Late at night, the Sarutobi clan compound in Konoha.
A dark, windy night—perfect for murder.
The entire compound lay in deathly silence, broken only by the occasional bark of a dog. The clansmen were still asleep, perhaps dreaming of the Sarutobi clan's return to glory, of once more grasping the reins of power within Konoha.
They had no idea that, in the shadows encircling the compound, hundreds of Uchiha elites had already activated their Sharingan, surrounding the area in silence like a pack of starving wolves.
The Barrier Team had long since deployed a sound- and chakra-isolating barrier.
Tonight, even if this place were reduced to rubble, no one outside would know.
---
Inside the Sarutobi residence, in the study.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had not yet gone to bed.
He sat beneath dim lamplight, slowly puffing on his pipe. The curling smoke failed to conceal the anxiety etched across his face.
He was waiting.
Waiting for good news from the Daimyō's envoy.
Waiting for reports from the resistance forces on the front lines.
As long as the Daimyō issued a reprimand, as long as external pressure mounted high enough, he would have the chance to join forces with Danzō and use public opinion to force Uchiha Tobirama to step down.
"I'm doing this for Konoha…"
Hiruzen murmured to himself, as if trying to brainwash his own heart.
"Tobirama is too radical. If this continues, the Village will be destroyed… Only I can bring peace."
Just then—
Hum.
The space within the study suddenly twisted, forming a strange vortex.
Hiruzen's pupils shrank violently. Years of battlefield instinct took over—his pipe dropped to the floor, and several shuriken appeared in his hands.
"Who's there?!"
The vortex dispersed.
A familiar figure clad in a divine robe appeared out of thin air, seated calmly in the chair opposite him.
"What? Still not asleep this late?"
"Waiting for that envoy named Tomohiko Inoue?"
Uchiha Tobirama sat with his legs crossed, a playful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"T-Tobirama?!"
Hiruzen froze. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Space ninjutsu?
And not the Flying Thunder God—this was spatial movement that pierced walls directly!
How many hidden trump cards did this man still have?
"It seems you're surprised," Tobirama said lightly.
"What a pity. Your envoy is probably repenting to the Shinigami right about now."
"As for the Daimyō?" He chuckled. "I'll handle that piece of trash personally. From today onward, there will no longer be such a disgusting thing as a Daimyō in the Land of Fire."
"You—!"
Hiruzen's face turned deathly pale. His last trace of wishful thinking shattered completely.
The plan had been exposed.
"Uchiha Tobirama!" Hiruzen suddenly stood up, chakra erupting as he made a final, desperate attempt to resist.
"You're pushing Konoha into the abyss!"
"I am the Third Hokage! Even if you're the Second—no, even if you're stronger, you cannot—"
"Sit."
The single word was spoken calmly.
Yet terrifying ocular power instantly crashed down upon him.
Hiruzen felt as if his mind had been struck by a sledgehammer. The chakra he had just gathered dispersed at once, and his body collapsed back into the chair against his will.
He gasped for breath, like a fish dragged onto dry land.
"Still want to fight, Monkey?"
Tobirama looked at him with pity and ridicule intertwined.
"In your current state, you don't even have the chance to form hand seals in front of me."
Despair flooded Hiruzen's eyes.
He lowered his head, hands gripping the armrests so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"…What do you want?"
"Kill me?"
"The winner takes everything. The loser becomes the villain. Since I've lost, I have nothing more to say."
"Do it."
He closed his eyes, assuming the posture of a man awaiting execution.
But the expected attack never came.
"Kill you?"
Tobirama chuckled. He stood, walked behind Hiruzen, and rested both hands on his shoulders.
"Killing you would be far too easy. Besides, killing an old man who devoted his entire life to the Village would damage my image in the hearts of the people."
"As Hokage, how could I possibly do such a thing?"
Hiruzen opened his eyes, unease surging through his chest.
"Then… what do you want?"
Tobirama leaned down, his voice whispering into Hiruzen's ear, seductive and dangerous.
"Hiruzen, don't you love talking about the Will of Fire?"
"Aren't you the best at sacrificing the small self for the greater good?"
"Now is the time to prove it."
Hiruzen's body trembled. "What… do you mean?"
"You know the precedent for a failed coup," Tobirama said coldly.
"Not only you, but your dear friend Danzō, and the advisors Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu."
"Your four clans. Thousands of people."
"Infants included."
"Tonight, all of them must die."
Hiruzen snapped his head around, eyes splitting red.
"You dare! You inherently evil Uchiha—I will—!"
"Of course I dare." Tobirama smiled, his gaze colder than ice.
"However… I am merciful."
"I'll give you a way out. Or rather, I'll leave behind a seed for the Sarutobi clan."
