Arrogant? Me?
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing this, Uchiha Ren sighed inwardly.
This kid's thoughts really were deep—changing his mindset wouldn't happen overnight.
After a brief pause, Ren continued,
"Actually, I can more or less guess what you're worried about. But the reason you're worried is because you're looking at the problem from your own perspective, not from mine, where the answer lies."
Itachi lifted his head.
His eyes were filled with curiosity—and a hint of longing—as he looked at Ren .
Ren simply gave him a playful smile, showing no intention of explaining.
Itachi froze, slightly stunned.
But Itachi was a genius after all. Very quickly, he understood Ren 's intention.
He hesitated for a moment. In the end, the confusion in his heart overcame his restraint.
"Ren … Ren -nii," he said quietly,
"Can you tell me what answer you see?"
Ren 's smile widened.
"Not bad. Asking others about their thoughts is also a way of seeing another side of things."
Itachi lowered his head again.
For some reason, he felt a faint sense of embarrassment.
Ren stopped teasing him and began explaining.
"The Uchiha clan, emotionally speaking, is actually quite reserved. We're not very good at expressing our feelings."
"But in another sense, the Uchiha experience emotions more intensely than most people. We're extremely sensitive and care deeply about how others perceive us."
"When those emotions have no outlet, they continue to accumulate inside us."
"And eventually, that accumulation manifests as arrogance and obsession."
"At the same time, the other people in the village also carry their own arrogance and prejudice."
"And that's what causes the misunderstanding between the clan and the village to grow larger and larger."
"That is the true root of the conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha."
Itachi listened, half understanding, half confused.
"But what does that have to do with you intensifying the conflict between the clan and the village?"
"Of course it does."
Ren 's expression grew serious.
"As I said earlier, the Uchiha tend to be reserved. So when faced with the village's suppression, the villagers' misunderstanding, and the suspicion of comrades… most Uchiha choose silence."
"They bury those negative emotions deep inside their hearts."
"Either you explode in silence, or you perish in silence."
"When those emotions accumulate past a certain point, the Uchiha will inevitably act in extreme ways."
"And because of the unique nature of Uchiha blood and the Sharingan, both our endurance and our outbursts are far more intense than ordinary people."
"You may think the clan members seem calm on the surface."
"But beneath the calm lake… the currents are already raging."
"If those negative emotions were allowed to erupt naturally, no one could predict what might happen."
"So all I did was create an outlet for those emotions."
"I simply detonated the bomb earlier."
"If you listen carefully to the clan members' discussions, you'll notice something."
"They're angry, yes. But what they actually want is very simple."
"They only want the village to give them an explanation."
"The village has done so much to the Uchiha without justification."
"Shouldn't the Uchiha receive an explanation?"
Itachi frowned and thought about it.
Aside from a few particularly radical voices, most clan members indeed weren't making excessive demands.
Ren continued,
"But making the village give that explanation isn't easy. There are many more factors involved."
"I'll explain those to you slowly in the future."
By the time Ren finished speaking, he and Itachi had arrived at the entrance of the Uchiha Clan Compound, so he ended the topic there.
Following Ren 's gaze, Itachi saw several masked shinobi standing guard at the gate.
He didn't ask further.
A masked shinobi stepped forward and spoke sternly.
"By order of the Hokage, members of the Uchiha clan are temporarily prohibited from leaving the clan compound unless absolutely necessary."
"Hmm… not the usual ANBU animal masks. So they're from Root, huh…"
A faint trace of crimson flashed through Ren 's eyes as he smiled.
"I need to take this child to receive medical treatment."
"..."
The Root shinobi stiffened slightly.
"…Go quickly and return quickly. Don't cause any unnecessary trouble."
With that, he stepped aside and allowed them to pass.
"Thank you."
Ren smiled and casually grabbed Itachi's hand, walking straight out of the compound.
After they had gone some distance, Itachi suddenly spoke.
"You used genjutsu on them, didn't you?"
"Oh?"
Ren looked slightly surprised.
"You noticed?"
Since he didn't want to waste time, Ren had indeed used genjutsu on the Root shinobi earlier.
His movements had been extremely subtle, and he hadn't even used a Sharingan-based dōjutsu. Even the nearby ANBU and Root agents monitoring the area hadn't noticed.
Yet somehow Itachi had sensed it.
Itachi hesitated before answering.
"I'm not sure… I just felt like you used genjutsu."
Ren chuckled.
"It seems you're quite talented when it comes to genjutsu."
"Once we solve your physical problem, you should probably spend more time training in illusion techniques."
Itachi didn't reply.
He simply nodded quietly.
Ren said nothing further. After weaving through several streets of the village, he led Itachi to a secluded corner in the back mountains of Konoha.
After confirming that no one was nearby, Ren formed a hand seal using two fingers like a sword and waited silently.
Before long, the ground suddenly trembled.
A section of earth not far in front of them collapsed, revealing a hidden underground passage.
"Hehe… Ren -kun, what an honor to have you visit. Forgive me for not welcoming you sooner."
Orochimaru, wearing a white lab coat, slowly emerged from the passage. His hoarse voice carried a strange smile.
His face looked pale, and he appeared exhausted—as if he hadn't rested properly in a long time.
Yet the excitement in his eyes made it obvious that his mind was burning with enthusiasm.
Ren smiled.
"I just hope I'm not interrupting your experiments."
"How could that be?"
Orochimaru licked his lips.
"You're bringing me research material. How could that possibly be an interruption?"
His gaze shifted eagerly toward Itachi.
"So this is the Uchiha child with the bloodline disease you mentioned?"
Itachi suddenly shivered.
For the first time, he felt a deep regret about coming here with Ren to receive treatment.
Ren nodded.
"His name is Uchiha Itachi. The eldest son of Clan Head Uchiha Fugaku."
"A very typical Uchiha."
"If you can cure his bloodline disease, then the secrets of the Uchiha bloodline probably won't remain secrets to you anymore."
The excitement in Orochimaru's eyes grew even stronger.
"I can hardly wait."
Ren hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Itachi is still young. Don't break him while you're playing around."
Orochimaru smiled calmly.
"Don't worry."
"I've always treated rare research specimens with great care."
Itachi: "..."
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