Naruto: Forbidden Arts and an Immortal Agenda

After leaving the arena, Aozora and Itachi walked to the back of the crowd.

At first, some people kept glancing back at him, but as the sparring on stage began, the clan members' attention was firmly locked on it.

Itachi wasn't watching the arena either. Instead, he curiously looked left and right at Aozora.

"Big bro Aozora, when did you start training in taijutsu?"

Back when Shisui was still around, Itachi often visited Aozora's home, so he knew that Aozora hadn't practiced taijutsu much.

Aozora casually replied, "Is it difficult? I just train randomly sometimes!"

While speaking, Aozora deliberately kept his tone flat, staring forward with a laid-back air.

He thought he'd acted pretty convincingly and expected to earn some genuine admiration from Itachi.

Nodding, Itachi praised, "You're amazing, big bro Aozora! Unlike me, I studied for a whole month before mastering basic forms. I wonder when I can reach your level?"

Looking into Itachi's sincere eyes, Aozora barely resisted the urge to roll his own.

Although Itachi hadn't officially become Aozora's disciple yet, it seemed he'd already mastered Aozora's signature skill—fake humility.

His skill in fake humility was getting dangerously close to Aozora's level!

After mastering taijutsu so thoroughly in just one month—what else could he possibly need to improve?

To avoid continuing this topic, Aozora quickly changed the subject, asking, "Itachi, do you know what happened to Kyudai today?"

From Aozora's memory, Kyudai was an energetic young guy whose greatest joy came from working overtime in the Chief's office daily.

"Kyudai nii-san?"

Itachi considered briefly, then his eyes lit up, "I know."

"Father originally had something to ask you about, but since you were in retreat, he planned to send the Second Elder instead."

"Kyudai volunteered, but Father refused him."

"He must be feeling down about it?"

Upon hearing this, Aozora couldn't help but feel sympathy for Kyudai.

Such a dedicated employee—how could Fugaku possibly dampen his work spirit?

If Kyudai turned into a sly slacker later on, how would Aozora himself ever feel justified cutting corners?

"How did you find out?" Aozora asked.

"I went to call Father for dinner and happened to overhear," Itachi explained.

Aozora asked again, "Do you know what it was about?"

Shaking his head, Itachi replied, "Just ask Father directly, Aozora! He was going to look for you anyway."

Aozora nodded but had no intention of seeking Fugaku out anytime soon.

Until he learned the secret to self-preservation, he didn't plan on wandering off recklessly.

The vacation had just begun, and unlike Kyudai the workaholic, he definitely wasn't planning to waste his break.

Plus, he had a rough guess about why Fugaku wanted to see him.

The 'Second Elder' Itachi mentioned was the second elder of the clan—the former leader of the Police Force.

Fugaku had originally intended to approach Aozora directly, but after he went into retreat, he decided to consult the Second Elder instead. Aozora suspected it was related to the Kyoto Plan.

Natsuki had already bound a contract with Gray Feather. If it were urgent, she would've sent word through Gray Feather right away. Since there hadn't been any communication from Gray Feather, the issue probably wasn't major.

Knowing this, Aozora felt perfectly justified taking it easy.

The two continued chatting casually while watching the Uchiha sparring matches unfold.

There was no denying it—the Uchiha training system was top-notch. Every Uchiha who stepped onto the stage displayed well-honed techniques, each having invested several years of hard work into their martial skills.

Even someone like Aozora could pick up something useful from those matches.

After watching a few matches, Aozora noticed repeated techniques. Once the novelty wore off, he turned around and headed home without looking back.

Itachi also got up and followed behind Aozora.

On their way down the mountain, Itachi couldn't help but continue discussing the unfinished topic from earlier.

"Aozora-nii, I think what you said earlier made a lot of sense. May I ask how you believe we should handle it?"

"What part did you find so insightful?"

"The part about why Uchiha clan disciples act so arrogantly at school."

Aozora let out a small hum of understanding. "Handle it? There's no need to handle anything."

To him, these little issues paled in comparison to the looming threat of clan extermination.

"But if this continues, the rift between the village and the Uchiha will only widen..."

Itachi's voice dropped lower and his pace slowed slightly.

Aozora turned around and saw no expression whatsoever on Itachi's young face. He immediately realized Itachi was overthinking again.

At that time, Itachi still hadn't mastered emotional disguise—nor did he realize that being expressionless itself was a kind of expression.

Aozora met his gaze and asked, "What's on your mind?"

Itachi avoided his eyes and didn't answer.

Aozora refused to baby him, speaking directly instead: "I'm not going to play guessing games with you. You'd better just speak plainly. If you won't talk now, don't bother bringing it up ever again."

With that, Aozora crossed his arms and waited for an answer.

Ten seconds passed before Aozora shook his head and turned away without hesitation.

Regarding Itachi, Aozora always felt he was still young, still redeemable.

But in Itachi's own eyes, he probably saw himself as fully mature.

Itachi blinked in confusion, froze for a moment, then hurriedly ran ahead and blurted out, "Fine, I'll talk!"

Aozora stopped, looking at him impassively.

Since he wanted to act mature, Aozora wasn't going to baby him anymore.

Stimulated by Aozora's gaze, Itachi finally spoke: "Since you understand the root cause, can't you at least try to fix things somehow?"

Aozora gave a slight nod upon hearing this—he hadn't wasted his lesson after all.

At least now Itachi understood dealing with this issue wasn't solely his burden.

Back then, Itachi would've demanded answers rather than ask for them.

Aozora's gaze softened slightly as he said, "Good. So at least some of what I've taught you has gotten through."

Still, he didn't answer Itachi directly, instead posing a new question.

"What consequences would change bring?"

"Make two assumptions: one, the Konoha elders genuinely care for the village's growth; two, the Konoha elders secretly want to wipe out the Uchiha clan."

Upon hearing this, Itachi immediately responded, "How could that be? How could the Hokage possibly wish to destroy our Uchiha?"

Aozora replied, "It's an assumption."

Itachi remained incredulous, repeating, "Impossible!"

Aozora repeated firmly, "An assumption! I'm even assuming the Konoha leadership is acting selflessly!"

"Think carefully and respond thoughtfully. Come back next weekend—I'll be home!"

With that, Aozora ignored Itachi and continued walking downhill alone.

Seeing Itachi's reaction, Aozora felt somewhat relieved.

He'd once considered rattling off all the dirty deeds of the Konoha leaders, trying to talk Itachi into believing they were secretly rotten under their nice-guy facade.

Looking at how Itachi reacted today, Aozora realized that approach would've had less than a 50% chance of success.

Itachi was young, but his will was unshakable. Once he believed something was right, it was extremely difficult for others to persuade him otherwise.

The Konoha leadership's noble image in Itachi's heart didn't form overnight. It had been instilled gradually by his father Fugaku and his role model Shisui.

Aozora had enough self-awareness to recognize that his position in Itachi's heart could never match those two individuals.

Therefore, he never imagined that casual words from him could change Itachi's thinking.

Isn't Itachi sharp? Doesn't he think things through thoroughly?

Then consider carefully what would happen if the Konoha leadership truly wanted to wipe out the Uchiha clan.

Today's question was meant to plant seeds of doubt about the Konoha leadership in Itachi's mind.

Let that suspicion ferment over the course of a week.

And in a week's time, Aozora would give Itachi quite the performance.

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