Uchiha Clan Head Mansion.Bedroom.
"Come in. There are no traps."
Uchiha Fugaku and his wife, Mikoto, knelt on the floor, their expressions indifferent. Their stoic silence was their only response to the tragic wails echoing through the district.
The bedroom door slid open.
Uchiha Itachi walked in, his clothes soaked in the blood of his kin. He wore his Konoha headband and the grey armor of the ANBU, a sharp blade held firmly in his hand.
Fugaku sensed his son's hesitation. He bowed his head in resignation. "I see... so you have joined their side."
"Father, Mother... I..."
Itachi's eyes were bloodshot; he didn't dare look at his parents' backs.
"We understand, Itachi," Mikoto said softly, her voice devoid of warmth.
"Itachi, grant me one last request. Take care of Sasuke," Fugaku said, his tone steady.
"I will..." Tears overflowed from Itachi's three-tomoe Sharingan. The hands gripping his sword shook uncontrollably.
"Do not fear. This is the path you have chosen. Compared to yours, our pain will last only an instant," Fugaku said with firm resolve. "Even if our philosophies differ, we are still proud of you."
Itachi's blade, polished to a mirror sheen, leveled between the couple. The steel reflected their calm, accepting faces.
Finally, Fugaku spoke his last words: "You truly are a kind child."
Itachi's heart wrenched. He gritted his teeth as tears surged forth, splashing onto his hands.
The peace of Konoha! The ambition of the clan! The cornered reality! The promise to a friend! To ensure the world saw no more war! All of it twisted into black threads, binding his heart. Suffocating and lost, Itachi aimed his blade at the thread closest to his heart—the one labeled 'Kinsmen.'
It seemed that if he simply severed it, he would find peace. Without further hesitation, Itachi—having already steeled his soul to descend into hell—swung the sharp blade downward.
Spurt—
Blood splattered across the wooden floor like a careless stroke of a crimson brush. Fugaku collapsed.
But at that exact moment, Mikoto's body jerked. A red light flared in her pupils as the blade-shaped Mangekyō pattern spun within them.
Just as Itachi's blade swung back toward her, a kunai slid from Mikoto's sleeve. She gripped it tight, spun around, and met Itachi's sword head-on.
Clang—
The collision of steel rang out, sending sparks flying. Itachi's brow furrowed. Stunned, he looked up, meeting his mother's eyes with his Sharingan. He gasped in shock.
"The Mangekyō!"
Mikoto's mouth hung open in a daze. Her expression was one of total confusion—her body was completely out of her control. At this moment, it was as if her body had a mind of its own, telling her it was not yet time to die.
Without a second of delay, Mikoto's body retreated, putting distance between them, and lunged toward the bedroom window.
Crash—
The window shattered. Mikoto sprinted into the darkness at top speed, vanishing without looking back.
"..."
Itachi looked at his father's corpse, then at his mother's retreating figure. His emotions were a chaotic mess.
What just happened?
Itachi, whom Hiruzen Sarutobi praised for having the mind of a Hokage, quickly formulated a theory.
Is it because she couldn't leave Sasuke? Father is dead... and Mother awakened the Mangekyō? Regardless, even if she lives, it won't change the outcome of tonight.
Itachi left the mansion and returned to the street. He looked around but saw no one.
"If Mother and Father both possessed the Mangekyō... I would have been the one to die tonight."
He pushed deeper into the district. He glanced toward the Police Force headquarters; the sounds of battle there had already ceased. He estimated he had about fifteen minutes left.
Forest Outskirts of the Uchiha Territory.
The forest was a void of pitch-black shadows. The sound of light footsteps and the rustling of branches merged into a continuous rhythm. Multiple three-man squads converged on the area.
They wore masks with blue and green patterns, grey-white strap armor, and tattoos on their left arms. Shinobi blades were strapped to their backs. They were the "Root"—Danzō's confidants, an independent organization operating under the guise of the Foundation.
The Root members stood or crouched on branches, radiating a sinister aura like beasts lurking in the dark.
Thump—
The dull sound of a cane striking the ground echoed from the rear. The Root members turned, bowed their heads, and stepped aside to clear a path. A steady, elderly figure emerged from the shadows.
Danzō Shimura walked past his subordinates. Mottled moonlight illuminated his wrinkled face, marked by a cross-shaped scar. His head was wrapped in white bandages to hide his right eye, and his right arm was tucked inside his black robes against his chest.
He peered into the depths of the forest, his murky left eye narrowing. His shadow seemed to swallow the moonlight behind him, as if light could not exist where he stood.
"Danzō Shimura!!"
Atop the branches, Nanfu and the other Uchiha—disguised among the Root—felt their pupils contract. Their breath hitched. Kuroya brought them here to face Danzō? Was this a suicide mission? The shock hit them like a hammer, snapping them out of their grief.
This was impossible. The man was the Assistant to the Hokage! Even with Kuroya's Mangekyō, there was no way they could take him down while he was protected by over a hundred Root members.
He controlled nine of us, but can he really control a hundred? That was the question screaming in their minds. This was an act of madness.
Whish—
Two Root members flickered back from the forest and knelt before Danzō. "Lord Danzō, the battle in the Uchiha district will be over soon."
Danzō tilted his head back, looking down at his subordinates. "Go," he said in a low rasp. "Waste no time. Collect the eyes."
"Yes... Lord Danzō!"
The Root member on the right suddenly looked up. Beneath his mask, a red glow ignited. Three blade-like shapes spun within his right eye as he spoke provocatively:
"Tell me... are you collecting eyes like this one?"
He slowly reached up and removed his mask. Uchiha Kuroya's face was revealed.
The red light of his Mangekyō, saturated with Yin Release chakra, bored into Danzō's wide left eye. It met immediate resistance from the familiar power of a three-tomoe Sharingan.
In a heartbeat, the Mangekyō's ocular power crushed the three-tomoe's weak resistance like an avalanche burying a stream.
In the trees, countless Root members looked down at the commotion. Their eyes met that same red glow. They froze instantly, as if turned to stone.
The Uchiha were stunned. Kuroya had actually done it. In a single moment, he had suppressed everyone present. The sheer dominance of his Mangekyō was terrifying.
What's happening?Lord Danzō!An attack!!
The Root members screamed in their minds, but their mouths wouldn't move, and their limbs were paralyzed.
"Why is there an Uchiha here?" Danzō stood frozen. He tried to break the hold, but his thoughts lagged. My body... it won't move.
Kuroya's appearance was a total anomaly. Danzō had viewed the entire Uchiha clan as prey for his collection, never imagining an Uchiha would view him as the target.
Suddenly, the Root member on the left lunged at Danzō. His mask fell away mid-air, revealing Tamao's youthful face.
"Old bastard! Take this!!"
Schlick—
He slammed into Danzō, driving his blade straight through the man's heart. The strike was clean and surgical. Tamao was being controlled by Kuroya, but he was ecstatic—he had finally stabbed the old man he had always hated.
Simultaneously, Kuroya reached out. His fingers, curved like a hawk's talons, tore through the bandages over Danzō's right eye. With a spray of blood, he ripped an eye from the socket.
It was the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyō!
In the trees, the Uchiha watched the red-and-white orb in Kuroya's hand. Their minds raced as a sudden fire of rage ignited.
Everything clicked into place. Shisui's death was Danzō's doing!
Blood bloomed like flowers simultaneously from Danzō's right eye socket and his chest, staining his bandages and robes a deep, vivid red.