Uchiha Clan Grounds.
Smoke billowed, the air heavy with a sickly sweet tang. Gunpowder haze from explosive tags drifted, streets strewn with corpses, severed limbs, and entrails scattered.
Uchiha Police Force Dungeon, Rooftop.
Inabikari slumped against a wall, barely clinging to life. The clan grounds' anguished screams called to him—parents, siblings, clansmen.
"They're… beckoning me to join…" His pale, cracked lips trembled, blood dried on his face.
His mind fogged, but death wasn't yet his. Not until he heard of Uchiha Tsukikage's demise would he descend to hell willingly.
His lone three-tomoe Sharingan quivered, fixating on a ripple in space, eyes wide with shock and bewilderment.
Space twisted clockwise.
Uchiha Obito stepped forth, his Kamui Mangekyō gleaming through his mask's hole.
"Another… Mangekyō!!!" Inabikari's eyelids twitched.
Teetering on mental collapse, shock sharpened his focus.
Obito scanned the rooftop, a scene of carnage. He stepped over Inabikari, crouching to examine nearby Uchiha corpses, lifting and dropping them, sighing.
Circling the dungeon, he returned, brow furrowed. Nearly fifty core Police Force members' bodies—all stripped of their Sharingan.
Splatter—
Sticky footsteps echoed. Itachi ascended the stairs to the rooftop, stepping over countless clansmen's corpses.
Drenched in blood, each step left a crimson print, as if he'd crawled from a mound of dead, killing intent lingering.
Inabikari turned with effort, rage flaring at Itachi. Clenching fists, he rasped, "The clan's screams—are they from Tsukikage slaughtering civilians? He's the clan's traitor! Itachi… did you kill him?"
Itachi ignored him, silent.
Obito broke the quiet, his single Mangekyō glowing red, asking calmly, "These Police Force members—were they all killed by Uchiha Tsukikage? He took their Sharingan? One man wiped out the entire Force?"
Inabikari, pale, nodded despairingly as memories surged. "Yes. He killed my men first, spared me to lure more reinforcements, then butchered them."
"You're lying," Itachi said, skeptical. "Tsukikage's just an ordinary jōnin, a Police Force captain. He lacks the strength to do this alone."
Itachi and Obito had divided tasks: Itachi targeted civilians, Obito the Police Force's core—not because Itachi couldn't, but for efficiency.
The scene suggested Tsukikage's killing speed surpassed Obito's sweep.
Inabikari said helplessly, "It's the truth. Find him yourself I have no reason to lie."
Itachi's pupils narrowed, detecting no deception.
Obito, amused, chuckled. "No wonder the Force is left with a few old geezers barely worth a pair of three-tomoe! Disappointing! But intriguing. If Tsukikage collected the Sharingan for me, I'll take them. Itachi, handle this guy. Bring me his three-tomoe. I'm chasing those escaped rats!"
Obito activated Kamui, his body twisting into space, vanishing.
"My three-tomoe…" Inabikari muttered, sensing killing intent, his lone Sharingan glaring at Itachi.
Itachi, expressionless, sighed, approaching with katana drawn.
"What are you doing?!" Inabikari demanded, piecing together Tsukikage and Itachi's actions, realization dawning.
"'Inabikari, keep your three-tomoe open, see what happens to the Uchiha grounds!'" Tsukikage's words echoed in his mind.
Understanding flooded Inabikari.
But then—
Splatter—
Blood sprayed. "Sorry, I killed the clan," Itachi said, his katana piercing Inabikari's heart, blade protruding bloodied from his back.
Inabikari's face twisted, life fading. His three-tomoe glared with rage, regret, and defiance at the ungrateful serpent before him.
The one who massacred the Uchiha was Uchiha Itachi!
Inabikari realized Tsukikage, branded as a rogue, killed Police Force clansmen to grant them release. Had they died by Itachi's hand, trusted by the clan, they'd die with eyes wide open, like him.
The Police Force and dungeon were mere hundreds of meters apart. Before his staged imprisonment, Tsukikage arranged patrol schedules, keeping teams away. He eliminated dungeon ninja, lured reinforcements, killed them, and took their Sharingan.
When patrols arrived, he led them on a chase, escaping Konoha, sparing them the slaughter.
No wonder he said, "As long as I live, the Uchiha will endure with dignity."
He'd prepared the clan's spark.
Tsukikage's plan was an intricate mechanism—time, place, people, i was flawless.
He surpassed Inabikari, the weak clan leader, and the useless elders.
One day, he'd return with a reborn Uchiha…
Inabikari, emotions swirling, regretted misunderstanding Tsukikage. He deserved death.
He sighed. Tsukikage was ever gentle—sparing civilians, his blade swift and precise, unlike this serpent.
Thoughts faded. Inabikari died, eyes unclosed. Itachi plucked his three-tomoe, swift and precise.
Itachi left. Corpses didn't matter. His priority was the rogue Uchiha squad, or Konoha's leaders might not protect Sasuke.
---
Uchiha Clan Grounds Edge.
Screams persisted. The Root-ANBU skirmish ended, ANBU victorious but halved, Root eighty percent dead.
The remaining Root operatives writhed, clutching their wounds, groaning, and combat ineffective.
ANBU captains, shaken, withdrew temporarily, stunned by the enemy's tactics.
The second group wasn't the Third Hokage but ambitious jōnin.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Ninken barked anxiously, sensing lingering chakra.
Five figures appeared.
"Phew, what a bloodbath!" Asuma exhaled smoke, scanning the corpse-strewn forest, tossing his half-smoked cigarette, a chill down his spine.
Yet, an excitement stirred. With Root and ANBU devastated, capturing the culprit would earn immense merit, skyrocketing Asuma's worth.
In Konoha, challenging Sarutobi Hiruzen's decisions required prestige.
This are the wisdom of governance he learned guarding the daimyo.
The bigger the chaos, the greater the reward!
(End of Chapter)