[After many twists and turns, you finally realize that as a registered member of the Uchiha clan, escaping Konoha is not a good choice. After all, once the Uchiha are annihilated, no matter how vast the Shinobi World is, you will no longer have a home—and naturally, no place of refuge.]
---
[Konoha, Year 60]
Sasuke fell silent.
"No matter how vast the world is, you will no longer have a home…"
He unconsciously repeated the words.
Yes, after the clan's annihilation, where else would he have a home? There would only be the house he lived in.
He looked up at the Sky Screen, a surge of bitterness welling up in his heart.
'Home…'
He used to have one too.
He had his father, his mother, and that man—the one he both respected and loved once.
But now, everything was gone.
[So you learned from your mistakes and decided to stay in the village to find a way to survive. Being clever, you quickly thought that since Uchiha Itachi is the one carrying out the massacre, you'll do everything possible to ingratiate yourself with him, hoping he'll go easy on you and spare your life.]
[Unfortunately, you underestimate Uchiha Itachi's ruthlessness. He didn't even spare his own childhood sweetheart, and he could even drive his own parents to death. Your attempts to ingratiate yourself mean nothing to him. On the night of the massacre, he ignores your pleas for mercy and kills you with a single strike. Escape failed!]
Throughout the Shinobi World, the sound of people gasping in shock rang out.
He wouldn't even spare his childhood sweetheart?
He could drive his own parents to death?
Just how ruthless was this Uchiha Itachi?
On the Sky Screen:
Moonlight poured like water over the streets of the Uchiha compound. The houses that were usually lively were now eerily silent.
The quick-witted shinobis soon realized that this was likely a scene from the Uchiha massacre.
On the screen, a young woman stood face to face with someone wearing a tiger-patterned mask.
"Oh, nice eyes!"
The masked man let out a soft chuckle.
---
"Isn't that Izumi?!"
Someone in the Uchiha compound exclaimed.
Uchiha Izumi herself stood in the crowd, her face turning deathly pale—that was her future self.
---
The elderly Hiruzen, Tsunade, and Jiraiya all stood up at once, their gazes fixed intently on the Sky Screen.
Jiraiya's voice was urgent, "This person is most likely that Mr. Simp!"
Tsunade clenched her fist: "That ability—letting attacks phase through him—it's a space-time Ninjutsu!"
Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.
"To be able to come and go as he pleases within Konoha and participate in the night of the Uchiha massacre… this 'Mr. Simp' is more dangerous than we thought."
---
[Konoha, Year 50]
Minato also shot to his feet.
His eyes were fixed on the masked man on the Sky Screen, a look of shock flashing in his pupils.
"Space-time Ninjutsu!"
As a user of the Flying Raijin, he was intimately familiar with space-time Ninjutsu.
And that man's ability to phase shuriken through his body was absolutely a space-time Ninjutsu. No wonder he could enter and exit Konoha's barrier as if it didn't exist.
On the Sky Screen, Uchiha Izumi was tightly bound by iron chains, unable to move.
She knew she had reached the end of her life.
Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Using the last of her strength, she muttered in a certain direction.
"Help me, Itachi!"
The screen then faded to black.
No one knew whether Uchiha Itachi would actually come to save her.
---
[Konoha, Year 52]
Within the Uchiha compound, the atmosphere had completely spiraled out of control.
"Itachi!!" someone roared, "You bastard, how can you be so cruel!"
"Izumi grew up with you! How could you just let her die!"
"You didn't even spare your own childhood friend—are you even human!"
Countless angry gazes were cast upon the ten-year-old Itachi.
Itachi stood in place, his face as calm as if this had nothing to do with him.
But deep within those pitch-black eyes, something was churning.
Fugaku looked at him, his expression full of complexity. He wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
Shisui stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Itachi.
"That's enough. The Sky Screen is showing the future, not the present. Besides—"
"In that scene, Itachi never even appeared. What does that mean? It means Itachi might not have even known she was there."
Everyone was stunned.
"Didn't know?" someone questioned, "How could he not know on the night of the massacre?"
Shisui shook his head.
"The Sky Screen said before that the night of the massacre was a 'three-people effort.' Danzo took the lead, Itachi wielded the blade, and 'Mr. Simp' participated. Since that 'Mr. Simp' was also there, then the people he killed might have nothing to do with Itachi."
Everyone looked at each other, unsure whether to believe him.
But Izumi herself was currently plunged into deep fear.
She recalled the image on the Sky Screen—of herself bound by iron chains, making that desperate cry—and her body couldn't stop trembling.
"Itachi…" she muttered, her voice laden with indescribable emotion.
She didn't know whether, on that future night, Itachi had heard her cry for help.
She also didn't know that if he had heard her, whether he would have come to save her.
All she could hope was that future would never come to pass.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Training ground]
Tears burst from Sakura's eyes.
"That guy is so heartless!" she sobbed, her voice full of anger and indignation. "In the last moment of her life, Izumi was calling his name—how could he bear to ignore her!"
Naruto scratched his head, not knowing what to say.
Sasuke stood where he was, expressionless.
'Izumi…'
He remembered that name.
She was that man's childhood friend. She used to come over to play often when he was little, and she had always been gentle with him.
And she had also died on the night of the massacre.
---
Akatsuki hideout.
Itachi's body convulsed with coughs, as if he was going to cough up his very lungs.
That night—Izumi had ultimately died within Tsukuyomi. It was the only way he could help alleviate the pain of death.
*****
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