"Enough talking," Obito's voice cuts through the night.
"Itachi!"
A familiar voice echoes. Hearing Itachi's name, Izumi gasps in hope—but the sight before her turns her blood to ice. She stares, wide‑eyed, covering her mouth, utterly shocked and unable to believe what she sees.
"It can't be… impossible… this isn't real!"
Itachi stands drenched in blood, his blade stained crimson. He stands before the gate of the Uchiha refuge—precisely the place Izumi had sworn to defend. The gate hangs half‑open, moonlight glimmers on the dark red puddles inside.
Her heart plunges into a cold hell.
"Done?" Obito asks.
"It's finished," Itachi confirms.
A chill wind rustles the trees, like mournful spirits whispering.
> "There were babies in there!"
"They were your clan!"
"How could you—how could you kill them?"
Izumi tries to scream but only chokes. The stench of blood overwhelms her senses, her body goes slack. She gasps for air, tears and snot mix down her cheeks.
The person she hoped in has become the annihilator of their clan.
Itachi passes by without a glance, as if she's a stranger. When they cross paths, something inside Izumi shatters completely.
"Why… why did you do this?"
"It's for my eyes," Itachi replies coolly, gesturing to his Mangekyō Sharingan.
"To test my limits. Only by killing those dearest can I awaken it."
He speaks as though discussing the weather.
"Just for that? You killed your own people… even the children…"
"Yeah," Itachi affirms.
Izumi's eyes dim.
Suddenly, Obito applauds sharply.
"Well done, Itachi," he purrs.
"Kill her too. If you won't, I can finish it."
"I'll do it," Itachi says without emotion.
He draws his sword and briefly steels himself before plunging it into Izumi's heart. Blood sears across the ground. Izumi gasps no more—her gaze vacant, as life leaves her.
Just as Itachi moves to close her eyes, a commanding voice cuts across the carnage.
"Itachi!"
Fugaku arrives with the remaining Uchiha elite, horrified by the scene before them—Itachi, Obito, and the field littered with Uchiha corpses.
"You've sided with outsiders. You betrayed us," Fugaku's voice trembles with grief and rage.
"I was once one of you," Itachi replies evenly.
"What about your lover? Your family? Now this? How many more will you kill just for pleasure?" Obito quips, a grim smile under his mask.
"How much more will this night bring me?"
Fugaku and the elite surge forward, driven by fury. But Izumi, lying lifeless, twitches—her blood slowly fading.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire!"
Fugaku unleashes a massive dragon of flames toward Itachi and Obito. Other elite mirror his resolve, unleashing flames of their own.
The heat is intense, even from yards away.
"It's useless," Obito scoffs.
He kills one of the elite effortlessly, tearing them apart bare-handed.
Itachi and Fugaku face each other—father and son, estranged.
"Itachi!" Fugaku's gaze is distant, unrecognizable.
"I'm sorry, father. You've been disappointed."
Fugaku's voice is bitter: "So you chose Konoha over your own clan."
He'd delayed telling Itachi about the evacuation plan, worried a leak could doom them all. Now, when evacuation began, Itachi had already conspired with outsiders—raiding their own people.
"Where is Sasuke?" Fugaku demands.
"He's safe in Konoha," Itachi replies.
Fugaku's sardonic laugh echoes: "Of course you arranged that, didn't you?"
He seethes:
> "Konoha's people are people, but are the Uchiha not?
Are their lives worthless? Are only Konoha's sacrifices counted?
He points at Itachi:
> "Your hands are stained with the blood of our kin."
"It's true," Itachi confesses.
"But I have no regret."
"Stubborn… fool." Fugaku exhales, voice laden with sorrow. He speaks coldly, addressing the survivors:
> "By my right as clan leader, I strip Itachi of his Uchiha name and lineage."
"From this day—he is no longer Uchiha."
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