The golden morning sun spilled across the streets, casting slanted shadows over the old, crimson rooftops.
Alleys.
Intersections.
Konoha shinobi and the Uchiha stood at opposite ends of the street.
Beneath the fox mask, Kushina looked around. When her eyes fell on the familiar uniforms of Konoha shinobi, her expression gradually froze.
Beside her, Rin clenched her hands tightly in nervousness.
Those were once their trusted companions.
On the way here, the two had listened as Mikoto patiently recounted the details of the Uchiha massacre night, learning the truth of Konoha's current state.
When Kushina found out it was Konoha's leadership who pressured Mikoto's eldest son, Itachi, into slaughtering his entire clan, she felt as though struck by lightning.
Rin, too, sank into endless thought.
It was perhaps the most tragic calamity in the world—and the culprit behind it was none other than the Konoha they had once trusted the most.
Kushina's expression grew complicated.
Her gaze fell upon Uchiha Yu's back.
When she learned it was this man who had saved Mikoto and the surviving Uchiha, her feelings toward him grew conflicted. He was the one who had manipulated her, and the one who sought to destroy Konoha, yet he had also saved them.
Kushina could well imagine the injustices this Uchiha squad had recently endured.
From her present perspective, she no longer had the right to stop the Uchiha from exacting revenge on Konoha.
"So this is Konoha? These are Konoha's shinobi?" Suigetsu murmured curiously at the rear of the group, glancing around.
To him, Konoha certainly looked prosperous. As for its shinobi…
Judging from the corpses of the Suna puppet users strewn across the streets, they did seem stronger than those of Kirigakure.
Tamao had originally wanted Suigetsu to stay with Tsunade and Orochimaru, but Suigetsu insisted on following the team.
"Kid, just stick close behind us. That's your only task."
Tamao pulled a kunai from his pouch and tossed it to Suigetsu, giving him at least some means of defense.
"Don't worry, big bro Tamao—they won't lay a finger on me!" Suigetsu nodded back, though he still caught the kunai.
At this moment, within the Uchiha squad, Tamao, Minami, and Izumi all burned with fury at the sight of Konoha shinobi, their faces twisted with anger.
These hypocrites, preaching about noble ideals and the so-called Will of Fire—these were the ones who wanted them dead!
Now that they had returned from hell itself, if they still lived, then of course, they would invite these murderers to come and witness hell firsthand.
Uchiha Yu ignored the Konoha shinobi before him, leading the squad forward.
To him, it was as if nothing at all stood in his path.
On the opposite side of the street, about six hundred meters away, the Konoha Anbu held their breath, staring intently ahead.
Uchiha Yu's expression was calm as he strode forward. Though unarmed, and even separated from the main Uchiha squad, he still exuded a suffocating pressure that weighed heavily on all of them.
"It really is the Uchiha."
"They've actually returned…"
The Konoha Anbu instinctively took steps back. Not even the fight against Suna's puppet corps had made their hearts pound like this.
They were shinobi—trained in mind and body—but in the face of Uchiha Yu, they still felt a deep chill, as though they were nothing more than rookie genin again.
"Damn it…"
Blood trickled from Baki's lips as he lay slumped against a wall. His leg had been pierced by a kunai, leaving him unable to stand. All he could do was watch as the Uchiha drew closer.
Seizing on the Anbu's hesitation, he mustered what strength remained and crawled desperately toward the alley's exit.
Yūgao Uzuki and Hayate Gekkō exchanged glances, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Cough… cough…"
Cold sweat beaded Hayate's forehead as his coughing worsened. He gripped the hilt of his blade tightly. When the fit passed, he said in a low voice:
"Long time no see, Minami."
Uchiha Minami adjusted his square-framed glasses and tightened his hold on the Lightning Fang sword.
"Long time no see, Hayate."
Tamao scoffed.
They were about to fight for their lives, and yet these two still had time for small talk. He truly couldn't stand it.
Silence fell over both sides.
Hayate and Minami were close in age. Back in the academy, during the Chūnin Exams, and even in their work afterward, they had crossed paths often.
Minami was a straightforward type. Back in the academy, he had been known for always lending a hand to classmates and teammates whenever he could.
As for Hayate, he had been frail and sickly since childhood, once even receiving help from Minami himself.
"How ironic," Yūgao Uzuki murmured with a sigh.
