Uchiha district.
When Ren returned to the plaza carrying Shimura Danzō's head, the entire crowd froze.
The corpse-stiff terror on Danzō's face—those eyes still wide, still refusing to close—sent a chill straight through everyone's spine. For a heartbeat, minds went blank again, ringing with nothing but shock.
Impossible.
He was dead.
The leader of Konoha's Root—one of the village's top figures—was just… dead?
To be honest, Root wasn't weak.
Danzō wasn't weak either.
This operation had been Root at near full power. Under normal circumstances, wiping out the Uchiha would've been disturbingly easy.
And yet—
They'd run into Ren.
A hidden boss so deep in the shadows that Root didn't even get the chance to claw back with a last resort.
Not even the suicidal sealing technique—Reverse Four Symbols Sealing—had been cast.
That alone told you how complete their despair had been.
Time crawled.
One second.
Three.
Ten.
Then, after a full minute, Ren casually tossed Danzō's head aside.
Thud.
That dull impact finally snapped the Uchiha shinobi back to life.
"AH—Root got wiped out! Danzō got beheaded!"
"Ren… he's insane!"
"From today on, Ren is a god to the Uchiha!"
"I'm training taijutsu from now on—no excuses!"
The plaza erupted.
The clan's shinobi could no longer suppress their joy—voices bursting out in raw, cathartic cries.
Almost every Uchiha stared at Ren with a kind of worshipful, fever-bright excitement.
He might really be the Uchiha's god.
Fugaku drew a deep breath. For the first time in what felt like forever, something bold and heroic surged through his chest.
"From this day forward…" he murmured, eyes shining. "The Uchiha finally stand up again—like we did in the age of war."
Not far away, Itachi had already retreated dozens of meters.
And now, he couldn't keep his composure anymore.
Fear and disbelief twisted his features so hard even the lines at the corners of his mouth looked warped.
Danzō was dead.
Root was gone.
The Uchiha massacre plan had essentially collapsed—thanks to Ren, who had wiped out Danzō and Root before they could finish the job.
What… was this?
How did it come to this?
The Uchiha were supposed to be finished.
Their fate was supposed to be sealed.
And yet Ren—this shameless fox who'd hidden for years—had suddenly thrown off his mask and forced a continuation onto a clan that should've died tonight.
It made Itachi feel sick.
He had accepted the massacre order to "protect Konoha" and uphold the so-called Will of Fire.
He had planned to spare Sasuke and carve hatred into him—so Sasuke would grow, chase him, and one day kill him.
Now?
Everything was ruined.
With Danzō dead, Konoha's internal collapse was basically guaranteed.
And Itachi—
He was trapped in the middle.
Too traitorous for the clan.
Too compromised for the village.
The Uchiha looking at him now didn't see a brother or a prodigy.
They looked at him like prey.
Like they wanted to tear him apart.
On the other side, the masked man—Obito—no longer knew what to feel.
Ren's strength had reached a level that didn't make sense.
"Elite Jōnin, taijutsu specialist"?
That might've been the funniest joke Obito had ever heard in his life.
Ren lifted the corner of his mouth slightly.
Then he looked at Obito and Itachi with detached indifference.
"Enough celebrating."
"Danzō and Root have been erased."
"Once I deal with you two—Uchiha traitors—Konoha will enter a new chapter."
Then he deliberately glanced at the masked man, emphasizing every syllable.
"Right, isn't that so… dead last, Uchiha Obito?"
The plaza exploded again.
"Uchiha Obito?!"
"That's not possible—Obito's dead! He gave one of his Sharingan to Kakashi!"
"The man in the spiral mask… is Obito?!"
In an instant, the Uchiha were thrown into chaos.
So it wasn't only Itachi.
There was another Uchiha helping slaughter their own clan.
Another traitor.
Obito's face stiffened beneath the mask.
Outwardly, he stayed calm—
But inside, a storm rose.
He didn't even have time to wonder how Ren knew. He forced his voice colder.
"My name… is Uchiha Madara."
Ren shook his head, unimpressed.
"Stop pretending."
"You're Uchiha Obito."
"That dead-last stench on you—" Ren's smile sharpened, "—I'd recognize it for the rest of my life."
Obito's chest jolted like he'd been punched.
Dead-last stench?
What kind of insult is that?!
He wasn't the same boy from back then—
How could he still have a "dead-last aura"?
It was ridiculous.
But—
One glance at Ren's strength, and Obito forced himself to breathe.
He crushed down the tremor in his heart and spoke with icy restraint.
"Uchiha Obito died a long time ago."
"Oh?" Ren chuckled softly.
He lifted the weapon in his hand—Murakumogiri—and didn't bother saying anything else.
The meaning was clear.
A fight was coming.
Sensing the killing intent rising from Ren like a blade, Obito and Itachi exchanged a look across the distance.
Then, at the same time, they shifted into battle stance.
"Get ready," Obito said.
And the air tightened.
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