[Read up to 69 Chapters in advance on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
.
.
.
.
Isolation Chamber, Uchiha Compound
As the sound of the lock clicking open echoed through the chamber, the gate swung outward, and Kanzou followed by Hazuki stepped inside.
Makoto, his arms and legs chained to the wall, his chakra completely sealed, slowly lifted his head. Guilt clouded his expression. "Kanzou-sama…" he murmured.
"I am disappointed," Kanzou said calmly sitting on the chair.
Makoto lowered his gaze.
"Is it because of your loyalty to Uchiha Douma that you chose to support Fugaku?" Kanzou asked.
Makoto's lips trembled, but no words came out. "…"
That silence, however, was answer enough.
"Humph… You must have thought I was leading the clan to its downfall, and that Fugaku was the better choice… Isn't that right?" Kanzou scoffed.
Makoto remained silent once again.
"Unlock his chakra. There's something I want him to see," Kanzou ordered Hazuki.
"Understood," Hazuki replied. She stepped toward Makoto, forming a quick sequence of hand seals before pressing her palm against his stomach.
In an instant, the seal loosened, and Makoto felt his chakra stirring freely again.
But even with his chakra restored, he didn't dare make a single move. He only stared at Kanzou, uncertain and afraid, of what the patriarch intended to show him.
"Look me in the eyes," Kanzou ordered.
Makoto obeyed, lifting his gaze. The moment their eyes met, his vision warped, everything around him dissolved, and he was swallowed into a world drenched in red.
In the next instant, he found himself standing on a street as scenes began to flicker before him one after another…
The scene of the Uchiha clan being ordered to relocate to the outskirts of the village.
The scene of the Uchiha Clan being monitored, shunned, and discriminated against.
The scene of the Uchiha Clan being exploited, cornered, pushed further and further into isolation.
And finally—
The scene of the Uchiha Clan being massacred.
"This… this… this…" Makoto's voice trembled as he staggered back.
Corpses—endless rows of them.
Men, women, children, the elderly, every street was piled with their bodies and stained with their blood.
And amidst that sea of death stood a lone figure, drenched in blood, expression cold and unfeeling as he swung a butcher's blade, cutting down anyone in front of him without hesitation.
Makoto's knees felt weak. His breath shook. The horror felt too real.
Looking more closely at the figure… Makoto's breath caught.
It was a boy, a very young boy, barely a teenager.
And yet… his face…
"F-Fugaku…?" he whispered, horrified.
Makoto leaned forward, trembling. The resemblance was unmistakable.
"Close enough, but not quite," Kanzou's voice echoed behind him as he appeared at Makoto's back. "Not Fugaku, his son."
"F-Fugaku's son? H-how is that possible…?" Makoto whispered in shock. He knew Fugaku had married a woman from the Sarutobi clan, but they didn't even have a child yet.
So the scenes before him… they had to be just a Genjutsu. A nightmare. An illusion from Kanzou's Sharingan.
Even though everything felt terrifyingly real… Makoto still clung to the belief that this had to be a Genjutsu.
Because in reality, none of this made any sense.
Reading the turmoil on Makoto's face, Kanzou snorted.
"What you're seeing isn't merely a Genjutsu. It's an alternate reality… another future had things gone differently," His voice was cold, absolute. "This is what would have happened to the Uchiha clan if Fugaku had become patriarch."
Kanzou stepped beside him, eyes narrowed.
"Fugaku's son, under the orders of the Hokage faction, would have butchered the entire clan. And Fugaku… wouldn't have even fought back." Kanzou's voice dripped contempt. "That is the kind of man you chose to support."
Makoto wanted to doubt Kanzou's words.
After all, how could anyone possibly know the future? It was absurd. Impossible.
But then… he remembered.
Kanzou possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
And with that thought, a possibility ran through him. Before he could stop himself, he asked in a trembling voice, "Th-this reality… did you see it because of your Mangekyō Sharingan…?"
After all, the Mangekyō Sharingan granted its users two extraordinary abilities.
So the idea that it could also glimpse into future events or alternate realities… didn't feel entirely impossible to Makoto.
Of course, the truth was entirely different; Kanzou knew this future because he had seen it unfold in canon, not through any ocular ability.
But he had no intention of explaining anything. He simply remained silent.
Even without an answer, Makoto accepted it. His mind filled in the explanation on its own: 'It must be the Mangekyō.'
A moment later, the Kanzou shattered the Genjutsu.
The two of them were back inside the dim isolation chamber. Kanzou looked down at the chained man and questioned him with a smirk, "Tell me, Makoto-san… are you feeling despair now? Knowing that the man you so foolishly chose to support and put your trust into would be the one to lead the Uchiha to extinction… how does knowing this feel?"
Makoto opened his mouth to speak… but no words came out.
How was he supposed to describe this feeling?
To learn that the man he believed would doom the clan was in fact the one saving it…
And the man he thought would save the clan was the one destined to lead it to annihilation…
There were no words for that kind of emotional collapse.
