Chapter 132: Itachi Uchiha's Interpretation

Itachi Uchiha had already finished preparing the meal. He stood wearing a white apron, one hand opening the door while the other held a rice scoop. Upon seeing Sasuke and Naruto, his eyes curved into crescent moons as he smiled and said, "Welcome back."

Naruto helped Sasuke into the house, where a spread of sumptuous dishes was already laid out. Naruto’s eyes lit up, and Sasuke’s nose began to twitch, sniffing the fragrant aroma. The two took their seats, and before long, Itachi brought over bowls of freshly served rice.

As the three ate, Itachi remained smiling, watching Sasuke and Naruto with a look of deep satisfaction. Naruto’s bright blue eyes shone like lightbulbs as he shoveled rice and vegetables into his mouth, exclaiming, "Brother Itachi, this is delicious!"

Itachi chuckled, "If you like it, eat plenty."

Sasuke, who had been eating with refined, measured movements, suddenly scoffed for no apparent reason, "Idiot."

Naruto froze, then glared at him a moment later. "You’re the idiot!"

Sasuke kept his face cold and replied, "Idiot."

The two had squabbled at the dinner table more than once before, and Itachi smiled as he played the mediator. "Alright, alright, just eat your food."

Naruto and Sasuke both huffed in protest.

As they continued to eat, Sasuke seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to say something. Seeing this, Naruto mocked, "Sasuke, you’re acting all coy like a girl. What exactly do you want to say? Have you spent so much time around girls that your personality is starting to match theirs?"

Sasuke retorted, "That’s still better than being someone no girl likes."

Naruto turned to Itachi, complaining, "Brother Itachi, look at Sasuke! He’s attacking me personally!"

Itachi shook his head with a smile. "Alright, both of you, say less. Sasuke, what was it you wanted to ask?"

Naruto immediately quieted down, perking up his ears to listen.

Sasuke was silent for a moment before saying, "I want to know, are we being accomplices to evil?"

They were carrying out the Sage of Six Paths’ orders. Although they hadn't given their absolute all, they had still completed the tasks. Over the recent period, they had subjugated numerous races, large and small. If this continued, they would truly complete the Sage's orders and secretly seize control of the entire cosmic black market. Wouldn't they be pushing Earth toward its own destruction with their own hands?

Itachi smiled. "So that’s it. I thought you had already realized that."

Sasuke shook his head and continued to press, "Brother, and every time Naruto and I go on a mission, you urge us to go all out—sometimes even intervening yourself. To what extent have you researched 'Genjutsu'? If you strike directly, who can break it? I don’t understand. Do you truly wish to destroy the Earth?"

Ever since Itachi arrived, Naruto’s missions had become much easier. Naruto carried Itachi’s summoning crows, whose eyes housed Itachi’s Genjutsu; as long as the target looked into the crow's eyes, their mind could be controlled. Itachi’s evolution of the Sharingan had surpassed the level of the Super Ultimate Sharingan, and with Shisui Uchiha’s Genjutsu eyes as a foundation, his illusions were practically unbreakable. Sometimes, Itachi would even handle difficult targets personally.

Yet, wasn't Itachi someone who cared for his companions and his home, Earth? Doing this now was effectively forcing Earth into a dead end, which was the root of Sasuke’s confusion.

Naruto swallowed a large mouthful of food and said, "Brother Itachi, I don’t get it either. If you hadn't come to push us to give it our all, I had already planned to stubbornly refuse. At worst, I’d just lose my life." Stubbornly refusing might lead to death, but that was better than personally pushing the Earth toward its demise. While Sasuke might have different thoughts when facing the destruction of the world, Naruto would never allow Earth to be destroyed.

Itachi set down his bowl and chopsticks. "You two boys..."

Sasuke remained calm, waiting for an explanation, while Naruto urged impatiently, "Brother Itachi, tell us the reason! Otherwise, once I finish this meal, I’m going to go fight the Sage of Six Paths to the death!"

Itachi rolled his eyes at Naruto, who just gave a sheepish grin. Itachi then said, "Let’s start with the Sage of Six Paths. Do you know that he can predict the future?"