Hiruzen breathed heavily, staring at him. "What… way?"
Tobirama raised a single finger.
"Tonight, you'll do it yourself."
"You will kill every member of the Sarutobi clan, as well as the families of Danzō, Homura, and Utatane."
"Leave no one alive."
"If you do it cleanly, I'll spare your eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke… and that brat named Asuma."
"I'll even allow you to flee Konoha as an S-rank rogue ninja—living on with the stain of exterminating your own clan."
Boom!
Hiruzen's eyes widened in disbelief.
Make him kill his own people?
Slaughter his old friends' families?
And live on as a traitor?
"No! Impossible!" Hiruzen roared hysterically, his entire body shaking.
"Even a tiger doesn't devour its own cubs! Kill me instead! If you can, kill us all!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is this your Will of Fire?" Tobirama shook his head, amused rather than angry.
"Think carefully, Hiruzen."
"If you refuse, I'll give the order right now. The Uchiha troops outside will storm in immediately."
"By then, not only you, but your son, grandson, newborn nephews—every single one will have their heads cut off and hung at Konoha's gates for all to see."
"That brat Asuma is still at the Ninja Academy, isn't he? Quite talented, I hear. What a pity—he'll die tonight."
"And our glorious Third Hokage, so upright and beloved, along with the 'approachable' Sarutobi clan, will be publicly disgraced under charges of treason."
At the mention of Asuma, Hiruzen's pupils contracted violently.
That was his youngest son.
His most beloved child.
The future of the Sarutobi clan.
"If you don't act—total annihilation."
"If you do—at least two sparks may survive."
"And the Sarutobi clan's honor and reputation will be preserved."
Tobirama's voice echoed relentlessly in his ears.
"This is what the greater good means, Hiruzen."
"For the stability of the Village, sacrificing everything is worth it."
"So why, when it's your turn, is it suddenly unacceptable?"
"Double standards are an ugly habit."
Hiruzen clutched his head, fingers digging deep into his graying hair.
His heart was being dragged through hell.
Refuse—and the Sarutobi line would be erased forever.
Accept—and he would become a monster worse than a beast, cursed for eternity.
Second by second, time crawled past. The air in the study felt suffocating.
Tobirama did not hurry him. He simply watched.
Finally—ten minutes later.
Hiruzen stopped trembling.
He slowly raised his head. The once-kind face was twisted and ferocious, tears streaming down his aged cheeks.
"…You promise."
"You will spare Shinnosuke and Asuma."
"You will… leave the Sarutobi clan a legacy."
"I, Uchiha Tobirama, never break my word," Tobirama said casually.
"As long as you kill cleanly, those two brats will coincidentally be rescued by reinforcements tonight and escape unharmed."
"Good… good…"
Hiruzen staggered to his feet and picked up his weapons.
The tools that had once accompanied him across countless battlefields now felt unbearably heavy.
"I… will do it."
As the words left his mouth, all strength seemed to drain from him.
At that moment, the Third Hokage—the ninja hero—died.
What remained was a pitiful old man, forced to become an Asura just to preserve his bloodline.
"That's more like it," Tobirama clapped in satisfaction.
"The moonlight tonight is perfect—ideal for testing resolve."
"Go. Those three old fools are still waiting at home for good news."
"Give them a surprise."
Hiruzen clenched his fists, nails biting into flesh until blood dripped.
He turned and walked into the darkness, his back desolate, like a wandering ghost.
At the doorway, he paused and looked back, eyes bloodshot.
"…There are too many of them. I can't kill them all alone."
"And Danzō has clan-trained ninja. I need… assistance."
Since he had chosen to become a demon, he would be thorough.
He couldn't afford hesitation—he couldn't risk Tobirama changing his mind and implicating Asuma.
"A reasonable request," Tobirama said, snapping his fingers.
"I'll maintain the barrier for you."
"As for the small-fry guards, my shadow clone will clear them out."
"You only need to personally cut down Danzō and those two old relics…"
"And send your clansmen on their way with your own hands."
"Go, Uchiha—oh no."
Tobirama's smile turned utterly malicious.
"Go, Sarutobi Itachi."
Hiruzen's figure stiffened for a moment, but he did not reply.
The next instant, he vanished into the night.
Moments later—
Within the Sarutobi compound, the first scream rang out.
Then flames shot into the sky.
Tobirama stood by the window, watching the inferno and listening to the distant cries. His expression remained indifferent.
"The debts of the original timeline are settled tonight."
"As for this misplaced life…"
"Let me see what kind of outcome it brings."
He smiled faintly.
"Dog-eat-dog tragedies like this are far more satisfying than killing people with my own hands."