"Lord Danzo!!!"
"Lord?"
"How is this possible?!"
The members of the Root organization were unable to move, yet they watched everything unfold before them. Their godlike leader, Lord Danzo, was no longer responding after being impaled by a ninja blade.
At that moment, their faith crumbled like a dilapidated building, collapsing into ruins!
Swish—Swish—Swish—
From beyond the forest, a large number of dark figures leaped in, arriving nearby.
"Captain Kuroki, I'll stay behind and cover the rear!" shouted Uchiha Naruki.
He had resolved to die.
The other Uchiha wanted to declare their resolve to die as well, but they suddenly found themselves under control again by the Hachisen Yari technique, unable to utter a single word.
Naruki and the others' faces flushed red as they tried to speak, but they couldn't resist the mental control.
"So noisy," Kuroki said calmly. He let go, leaving behind the ninja blade, and decisively led his team away.
He left these people alive. They were still useful.
Before leaving, he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and glanced back at the edge of the forest.
Footsteps echoed like waves.
A large number of ANBU operatives flooded into the forest. They were the vanguard of the ANBU directly under the Hokage, acting on orders from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"What happened here?" a captain of the ANBU demanded in a stern voice as he approached the immobilized Root members standing at the edge of the forest.
They did not respond.
The ANBU captain furrowed his brow, sensing something strange about these Root members. But he chose to lead his team further in.
Just as the ANBU fully entered the forest, the Root members moved. As one, they drew their ninja blades, eyes flashing with red light. Branded by the Hachisen Yari seal, they became like puppets, slashing at the nearest ANBU operatives.
"Ah!!!"
In an instant, half of the ANBU were struck, their screams filling the air.
"Retreat from the forest!!" the ANBU captain roared, his eyes wide as he looked at the wound in his abdomen where a ninja blade had pierced through, blood flowing freely. He kicked a nearby Root member away and shouted in fury.
"Captain, these Root members are all being controlled!"
"Then kill these beasts!!"
The Root members paid no mind to the curses of the ANBU as they crazily lunged at the reinforcements.
The ANBU, unable to tolerate this situation, unsheathed their blades in retaliation. Though the reason behind it was unclear, they chose to subdue the crazed Root members first.
A fierce battle broke out between the ANBU and the Root.
Boom—
The sound of explosive tags going off, the clash of ninja blades, and the throwing of kunai resonated like musical notes, marking the final movements of this assassination's conclusion.
At the entrance to the Uchiha compound:
Little Sasuke, carrying his school bag, anxiously weaved through the streets. Every time he heard an explosion, he would stop and look around in confusion before continuing on his way.
He seemed to be trapped in the midst of a war.
Completely lost and overwhelmed.
Until—he saw a figure rushing toward him, one he knew better than anyone. His unsettled heart finally found solace.
"Mom!"
Sasuke's face lit up with joy as he stepped into the middle of the street, wanting to open his arms and run toward his mother.
In the darkness, he seemed to see a beam of light.
Mikoto, running at full speed, spotted little Sasuke. She froze for a moment, her confused eyes suddenly melting like ice into a gaze filled with endless tenderness.
But she couldn't speak.
She couldn't even control her own body.
"Mom... What's wrong with you?" Sasuke sensed that something was off.
Boom—
Mikoto, still running forward, slammed into little Sasuke. The force of the impact knocked Sasuke to the ground, sending him crashing into a wall. He was left dizzy, disoriented, his mind going blank.
"Mom…" Sasuke mumbled as he lay on the ground, closing his eyes and passing out.
Tears welled in Mikoto's eyes, but her beautiful, graceful face showed no expression.
She just kept running, running toward the forest outside the village. The heart that had once died inside her was quietly reignited by Sasuke's single call of "Mom."
...
On a mountaintop.
"Big brother, when are we leaving…?" Uchiha Tamao asked weakly.
The other Uchiha had done some basic first aid, stopping the bleeding and stabilizing his condition, but without a medical ninja, there was still a risk of infection.
Kuroki was just about to respond when text appeared in his mind:
[Side Mission]: Rescue
[Conditions]:
1. Conduct a rescue mission in the Uchiha compound.
[Mission Complete!]
[Reward]:
100 cubic meters of storage space.
Kuroki was a bit surprised. At that moment, behind the mountain, Mikoto's figure appeared, running toward them.
