Chapter 130
The Uchiha Clan Under Surveillance
Chapter 130 The Uchiha Clan Under Surveillance
The night was as dark as ink, gradually enveloping the leaves.
While most of the villagers were asleep, only a few dim streetlights, like lonely stars, adorned the village in the darkness.
Inside the Anbu building beneath the Hokage Rock, however, lay a completely different scene.
The exterior of the secret service building was as dark as ever, but the interior was brightly lit, and a suffocating silence filled the air, with only the faint hum of some electronic devices and the occasional low report.
Eight-year-old Itachi Uchiha, dressed in the dark gray uniform unique to the Anbu and carrying a standard ninja sword, had a calm and deep gaze that belied his age. Led by a ninja wearing a white cat mask, he slowly walked upstairs.
"From now on, you are a member of the Anbu, Itachi." Kakashi's left eye, hidden beneath his white cat mask, glanced slightly at Itachi Uchiha, who was following behind him.
"Yes, Kakashi-senpai, nice to meet you!" Itachi Uchiha said calmly but respectfully.
The two quickly arrived at a monitoring room, where rows of monitors were arranged, each screen displaying a dense grid of surveillance footage, with each frame capturing real-time activity from a certain location in Konoha Village.
Two ANBU ninjas were monitoring the situation. Hearing the commotion, they turned around and greeted Kakashi, who had come to relieve them.
'What is this?!' Uchiha Itachi's heart trembled as he looked at the familiar images on so many monitor screens.
In the very center of these monitor screens was the gate of the Uchiha clan, next to which was the gate of the Konoha Police Department. The other screens also displayed surveillance footage of the Uchiha clan's territory.
'So... the village had been monitoring the Uchiha clan all along...' Itachi Uchiha's breathing quickened.
"This will be your main work location for the foreseeable future." Kakashi said to Itachi Uchiha after handing over his duties to the two Anbu ninjas.
His short, silver, spiky hair shimmered faintly in the dim light. His masked face revealed no expression, but his tone was calm, yet carried a subtle, complex quality.
"This is the Hokage's trust in you," Kakashi said. "Your mission is to monitor the Uchiha clan's territory and the movements of the Uchiha clan members."
'Trust...' A bitter feeling welled up deep in Itachi Uchiha's heart.
This so-called trust is nothing more than a manifestation of the growing unease and suspicion among the village's higher-ups towards the Uchiha clan.
Allowing the Uchiha clan to monitor the Uchiha territory, while ostensibly a sign of trust, was also a form of intimidation.
Kakashi seemed oblivious to the turmoil in Itachi's heart. He pointed to several special screens, which displayed images of the entrance to the Uchiha clan compound, the training grounds, and even the residences of some important Jonin within the clan.
"You know about the Nine-Tails' rampage. The Nine-Tails' eyes had the Sharingan pattern." Kakashi lowered his voice and said seriously, "Although there is no direct evidence, after the Nine-Tails' rampage, the village became very suspicious of the Uchiha."
"A few months ago, Uchiha Shisui went on a mission to investigate the rebellion in Hoshigakure. He encountered a mysterious Uchiha ninja and was badly beaten. He even had one of his Sharingan eyes stolen, which made the village have unprecedented suspicions about the Uchiha clan."
The Nine-Tails' rampage and the mysterious Uchiha ninjas of the Land of Stars.
Having personally experienced the Nine-Tails' rampage, Itachi Uchiha's expression darkened.
He had also learned about his close friend Shisui's experience. The mysterious Uchiha ninja in the Land of Stars was so powerful that even Shisui was no match for her!
Kakashi's words struck Itachi's heart like a heavy stone, creating ripples. He understood that Kakashi was telling the truth, and that he was being given such instructions because he had joined the Anbu and gained the Hokage's trust.
The Nine-Tails incident, coupled with the mysterious Uchiha powerhouse outside the village, were like two sharp thorns, deeply piercing the hearts of the village's leaders and instilling in them an indelible wariness towards the Uchiha clan.
"Therefore, from now on, the Anbu's surveillance of the Uchiha clan will be comprehensive." Kakashi's eyes sharpened. He turned around and looked directly at Itachi. Although Itachi was wearing a white cat mask, he could still feel the oppressive aura emanating from him.
"Your job here is to report any unusual occurrences, or even any suspicious signs, to your superiors immediately. Remember, your loyalty now rests first and foremost on the village."
Itachi's hands clenched involuntarily.
Village and family...
He remembered his father's instructions when he asked him to join the Dark Division, hoping that he could obtain information about the Dark Division's activities and the higher-ups so that he could pass it on to the family.
Now the Hokage wants him to monitor the Uchiha clan for the village.
Itachi Uchiha was struggling internally, the tearing pain like being stabbed with a knife.
"Yes!" Itachi Uchiha took a deep breath, calming the turmoil in his heart.
He knew that now was not the time to show his inner conflict. For the future of his family, for the peace of the village, and to prevent things from getting worse, he had to bear this pain and play his role well between his family and the village.
He silently walked to an empty monitoring station, his fingers deftly sliding across the mouse, bringing up one monitoring screen after another.
The images on the screen flashed by like a tide, from the tribespeople sweating profusely on the training ground in the tribe's territory, to the children laughing and playing in the streets, and then to the elderly, women and children taking a walk in the tribe's territory.
Those familiar faces, every detail, seemed to be magnified infinitely, placed under the scrutiny of the shadows.
Kakashi, who was sitting on the chair next to Itachi, watched as Itachi activated his Sharingan with two tomoe, and couldn't help but think of his deceased Uchiha comrade.
Itachi's gaze darted rapidly across the screen, his Sharingan precisely capturing every subtle movement and expression.
He forced himself to remain calm, suppressing his personal emotions and examining the scenes from the perspective of a pure observer.
However, when his gaze swept across a scene at the main gate of the ancestral land, his pupils suddenly contracted and his heart leaped.
That was a familiar figure—Uchiha Izumi.
She was walking slowly towards the gate of the clan's territory, her steps were somewhat slow, even with a slight, almost imperceptible stumble. Her hair was a little messy, and her usually clear and bright eyes were now shrouded in a layer of fatigue. Her face was also a few shades paler than usual.
Uchiha Izumi stopped in front of the clan's gate, looked up at the gate, and gently rubbed his temples, seemingly trying to wake up, but his physical exhaustion was undeniable.
Kakashi's voice rang out from the side, pulling Itachi back from his thoughts: "Did you find anything?"
(End of this chapter)