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"But seriously… what is up with that terrifying strength of yours?"
"Yashiro was a well-known jōnin in the clan, and you took him down just like that!"
"Even your genius brother, Uchiha Itachi, couldn't have pulled something like that at your age, right?"
Izumi stared at him with the wide-eyed curiosity of a kid discovering a new toy, utterly fascinated that such a small body could hold power that frightening.
"Older sister, Izumi, let me ask you something," Akira said, his expression turning solemn as he lowered his voice."Do you believe in fate?"
"Fate?"
Izumi pressed a finger to her lips, thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"I don't believe in fate. I don't think anything is decided from the start.As long as you work hard enough, anything people call 'destined' can be changed."
"Is that so? Guess you're not a fatalist, then," Akira chuckled softly.
"Huh? Why are you suddenly asking me that?" Izumi turned to look at him, puzzled."Don't tell me this has something to do with your sudden power boost?"
"Yes. Exactly."
Akira's face hardened as he abruptly put on a serious look and began explaining… or rather, bullshitting with a straight face.
"I used to not believe in fate either. Then one day, I had a dream. A really strange dream."
"A dream? What kind of strange dream?"Izumi played along perfectly, picking up his cue.
"In the dream, I saw an old man dressed all in white, with a really long beard.I knew very clearly that I was dreaming, but no matter what I did, I couldn't wake up."
"At first I panicked. I thought someone had trapped me with genjutsu."
"But then the bearded old man told me who he was. He said he was the founder of Ninshū, the Sage of Six Paths. He told me not to be afraid, and then…"
"What?! The Sage of Six Paths? Isn't that just a legend?!"
Izumi's face was full of doubt, disbelief written all over her expression.
"Ahem."
Akira cleared his throat. Her sudden outburst almost derailed the entire storyline he'd just made up in his head.
"At first, I didn't believe him either. Not until he told me that I was actually the reincarnation of his son, Indra. Then he taught me how to awaken the power from my past life."
"I tried it with a half-believing attitude, following his instructions."
"And sure enough, I gained incomparable power in an instant."
"So I believed him. I believed he really was the Sage of Six Paths."
"After all, other than the Sage from the legends, who else could do something like that?"
"And the reason he wanted me to awaken that power was so I could stop the catastrophe that's about to wipe out the Uchiha clan."
"What?!"
"Wipe out the clan?!"
"You're saying the Uchiha will be annihilated? That's impossible!"
Izumi stared at him in shock.
"I can tell the atmosphere in the clan's been weird these past few days, but it can't possibly go as far as total annihilation!"
She was just a lower-ranking Uchiha. She had no access to the higher-ups or their secrets. Still, the idea of the Uchiha being wiped out sounded completely absurd to her.
After all, the Uchiha were Konoha's largest clan.
They were an irreplaceable pillar of the village's strength. How could they possibly be destroyed?
Heh.
Impossible? How could it be impossible?
Akira sneered inwardly.
As long as it threatened his seat as Hokage, that old bastard Third would eliminate it without hesitation. Whether it was Konoha's greatest clan or even a so-called hero.
Just look at Hatake Sakumo. One scheme, and he was done.
And the butcher carrying out the clan's extermination would be none other than the man you love. Uchiha Itachi.
He would even watch with his own eyes as you were killed.
Of course, Akira didn't say any of that out loud.
After all, the girl in front of him truly loved Itachi.
She knew he liked dango, so she trained herself as a cook just to make it for him with her own hands.
And in the end, what she got back was his cold, indifferent gaze as she died.
Thinking about it, damn it, Itachi really did some inhuman shit in the original story.
Watching the girl who loved him get killed with his own eyes. How the hell did he live with that?
But this time, Akira wasn't going to let that happen again.
He snapped himself back to the present and explained to Izumi:
"Yes. The Uchiha will be wiped out. And the mastermind behind it is that sanctimonious Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Ah! Lord Third… how could he? Why would he do something like that?"
Izumi covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes filled with disbelief.
In that moment, the image of the kind, grandfatherly Third Hokage completely collapsed in her heart.
"Well… the reasons are complicated," Akira said vaguely."All I can say is, those who understand will understand. Those who don't, I can't really explain much either. Think about it carefully yourself."
"Don't dig too deep. The interests involved are massive, and talking about it won't do either of us any good. Just pretend you don't know."
"All you need to know is that the waters here run very deep. Deep enough that it's hard to find the full truth. Most of the evidence in the clan has already been destroyed."
"So really, it's one of those things. Those who know, know."
Uchiha Izumi: "..."
If I weren't completely outmatched, I'd really want to slap you right now. What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be?
"Ahem."
Akira cleared his throat again and stopped rambling, his expression turning serious.
"Anyway, just remember this. That old bastard Third isn't a good person."
"Alright… I get it."
"Even if I knew the full truth, I couldn't change anything anyway. I'm just too weak."
Izumi lowered her head, looking helpless.
"Don't be discouraged, Izumi. You're still young. You're only thirteen, right? You've got plenty of room to grow. In the future, you'll naturally become as strong as I am."
Akira reached out and patted her on the shoulder encouragingly.
Izumi: "???"
She looked at Akira, who was a whole head shorter than her, and for some reason… something about this felt very wrong.
"..."
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