"Reiyaku… no instructions, just a plain name. This reward's tied to healing, likely a medicinal salve," Tsukikage mused, focusing as he moved to the team's rear, curiosity growing about the item.
The Scroll of Shadows was ever cryptic.
As always, tasks issued casually, rewards abstract.
Tsukikage glanced at the "task list," focusing on the "Mainline Mission."
Whether main or side tasks, once issued, they'd be stored as text in his mind.
[Mainline Mission]: Night of the Clan Massacre
[Options]:
1. Kill all other Uchiha.
2. Successfully escape Konoha.
[Rewards]: (Plunder) Seize another's Sharingan, absorbing its power and gaining its Mangekyō abilities.
They'd fled Konoha, but the mission remained incomplete. Tsukikage guessed the system deemed their escape unfinished.
To complete it, the Uchiha rogue squad might need absolute safety—or to eliminate all pursuers and leave the Land of Fire.
"Captain… Tamao's wounds are bleeding heavily again…" a young Uchiha panted, sweat on his brow, glancing back.
Tamao lay on his back, head, chest, and limbs wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, a blood-stained burial shroud, like a blood-soaked mummy. Unconscious, eyes closed, his breathing visibly faint.
The Uchiha halted, anxiously eyeing Tamao, recalling Danzō's oppressive Wind Release, hearts racing. Tamao's body, save his back, was scarred ruin, carved by a thousand blades.
Izumi's expressive eyes shimmered with worry for her clansman, regretting her lack of medical ninjutsu training in Konoha.
The team knew no help awaited. No medical ninja would cross their path.
Tamao would likely die en route.
Tsukikage frowned, focusing, and reached into the void.
His teammates stared, baffled.
Moments later, they gaped as two items appeared in his hand, as if conjured by arcane space-time ninjutsu.
"Tsukikage's no ordinary shinobi," Minamikaze thought, adjusting his glasses.
Even Mikoto Uchiha, still under Yachihoko's control, showed surprise.
Tsukikage produced a small black porcelain vial and a yellow-papered soldier pill from his storage scroll, feeding one of each to Tamao.
The vial held a chakra-activating healing salve.
He handed both to the Uchiha carrying Tamao, instructing, "Feed him one of each every hour."
The youth took the vial, and the team sighed in relief, though worry lingered.
Tsukikage aimed to flood Tamao's body with chakra, a crude life-prolonging method.
Common in the Ninja Wars, soldier pills boosted chakra in dying soldiers, extending life briefly without medical aid.
It came at a cost.
At most, a week.
Without medical ninjutsu, the overstimulated chakra network would collapse, killing the patient.
"He won't die yet. Keep moving—pursuers are closing in. Run faster if you want to live!"
Tsukikage said calmly, returning to lead the exodus.
He'd done all he could; Tamao's survival was fate's decree.
"Rest. I'll carry him," Minamikaze said, taking the vials and hoisting Tamao from the exhausted youth.
The youth's back was bloodied. "Thank you, Captain Minamikaze," he said, relieved.
Minamikaze advised, "Change your clothes and store them. Blood leaves tracks."
The Uchiha youth nodded, grateful. As Tamao's subordinate, he'd feared Tsukikage would abandon their leader. Tsukikage hadn't.
Minamikaze, despite past friction with Tamao, set aside grudges.
Unbeknownst, as they fled to an uncertain destination, a subtle unity grew within the team.
---
Uchiha Clan Grounds, Outskirts.
Crows circled the night sky, their hoarse cries adding an eerie chill to the ominous land.
Sarutobi, Koharu, and Homura marched toward the Uchiha district, faces dark, pondering the night's fallout.
ANBU secured street exits.
"Hiruzen-sama, the Uchiha's extermination could be blamed on the rogue Uchiha squad," Koharu murmured.
Her yellowed eyes held no emotion, convinced this was the path forward.
Homura's eyes gleamed, finding the plan sound.
Hiruzen felt a familiar sensation, the tactic strikingly familiar, but he only gazed at Koharu, silent.
Koharu pressed on, "The rogue Uchiha wiped out their clan. Itachi tried to stop them but failed. He's now a Konoha hero. With Danzō gone, we need him, Hiruzen."
Hiruzen challenged, "If Itachi refuses this 'hero' role, we use Sasuke to tether him?"
Koharu smiled thinly, nodding.
Hiruzen flung his sleeve. "Itachi's nature won't bend to this, not even for Sasuke."
Koharu's lips curved. Leaning close, she whispered to Hiruzen in Homura's presence.
Hiruzen's brow furrowed, sinking into thought, his resolve wavering amid tough choices.
---
As dawn broke, a six-man elite Root team slipped from Konoha's Root Headquarters.
Danzō's loyalists, learning of his death by the rogue Uchiha, formed a vengeance squad, led by Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune.
---
Uchiha Clan Grounds.
Civilian corpses littered the streets, blood pooling in dips. Crows perched on walls, red eyes watching, waiting.
Itachi approached slowly.
Flap— Crows scattered, black feathers falling.
Itachi stopped, spotting his target.
Sasuke sat against a wooden wall, head bowed. Itachi activated his Mangekyō. "My foolish…"
Sasuke didn't stir, eyes closed.
"Hm?" Itachi frowned, rubbing his eyes as vision blurred, misty.
Clarity returned.
Sasuke was unconscious.
(End of Chapter)