In the Uchiha District, Itachi stood atop a building. He watched as the crimson chakra soaring into the sky gradually dissipated, and he finally felt a sense of relief.
It seems the Hokage was successful. Now, the next step is...
Itachi slowly drew his personal katana and looked toward the clansmen hiding in their homes. Furthermore, the vast majority of the young, able-bodied shinobi had already been organized into squads and sent to the battlefield. With Itachi's assistance, most of them had likely been dealt with by now.
Consequently, all that remained for him to do was to eliminate everyone left in the district—the civilians, women, elderly, and children—without leaving a single chance for survival. Within the darkness, his blood-red eyes brewed the ultimate shadow.
His figure suddenly appeared in an ordinary courtyard. Inside, a woman was hidden with her two children. The moment Itachi appeared, one of the children cried out in surprise, "It's Big Brother Itachi!"
"Big Brother Itachi, did the clan win the battle?" the other child asked, eyes full of hope.
These were Uchiha children who knew of Itachi's reputation as a genius. Some even idolized him because of his powerful record in battle. Facing their fervent gazes, Itachi's eyes flickered away slightly, and his expression became strained.
When their mother noticed the change in his expression, she immediately sensed something was wrong. Being an adult, she was familiar with the rumors circulating lately. Among them were whispers that Itachi might have already betrayed the Uchiha clan.
"Hui, Hikari, quickly go inside," the woman urged, hurriedly pushing the two children back.
In the night, the moonlight reflected off the polished blade, illuminating Itachi's cold eyes. Suddenly, a wave of killing intent erupted.
"Run! Hurry and run!" the woman screamed, pushing the children.
Although they didn't understand why their mother was in such a rush, they felt the extraordinary atmosphere and obediently moved toward the back. Just as they turned around, a flash of blade-light slashed through the night sky. Their mother did not even have time to leave her final words before Itachi's blade severed her neck.
The two children turned back in horror, only to be met by a dazzling flash of steel. Blood spread across the ground as the bodies of one adult and two children lay quietly in a pool of gore.
Itachi's arm hung weakly, yet he did not let go of his sword. He allowed the blood to drip from the blade before heading to the next location. There were terrified screams and the mechanical swinging of his blade, followed by bodies falling in despair.
Swing, fall. Swing, fall. Swing, fall.
Itachi didn't know how many times he had repeated this motion. He felt completely numb until he saw a familiar residence. It was the estate of Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha clan.
At this moment, four masked corpses lay quietly at the entrance of the estate, appearing to be members of the Root or Anbu. Their purpose was easy to guess. Since the Uchiha clan had launched a coup, it was perfectly normal to send Anbu to capture Fugaku's relatives to use as hostages.
However, they had clearly failed. Sitting beside these corpses was a one-armed figure.
"I've troubled you, Arima," Itachi spoke softly.
Evidently, this friend had accepted his request and fulfilled the promise. Arima slowly stood up. After dealing with four Anbu shinobi, he didn't seem to have any significant injuries.
"It was no trouble at all," Arima said, his gaze filled with concern. "But you, Itachi... are you really ready?"
Arima had not been deaf to the sounds of the massacre Itachi carried out along the way. On the contrary, because he sensed them and knew Itachi's choice, he was even more worried. Such a choice was too cruel, both for Itachi and for the entire Uchiha clan.
Itachi did not answer the question. Instead, he spoke in a tone of utter desolation, "Fugaku Uchiha is dead."
These words flashed through Arima's heart like a bolt of lightning. Then, there was silence. After ten seconds, Itachi spoke again. "After this is over, I will leave the Leaf as a rogue ninja. Tonight's turmoil was entirely orchestrated by me and the Jashin Religion."
"Sasuke... I leave him to you."
"I understand," Arima said, closing his eyes.
"Mm."
Itachi began to walk, slowly passing by Arima.
"Itachi," Arima called out.
"What is it?" Itachi asked without turning back.
"Take care."
"You too."
Itachi pushed open the estate doors and walked inside.
"Itachi, you're back?"
A gentle voice called out, causing Itachi to freeze in his tracks. The voice was as tender, warm, and full of concern as always. It felt like a soft bullet striking the depths of his heart.
He turned his head, and unknowingly, two lines of tears fell from his eyes. In the main hall, his mother was slowly untying her apron. A large table of food was already prepared in front of her.
"You've come at the right time. These dishes were just finished and are still hot. Sit down and have a few bites. In the future, you might not be able to eat them again..."
As she reached this point, Mikoto's calm expression finally broke. She pressed her palms against her face, unable to stop the tears from flowing out.
Itachi tried to speak, but his throat felt as if it were blocked. He could only make muffled sounds. He slowly walked toward Mikoto and knelt before her, burying his head deep against the floor.
"I'm sorry, Mother," he choked out.
Mikoto also knelt on the ground. Her vision grew increasingly blurred as she saw the bloodstains spreading across Itachi's clothes. She gently placed her hand on his head.
"You've worked hard, Itachi."
With that, she seemed to lose her final ounce of strength and collapsed heavily onto the floor. Blood began to seep continuously from her abdomen.
"Mother, why..."
Itachi looked up, rushing forward frantically to hold his mother in his arms. He looked at the dagger in Mikoto's abdomen in disbelief.
Lying in his arms, Mikoto gave a weak smile. "Itachi, your father and I already agreed. we will support whatever decision you make. The road ahead is one you must walk alone..."
As she spoke, her life faded away along with the flowing blood. Once she finished, she closed her eyes forever.
"I will. Don't worry, I will definitely make sure Sasuke survives," Itachi whispered. He placed Mikoto back on the floor, glanced at the food on the table, and turned to leave.