As for despair, he was already drowning in it from the moment he realized how foolish his choice was.
But one question still clawed at his mind.
"B-but… why would the Hokage faction… why would the Hokage give that kind of order…?" he managed to stutter. He needed to understand. Why would the Hokage order Fugaku's son to exterminate the clan?
Yes, the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha had always been strained, but never to the extent shown in the Genjutsu.
And if Fugaku had become Patriarch, Kanzou wouldn't have had the authority to do the things he himself had done.
So why would the clan be pushed to the brink, exploited, discriminated against, and ultimately annihilated?
None of it seemed to make sense to Makoto.
Kanzou snorted.
"Isn't it obvious?" he said coldly. "It's because they believe the Uchiha are too dangerous, too powerful, and completely beyond their control. They fear what we're capable of. And when they can't control something, especially something as strong as us, they choose the option that benefits them most."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Fugaku is a weak man. And if someone that weak becomes Patriarch of a clan as powerful and influential as the Uchiha, he'll only weaken the entire foundation. And when the clan becomes weak…" Kanzou smirked, "…that's the moment our enemies pounce without hesitation."
In truth, the reasons behind the Uchiha genocide were far more complex, involving countless factors… But what Kanzou said wasn't a lie either. It was one of the core reasons.
"I… I see…" Makoto murmured. And he did understand.
Compared to Kanzou, Fugaku truly was a weak man.
When his father died, he did nothing.
When his subordinates were cut down by Kanzou, he did nothing.
When Kanzou stole his fiancée, he did nothing.
When he was framed and exiled from the clan, he still did nothing.
At the end, he clung to Sarutobi Hiruzen for support.
If Hiruzen had genuinely intended to uplift him or restore the Uchihas' standing, perhaps things could have turned out differently.
But the Hiruzen was never that benevolent; he only wore the mask of benevolence; in reality, he is as bad as they come.
Therefore, under Fugaku's leadership, the Uchiha were destined for ruin. And now Makoto found himself doomed as well, simply because he had chosen to follow Fugaku.
Kanzou looked at his eyes with clear disappointment. 'No reaction, huh?'
He had hoped that showing Makoto a different kind of despair, one that didn't involve Nashiko or Mira, might shake him, spark something, anything. But it was pointless. Makoto had already surrendered in every way that mattered.
"I wonder what I should do with you…" He murmured.
Hearing that, Makoto lowered his head and voiced his request, "Please… allow me to commit seppuku…"
"Seppuku?" Kanzou raised an eyebrow, only for a look of disgust to twist across his face. In the next instant, he swung his leg and kicked Makoto squarely in the face, the impact shaking him violently against the chains.
"Do you think a traitor like you deserves that?" he snarled.
Seppuku was a death granted to preserve one's honor, to ensure that the stain of one's actions, failures, or disgrace did not fall upon the family.
But in Kanzou's eyes, someone like Makoto had no right to such an ending.
He was a traitor who bit the very hand that fed him… and worse, Kanzou had never mistreated him or denied him anything. Yet Makoto still chose betrayal.
How could he allow a traitor to preserve his honor?
Makoto couldn't even refute him. He simply lowered his head in defeat, leaving everything to Kanzou.
"T-then… please do whatever you wish with me… b-but my wife and daughter… please… I beg you… let them live in peace. Please spare them… they had nothing to do with what I did…"
"Speaking of those two…" Kanzou murmured before giving an instruction. "Hazuki, bring them here."
"Very well," Hazuki replied.
She stepped out of the cell and returned moments later with Nashiko and Mira walking behind her. Both had their hands chained. Mira's chakra was sealed, and as for Nashiko, being a civilian, there was no need. She couldn't mould chakra to begin with.
"Nashiko… Mira…!" Makoto called out the moment they entered the cell.
But neither Nashiko nor Mira responded. Both kept their eyes lowered, frozen in place, refusing to look at him.
Kanzou's gaze shifted to the little girl, barely seven or eight years old. "Mira… come here."
Trembling, Mira stepped forward and moved to stand beside him.
Kanzou looked down at her and asked, "Do you know what crime he has committed?"
"…Act of treason," Mira whispered, eyes still fixed on the ground.
Kanzou remained unmoved. "And what do you think is the proper punishment for a traitor?"
Her lips shook, but she forced the words out. "C-capital punishment…"
A faint smile touched Kanzou's lips. He pulled out a kunai and held it out to her. "Here. Take the blade… and deliver the punishment he deserves."
Both Makoto and Nashiko gasped at Kanzou's words.
"N-no… Kanzou-sama… p-please, not Mira…" Nashiko pleaded desperately. "Don't… don't make her do this…"
"I-I beg you… Please not my daughter…" Makoto also bowed in horror. He knew that if Mira killed him with her own hands, she would carry that guilt for the rest of her life.
But Kanzou ignored their pleas.
