"Lord Danzō!!!" "My Lord?" "How is this possible!!"
The members of the Root remained frozen, forced to witness the impossible. Their Lord Danzō, a man they viewed as a god, had been skewered by a blade and now gave no response. In that instant, their conviction—built like a grand edifice—collapsed into a heap of rubble and ruin.
Swish— Swish— Swish—
Beyond the forest, a multitude of black shadows leaped into the area, converging rapidly.
"Captain Kuroya, I'll hold the line!!" Uchiha Nanfu roared. His resolve to die was absolute.
The other Uchiha were about to declare their own suicidal intent when they suddenly found themselves under the absolute control of Yachiyamato. Not a single word could escape their lips. Nanfu and the others turned red in the face, trying to force their vocal cords to move, but they could not override the mental sovereignty.
"Noisy," Kuroya said flatly. He let go of his sword, leaving it buried in the tree, and decisively led his team away.
He kept these people alive for a reason. They were still useful.
Before disappearing into the gloom, he manifested his Mangekyō one last time and glanced back at the edge of the forest. The sound of footsteps was like a rising tide. A massive force of ANBU was flooding the woods—the vanguard of the Hokage's direct units, answerable only to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"What is the situation here?" an ANBU captain demanded, stopping in front of a Root member standing at the forest's perimeter.
The Root member didn't answer. The ANBU captain frowned, finding the behavior of the Root operatives bizarre, but he chose to lead his team deeper in.
The moment the ANBU entered the forest, the Root moved. As one, they drew their blades, their eyes glowing with a sinister red light. The Yachiyamato brand spun in their pupils. Like mindless puppets, they swung their swords at the nearest ANBU.
"AAAGH!!!"
In an instant, half of the ANBU vanguard was struck down, cries of agony filling the air.
"Fall back! Exit the forest!!" the ANBU captain roared, clutching a bleeding gut wound where a Root blade had pierced him. He kicked a Root operative away, his eyes wide with shock.
"Captain, these Root members... they're being controlled!" "Then kill the bastards!!"
The Root operatives ignored the curses of their "allies," lunging like rabid dogs at the arriving reinforcements. The ANBU, though confused, were not about to take this lying down. They unsheathed their blades to strike back, intending to suppress the "madmen" first.
Root and ANBU clashed in a violent frenzy.
BOOM—
The roar of paper bombs, the screech of clashing steel, and the whistle of flying kunai harmonized into a grim symphony—the final curtain call for the night's assassination.
Uchiha Clan Entrance
Little Sasuke, backpack still on, sprinted anxiously through the streets. Every time he heard an explosion, he looked around in panic before continuing his frantic pace toward home. He felt as if he were trapped in the middle of a war.
He was utterly lost—until a familiar figure appeared on the road ahead. His drifting heart finally found an anchor.
"Mom!"
Sasuke broke into a wide smile, running to the middle of the street with his arms open to greet his mother. In the darkness, he saw a beam of light.
Mid-sprint, Mikoto saw little Sasuke. She was stunned for a moment, and her dazed eyes suddenly thawed like melting ice, overflowing with infinite tenderness. But she couldn't speak. She couldn't even control her stride.
"Mom... what's wrong?" Sasuke sensed something was off.
Thump—
The charging Mikoto collided with Sasuke. The sheer momentum sent the boy flying across the pavement, slamming him hard against a wall. His vision blurred, and his consciousness began to fade.
"Mom..." Sasuke groaned, slumping to the ground as he succumbed to unconsciousness.
Tears welled in Mikoto's eyes, yet her elegant, refined face remained expressionless. She kept running. She ran toward the forest outside the village, but the heart that had died moments ago was now quietly illuminated by that single word: "Mom."
The Mountain Peak
"Big Brother, when do we leave...?" Tamao asked weakly. The others had performed basic first aid on him, stabilizing his wounds, but without a medical ninja, the risk of infection and death remained high.
Before Kuroya could answer, text flashed in his mind.
[Side Mission: Rescue][Condition: Perform a rescue within the Uchiha clan territory.][Mission Complete!][Reward: 100-cubic-meter Storage Space.]
Kuroya felt a flicker of surprise. Just then, Mikoto appeared from behind the peak, running toward them. Nanfu and Izumi instinctively drew their blades, but Kuroya waved them down.
When they saw who it was, they gasped in unison. "The Lady Wife?" "Mistress Mikoto!!"
They never dreamed that Mikoto Uchiha would survive the purge. Seeing her remain silent, they turned to Kuroya and realized he wasn't surprised at all. Was this his doing too?
"Everyone is here. Let's go," Kuroya said calmly.
"Are we... rogues now?" Izumi asked, her face clouded with sorrow. She looked back at the Uchiha district; it was a ruin of fire and thick smoke. Aside from their small group, the Uchiha were likely extinct.
The others looked on in mourning, casting occasional, wary glances at Mikoto. Mikoto's mind was a blank slate; she didn't know why she was here, nor how these men had survived.
Suddenly, sobbing broke out. Kuroya looked over to see Nanfu and several subordinates weeping. Their civilian families were gone forever. Having vented their rage in the assassination, grief now flooded back like a tide. The eight Uchiha drove their swords into the ground and bowed ninety degrees toward the burning clan territory.
"Hahaha, that felt good!" Tamao laughed weakly. "Finally getting out of this birdcage!"
One Uchiha, who was right in the middle of a sob, accidentally snorted his tears back in at Tamao's remark. For a moment, they didn't know whether to mourn or be annoyed by the madman.
While the others processed their grief, Kuroya focused his mind to examine his reward. The 100-cubic-meter space resided in the depths of his consciousness. It was a bright, clean void—roughly 7.4 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 2.7 meters high.
With a bit of work, I could turn this into a one-bedroom bachelor apartment, Kuroya thought. He wondered if it could hold living beings. He tested it by stashing his scrolls inside, finding he could retrieve and arrange them at will. Very convenient.
He looked up at the giant moon hanging in the night sky and then down at Konoha. The Hokage Rock sat on the opposite peak. Below it, the bustling main districts were still lit up, full of life and ignorant of the slaughter. The Uchiha district and the heart of Konoha felt like two different worlds, separated by an invisible line.
The fighting in the forest was windng down. This land had lost the Uchiha. It seemed life would go on regardless.
Seeing the group stabilizing, Kuroya noted that their ocular power had indeed spiked. Several who had only Two-Tomoe eyes had broken through to Three-Tomoe.
"Goodbye, Konoha."
Kuroya turned and walked away. Izumi watched his back, and for a moment, it felt like graduation day—their first mission. She had stood at the village gates then, watching this "gentle and kind" youth lead the way. He had always possessed a unique charisma.
She instinctively followed him, just like that day. As long as this "merciful" captain was leading them, no matter how far they went, the mission would be accomplished. The others followed, with Mikoto trailing behind under Kuroya's control.
Under the bright moon at the edge of the village, Kuroya easily bypassed the barrier.
They stepped out. They left Konoha behind.
In that moment, a heavy weight settled on the shoulders of the nine Uchiha. They knew in their hearts: if they survived this road, the next time they returned, it would be to level Konoha to the ground.
Eleven Uchiha moved like shadows through the moonlight, led by Kuroya. He guided them toward the northwest. Leaving the Land of Fire in this direction would take them to the most chaotic regions of the shinobi world—the buffer zones of the Land of Rain, the Land of Birds, and the Land of Grass.
The path ahead was perilous. Kuroya estimated that Konoha would dispatch hunter units before dawn. They had to get as far as possible before the sun rose.
To survive, Kuroya had already planned his retreat a week in advance. At the end of this road, someone would be waiting for them.