Just as he was about to step out the door, the young Sasuke heard the noise and rushed out from his room. The bloody scene in the hall and the corpses lying in the gore dealt him a massive shock.
"Mom... Mom..."
Sasuke stood frozen, lost and confused. After a long time, he looked up at his brother in the doorway. "Brother, what happened to Mom?"
Sasuke stared into Itachi's eyes, his own filled with terror. It wouldn't be long before this fear and confusion turned into the grief and hatred that would consume him.
Facing Sasuke's question, Itachi simply said coldly, "She is dead."
"Dead?" Sasuke looked helplessly at his mother on the floor and then back at his brother. "Brother, you're joking with me, right? How could Mom be dead?"
Itachi only looked at him. The cold killing intent made Sasuke tremble, unable to move.
"She is dead. Not just her, but Father is dead too. And they died by my hand."
After saying this, Itachi turned to leave. But Sasuke chased after him relentlessly. "Impossible! This is impossible!" He rushed forward, wanting to grab his brother and demand an explanation.
Sensing the movement, Itachi turned his head slightly, his eyes filled with icy murderous intent.
[ 月读 ]
[ Tsukuyomi ]
As a line of blood-tears fell, the surging ocular power instantly shattered Sasuke's spirit. The world before his eyes changed drastically. Under a blood-red moon, the brother he trusted most swung a long blade, slaughtering his parents over and over again.
His father, who was strict on the surface but kind at heart. His mother, who made delicious meals and always spoke softly. They died repeatedly at the hands of that gentle older brother!
"Why?"
"Why would you do this!"
Sasuke screamed, nearly collapsing. The intense mental fluctuations crashed violently against his eyes. Under the ominous red moon, his pupils turned a solid scarlet.
A one-tomoe Sharingan awakened.
"Forgive me, Sasuke."
"Carry this hatred and live on."
Itachi took one last look at Sasuke before turning to leave.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Uchiha District...
Obito, hidden behind his mask, sensed the Nine-Tails' aura suddenly vanish in the distance. He remarked with wonder, "As expected of the strongest Hokage in history. He actually managed to seal the incomplete Nine-Tails."
Obito's tone was filled with mockery. For a long time, "Strongest Hokage" had been the Third's title. But if Obito remembered correctly, neither the First nor Madara Uchiha would have needed so much time to deal with a mere Nine-Tails. Let alone Hashirama Senju, even the Second, Tobirama Senju, wouldn't have struggled this much.
However, that had nothing to do with him for now. Obito slowly withdrew his blade from Inabi Uchiha's abdomen. As Inabi's body fell powerlessly to the ground, Obito's face showed none of the ease of victory; he remained on high alert.
The fallen body of Inabi Uchiha rapidly turned a greyish-white and vanished like an illusion. Simultaneously, a bare-chested Inabi Uchiha suddenly appeared from behind a house. The flames he spat from his mouth once again swept across the ground where Obito stood.
"How much longer are you going to use this boring trick?"
Obito, wearing his mask, leisurely walked out of the sea of fire once again. His gaze fixed on the Sharingan embedded in Inabi's body. "The number of times you can use [ Izanagi ] is likely running low."
Indeed, the reason Inabi Uchiha could survive fatal wounds was the legendary forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha clan—[ Izanagi ]. It was a supreme forbidden technique that allowed the user to use the Sharingan to change destiny and rewrite reality. Of course, such power came at a massive cost: every time the jutsu was used, one of the user's Sharingan would go permanently blind.
Fortunately, Inabi had enough eyes. At this moment, eleven Sharingan on his body had already closed. This meant that in this short period, he had been killed eleven times by Obito, who was posing as Madara Uchiha!
"I don't know how you managed to graft so many Sharingan onto yourself, but if you think having a high number of eyes makes you the God of the Uchiha, you are far too arrogant."
"The title of God of the Uchiha is not something just anyone can use."
A trace of disdain flashed in Obito's exposed eye. This so-called "God of the Uchiha" was worlds apart from the legendary Madara Uchiha. While Obito was curious about Inabi's biological structure, it was mere curiosity. With his Mangekyo's unique space-time ocular jutsu, he could remain immune to all of Inabi's attacks, standing in an invincible position.
"The only one worthy of the title [ God of the Uchiha ] is I, Madara Uchiha!"
"Even if you have more Sharingan, you are nothing but an ant."
Obito looked down from above. His words were like a sharp sword, easily shattering Inabi Uchiha's pride!
"Why? Why can't I defeat you even though I have so many Sharingan?!"
"Why? Why do you geniuses always betray the Uchiha and stand against the clan?"
"On what basis do people like you get to obtain such great power!"
Inabi clutched his head, screaming hysterically. He was the one who inherited the pride of the Uchiha. Why did these traitors get to awaken the Mangekyo and gain such strength while he could only linger at death's door before them?
"I won't accept this..."
"I am the true... Uchiha!"
With a roar, an ominous aura exploded from his body. A black pattern—a circle with a triangle inside—emerged on his forehead. Tadpole-like black incantations bloomed from the pattern, spreading across his body like slithering venomous snakes.
Then, his flesh began to twist violently beneath his skin. His skin turned a rock-like greyish-white, and his back suddenly bulged before bursting open, sprouting two pairs of massive grey fleshy wings!
Sharp bone spikes grew from his elbows, shoulders, and every joint. A pair of dragon-like horns erupted from his forehead. Every Sharingan on his body glowed with an intense, blood-red light.
Seeing this, Obito's eyelids twitched slightly. He carefully sensed the ominous aura radiating from Inabi, unable to hide the shock on his face.
"Is this... Natural Energy?!"