After leaving the prisoner camp, Setsuna saw an unexpected sight at the edge of the encampnt-
Fugaku was squatting on the ground, playing with a boy who looked barely over a year old.
The child had black hair and black eyes, but his gaze was unnervingly calm… far from the confused look ordinary toddlers usually had.
Setsuna approached, raised a brow, and asked:
"Fugaku-senpai, this child is…?"
Fugaku looked up, and a rare softness appeared on his face:
"My eldest son, Uchiha Itachi."
Setsuna stared at the toddler for two seconds… then it suddenly hit him.
In the original work, the reason Uchiha Itachi hated war so deeply was that his father took him to the battlefield at age four.
This ti was even more outrageous… he was being brought to war at just over one year old.
Seeing Setsuna silent, Fugaku assud he was angry about bringing a toddler to the battlefield and hurried to explain:
"Commander Setsuna, although Itachi is young, he has strong opinions and talent far beyond his peers. As the clan leader of the Uchiha, I must nurture his leadership from an early age."
"-Leadership?" Setsuna's mouth twitched.
"You an letting him witness blood and corpses on the battlefield at one year old?"
Fugaku was indifferent:
"The cruelty of the Ninja World is better recognized early."
Setsuna internally raged:
'No wonder Uchiha Itachi beca so extre later! The root is right here!'
Despite the overwhelming urge to complain, he didn't want to interfere with soone else's parenting. He forced a smile:
"Fugaku-senpai's parenting philosophy is… certainly unique."
After Setsuna left, several Uchiha Clan's mbers quickly gathered around.
"Clan head, why didn't you report the missing prisoners to the Commander?" One Uchiha Ninja whispered.
"So prisoners are already spreading rumors that their companions were eaten by terrifying beasts."
Fugaku's eyes turned cold:
"Such trivial matters can be handled by ourselves."
"But what if-" The Ninja tried to argue.
"There is no 'what if'. Reporting it will only make the Commander question our competence." Fugaku said flatly.
"Don't forget… Commander Setsuna is highly likely to be the next Hokage. We must show him our worth."
Bringing Itachi, a child barely over one year old, was precisely to show Setsuna the Uchiha Clan's potential and loyalty.
For Konoha, he was willing to bring even his baby son onto the battlefield.
The clan mbers looked at each other, then fell silent.
…
Two weeks later, at the border of the Land of Rain
Under a gloomy, drizzling sky, Roshi, the Four-Tails' Jinchuriki, paced anxiously before a hidden cave entrance.
His red cloak was soaked with water, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Han, are you sure Konoha hasn't discovered our movents?"
This was the third ti Roshi asked the question, his voice low.
Han didn't mock him… he too feared Setsuna deeply.
"Relax. Konoha shifted many troops to reinforce the Kirigakure front. Their western defense lines have shrunk by nearly thirty percent… tracking us won't be easy."
Roshi's tense brow relaxed a little.
"Is the fight with Kirigakure that intense?"
Han's voice, muffled through his helt, was heavy:
"They say the Soragakure's Ninja, which was annihilated in the last great war, have reappeared and are cooperating with the Land of Water. Konoha is being overwheld. Even their commander, Shimura Danzo, faced the Seven Ninja Swordsn and was nearly hacked to death."
Roshi was shocked.
"To escape alive from all seven… that bastard Danzo does have skill."
"He should thank Chiaki Setsuna for eliminating Kurosuki Raiga beforehand, otherwise he'd be a corpse." Han shook his head.
"Anyway, enough. Our mission is to ensure the destruction of the organization called 'Akatsuki'."
"I know." Roshi waved impatiently.
"I just didn't expect that one day we'd collaborate with that old fox Hanzo."
Two hours later, at the temporary negotiation site outside Agakure.
Yahiko scanned the surroundings, his orange hair plastered wetly against his forehead.
"Hanzo-sama, why are there only representatives from Iwagakure and Agakure? Weren't we supposed to diate peace between the Land of Rain and the three great nations?"
Before he finished speaking, Konan was shoved forward like a hostage.
"What's going on? Konan should be at the base!" Yahiko shouted in shock.
"Because-" Hanzo's icy voice ca from behind his mask,
"Today was never about peace."
In an instant, thousands of Agakure's Ninjas erged from all directions, surrounding the Akatsuki's mbers completely.
Yahiko stared at Han beside Hanzo, stunned:
"Why? We cooperated perfectly before!"
Han sighed, steam armor humming softly:
"I admire your ideals. But refusing to beco tools for Iwagakure and dreaming about peace every day… too naive."
"Red hair. Kill Yahiko."
Hanzo pressed his kunai deeper against Konan's throat, his voice cold as iron.
"Or you all die."
"No, I can't do that!" Nagato struggled in agony.
"Yahiko! Nagato! Run! Don't worry about !" Konan scread.
Yahiko closed his eyes:
"Perhaps my dream really doesn't belong in this cruel world… Nagato, kill ."
Nagato trembled violently, trapped in a nightmare.
"Nagato!!!" Yahiko and Konan's voices overlapped, making Nagato scream as he clutched his head.
"What… what should I do?"
Just as the scene played out like a tragic drama, a blinding beam of light suddenly pierced through both Hanzo and Konan's chests!
"What!?" Hanzo staggered back, his face twisted in agony beneath the mask.
'Do they actually not care about the woman's life?'
'Were they acting on purpose!?'
Even Hanzo could no longer distinguish reality from deception.
In his mont of shock, a figure flashed like a ghost behind him-
A fist wrapped in a sonic boom smashed into his back.
Hanzo barely dodged, but his shoulder armor shattered.
He stared in horror at the sudden attacker.
Though it was their first eting, the youth's appearance was already burned into his mind through countless drawings:
"You're Chiaki Setsuna?"
Yahiko caught the collapsing Konan.
Kirina rushed from the ranks:
"Let her bite my arm!"
But Konan no longer had the strength to bite. Blood poured endlessly from her mouth.
"Healer! Now!" Yahiko roared, but Akatsuki had no real dical-Nin, and basic Healing Jutsu couldn't repair wounds like this.
No one cared about Akatsuki's crisis anymore.
Every Iwagakure and Agakure's Ninjas stared fixedly at the black-haired young man at the center of the battlefield-
as if they were witnessing the last monster they ever wanted to face.
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