He pressed the kunai closer to the trembling girl. "Take this kunai… and put it through his heart." Then he leaned down, whispering into her ear, his voice cold enough to freeze blood. "If you refuse… I'll have no choice but to boil him alive. And when I do… I'll boil your mother along with him. The choice is yours… only killing your traitorous father… or being responsible for both your parents' deaths."
Mira's entire body shook. Tears welled in her eyes, but she reached out with trembling fingers and took the kunai.
"Good…" Kanzou murmured. "But there's one more thing I need you to do." He bent down and whispered a few more instructions, words that made the little girl quake even harder.
"Do you understand?" he asked.
Mira nodded, her head bobbing in fear.
"Well then…" Kanzou patted the girl's shoulder, "Go on."
Trembling violently, the little girl clutched the kunai in her small hand as she slowly approached her father. Kanzou watched the scene unfold with a dark smirk.
He had once wanted to do something similar with Mikoto and Tadayoshi-sama… but the old man had been far too clever and ruined the setup, though he still delivered the outcome Kanzou wanted. Kanzou had accepted that, but the desire to orchestrate a scene like this had lingered in the back of his mind.
And now, he finally had the opportunity.
'A little girl taking her own father's life, how beautifully twisted.'
As a sadist, Kanzou relished every second of it.
'Heh… I think I'm even getting a little hard,' he thought to himself, eyes fixed on the trembling child as she drew closer to her doomed father.
"Mira… y-you don't have to do this," Makoto pleaded, voice trembling. "Just give me the kunai… I-I'll take my own life. You don't need to…"
He didn't want his daughter to carry a memory that would scar her forever.
But Mira didn't hand over the blade; she couldn't. Kanzou's warning echoed in her mind.
Nashiko also tried to intervene, but with Hazuki restraining her, she was helpless.
"Otou-sama…" Mira whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks as she reached out with her free hand.
The moment her small palm touched his face, Makoto froze. In that touch, he remembered the day she was born… the times he played with her… her laughter… her tiny hands grabbing his fingers. Never, not even in his darkest nightmares, had he imagined that his daughter would one day be forced to raise a blade against him.
Regret flooded him. Regret so deep it crushed his chest.
And hatred.
A twisting, suffocating hatred for the man standing behind her. For forcing his precious little girl into this hell.
"Uchiha Kanzou… you monster!" Makoto roared, eyes burning.
Kanzou only smirked, unfazed, and gave the cold command: "Come on, girl… do it."
Hearing that command, Mira trembled violently… yet despite the fear, despite every instinct screaming at her to stop, she obeyed.
Her small hand, the one resting gently on his cheek only moments ago, slowly moved upward, toward his eyes.
"M-Mira…?" Makoto's voice cracked with confusion and dread.
Her fingers pressed against his eyelid.
Then pushed.
Makoto's breath hitched. A sharp, strangled gasp tore from his throat as pain exploded across his vision.
It took him a second, just a second, to understand what she was doing.
But by then, it was already too late.
Darkness swallowed his left eye.
Makoto let out a broken cry, horror twisting across his face.
Before he could even process the agony, her trembling fingers reached for his remaining eye and plucked it out as well. His scream tore through the chamber, raw and animalistic.
She stumbled back, hands shaking violently, blood dripping between her small fingers.
"Give them to me," Kanzou said, extending his hand.
She hesitated for only a second before placing the two blood-soaked eyeballs onto his open palm with trembling hands.
Satisfied, Kanzou nodded. "Good… now for the final task."
At those words, her grip tightened around the Kunai. She looked at her father. Though Makoto could no longer see her expression, he could feel the anguish radiating off her.
Still, he spoke gently, trying to ease her burden. "Mira… d-don't worry… none of this is your fault… I was the traitor… you're just delivering judgment… so don't blame yourself… ever… understood? Promise me…"
"Otou-sama…" Mira breathed, her voice breaking. Then, biting down on her lip and wearing an expression twisted with misery, she drove the Kunai straight into his heart.
The moment she struck his heart, her black eyes, already turned red with a single tomoe, shifted again, a second tomoe blooming in each eye. A wave of dizziness hit her so hard she nearly collapsed. Her vision swayed, her legs trembled, and she almost blacked out… yet somehow, she remained conscious.
In fact, it wasn't just Mira's eyes that changed; Nashiko's did as well.
This wasn't surprising. Even though she was a civilian, she still carried Uchiha blood. Watching her daughter being forced to gouge out her husband's eyes and then kill him with her own small hands was enough to trigger her long-dormant Sharingan.
In her case, however, only a single tomoe manifested.
"You did well…" Kanzou said calmly.
Mira stood frozen, unable to move, unable to breathe, forced to watch as the final flicker of life drained from her father's body.
[Ding! The host has forced Uchiha Mira to commit patricide against her will. Reward: +25,000 Evil Points]
.
.
.
.
Drop Power Stonessssssssss!
[Read up to 69 Chapters in advance on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]