From a distant cliff, Kazuki forces nine witnesses to watch the truth they were never meant to see.
The moment Uchiha Kazuki's Mangekyō chakra surged outward, Yin Release flooded the nine shinobi like a blade slipping between ribs—silent, instant, unstoppable.
It invaded their neural pathways, severed the link between mind and body… and stole control.
"Wh-what's happening?! I can't move!"
"That's… a Mangekyō—!"
Perched on the branches, the nine Uchiha cried out—only for their pupils to flare crimson.
A blade-shaped Mangekyō pattern burned itself into their eyes like a brand.
Eight Thousand Spears.
Absolute mental domination.
Kazuki's expression didn't change. He simply observed, cool and clinical, as if confirming a hypothesis.
"So long as the Yin Release chakra in my mind is stronger than theirs, I can carve an imprint into them."
"Once that mark is planted… their minds are mine. Their chakra too."
"Simple. Brutal."
"For shinobi, it's a first-contact kill."
"For civilians… there's no resisting it at all."
He had gained permanent control over all nine.
The cost was a tenth of the Yin Release chakra stored within his brain—and a faint soreness swelling behind his eyes.
The nine Uchiha stood rigid on the branches, their spines icing over.
They hadn't even attacked.
They hadn't done anything.
And yet with a single exchange of glances…
They were all controlled.
So this was Kazuki's Mangekyō ability?
Mysterious. Terrifying. Beyond reason.
"Listen," Kazuki said, voice steady.
"I know what you're thinking."
"Some of you are confused."
"Some of you are furious."
"Some of you want to cut me down right now."
"But the reason this happened…"
"You're about to see it for yourselves."
He didn't waste words.
With Eight Thousand Spears anchoring them like puppets on strings, Kazuki moved with the Body Flicker Technique, dragging the nine along with him toward the edge of the village.
Midway, he formed a Shadow Clone.
Without pause, he sent it back toward the Uchiha district… to wait for the right moment.
They crossed the forest.
At the end of the path, the trees thinned into open air—a cliffside with a wide, commanding view.
From here, the entire Uchiha district lay below like a painted map.
Kazuki positioned the nine behind him in a straight line, all facing the clan's streets.
"Don't blink," he said.
He planted his ninja blade in the ground and sat at the cliff's edge as though this were a casual meeting spot… not the front row to a massacre.
The nine didn't understand his purpose.
Izumi and Nanpū were still trapped in the same thought, circling it like a wound:
Why?
Had Kazuki really slaughtered so many clan members just to awaken the Mangekyō?
Was there anything more important than an atrocity that monstrous?
Nanpū swallowed hard, then forced out a warning.
"Kazuki… even if you have the Mangekyō, if you do this… Clan Head Fugaku… and Itachi… they won't let you live."
"Itachi and Fugaku?" Kazuki murmured.
He shook his head once.
And said nothing.
…
Uchiha District.
Main street entrance.
A masked man stared toward the eastern mountains of Konoha.
Through the single eyehole of his mask, his gaze sharpened.
"A rat slipped away," he said calmly. "Our plan… was discovered early by another Uchiha."
"The plan was only known to Konoha's higher-ups," Itachi replied, expression empty as his hand reached behind him.
A ninja blade slid free.
"Then it's probably just a few sharp-nosed minor pieces. After the clan is wiped out… I'll handle it."
From this moment on—
for peace, for the village—
Uchiha Itachi willingly descended into hell.
He offered his soul to the devil and called it duty.
"Do it," the masked man said.
His body flickered like a ghost and vanished into the streets of the Uchiha district.
By their agreement, his target was the Police Force Headquarters.
That was where the most Sharingan were concentrated.
A cold autumn wind swept the street.
Shop banners bearing the Uchiha fan symbol snapped and fluttered in the night.
The district was eerily quiet.
Too quiet.
Clack—
A shop door opened.
A young Uchiha boy stepped out—polite, cute, bright-eyed.
The moment he saw Itachi, his face lit up with joy.
Itachi was the clan's genius.
The idol of the younger generation.
"Brother Itachi! You're out this late?"
