Looking at Shisui's dejected face, Itachi's heart was also very complicated.
He even… couldn't believe his eyes. Why had all these Ninja Clans joined the Uchiha?
He couldn't understand it!
Finally.
He suddenly saw a fat man and walked straight up to him.
"Keita?"
"Itachi?"
Akimichi Keita, who was about to go home, couldn't help but be stunned when he saw Itachi blocking his way.
Yes!
The two of them were classmates, but Itachi graduated earlier.
After graduating from the Ninja Academy, because his class couldn't form an Ino–Shika–Chō team, he was arranged to return to his clan to help out.
"Yes, Keita."
"Can you tell me why you joined the Uchiha?"
"I really don't understand!"
Uchiha Itachi asked, puzzled.
Although he was very aloof during his time at the Ninja Academy, he was actually very smart and knew everyone in the class.
Therefore.
Now that he saw a former classmate, he naturally asked directly.
And, in response.
Akimichi Keita looked at Uchiha Itachi in front of him. Although he wasn't very clear about Itachi's situation, Nara Shikaku was in the higher echelons, and he would mention some basic situations of the Village during clan meetings.
Their three Ino–Shika–Chō clans were closely connected, so he naturally knew a little bit.
Therefore.
Hearing Uchiha Itachi's question, his eyes instantly became strange.
Thinking that he and the Uchiha would become allies in the future, he coughed and carefully said, "Itachi, you must have heard some of the rumors the Uchiha have been spreading in the Village recently, right?"
"Aren't those rumors?" Itachi asked innocently.
And, in response.
Akimichi Keita instantly froze, then looked at him as if he were a national treasure giant panda: "You actually think those are rumors?"
"Aren't they?" Itachi retorted.
Akimichi Keita's mouth twitched.
But, in the end.
He still sighed helplessly, and after a moment of emotion, he said, "Itachi, although you are strong, you are truly terrifyingly naive. Those rumors are, of course, true!"
"In fact, those things are almost open secrets. Even without your Uchiha spreading rumors, all of us Ninja Clans are actually very clear about them."
"It's just that the Village's situation is very complicated, and we Ninja Clans are unwilling to get involved for self-preservation."
"Since we have joined the Village, I don't need to lie to you. The Village is indeed targeting the Uchiha. This is partly due to the influence of the Second Hokage, but more importantly, it's because the Uchiha are too strong and uncontrollable!"
"The Uchiha are like the Senju; they either become the Village's leader or are directly annihilated. There is absolutely no third path!"
"The strong have no right to surrender!"
"Unless your Uchiha clan dismembers itself, either by becoming so weak that only a few clan members remain, or by splitting into a dozen or even more factions, and these factions must be mortal enemies."
"Otherwise, no matter who is in the Hokage position, they will definitely try to target the Uchiha. The Village's previous method was exactly that: to win over and divide the Uchiha as much as possible, thereby creating more factions."
"However, unfortunately."
Hiruzen Sarutobi might have only wanted to split the Uchiha, but Danzo, for some unknown reason, was determined to completely annihilate the Uchiha. Fortunately, an Uchiha Jin appeared within your clan.
"Otherwise, with Danzo's ruthlessness and Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions, the Uchiha's future would be worrying!"
"As for why we joined the Uchiha? It's because the Village was pushing too hard."
"Root demanded that each of our Ino–Shika–Chō families provide seventeen people to join Root, and you must know what Root is like; they completely treated us Ino–Shika–Chō as cannon fodder and sacrifices."
"In this situation, why wouldn't we run?"
"Before, we Ninja Clans remained neutral. Even if we were slightly dissatisfied with Hiruzen and the others, we were unwilling to interfere in your wars."
"But now it's different. When it concerns our own lives, of course we have to fight for them!"
Akimichi Keita spoke eloquently.
Although he was not a core member of the clan's higher echelons and only knew superficial information, he was still far more knowledgeable than Shisui and Itachi.
Therefore.
After such a speech, Itachi was completely silenced.
Shisui, standing nearby, couldn't hold back and interjected, "Although Root is a bit strict, everyone is for the Village, so a little sacrifice is normal, right?"
"Everyone is for the Will of Fire, are they still afraid of mere sacrifice?"
This was Shisui's lifelong belief, and also the foundation of his persistence.
But now?
He heard not even a hint of the 'Will of Fire' from the mouth of another Ninja Clan member; instead, it was all filled with words like calculations, schemes, choices, and so on.
This made him unable to cope for a moment.
Yes.
If someone from the Uchiha had said these things before, he would have thought the Uchiha lacked a broader perspective, and their hearts were full of only their petty calculations. But the problem was that the person speaking now was not Uchiha, but someone from another Ninja Clan!
"Will of Fire?"
"Isn't that just a slogan used by those in power to fool the common people?"
"You guys—actually believed it?"
"No way? No way?"
"Is there really someone in this world so foolish as to believe such a ridiculous slogan?"
Akimichi Keita's face was full of shock.
His face was filled with bewilderment and disbelief, and he looked at them as if they were idiots.
Itachi: "..."
Shisui: "..."
The two of them were extremely stifled at this moment.
Especially Akimichi Keita's idiotic gaze, which dealt a devastating blow to their worldview.
No way!
If someone from the Uchiha had said this, they would have dismissed it as nonsense and not cared at all.
But now, it was different.
The person who said this was an Akimichi clan member!
"Is the Will of Fire really wrong?" Itachi asked hoarsely.
And, in response.
Akimichi Keita rolled his eyes: "A simple question: Have you ever seen Hokage-sama go to the front lines?"
"But that's because Hokage-sama must control the overall situation!" Shisui tried to find a reason.
However, unfortunately.
Akimichi Keita retorted directly, "Don't the Kage of other ninja Villages need to control the overall situation? Aren't other ninja Villages afraid of being ambushed?"
Shisui was instantly bewildered.
Akimichi Keita sighed, then couldn't help but say, "Wake up, both of you!"
"The Will of Fire speaks of burning oneself to create space for children to grow, but in reality, the Village simply cannot do this."
"You have also experienced the Third Great Ninja War; batch after batch of children were sent to the battlefield, while the older generation all stayed in the Village."
"Our Hokage-sama, and those two elders, have you seen any of those in power personally go to the battlefield to fight?"
"Those who truly fought on the battlefield were all the children of the Village!"