After all the Uchiha combatants returned, Izumi was assigned to the group that was allowed to rest, while Itachi, as a key figure in the matter, was dragged into a meeting.
She originally wanted to wait for Itachi, but it was Uchiha Yusuke who personally came to pass on a message to her, Itachi still had other matters to handle.
He told Izumi to go home and rest first.
Izumi had no choice but to return home, and after informing Hazuki that she was safe, she went to rest.
Even though she had been busy all night and was indeed tired, after falling asleep, she started having nightmares one after another.
First, she dreamed of being killed by the tiger-mask man with a single slash, and then dreamed of being killed by Itachi.
"Izumi..."
"Izumi..."
Izumi suddenly sat up from bed. Her mother, Hazuki, looked at her with concern, "What's wrong, child? Your face is covered in cold sweat."
"Huff… huff…", Izumi panted heavily, then glanced apologetically at her mother.
"Sorry to worry you, Mom. I just had a nightmare."
"What time is it now?"
Hazuki replied, "It's already ten o'clock. Itachi has been waiting for you for a while."
"Itachi came?", Izumi lifted the blanket and jumped up instantly, "Mom, why didn't you tell me?"
Hazuki smiled without answering. Izumi and Itachi had known each other for many years, and this was Itachi's first time visiting their home.
They hadn't seen each other for quite some time. The current Itachi had changed a lot.
When Izumi hurriedly changed clothes and came into the living room, Itachi was sitting upright on a stool.
"Itachi… ah… um," Izumi ran over to Itachi, panting, but then suddenly didn't know what to say.
"You're okay, right?"
Hazuki wasn't a combatant, so she didn't know what had happened last night.
Izumi was currently worried that Itachi might be punished. After all, things like betraying the clan could be serious or minor.
Itachi gazed deeply at this girl whose heart and eyes were full of him.
He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Izumi, I'm going away for a while. This time, it'll be a bit longer."
This was the first time Itachi had ever reported his whereabouts to Izumi, an act that implied a closer relationship.
Izumi looked at Itachi in a daze. Her expression was complicated. There was a bit of joy and also a bit of worry.
Once Itachi made up his mind to do something, he wouldn't waver.
He opened the bag beside him. Inside were a few skewers of tri-color dango.
"Next time, it'll probably be quite a long time before we meet again."
"You…", When Izumi saw that Itachi actually brought her tri-color dango, she was overjoyed. With this kind of gesture from Itachi, she fully understood his feelings.
Izumi was extremely happy, her eyes even turned a little red, "I'll wait for you!"
"I'll wait no matter how long it takes!"
Itachi looked at Izumi gently and handed her a skewer of dango.
Izumi took it and took a bite.
'So sweet.'
———
[Hyuga Branch Family Grounds]
Koshin passed by the training grounds, and unsurprisingly, the sound of wind whooshing came from inside.
Only eight years old, Neji was seriously striking at the wooden post.
Due to the chaos of the previous night, the Konoha school had been temporarily closed.
Hiashi had many things to handle and didn't bother with Neji.
That's why Neji was here. This was the period when he hated the Main House the most.
Because he had seen his father get punished with the Caged Bird Seal just for giving a bad look.
So, in front of the Main House, Neji was always expressionless and passively obedient.
Of course, Koshin interacted with him often and had taught Neji many things.
The most important was: before one is confident in their strength, always control your emotions.
"Neji, don't overdo it," Koshin saw the circle of sweat at Neji's feet and knew that Neji had been training for quite a while.
Neji struck the pressure point on the wooden post three times in a row, then slowly pulled his hand back.
"Elder Koshin, what exactly happened in Konoha?"
As a child in the Academy for upper ninja candidates, he didn't know what had happened last night.
But from the movements of people, Neji knew something big had definitely happened in Konoha.
After all, Koshin usually never went to the Main House.
Koshin finally stopped acting like a robot and revealed a gloating expression.
"Konoha has always wanted to weaken the Uchiha. This time, Danzo tried to wipe them out completely."
"But there was a flaw in the plan, and the Uchiha clan countered."
"They killed over seventy of Danzo's men."
"Last night, Konoha and the Uchiha clan almost broke into all-out conflict."
Koshin's words shocked Neji, "How dare the Uchiha?"
Neji still didn't have a clear understanding of the behemoth that was Konoha.
At his age, all he knew was that Konoha was unbeatable, and even their clan could only yield.
Koshin folded his hands behind his back and looked in the direction of the Uchiha, eyes filled with envy, "The Uchiha have three powerhouses strong enough to influence the battlefield, so of course they dared to resist."
"And Konoha only has one old, feeble Third Hokage."
Neji was stunned, "Powerhouses…?"
Koshin sighed, "Ah, ones who possess the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Mangekyo Sharingan?", Neji repeated the unfamiliar term.
He had never seen it, never heard of it, and had no idea what it signified.
Koshin came back to himself, "You'll understand in the future."
Neji nodded slightly, "Then… who are these three powerhouses?"
Koshin chuckled, "Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Itachi, and Uchiha Rengoku."
He didn't mind explaining more to Neji.
Anyway, Neji was mature for his age, learning more wasn't a bad thing.
Neji knew the first two. One was the Uchiha clan leader, the other was Sasuke's older brother.
Currently, Sasuke was still a child who kept talking about his "Nii-san."
Even though Neji was a grade above Sasuke, he had still heard Sasuke brag about his brother during breaks.
As for Rengoku, he didn't recognize him.
Seeing that Neji didn't say anything, Koshin revealed a hopeful look on his face, "Grow up soon and become a powerhouse. Only then can you take control of your own fate."
———
[Uchiha Clan Grounds]
By the time it was afternoon, Sasuke, awakened by hunger, finally got up.
Rengoku was worried that Sasuke would run around upon waking, so he had used a bit more force. Sasuke ended up sleeping the entire day.
After waking up, Sasuke found his whole body aching, like he'd been beaten up after being stuffed into a sack.
He touched his body.
"Hiss… it hurts."
He found bruises and scrapes on his skin.
'Did I get beaten after passing out?'
'Why did I pass out?'
'Right! Senior Rengoku used genjutsu on me!'
Sasuke put on his clothes, laced up his shoes, and ran outside, but neither Fugaku nor Mikoto were around.
He walked out confused, and some of the clan members looked at him with strange expressions along the way.
That made Sasuke feel uneasy. He turned a corner and saw Itachi with several clan members, seemingly about to head out.
"Nii-san!", Little Sasuke immediately felt relieved and ran over.
Itachi gestured behind him, "You guys go ahead. We'll meet at the black market."
The dozen or so clan members said nothing, nodded, passed by Sasuke, and headed toward the outskirts of Konoha.
"Nii-san, are you going on a mission?"
Seeing Itachi's outfit, Sasuke subconsciously gripped his hand tightly.
"Mm," Itachi looked steadily at Sasuke, as if wanting to etch this beloved younger brother into his memory.
"Nii-san, you promised to train with me," Sasuke was still thinking of Itachi's promise from before.
Itachi smiled and then tapped Sasuke's forehead, "Forgive me, Sasuke. Next time."
"Ow, that hurts," Sasuke rubbed his forehead, staring at Itachi's back, unhappy, "Nii-san! How long is 'next time'?"
Itachi's footsteps paused, "Grow up well… wait for me to come back, Sasuke."
Sasuke stood there dumbfounded, feeling instinctively that something had happened.
"Nii-san!"
This time, Itachi didn't look back. His figure flickered, and disappeared.
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