Boom—
Under a cloudless sky, thunder suddenly rumbled, a dull, drumming vibration that made the very ground beneath their feet tremble.
The dazzling light emanating from Susanoo, under the pure night sky, was like a firefly, shining with extreme brilliance.
Kakashi Hatake gazed at the distant light, a heavy expression in his eyes.
"It has begun."
Standing around him, guarding this defensive line leading to the Hokage's Office Building, were his familiar Anbu teammates.
Among them, of course, was Itachi Uchiha.
As early as that afternoon, they had received a warning, reportedly from Shisui Uchiha—the Uchiha Clan was planning a surprise attack late that night.
Itachi Uchiha was the last among them to be called to the scene.
Perhaps remembering the Third Hokage's words to him before he left, Kakashi Hatake's gaze towards Itachi Uchiha carried a hint of worry.
Looking at the young man's steady demeanor, Kakashi Hatake waited for a while, but ultimately couldn't resist, whispering a reminder:
"Itachi."
However, the young man merely stood there blankly, muttering something stiffly, like a walking corpse.
"It hit again."
"What?"
Kakashi was startled by the words and instinctively asked.
Then, Itachi Uchiha's gaze shifted forward, looking at the forest before him:
"So next is..."
Before he could finish speaking, Kakashi Hatake had already sensed movement and abruptly looked up ahead.
"Alert!"
No sooner had his warning left his lips than several figures, like arrows shot from a bow, darted towards their direction.
Crimson Sharingan light spread wantonly under the moonlight, accompanied by sounds of deadly air-splitting.
Kakashi Hatake no longer paid attention to Itachi Uchiha's mood, raising his forehead protector that covered his left eye, revealing that eternally open crimson pupil, and loudly warned:
"Everyone, follow my lead! Don't look into their eyes!"
"Yes!"
The nature of Anbu dictated their actions; some of those present might not have been very strong, but their obedience to orders was absolute.
Almost at a single command, the group led by Kakashi unhesitatingly engaged the vanguard of the Uchiha rebels.
Facing these combinations of Sharingan, even Kakashi at the very front felt immense pressure.
With only one Sharingan, Kakashi was fighting against multiple skilled Bloodline users continuously casting jutsus. Forcibly operating his ocular power to resist, Kakashi felt a piercing headache, as if needles were pricking his brain.
Itachi Uchiha still stood in place.
His lips were tightly pressed under his mask.
First, they split into two pincer attacks, one heading towards the Anbu base, the other directly to the Hokage's Office Building, with both sides agreeing to rendezvous in front of the Hokage's Office Building.
On Konoha's side, however, heavy defensive lines had already been set up along these two routes in Shisui's name.
This group of fools in front of them would soon be easily killed, followed by the next wave.
The phrases about the future kept repeating in his mind.
Close by him was another scene.
Shouts, wails.
Roars like beasts.
The sparks that erupted when metal clashed shone exceptionally bright in the night;
The dull thud of blades entering flesh was clear in his ears;
The metallic, rusty smell, almost tangible, seemed to choke one's throat;
Splashes of flying blood brought a light touch as they splattered on his clothes... Everything was so clear, yet at this moment, Itachi Uchiha inexplicably felt that it was all so illusory.
It was an indescribable, strong sense of powerlessness, from the inside out.
What am I doing now?
Itachi Uchiha couldn't help but ask himself.
"Dodge—!"
As he stood there in a daze, a familiar shout suddenly burst in his ear.
Following that was a piercing shriek, like a thousand Chidori gathering.
Dense Lightning Release, when the blade was only three inches from his neck, pierced through with an extremely violent posture.
The Uchiha Ninja who had silently approached him, about to succeed, had his chest easily torn open by this Lightning Release attack.
Warm blood splattered on his face, causing Itachi Uchiha to tremble all over.
Kakashi Hatake stared at him with his single eye, his normally lazy and nonchalant senior, Kakashi, now spoke with unprecedented seriousness:
"The enemy is upon us, what are you doing?"
"Draw your sword!"
Just like countless missions before.
Almost instinctively, Itachi Uchiha obeyed his command.
However, after only completing this action, as familiar battle senses returned to his body, he couldn't help but freeze.
His previously heavy and inescapable thoughts seemed to suddenly connect at this moment.
