Unlike the night of extermination in the original story, when the entire clan was swept away in rivers of blood, this time the order Uchiha Itachi received was only for precise killings.
Over the past few days, Minato Namikaze had quietly transferred the core members of the Uchiha hawks out of the village one by one to carry out dangerous missions.
Originally, Minato Namikaze had disagreed.
But for some reason, he had begun cooperating with Arisu.
Border attacks, enemy ninja ambushes, mission accidents... there were always flawless reasons that allowed those radicals to disappear outside Konoha without a sound.
The hawks gradually weakened under this slow and steady wearing down, while the stubborn ones who stayed inside the clan grounds and refused to leave the village in the end could only be dealt with personally by Uchiha Itachi.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
The muffled sounds of blades entering flesh rang out one after another. When the final soft sound faded into the night, Uchiha Itachi sheathed his sword.
He raised a hand to wipe away the blood splashed onto his cheek, put his ANBU mask back on, and with steps as light as a cat, turned to melt into the shadows deep inside the clan grounds.
But just as he lifted his foot, a familiar figure blocked his way.
Uchiha Fugaku stood with his back to the moonlight, his whole body covered in a cold silver glow.
He did not move. He simply looked quietly at the son before him, both familiar and unfamiliar, and spoke in a voice that carried neither joy nor anger.
"As expected, you ultimately chose to stand on the village's side.", Uchiha Fugaku said calmly.
The moment his words fell, a scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan lit up in the darkness, revealing its unique pattern.
"This is...?!"
Uchiha Itachi's pupils suddenly shrank.
'Those eyes...'
'They are exactly the same as Shisui's.'
'Has he come to stop me?'
"You dealt with the hawks. I could pretend I didn't see it."
"But why did you even kill those unarmed elders and young people in the southern clan district?", Uchiha Fugaku asked coldly.
A trace of shock flashed through Uchiha Itachi's eyes. He frowned tightly.
"What are you talking about?"
"The three households at the southeast corner of the southern district."
"Wasn't that your doing?"
Uchiha Fugaku's gaze was as sharp as a blade, as though trying to see through him.
"No."
"I absolutely didn't kill them."
Without the slightest hesitation, Uchiha Itachi shook his head firmly.
Uchiha Fugaku looked at him deeply. The scarlet Sharingan slowly faded, revealing weary and aged eyes beneath.
"Sigh..."
After a long while, he finally let out a barely audible sigh, as though a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Go."
"You're a good child."
"Take care of yourself out there. You've carried too much..."
Uchiha Fugaku stepped aside and made way for him. His voice carried indescribable heartache and helplessness.
Uchiha Itachi's throat moved. Countless words were stuck in his chest, but in the end he only nodded slightly and answered in his usual calm tone.
"I'm fine."
The Uchiha problem was finally resolved.
Part of the Uchiha clan was preserved, while every member of the hawkish faction went to the Pure Land.
———
[Inside The Pure Land]
Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Yuto were strolling around.
Suddenly, the entrance to the Pure Land lit up.
"Look, another Uchiha is ascending..."
Uchiha Tajima pointed and said.
Uchiha Yuto showed interest.
"Who could it be?"
Members of the Uchiha clan kept arriving.
One after another, they ascended.
The once quiet Uchiha residential area instantly became noisy as more and more people gathered.
Looking at the endless stream of clansmen before him, Uchiha Tajima's brows tightened.
"What is going on now? Did another war break out in the ninja world recently? Why are so many people coming all at once?"
He had expected one or two people, but not this many.
Anyone who didn't know better would think the Five Great Nations had started another full-scale war.
Tajima casually grabbed a clansman who had just arrived and was still dusting himself off.
"What exactly happened?"
The grabbed Uchiha Yashiro was full of unwillingness and anger. Through gritted teeth, he said, "It was Arisu! He's the one who decided on the plan to eliminate the Uchiha!"
"The plan to eliminate the Uchiha was decided by Arisu!"
He had thought about it all the way here. With Minato Namikaze's gentle personality, he could never do something so ruthless. No matter how he thought about it, in all of Konoha, only Arisu had the means and determination to do it.
"Wait! Who did you say?!"
Uchiha Yuto, who had been watching the excitement from the side, suddenly changed expression and nearly lost his composure.
He was the legendary elder of the Uchiha clan and also the First Hokage who had founded Konoha with his own hands.
Although no one knew why he had never come to the Pure Land.
The calm expression on Uchiha Tajima's face also froze.
"Hahaha... it must be someone with the same name, right?"
"How could someone have the same name as my grandfather?"
"Besides, my grandfather was an Uchiha. How could he possibly make a plan to eliminate the Uchiha?"
Uchiha Tajima laughed awkwardly.
He still did not know that the extermination plan that had uprooted the entire hawkish faction of the Uchiha had indeed been personally devised by his famous grandfather.
———
[In A Barren Area Of The Pure Land]
Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Izuna, and Senju Tobirama looked around in confusion.
"Something's not right, is it?", Senju Tobirama frowned.
Uchiha Madara also looked puzzled.
After they died, they had been sent here.
"What's going on? Why are there only the three of us? If this is the world after death, it should be lively..."
At this time, the three still didn't know that it was because of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Because of it, they had not been captured by the soul-capturing network system set up by Arisu.
Back then, they had used the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, putting themselves into a state between life and death, making the soul-capturing network unable to detect them.
If they had died normally from old age, they would have been sent to the main city of the Pure Land long ago.
———
[Shikkotsu Forest]
The Slug Sage looked down at Wanzhao with distant eyes.
Countless thoughts rose in its heart.
"He actually has a son... so soon... he really looks like him... I was wondering why he had the bearing of an old acquaintance. Turns out he's the son of that old acquaintance..."
The Slug Sage sighed softly.
Tsunade, standing nearby, was completely confused. From the sound of it, the Slug Sage seemed to know her husband.
"Sage, do you know Arisu?", Tsunade could not help asking.
The Slug Sage froze. Arisu had not informed it. What was it supposed to say?
So it immediately changed its words.
"Hahaha, I'm old, I'm old. I don't have many moments when I'm clear-headed. Don't take my words to heart. With so many split bodies, it's inevitable to develop split personalities..."
Tsunade thought that made sense. She had heard that the Great Slug Sage had lived for a very, very long time, on the same level as the Sage of Six Paths.
"Then, Sage, does my son have the talent to learn Sage Arts?", Tsunade asked.
Without even thinking, the Slug Sage answered directly, "Of course he does!"