"Uchiha Itachi wiped out his clan."
"The only survivor is his younger brother, Sasuke."
"We also ran into that masked man. He probably came to stop Itachi, but he failed and disappeared."
After hearing this, the dark look on Danzo's face finally eased a little.
At least this part went the way he planned. Though it was a pity to lose Shisui's eye.
But Mangekyou Sharingan was rare and hard to get. Now he would just have to collect more of the regular ones to make up for it.
At first, he was worried the masked man might use Shisui's eye for something dangerous, but it seemed like there was no threat after all.
If the man was missing, it didn't matter whether Itachi killed him or if he escaped.
Danzo could still hear the arrogant words the masked man shouted.
A rare smile appeared on Danzo's face—a cold and twisted one. That man had gone through all the trouble of sneaking into Root to take back Shisui's eye and save the Uchiha clan.
But in the end, it was all for nothing. Useless.
"Let's go to the Uchiha district and collect the Sharingan."
The border was pretty far from here. If anyone moved around, they'd leave tracks.
To avoid leaving any signs behind, Hatake Satoru chose to teleport the few surviving Uchiha without hesitation.
His figure flashed again and again through the air like a glitch.
After moving everyone except Itachi's family, Hatake Satoru casually dusted off his clothes and walked over to Shisui.
Fugaku stood nearby with a dark expression, while Mikoto hugged Sasuke tightly, not wanting to let go.
"Sorry, Father, Mother."
"This is the best solution I could come up with."
"Sasuke must stay in the village—whether as an informant or as leverage to control me."
Itachi lowered his head, his face full of helplessness.
Even though Sasuke had just had his mind shaken by Itachi's genjutsu, parting with his parents so suddenly still made him reluctant to go.
"No need to apologize. Sasuke's grown up now. The fact that you've managed all this is already impressive."
Fugaku, who had been silently standing nearby, gave Itachi a pat on the shoulder.
"When you're strong enough, you'll be able to see your parents again. If you can't, well, just assume you're still too weak~"
When Hatake Satoru came to take Fugaku and Mikoto away, he playfully flicked Sasuke on the forehead with a grin.
Sasuke was already on the verge of tears, but that flick shocked him into holding them back.
He could cry—but he definitely didn't want that guy to see it!
"Just treat what I showed you in the genjutsu as real. When people ask, just talk about what happened in the genjutsu."
"If you can't answer something, then don't. Try to avoid giving too many details."
Itachi and Shisui carefully gave little Sasuke their advice. Both of them had been in the Anbu and had dealt with similar things before.
They told him everything he needed to watch out for and all the situations that might happen.
The moment Hatake Satoru returned, his figure flashed through the air, and with a swift chop, knocked Sasuke out cold.
Both Itachi and Shisui stared at Hatake Satoru with wide eyes.
Hatake Satoru waved at them with a look of innocence:
"Don't look at me like that. I just had to make it look like he really passed out~"
"I think you're just getting revenge. Haven't you always had a bit of a problem with Sasuke?"
Shisui, who had always admired how close Itachi was with his family, immediately called him out.
"How could I? I'm a responsible adult—"
Hatake Satoru winked at the two of them.
When Danzo dragged his wounded body and the Root operatives over to the Uchiha district, the scene in front of them left them stunned.
Thick black smoke billowed from the district, and a wave of scorching heat and flames blasted toward them, making it hard to even breathe.
Most buildings in the Hidden Leaf were made of wood. Once a fire started, everything just added fuel to it.
Danzo's face darkened. In a fire like this, forget about saving any Sharingan—even finding intact bodies would be lucky.
The Root members quickly used Water Release to try and put out the flames, but it was already too late.
All the corpses had turned into charred remains, their faces completely unrecognizable.
Some had even been burned down to white bones in the center of the blaze.
The exact number of deaths was impossible to count.
"Why didn't you stay here and stop the fire?!"
Danzo slammed his cane into the ground over and over, taking his rage out on those around him.
The Root operatives all lowered their heads and stayed silent.
Fire Release was a common ninjutsu among the Uchiha, and all the suspicion immediately turned toward Uchiha Itachi.
"Go after Itachi—he shouldn't be far! Stop him!"
Danzo was so furious he nearly ground his teeth to dust. Izanagi had cost them one Sharingan, and Shisui's eye had been taken by someone they still couldn't identify.
He had planned to make a big move in the Uchiha district, but it all went up in flames!
He'd taken losses before, but never this badly!
Itachi knelt on one knee before Hiruzen, red light casting shifting shadows across his face.
Hiruzen didn't look surprised to see him. He just let out a long, heavy sigh.
"First of all, I want to thank you. Thanks to you, we avoided a civil war and protected the village's peace."
"Still, I regret that we couldn't find another way."
"From now on, the Hidden Leaf will treat you as a missing-nin responsible for your clan's massacre. You'll be officially listed, and we'll be hunting you down—dead or alive."
Itachi wasn't wearing a mask, but his face remained as cold and calm as ever.
No complaints, no protest. He just answered like it was the only natural thing to do.
"Of course."
He killed his entire clan, all to protect his little brother.
Hiruzen didn't know what to say about the Itachi standing before him now. He had become a weapon—emotionless and sharp.
As long as that blade was pointed outward, he would be allowed to wear himself down.
"What do you plan to do next?"
"I contacted someone from an organization called Akatsuki. I'll stick with him to make sure he keeps his word."
Now that Itachi was a rogue ninja, as long as he didn't pose a threat to the village, Hiruzen had no right to interfere further.
Itachi's face slipped into the shadows as he quietly left the Hokage building.
Itachi appeared on a tree branch nearby. Behind him, two masked figures quickly emerged.
Root operatives.
Of course. Even now, they were still coming after him.
But before Itachi could make a move, the two masked men suddenly flew into the air and slammed into each other.
With a *whoosh*, a kunai shot out from the side, piercing both of them and pinning them to a tree trunk.
It happened so fast, so cleanly, that neither of them even had time to scream. They just let out a grunt before falling silent forever.
Itachi followed the path of the kunai with his eyes and looked toward the woods.
Under the moonlight, Hatake Satoru peeked out from behind a tree, grinning and flashing a peace sign.
Shisui, crouched on a branch nearby, gave Itachi a small wave, looking a bit helpless.
"All done—let's go~"
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