After who knew how many awakenings, Izumi once again found herself back on the banks of the Naka River.
The setting sun painted the sky crimson. Geese drifted across the evening glow, and a group of ducks splashed playfully in the water, quacking noisily.
Having been "killed" countless times, Izumi's eyes had gradually turned numb.
Under the relentless assault of layered illusions, she could no longer tell whether this place was reality or another genjutsu.
On the first night of the massacre, she was slain within the Uchiha compound by Itachi's Tsukuyomi.
On the second, she tried to seek help from the Konoha Military Police, only to discover they had already been attacked—ending with her death at the hands of the tiger-masked man.
On the third, she attempted to alert the village at large, but was intercepted and killed by masked shinobi before she could even leave the clan grounds.
After that, Izumi was trapped in an endless loop of the massacre night. No matter how desperately she struggled, she could never escape the Uchiha district—never escape that doomed evening.
So she changed tactics.
She began searching within the clan itself for answers.
She ran through every corner of the compound, even to the clan head's residence—only to witness again and again the nightmare of Itachi slaughtering his own people, sparing neither the elderly nor children.
She tried rushing to the police headquarters earlier and earlier, seeking help before the massacre began. But no matter how fast she ran, she could never arrive in time.
Either the tiger-masked man had already massacred the police force, or Itachi had already wiped out the entire clan.
No one escaped.
Fate seemed bound by unbreakable chains.
Even her own mother…
The only thing that confused Izumi was that the mysterious man wearing the white three-eyed fox mask—the one she had met during her very first illusion—never appeared again.
Only Itachi, and the masked man who slaughtered the police force, showed up every single time.
"That guy… who is he really…?"
After experiencing countless cycles of the massacre night, Izumi finally realized that the key to this entire illusion world was most likely that first masked man.
"What is his purpose in trapping me here? Will the Uchiha… truly be wiped out?"
Without realizing it, the belief that "the Uchiha massacre is inevitable" had already been planted deep in her heart.
What she still couldn't understand was why it had to be Itachi.
How could it possibly be him?
Unable to make sense of it, Izumi gathered her courage once more and headed toward the clan district with a grave expression.
This time, she resolved to uncover the truth behind the massacre and find a way to break free from the illusion.
But when she cautiously arrived at the Uchiha compound, she discovered something strange.
The sun had only just set.
"Oh? Izumi, you're back!"
Granny Kuna approached from afar, holding her grandson Keishu's hand and waving warmly.
"Izumi-nee!"
Little Keishu ran up happily and hugged her.
"Good evening, Granny Kuna… Keishu…"
Izumi's voice trembled slightly as tears welled in her eyes.
After her father's death, she had moved with her mother into the Uchiha compound and taken on the Uchiha name.
In the three years since, the clan—who valued blood ties and family bonds—had accepted her as one of their own.
Though her academy grades weren't outstanding and she had no intention of rising beyond genin, she still received the same respect and allowances as any other awakened Uchiha.
"Izumi, why are your eyes so red?" Granny Kuna asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Is it hard getting used to life as a ninja? Come have dinner at my place tonight. I'll cook something nice to celebrate your becoming a ninja!"
"Yeah! Come with us, Izumi-nee!" Keishu cheered, hopping around her.
"Thank you, Granny Kuna… I just…"
Izumi wiped her tears, torn between warmth and fear—terrified that this, too, was merely another cycle of the endless massacre.
Trembling yet hopeful, she followed them home.
She stayed alert the entire time.
But from the moment Granny Kuna prepared a rich meal, to finishing dinner, to playing games with Keishu afterward—nothing happened.
No screams.
No blood.
No masked killers.
When she left their house, the clan streets were lit with soft lantern light. Children laughed and played. Adults chatted idly as they walked home.
Everything was… peaceful.
Returning to her own home, Izumi opened the door nervously.
"Izumi, welcome back."
Her mother, Uchiha Hazuki, walked out from the kitchen.
"Mom…"
Seeing her alive and safe, Izumi could no longer hold back. She rushed into her arms and broke down sobbing.
"You silly girl," Hazuki murmured gently, assuming her daughter had simply faced hardship on a mission, stroking her hair with quiet comfort.
Meanwhile—
"Seems the Crimson Moon Scroll is quite useful after all."
Under the night sky, Menma sat casually atop a rooftop within the Uchiha district, watching Izumi from afar.
Moonlight reflected coldly off his white three-eyed fox mask as the night breeze tugged at the fur collar of his cloak.
The little Nine-Tails poked her head out from inside the collar, holding an open bamboo scroll and flipping it around curiously.
"Menma, there's nothing written in this scroll at all!" she said in confusion after searching it back and forth.
"Of course not," Menma chuckled. "Because it's the Crimson Moon Scroll."
He took the bamboo scroll from her hands.
After reviving the little Nine-Tails within his spiritual world, Menma had built a comfortable mental environment for her.
It was there, deep within that inner world, that he had discovered this mysterious item—the Crimson Moon Scroll.
Through experimentation, Menma learned that the blank bamboo scroll contained the essence of the "Limited Tsukuyomi World." It could be used as a ninja tool to cast illusions comparable to Tsukuyomi itself.
While holding the scroll, he could freely manipulate and layer the illusion world, forcing targets to sink into endless cycles of fabricated reality.
To this day, he still hadn't discovered the full limits of its power.
Even more valuable, the Crimson Moon Scroll provided resistance against illusions, granting Menma strong protection against Sharingan-based genjutsu.
With this in hand, his greatest weakness—lack of skill in illusion techniques—had been effectively covered.
Facing Uchiha Itachi in the future would now be far easier.
"You seem really interested in that girl, Menma," the little Nine-Tails said, tilting her head curiously.
"I'm just testing whether she has any value for me to use."
Menma truly had no memory of her from the Limited Tsukuyomi world.
If that world was indeed an inverted reflection of reality, then perhaps Izumi's father never died in the Nine-Tails incident there—meaning she never awakened her Sharingan, never moved into the Uchiha compound, and never met Itachi.
With several years left until the real massacre night, Menma had already selected three Uchiha who might fit into his plans.
Izumi was merely one of them.
"But her Sharingan… it really is beautiful," Menma murmured, recalling Obito's own evaluation of her eyes.
And he looked forward to seeing just how far those eyes could go.
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