"Yes, Uchiha Yu graduated early, and Minami is a year older than me, a reliable senior. Back then, he really looked after me, though in the academy his swordsmanship wasn't as good as mine. I never thought we'd end up crossing swords on the battlefield to decide life and death."
Gekkō Hayate let out a bitter smile.
"Even if we were classmates, now we're enemies!" Uzuki Yugao swung her ninjatō as she spoke, cold light flashing, the blade weaving like a flower.
After sighing, her gaze from beneath the red-patterned mask shifted toward Uchiha Izumi. Her voice sank:
"I know that girl too. When she first graduated, I led her team for a while. She was kind, gifted, but… lacking in strength."
"Stop them!"
Hayate shook his head, giving the command.
He had no time for chatter.
Uchiha Yu was already closing in.
The mission of Konoha's Anbu was to stop any intruder in this area—at any cost.
No sooner had Hayate's words fallen…
From both sides of the street, four concealed Anbu silently leapt down the moment Uchiha Yu entered their killing range.
Four ninjatō gleamed with deadly cold light, all striking down at once, fast as the wind.
Uchiha Yu seemed unaware of the danger above, expression unchanged, continuing forward unfazed.
"Uchiha Yu… looks like he's nothing special!" one Anbu sneered as he fell, contempt in his tone.
If Yu were truly strong, he should have reacted the instant they leapt from the rooftops.
Now, with barely three meters left between them, each Anbu was confident their blades would slice Yu into four pieces.
Three meters.
Two meters.
One meter—
"Stop… cough, cough, cough…"
Suddenly, a weak voice brushed past the Anbu's ears.
"You've got to be kidding. Stop now?"
The same sneering Anbu raised his blade high, pouring all his strength into the strike—
But then, searing pain exploded in his skull. A strange mental force vanished in an instant.
Warm blood trickled down his forehead. His vision went black as he fell into endless sleep.
In the center of the street, Uchiha Yu kept walking calmly forward, as if nothing had happened.
The four Anbu, however, had turned their blades on each other. Their swords cleaved down almost simultaneously—into their comrades' skulls.
And in their midst, there had never been a trace of Uchiha Yu at all.
In Hayate's horrified eyes, it looked as though they'd fallen into a nightmare: leaping down only to slaughter one another in eerie silence.
"When… did we… fall into a… genjutsu…"
The last Anbu still clinging to life muttered in disbelief through blood-soaked vision before collapsing lifeless.
Thud—
Four corpses hit the ground.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
Hayate's eyes went wide, glaring at the slowly approaching Uchiha Yu.
Jaw clenched, sweat pouring down, his grip on his blade trembled.
He'd known since the academy days that Yu was strong, but in just a few short years… had he grown this terrifyingly powerful?
Neither the nearby Konoha shinobi, nor the Uchiha clansmen, nor Kushina, nor Rin noticed when Yu had cast the genjutsu on the hidden Anbu.
"This…"
Only Nonō, with her Byakugan, trembled violently. She bit her lip, gaze lowering to the weeds by the roadside, her face pale.
She had seen the lurking Anbu from the start.
But before she could even warn Yu—
She'd watched him channel chakra into the earth, blending water and earth release, then funnel it into the weeds near the Anbu.
Through those plants, his chakra seeped in and triggered the genjutsu.
If she herself had faced Yu… without her Byakugan, she would've died without even knowing how.
No— even with the Byakugan, the result would've been the same.
Now, with each step Yu took forward, the Anbu instinctively retreated several more.
Ever since drinking the green potion, Yu could sense everything within a five-hundred-meter radius through plants.
Meanwhile, Baki—the first to crawl away—was nearly at the street's exit.
The tension held for a moment.
"Don't look into their eyes!"
Gekkō let out a low growl and was the first to move, flashing forward toward the Uchiha.
He knew full well he would die today, but before that, he wanted to wear down the enemy's chakra and stamina for the Konoha forces behind him.
Uzuki Yugao and the other ANBU leapt into action, rushing at Uchiha Yu.
But unease weighed heavily on their hearts. Their fighting spirit was shrouded in gloom. Charging an enemy whose genjutsu methods they didn't even understand was terrifying.
Before the remaining twenty-plus Konoha shinobi could think further, the Uchiha standing behind Uchiha Yu stepped forward to meet them without fear.
Nine Uchiha, their pupils blooming into three-tomoe Sharingan, blocked the Konoha ninja's path.
°°°
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