it would definitely shake the entire ninja world.
Soon, Hoshigaki Kisame didn't hesitate. He continued:
"But I also want to know more about the strength of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki who could destroy Konoha."
Kisame licked the corner of his mouth, bloodthirsty.
With that—he raised his sword.
A powerful chakra suddenly erupted from Kisame.
This chakra was massive. Almost the same as the chakra Gaara's Shukaku had released back then.
After Kakashi and the others felt it, they were also extremely surprised.
This was the so-called tailless tailed beast—Kisame. How could he have such enormous chakra?
After hearing Naruto's deeds and seeing his Mangekyō Sharingan, Hoshigaki Kisame didn't back down at all.
Instead, he wanted to fight Naruto.
Seeing this, Naruto was not afraid. Instead, he took a step forward, looked at Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame calmly, and said:
"Come at me together."