At last, he realized the root of the problem.
Itachi Uchiha told his young brother about the conflict between the clan and Konoha, hoping that Sasuke would be willing to shoulder this responsibility together with him, as the son of the Uchiha clan head.
For Sasuke, who was trusted by his brother and included in such matters for the first time, this was something genuinely worth celebrating.
Receiving his first "mission" from his brother and Shisui, Child Sasuke was unusually fired up. Taking advantage of his age, even if he felt a little embarrassed, he worked hard to change how others at the Ninja Academy viewed the Uchiha. Awkwardly helping a certain dead-last student, then receiving a heartfelt thank-you in return.
That feeling actually wasn't bad at all.
And when he got home, there was praise waiting for him from both his brother and Shisui. Double the happiness.
At the Ninja Academy, the Uchiha almost always monopolized the role of school heartthrob in every generation, with the sole exception of Obito Uchiha. Using that influence to improve the clan's image among ordinary villagers turned out to be an excellent point of entry.
This idea came from Sasuke, who had been driven half-mad by constant butterflies and bees hovering around him. It received Shisui's enthusiastic support, and Itachi Uchiha reluctantly agreed.
Selling one's looks felt a little undignified, but unexpectedly, it was far more effective than any of the countless other methods they had thought of before.
At the same time, Itachi and Sasuke realized that they also needed to talk to their father.
Completely contrary to expectations, the stern-faced clan head proved surprisingly easy to talk to when his sons took the initiative to ask for help. As long as clan interests weren't harmed and they weren't neglecting their training, Fugaku Uchiha, who rarely communicated with his children, was quite willing to offer both material and emotional support.
At first, some rumors reached his ears about his eldest and second sons being overly friendly with Konoha civilians and lacking airs. But since this didn't affect the clan's interests, Fugaku Uchiha brushed it off without concern.
Then, as the Uchiha's reputation gradually improved thanks to the actions of these children, people stopped muttering snide remarks behind their backs during patrols. Instead, comments like these began to surface:
"Hey, now that you look closely, the Uchiha boys are all really handsome."
"The girls are pretty too, and so gentle. Nothing like my sister, she's so fiery she'll never get married."
"Too bad they don't intermarry."
"Huh?! They don't intermarry?! What a shame! That guy who just walked past was so handsome! I was even thinking of trying to chase after him!"
What they didn't realize was that these whispers they thought were so quiet were perfectly clear to ninja ears.
Three Uchiha who had just finished a patrol kept their expressions neutral, but it was as if their ears had doubled in size as they secretly listened in. Each of them wondered whether the girl had been talking about him, then subtly compared his looks to the other two beside him.
Yes, it had to be me.
Even if intermarriage wasn't allowed, who wouldn't enjoy being admired by the opposite sex?
Wait, come to think of it…
Why couldn't they intermarry anyway? Plenty of other clans with special techniques or Kekkei Genkai allowed it!
And so, little by little, only a handful of stubborn old conservatives within the Uchiha clan remained obsessed with outdated ideas, spending all day fixated on power struggles.
The younger generation became less resistant to going out on patrol as part of the police force, and they no longer turned a blind eye or deaf ear to people in need.
Once a positive cycle started turning, its momentum was impossible to stop.
The higher-ups in Konoha had differing opinions on the matter.
The Third Hokage smiled and felt it was a good thing. Though the approach was unconventional, the Uchiha had genuinely found a way to integrate into Konoha.
Danzo Shimura, naturally, believed the Uchiha were plotting some kind of conspiracy and clearly had no good intentions.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane leaned toward Danzo's stance, though they weren't quite as deep into conspiracy theories. They simply felt the Uchiha were being utterly shameless. Improper. Completely improper.
But in the end, the elders were each just one voice. They couldn't truly decide the will of the people.
Otherwise, in another parallel world, even someone like Danzo Shimura wouldn't have dared openly oppose Naruto after Naruto saved everyone from Pain and became the undisputed hero of the entire village. Or take Naruto's childhood for example: even though the Third Hokage and Kakashi Hatake knew his true identity, they still couldn't stop the entire village from bullying him.
At this point, the Uchiha and Konoha had not yet reached the point of complete rupture.
Because Itachi Uchiha chose to trust his family, he instead walked a path that was truly his own.