That's right.
It turned out he no longer needed to think.
Whether it was the Village, the Clan, or the deeply hidden Aizen.
What meaning did they still hold for him?
The Uchiha coup was an established fact.
They were now enemies.
Currently, only he and Kakashi could directly confront the Sharingan.
Every one of Aizen's prophecies had become reality, so the path of Uchiha and Konoha merging would inevitably become the future.
He no longer had to choose.
Itachi Uchiha thought this.
The moment a person gives up thinking, the subconscious, formed by education, experience, and personality, becomes their second brain.
For him now, the only reason to continue fighting was the one deeply etched in his will.
Everything for Konoha.
The moment he suddenly realized this, Itachi Uchiha felt as if a heavy shackles had been cast off, and a strong sense of relief suddenly arose in his heart.
Looking again at the corpses on the ground, the blood on his body, and the Uchiha clansmen rushing towards them, Itachi Uchiha's eyes seemed to tear away a thick filter.
Casting aside everything, he became the sharpest blade.
"Yes."
Hearing this crisp reply, Kakashi was momentarily stunned and turned to look at him.
In Itachi Uchiha's eye sockets, those dark pupils, under strong and natural emotion, naturally transformed into three black tomoe adorning the crimson center.
Even he, who also possessed a three-tomoe Sharingan, felt an indescribable, strong sense of pressure from this young man.
What exactly is this...?
Kakashi Hatake's expression showed a hint of bewilderment.
The next moment.
Itachi Uchiha took a step forward.
"Bang!"
In an instant, the young man's small figure suddenly transformed into a stream of light shooting across the ground, the silver-white blade reflecting the moonlight, suddenly bursting forth with an incredible brilliance.
'So fast.'
Even with his Sharingan activated, Kakashi's vision blurred for a moment, almost losing sight of Itachi.
This extreme speed, achieved with full effort, naturally appeared even more incredible in the eyes of the opposing Uchiha clansmen.
The speed he displayed, as if burning himself, extracting Chakra without reservation and unleashing it all, made Itachi Uchiha plunge into the crowd ahead like a meteor.
His blade swung ferociously, yet his figure flickered precisely through the crowd like a graceful butterfly; the piercing sound of the wind always lagged half a beat behind his movements.
In the blink of an eye, severed limbs and broken arms, accompanied by large patches of blood, fluttered around like falling petals.
Not only Kakashi Hatake.
Even the Anbu members, who should have steadfastly followed orders not to look up and make eye contact with the Sharingan, were all stunned after noticing Itachi Uchiha's actions.
None of them had expected that, in a life-threatening burst, this young man could achieve such a feat.
Finally, Kakashi Hatake was the first to react, barely maintaining the Chidori in his hand, and using the extreme speed provided by the Lightning Release stimulation, he was the first to follow behind him.
The entire Anbu squad, with Itachi Uchiha as the spearhead, cleanly cut through the crowd before them, splitting them in two.
"Pfft—"
From the vanguard to the very end, Itachi Uchiha's figure only just stopped when there was no one left to block him.
At this moment, his entire body was enveloped in a wave of heat, like steam, rising in rolling plumes, and his chest heaved with deep, continuous breaths.
Looking back from the end of the squad.
The path beneath their feet had already become a blood-soaked road, paved with the lives of a dozen people.
As the spearhead, Itachi Uchiha was drenched in blood as if he had been immersed in a blood pool, and his entire being exuded a pungent smell.
However, his expression no longer held the initial confusion, only a chilling, restrained calmness.
If one had to compare.
It was as if he had suddenly become a Ninja from Root.
However, Itachi Uchiha seemed to have no intention of stopping.
He turned his head, looking with an extremely restrained indifference towards the nearby forest, and calmly said:
"Please come out."
Since what that guy said before was all true.
Then, this scene now could not be avoided either.
Kakashi Hatake and the others followed his gaze.
Then, a tall figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the forest, looking calmly at the young man blocking his path.
Upon seeing the man's face, everyone present except Itachi Uchiha had their pupils contract.
He quietly looked at the young man before him, and the man's tone seemed to have no fluctuation, stating indifferently:
"Itachi."
"You've grown."
The person who arrived was none other than Uchiha Fugaku.