Most talented

“I have a question for the most talented genius ever to grace the halls of the
academy.”

Itachi silently waited for the man to continue.

“Ten of our brethren have been shipwrecked. One of them has caught a
nasty, infectious disease. If he is allowed to live, the other nine will also get
sick and die. If you were the captain of that ship, what judgment would you
hand down?”

The question of why the man would ask Itachi something like that when
they were meeting for the first time flitted through his mind. But in the next
instant, he was offering a response, his own thoughts in simple words.

“No matter what happens, the one who is sick is destined to die. If I were
the captain, I would think that my first priority would be to save the lives of
the other nine. I would choose to kill the one and save the nine.”

Itachi Shinden: Book of Bright Light Chapter 1 Part 4