'So, what is going on?'
Itachi's mind couldn't process it, and his hand, holding the sword, froze in mid-air.
"You heard me. I'm a member of 'Akatsuki'," Lexon said, raising his ringed hand and giving it a wave.
"..." Itachi was silent.
'Lexon joined the Uchiha clan six years ago, joined "Root" not long ago, joined the Hokage's side a week ago, and now, without me even knowing, he's joined "Akatsuki"?'
'Is this a joke?'
'Are you just playing a game of hopscotch here?'
Uchiha Itachi's face was impassive. He calmed the agitation in his heart, sheathed his sword, and said to Lexon, "You should know what I'm about to do, right?"
"I know." Lexon nodded. "I was waiting for you here precisely to join in."
Itachi fell silent again. He was finding it difficult to understand this person's thoughts or the meaning behind his actions.
How could he possibly know that Lexon was just a person who acted as he pleased?
"Leave Sasuke to me," Itachi said to Lexon.
He didn't want anyone else interfering, not even Lexon, who was close to Sasuke.
"Alright." Lexon couldn't be bothered to interfere in their business anyway. He was only participating in Itachi's "clan massacre plan" to fulfill his promise to Shisui.
"But leave the younger clansmen to me," Lexon said.
'Hm?'
Itachi shot him a strange glance and asked oddly, "What are you planning to do?"
If Lexon was harboring any thoughts of defiling the children, he would not agree.
Uchiha Itachi was resolved to kill his clansmen and be hated by them, but he would absolutely not allow anyone to have improper intentions toward the clan's children.
"Is that the kind of person you think I am..." Lexon looked down at Itachi. "Don't worry, you should know I'm not that kind of person."
"Then I'll leave them to you." Itachi reluctantly agreed to his request.
"No objections, right?" Lexon looked at Uchiha Obito.
"It doesn't matter," Obito replied.
Obito's goal was somewhat similar to Danzo's: to acquire as many Uchiha Sharingan as possible. The younger Uchiha clansmen had generally not awakened their Sharingan, so he didn't care at all if Uchiha Lexon took them.
"Then let's begin..." As Lexon's voice fell, the three of them vanished from the spot.
...
"Who's there?!!" An Uchiha clansman sensed a terrifying aura approaching and abruptly activated his Sharingan. But in the instant his eyes blinked, he lost consciousness and collapsed.
"This one isn't a child..." Lexon, in his demonized form, glanced at the unconscious Uchiha clansman on the ground, then ignored him, took out a pot, and walked toward the inner room.
He could only use his Blood Demon Art by demonizing, so Lexon had activated it the moment they set out. Since it was night, there were no time restrictions.
'Next time I go to the Demon Slayer world, I should just check in on the "Demonization" ability until it no longer has a daylight limitation...' Lexon thought.
'If Nezuko has already overcome the sun, it'll be even simpler... I won't need to stack multiple check-ins of the Demonization skill; I can just check in on the "sunlight overcoming" trait.'
'Speaking of which, I could also look for the Blue Spider Lily... Ah... just thinking about looking for it is troublesome. Better to just wait for Nezuko to overcome the sun...'
'Actually, the Main God Space could also optimize my abilities and let me overcome the sun, but the Main God would also remove some of the original characteristics during optimization, like the supreme life force.'
'Youmei is a perfect example.'
'And since the Demon Slayer world is my backyard now, I can go back to check in whenever I want. Naturally, I won't waste Reincarnation Points on optimization.'
Lexon approached a baby in a swaddle in the inner room. He met the baby's innocent eyes, and his own gradually turned blood-red, a strange pattern spinning as they transformed into the Mangekyo Sharingan.
'Hypnosis.'
Instantly, the ocular power released by the Mangekyo Sharingan caused the baby to fall into a deep sleep.
'Blood Demon Art: A World within the Pot.'
A dark opening appeared at the mouth of the pot, and Lexon placed the baby inside.
After many uses, the alternate dimension within this pot was now under Lexon's control, so it wouldn't automatically burn with ghostly fire as it had the first few times.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen to use Gyokko's Blood Demon Art to collect the young Uchiha clansmen.
After placing the baby in the pot, Lexon ignored the unconscious Uchiha clansman and proceeded to the next location.
Uchiha Itachi or Uchiha Obito would deal with the unconscious person. Even if they missed him, Konoha's Anbu would take care of it.
No one would be left.
Time passed. One by one, the infants were hypnotized by the Mangekyo Sharingan, falling asleep and being placed into the pot's alternate dimension.
Lexon didn't kill a single Uchiha clansman, leaving them all for Itachi or Obito to handle.
It wasn't that he felt the Uchiha couldn't be killed.
Eliminating a clan that was about to launch a coup was a normal thing to do.
It was just that Lexon's task wasn't to kill, but simply to fulfill his promise to Shisui.
As for whether these Uchiha survivors, whom he would bring to Shisui, would hate Konoha or abandon their hatred and focus on a new life—that wasn't Lexon's business.
He didn't care about that.
He just did what he wanted to do. That was all.
Under the tranquil moonlight, blood sprayed and bodies fell...
Itachi and Obito, two members of the Uchiha clan, were highly skilled in using their Mangekyo Sharingan. Most Uchiha clansmen fell into the abyss of death without even knowing it.
The few Uchiha higher-ups who did react were powerless against the terrifying ocular jutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan and were slaughtered like vegetables.
Their Jonin or Elite Jonin strength was meaningless...
The terror of the Mangekyo Sharingan lay in its ability to almost instantly kill anyone caught by it.
Just like in the original story, when Uchiha Itachi later returned to Konoha, Kakashi, an Elite Jonin, accidentally made eye contact with Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan and was instantly pulled into the Tsukuyomi world and brutally tortured.
If Itachi hadn't lacked killing intent, Kakashi, who could force a 50/50 fight with anyone, might have died right there.
The Uchiha clan's only remaining Kage-level expert, the clan head Uchiha Fugaku, had also accepted his fate. He and his wife, Uchiha Mikoto, did not resist and met their end together at the hands of their tearful eldest son, Uchiha Itachi.
The clan massacre plan was completed faster than imagined.
Lexon had already placed all the Uchiha children into the pot's alternate dimension. He followed the scents and arrived at Itachi's location.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]