Uchiha Naruki and Uchiha Izumi instinctively drew their blades in caution, but Kuroki gestured for them to remain calm.
The crowd recognized the newcomer and immediately gasped:
"The clan leader's wife?"
"The Lady!!"
None of them had expected Uchiha Mikoto to survive the massacre of their clan.
But as they saw Mikoto remain silent and then glanced over at Kuroki, they noticed he didn't seem surprised. Shocked, they began to wonder if this was all part of Kuroki's plan.
"Everyone's here. Let's go," Kuroki said calmly.
"Are we now rogue ninjas?" Uchiha Izumi asked with a face full of sorrow. She looked back toward the Uchiha clan grounds, which had turned into a devastated battlefield, flames and thick smoke rising into the sky.
Other than the few of them, it seemed no other Uchiha had survived.
The other Uchiha also wore expressions of sadness, occasionally casting strange glances at Mikoto.
At that moment, Mikoto's mind was blank. She had no idea why she was here, nor how these few Uchiha managed to survive.
Suddenly, the sound of sobbing broke the silence.
Kuroki looked up and saw Uchiha Naruki and a few others crying uncontrollably. Their civilian family members had been left behind in the clan grounds, forever gone.
After their initial rage and need for revenge had been vented, sorrow crashed over them like a wave. Eight Uchiha plunged their ninja swords into the ground and bowed deeply, at a 90-degree angle, toward their homeland.
"Hahaha, what a relief!" Tamao said with a chuckle. "Finally, we can leave this godforsaken place!"
One of the Uchiha who had just been crying so hard sniffled, startled by Tamao's comment.
For a moment, the remaining Uchiha didn't know what to think of this oddball's behavior.
"…"
While the others processed their grief, Kuroki focused on the reward he had earned for completing his mission.
He accessed the 100-cubic-meter space located deep within his mind. By concentrating, he could enter this space.
It was a bright space, about 24 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 9 feet high.
Kuroki thought he could easily turn it into a one-bedroom apartment if he organized it a bit. He just wasn't sure if it could store living beings.
With that in mind, Kuroki stuffed all his scrolls into the space and realized that he could arrange them however he liked—very convenient.
He glanced up at the enormous full moon hanging in the night sky.
Kuroki looked down at Konoha Village.
The Hokage Monument was on the opposite side of the mountain. Below, the streets were a maze of activity, the most bustling districts still brightly lit, full of life and energy, representing the vitality of Konoha.
In contrast, the Uchiha clan grounds, which had turned into a battlefield, felt like a different world, starkly divided.
The battle in the forest was nearing its end as well.
This land, without the Uchiha, seemed just fine.
Kuroki noticed that the Uchiha around him were gradually regaining their composure. As he had anticipated, their Sharingan abilities had significantly improved—several who previously had two tomoe now had three.
"Goodbye, Konoha," Kuroki said as he turned to leave.
Uchiha Izumi watched Kuroki's back. It felt like she was back to the day she graduated, on her first mission.
That day, she stood at the village gate, gazing in a daze at the back of this kind and gentle young man as he led the team out of the village. There was something about him that attracted her.
Instinctively, Izumi took small steps and followed.
Just like that day.
It seemed that as long as this compassionate captain was with them, no matter how far from the village they went, they would complete the mission.
The other Uchiha followed as well, though Mikoto was still under Kuroki's control.
The bright moon hung in the sky.
At the edge of Konoha, Kuroki effortlessly broke through the village's barrier.
Stepping beyond the barrier.
Leaving Konoha.
At that moment, a heavy burden weighed on the shoulders of the nine Uchiha.
They had a feeling that as long as they survived, the next time they returned, they would flatten Konoha.
Beneath the moonlight.
Only Tamao, being carried by someone else, and the eleven Uchiha became dark shadows, fleeing under Kuroki's lead.
Kuroki guided them northwest.
If they left the Land of Fire in that direction, they would reach the most chaotic region of the ninja world, where countries like the Land of Rain, the Land of Birds, and the Land of Grass—along with other small nations—formed a war-torn buffer zone.
This journey was destined to be incredibly perilous.
Kuroki calculated the time. Before dawn, Konoha would send teams of ninjas to hunt them down.
Before daybreak, they had to run as far as possible.
Kuroki had already planned an escape route long ago to ensure survival, and it had only taken him a week to put everything in place.
At the end of this road, there would be people waiting to meet them.
(End of chapter)