Chapter 77 Itachi Uchiha's Decision
Itachi Uchiha returned home late at night. Sasuke and Mikoto were already asleep, while Fugaku was still busy in the study.
Itachi took a deep breath, looked around the familiar house, and then went back to his room.
Not long after, Itachi carried a box of belongings, left his room, and went to the entrance.
At that moment, a stern voice came from behind him: "Where are you planning to go?"
Itachi turned to look at his father and calmly said, "I plan to move out. The clan's missions have taken a lot of time, and I might have more missions in the Anbu. The clan's house is still too far from the village."
Fugaku frowned, his mouth twitched slightly, and after a long pause said, "Itachi, some choices cannot be undone once made."
Itachi stopped in his tracks and looked back seriously: "Father, what cannot return is the current clan."
Fugaku sighed. His Mangekyō Sharingan could show fragments of the future, and these fragments would change based on his thoughts and choices. Once he saw a future where he and his wife died by Itachi's hand, but Sasuke could restore the Uchiha clan's glory. He had tried to change that future but eventually realized he couldn't and could only wait for his own fate.
However, after Touhuan forcefully intervened in clan matters, that old future was broken. Fugaku saw a new future, though just a glimpse almost caused his Mangekyō to suffer backlash, but he could still see the clan flourishing beyond its ancestors' glory.
Yet in this future, Itachi's presence was missing.
He tried to save his son, even revealing his ocular powers to Itachi, but even when his Mangekyō strength was nearly depleted and his vision almost gone, the outcome did not change. He had to accept that his eldest son could not be persuaded, just as he had accepted his own past fate.
Stopping Itachi today was just his last attempt as a father.
Looking at Itachi's blurred figure, Fugaku recalled what Touhuan once said: if he hadn't taken four-year-old Itachi to the battlefield, things might not have ended like this.
...
The next morning, Sasuke woke up and ran to Itachi's room. Though last night's conversation had been unpleasant, Sasuke had decided before sleep to apologize to his brother and ask him to take him to school.
But when he opened Itachi's room door, it was empty. Itachi hadn't taken much, just a few changes of clothes, his usual tools, and the photo of him and Sasuke. Sasuke felt uneasy.
"Mom? Where did my brother go?" Sasuke asked Mikoto, who was preparing breakfast and lunch in the kitchen.
"Itachi will be busy with Anbu missions lately," Fugaku said, drinking tea at the table.
Sasuke lowered his head. After a while, he asked, "Did I make my brother angry last night?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Sasuke," Fugaku said. "Finish your meal and go to school."
"All right," Sasuke said weakly.
...
Itachi spent the night at an inn in the village. Early in the morning, he changed into his Anbu outfit and reported to the Hokage building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was surprised. He knew Itachi had been sent by the clan to inspect Uchiha industries in the Fire Country and had expected Itachi to leave Anbu after returning. He didn't expect Itachi to report in person.
"Hokage-sama, sorry for taking so long due to clan missions," Itachi said, bowing while wearing his mask.
"No problem, no problem," Hiruzen smiled. "Whether it's clan missions or Anbu missions, it's all for the village."
"Are there any Anbu missions recently?" Itachi asked.
Hiruzen didn't answer immediately. He asked, "Itachi, the Security Division has contributed a lot lately. Would you consider working there for a while? There are few Anbu missions now, and the commute would be easier since Anbu HQ is far from the Uchiha estate."
After witnessing Shisui and others' Susanoo in action, Hiruzen trusted Itachi less than before.
"I don't think I can help much in the Security Division. I'm more used to Anbu work," Itachi said. "About commuting, I plan to move out of the Uchiha estate and rent a place in the village."
Hiruzen looked at him deeply and after thinking said, "A group of merchants from the Land of Lightning arrived yesterday. Some of them act suspiciously. Rokuhiko suspects they are meeting spies in the village. I sent Anbu to monitor them. You should help. With your Sharingan, you can find their weaknesses and trace the village spies."
Itachi nodded firmly: "Understood."
...
While Itachi monitored the merchants from the Land of Lightning, the interrogation of people from the Shimizu, Zenshin, and Mitomon clans working with Orochimaru proceeded in order.
The evidence forged by Orochimaru for Touhuan was half true. Among the dozens of people captured, some were indeed innocent, but most, especially the Shimizu hardliners, were not. Under Touhuan's plan, the Anbu sent by Hiruzen handled the interrogation professionally, quickly getting confessions.
Then the Security Division moved to seize the industries of the three clans and compensate the victims from old cases.
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I'm really sorry about the translation. From now on, I'll pay more attention to it. Please forget about the previous mistakes. Thank you."
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(End of chapter)