"Are you still on a mission? Come in and have some sweets!"
"My mom bought them at the market this morning!"
"Even if the mission is urgent, stopping for a few minutes should be fine, right?"
The boy babbled excitedly, grabbing Itachi's hand and tugging him toward the house.
"…I'm sorry."
Itachi removed the ANBU mask from his waist and placed it over his face.
In the reflection on his blade, a family of three looked up at him—smiling, welcoming…
Then confused.
Then—
"AAAAAH—!!!"
A scream tore through the Uchiha district.
A smear of crimson painted the paper window.
The lamplight inside shuddered… then steadied… then fell silent.
Itachi stepped back out.
He removed a warm, blood-slick mask and tightened his grip on the blade.
Then he ran to the next house.
Flutter—
Crows flooded the sky.
Dozens, then hundreds—wings beating in a circling spiral as if drawn by the scent of death.
Or as if they'd been waiting for this night all along.
They perched on walls, on roofs, on poles, watching.
Witnessing.
…
On the cliff, the nine Uchiha were jolted by the distant screams.
They snapped their heads toward the district.
Below, a black shadow moved from house to house.
Every time it entered—
despair echoed out.
Every time it left—
another home went quiet.
Instantly, they understood.
The Uchiha district was under attack.
Someone was slaughtering their people.
"Kazuki… you have accomplices?!" Nanpū's voice cracked.
His face drained of color, then flushed with fury as panic punched through restraint.
Izumi's beautiful eyes trembled violently.
She didn't want to believe what she was seeing.
That silhouette…
The way it moved.
The rhythm of its Body Flicker.
She knew it.
"No," Kazuki said flatly.
"That isn't my accomplice."
"The one killing Uchiha civilians right now…"
"…is Uchiha Itachi, the very person you just mentioned."
The words struck like thunder in their skulls.
All nine pupils contracted.
Nanpū's voice rose into something sharp and desperate.
"That's impossible! It can't be! It can't be him!"
"How is it impossible?" Tamayū snarled.
"That Itachi's been acting arrogant and distant lately—silent, cold. He never looked right!"
"If Big Brother Kazuki says it's him, then it's him!"
"It… it's Itachi," Izumi choked out.
Tears poured from her clear eyes.
Her body stiffened as if frozen in place.
They were far away—yet she could still see it.
That movement.
That technique.
That unmistakable style.
Itachi.
The remaining Police Force shinobi were stunned beyond comprehension.
If anything could be worse than Kazuki butchering the dungeon guards…
It was this—
The clan's hope.
The prodigy everyone believed in.
Uchiha Itachi.
Raising a blade against his own people.
"How could Itachi do something like this…?"
"Genjutsu—this has to be genjutsu!"
"My family… my family lives in that area… why… why would he…"
Some broke down completely, sobbing under their breath, their minds shattering into denial.
Then Kazuki's gaze lowered slightly, and lines of text appeared in his mind.
[Main Quest]: Night of the Massacre
[Options]:
Kill the remaining Uchiha.
Successfully escape the Hidden Leaf Village.
[Reward]: (Plunder) Seize another's Mangekyō. Absorb their ocular power and obtain that Mangekyō ability.
Kazuki's expression tightened.
He analyzed with cold speed.
Killing the remaining Uchiha—civilians and ordinary shinobi—wasn't hard.
But Fugaku.
Itachi.
And Obito.
Together, they held two and a half sets of Mangekyō power.
That was beyond him right now.
So the main quest left only one viable route:
Escape Konoha.
Kazuki glanced toward the barrier line at the edge of the forest behind them.
Leaving the barrier wouldn't count as "escaping."
Not truly.
Not with Konoha's trackers—and Itachi—coming for him afterward.
And from the wording of the reward…
The system wasn't just urging survival.
It was urging him to hunt.
To plunder Itachi. Obito. Others.
To steal their Mangekyō.
Izumi's voice came out wooden, hollow.
"Kazuki… Captain…"
Kazuki turned his head slightly, signaling he was listening.
Her lips trembled.
"Why are you doing this?"
"And… why is Itachi doing this?"
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