Perhaps because the illusion was an Izanami technique cast specifically for Itachi, a ninjutsu born to force him to confront his own arrogance. So when Itachi finally found a way to reconcile with his true self, to trust his companions, to believe in his family and his clan, the technique naturally unraveled…
Like a fleeting dream.
When Itachi woke up, he could still recall that if there was anything truly wrong with that world…
…it was that sixteen-year-old Sasuke had turned into a full-on "Charasuke," dressed in flashy clothes, necklaces and rings everywhere, reeking of punk style. His ninjutsu training had slipped a little, but his ability to turn into roses to charm girls had reached absolute perfection.
Obito, having realized his mistakes and too ashamed to return to Konoha, went to Kirigakure and became the Fifth Mizukage.
Kotoamatsukami altered Danzo Shimura's will, making him step down early and return home to enjoy retirement.
Shisui was now being groomed by his father as the next Uchiha clan head.
But in his letters, Shisui mentioned that the Third Hokage also seemed inclined to appoint him as the Fifth Hokage.
Because of this, the Fifth Mizukage, Obito Uchiha, even sent a congratulatory message, joking that if Shisui really became the Fifth Hokage, then "Fifth Mizukage Obito Uchiha" and "Fifth Hokage Shisui Uchiha" would truly end up incompatible, like water and fire.
As for Itachi Uchiha himself…
He found a high-paying job and worked hard toward his future dream of opening a chain of dango shops.
The company's main business was security, and it even had a pretty nice name: Akatsuki.
The founding members of the company were senior disciples from the same lineage as the Fourth Hokage. Back then, it was Jiraiya-sama, their teacher, who helped make the connection and brought Itachi into the company.
Unlike his previous lives, this time he had a reason to keep living. With proper medical treatment, he lived to a ripe old age, his life fulfilled and free of regrets…
…
For Itachi Uchiha, this was the most perfect life he could have imagined.
When he woke from the illusion, he lingered in its afterglow for a long time, reluctant to leave the dream behind. After returning to the parallel world of the mission scrolls, his desire to complete the D-rank and SSS-rank missions in his hands only grew stronger.
[Mission Rank: D-rank] [Mission Content: Bow 10,000 times before the graves of your parents and clan members.]
[Mission Rank: SSS-rank] [Mission Content: Retrieve all Sharingan scattered outside.]
After listening to Itachi recount his multiple lives within the illusion, Minato Namikaze nodded.
"That D-rank mission can be carried out however you wish. Among the known SSS-rank missions, yours looks relatively the easiest to complete."
As he finished speaking, he winked at Itachi.
"As for the mission reward, it might be a surprise you're not expecting."
Itachi Uchiha didn't think much of it and asked Minato Namikaze for permission to return to the Uchiha compound on the outskirts of Konoha.
Since Uchiha clan members were buried in the clan cemetery after death, they couldn't be found at Konoha's Memorial Stone.
As for the Sharingan…
Those once held by Danzo had already been returned to Itachi by the First and Second Hokage after learning of his mission.
Another portion was in Obito Uchiha's possession.
The rest were buried together with the bodies of fallen Uchiha clan members.
So Itachi's SSS-rank mission only required waiting for news from Adult Obito.
At the same time, Adult Obito was setting the elderly woman down at her doorstep, having also helped carry her two large bundles all the way home.
Adult Kakashi followed beside him, holding Icha Icha Paradise, sighing that even after going dark, Obito was still the same fool who couldn't bring himself to ignore elderly people in need.
He only needed to help her cross the street, yet he insisted on carrying her luggage and walking her all the way home.
"How can you be so heartless?" Adult Obito said, sucking on the fruit candy the old lady had given him as thanks, shooting Kakashi a reproachful look. "Those bags were so heavy. How long would it take her to get home like that? What if she ran into trouble on the way and I wasn't around?"
"Alright, alright, you're right," Adult Kakashi said, spreading his hands helplessly.
"Let's go back and find Minato-sensei."
"Wait, I'll grab some red bean cakes on the way." Thinking of his mission, Adult Obito felt both pain and happiness at the same time.
What he didn't know was that while waiting in line for batch after batch of freshly baked red bean cakes, he and Adult Kakashi would miss an incredibly dramatic scene.
After young Obito Uchiha completed his C-rank mission, the person who arrived from another world would far exceed anything they had imagined…
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