Sasuke and Naruto nodded. The fact that the Sage could foresee the future was no forbidden secret; many knew of it. After they were abducted by him, the Sage had even demonstrated it openly, so they were well aware.

Itachi nodded with a smile, his expression turning solemn. "Since you know he can foresee the future, then he must have known you two would succeed when he abducted you and gave you those tasks."

Naruto raised his hand, asking, "But Brother Itachi, if you hadn't come and hadn't persuaded me, I really would have gone to fight him."

Itachi replied, "But I did come, didn't I? Because the Sage saw in the future that I would arrive and that you would succeed, he let you carry out the missions. And he must know about this conversation, too."

Sasuke fell silent, his brow furrowed deeply. Naruto stopped eating altogether and gasped, "He’s that powerful? Then how can we ever defeat him?"

Itachi shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I don't know."

"This..."

Naruto’s face went pale, and Sasuke’s brow creased even further.

Itachi continued, "Let’s talk about Orochimaru. But before we get to him, let's talk about me. Do you think I am strong?"

Naruto said, "Strong! Of course you’re strong! You’ve been evolving your Sharingan, walking a path no one has ever trodden before. Very few can compare to you."

Sasuke nodded in silent agreement; he acknowledged this as well.

However, Itachi shook his head. "My achievements are nothing compared to Orochimaru."

Just as Naruto and Sasuke were about to object, Itachi held up a hand. "Don't argue yet. Let me ask you this: how do I compare to the billions of people on Earth?"

Naruto said, "I know the answer to that. Even among billions, you are among the top tier."

Itachi shook his head again. "That’s not what I mean."

Sasuke interjected, "Brother, are you talking about the combined strength of all those billions? If power could be stacked, forget billions—given the current widespread practice of cultivation on Earth, I think one hundred thousand people combined could defeat you." With one hundred thousand potential Otsutsuki on Earth, their combined power would be unimaginably strong.

Itachi said, "Not just strength. What about intelligence?"

Naruto chimed in first again, "Your intelligence is absolutely top-tier, Brother Itachi! Even adding all those billions together wouldn't match you!"

Itachi gave him a playful scolding, and Sasuke frowned, "In terms of intelligence, you can't compare yourself to billions of people, Brother; you are far beneath them."

Itachi laughed heartily. "Beneath them? Comparing me to billions of people is giving me too much credit."

His tone shifted. "But do you know what Orochimaru has been doing all this time? He has been consolidating the power of the entire Earth!"

Orochimaru had popularized cultivation techniques; anyone who had consumed the cultivation serum could have their power drained by Orochimaru whenever he desired. In other words, every person on Earth was essentially a 'smurf account' for Orochimaru, and these accounts could be stacked onto his main one! And then there was intelligence—one person’s ideas are limited, but many heads are better than one. Wasn't Orochimaru’s unification of Earth aimed at harnessing the collective intellect of everyone? And there were billions of people on Earth!

Itachi said, "I have consumed the cultivation serum. While Orochimaru cannot drain all of my power, anything I know, he also knows. My eyes and my ocular techniques have undoubtedly been acquired and perfected by him."

Naruto and Sasuke were stunned. They had never thought of it this way. They knew Orochimaru was strong, but they had never realized the scale of it. They hadn't imagined he was this powerful—that the entire Earth’s strength belonged to him!

Sasuke said, "But even if Orochimaru is this strong, can he surpass the Sage of Six Paths? That’s a technique that predicts the future. Surely the Sage could outmaneuver him."

Itachi replied, "I don't know that either. Who will be left standing between Orochimaru and the Sage is something we will only know at the end. But now you understand why I told you to go all out, don't you? And you understand why I sent Suigetsu of the Star Spirit to you, right?"

"Through Suigetsu, Orochimaru will certainly know about our affairs. If he has any plans that require our cooperation, he will tell us—or perhaps he won't tell us and will simply use us. So, we just need to obediently carry out the Sage's tasks. There’s no need to look for trouble."

After a pause, Itachi sighed with emotion, "I suppose this is what they call 'when the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up'?"

Sasuke remained silent.

Naruto scratched his head, his eyes darting around. A moment later, he slapped the table twice. "I don't really get it, but as long as I know doing this isn't wrong, that's enough. Let's eat, let's eat! It’s all getting cold."