The Genius

Tobi observes Konoha before vanishing, and Itachi feels an unsettling wind as the Nine-Tails is summoned against the village. Amid the attack, Itachi shields the infant Sasuke and, coming upon Izumi, guides her to a shelter. Konoha eventually brings the fox under control. Itachi attends the funeral for those lost, and Izumi thanks him for saving her. In the rebuilding effort, Danzō reshuffles the clan districts, and the Uchiha find themselves pushed to the fringe of the village.

The clan resents the move but cannot object openly, since other clans were relocated too. Itachi asks Fugaku to show him the new Uchiha training grounds and to teach him jutsu, and he masters the Great Fireball Technique with ease. He also picks up on his father's unease about the buildings crowding the new settlement.

Itachi and Izumi enter the Academy, where his talent stands out at once and he presses Fugaku for more advanced techniques, finding the lessons too basic. His skill draws admiration from the girls and resentment from some of the boys. When classmates including Saisu Kamano provoke an older student named Dokan, they hide behind Itachi, who dismantles Dokan effortlessly, turning the boys' envy into worship that only unsettles him further.

Increasingly preoccupied with what it truly means to be a shinobi, Itachi studies under Shisui during school hours and sends a shadow clone in his place. Dokan and other older students, seeking revenge, defeat the clone along with his classmates. Impressed that he could operate this way, his teachers offer him an early graduation, which he accepts, clearing his path to team assignments and missions.

The episode is part of the Itachi Shinden Book: Light and Darkness arc. In an animation slip, the Hokage Rock already bears Tsunade's face during Tobi's opening view of the village, even though the story predates her tenure as Hokage.