Rewriting Uchiha Izumi's Memories

Hyuga Kei raced through the night with the unconscious Izumi in his arms, only daring to rest briefly after reaching the border between the two nations. Along the way, Izumi woke up again and again, only to be knocked unconscious each time.

By the campfire, Uchiha Izumi slowly came to. The first thing she said upon waking was, "Don't knock me out again. I won't make a sound."

"I wasn't going to knock you out."

Hyuga Kei spread his hands and placed a freshly grilled skewer in Izumi's hand. "Here, eat something. After you're done, I'll tell you the truth."

Fearing Hyuga Kei's tyranny, Uchiha Izumi took the skewer and began nibbling at it cautiously. She looked calm on the surface, but inside, her thoughts were a complete mess.

The person before her should have saved her last night. He was even wearing a Konoha forehead protector, so why was he out here in this wilderness instead of Konoha?

"Want another?" Seeing Uchiha Izumi finish eating, Hyuga Kei eagerly handed her another skewer. The person before him bore the heavy responsibility of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, so he had to take good care of her.

"No, thank you. Can you tell me what happened first?"

Hyuga Kei let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky like Zhuge Liang lamenting the cold-hearted heavens. "Konoha issued an extermination order against the Uchiha clan. The one who carried it out was Uchiha Itachi. Just yesterday, the Uchiha clan was wiped out."

Just as Hyuga Kei had expected, Uchiha Izumi's eyes widened. She was about to say that it was impossible, but when she thought of the conflicts between the Uchiha and the village, she began to believe him somewhat.

Seeing Uchiha Izumi's shocked expression, Hyuga Kei was delighted. The more her emotions fluctuated, the better.

"Don't be surprised just yet. Listen to the whole story first. This began a long time ago."

"Konoha Year 1, Madara Uchiha and Senju Hashirama..."

Hyuga Kei began directly from Konoha's founding, constantly building up her emotions, determined to make Uchiha Izumi awaken her Mangekyō Sharingan in one go.

Naturally, he omitted many secrets, such as the fact that Madara Uchiha had not actually died.

Like a storyteller, Hyuga Kei recounted the conflicts that had accumulated since Konoha Year 1, Shisui's death along the way, and finally Uchiha Itachi's massacre of the clan, with Uchiha Sasuke, the last bloodline, spared as a condition.

He even mixed in genjutsu, determined to make her feel as if she were there.

As he watched Uchiha Izumi's emotions shift constantly—pride, sorrow, grief, resentment, loneliness, anger—her expressions were incredibly vivid, yet there was not the slightest sign of her awakening the Mangekyō.

Two whole hours, and you didn't even activate your Sharingan?

After finishing his story, Hyuga Kei stared fixedly into Uchiha Izumi's eyes. He did not stop until his gaze made her uneasy.

"Is there something on my face?"

"No." Hyuga Kei sat down on the ground in disappointment. I wasted two hours of my life and got nothing in return.

Sigh... this was a true Itachi fanatic. In the original story, even at death, she had still been thinking about Uchiha Itachi. She was the woman who had spent an entire lifetime with Uchiha Itachi within Tsukuyomi. It was entirely possible that she would forgive and understand what Itachi had done.

At that thought, a wicked idea arose in Hyuga Kei's heart. Should he just take her here?

Forget it. What could a pair of Three Tomoe eyes even do? Hyuga Kei truly had no interest in the ocular power of Three Tomoe. It would be better to keep her by his side for now as a subordinate.

"How do you understand Uchiha Itachi's choice?" Hyuga Kei wanted to hear the thoughts of someone involved. He had heard so many interpretations in his previous life; this time, he wanted to hear what an actual participant thought.

"Sigh... even Itachi could not escape valuing the Uchiha's glory too highly. If the Uchiha had sought refuge with any of the Five Great Nations, they could have attained high status. There was no need to fight the village to the death."

Hyuga Kei nodded. "That really is a common Uchiha flaw. Also... is it really okay for you to say that? You're an Uchiha too, aren't you?"

Uchiha Izumi blushed. "It was only a thought after hearing so much of the story."

"Um... thank you for saving me. Can I leave now?"

"Leave? I went through all that trouble to save you from Madara."

Hyuga Kei's eyes turned scarlet as the Sharingan emerged, three tomoe linking together into a Mangekyō. "Now it's time to prove your usefulness."

"Mangekyō Sharingan!" Izumi covered her mouth. She never would have imagined that an outsider had awakened the Uchiha's supreme bloodline limit.

"Soul Wash!" Hyuga Kei activated the ocular technique of his left Mangekyō. Its ability was to rewrite a person's memories.

In an instant, Uchiha Izumi's eyes lost their color. When she opened them again, she had already forgotten many things.

Hyuga Kei did not dare fabricate her entire life's memories too recklessly. He merely made her forget Uchiha Itachi, then inserted memories of her willingly repaying Hyuga Kei by becoming his subordinate.

If he did not make her forget Uchiha Itachi, he was truly afraid that she might turn traitor and stab him in the back at any moment.

"Lord Kei, where are we going next?"

"Kusagakure."

Hyuga Kei had already chosen his target. The best targets for perfecting his Sage Body were Karin Uzumaki and her mother.

It was just a pity that the last descendant of the Shikotsumyaku was only Kimimaro, and he was currently wandering the world with Orochimaru, who had just left Akatsuki.

So Hyuga Kei could only make a move on the Sage Body bloodline first.

As he spoke, Hyuga Kei ignored Uchiha Izumi and took out the scroll he had obtained from the Hyuga clan's secret chamber, carefully reading its contents.

It described the origins of the Hyuga clan and stated that another branch of Byakugan wielders lived on the moon. Within an unnamed lake in the shinobi world was a teleportation array connecting the two places.

The scroll did not record the lake's location.

But when Hyuga Kei thought of the Golden Tenseigan of those lunar Otsutsuki, he had already made it his target.

The end of the scroll recorded all the Byakugan ninjutsu developed by the Hyuga clan. Many had been lost due to issues with the purity of the Byakugan.

At the end, Hyuga Kei found a taijutsu technique called Divine Air Strike. It even included Otsutsuki taijutsu, the Byakugan taijutsu that Kaguya Otsutsuki had used during the final battle.

Yet the developer was listed as Hyuga Tenjin, a legendary Warring States-era ninja from the same generation as Senju Hashirama and Madara Uchiha. He should have been the Hyuga clansman with the purest Byakugan in all these years.

Still, he was not the creator of this technique. At most, he had simplified the ninjutsu passed down to him.

Several dozen days later, news of the simultaneous destruction of the Hyuga and Uchiha clans reached every ninja's ears.

Ōnoki laughed without restraint when he saw the intelligence report. "Sarutobi Hiruzen has truly gone senile. Two great bloodline ninja clans, countless ninja, just gone like that."

Ōnoki keenly recognized this as an opportunity. Konoha had suffered one disaster after another; this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for them.

Fourth Kazekage Rasa also sensed an opportunity. This was Konoha's weakest moment in more than a decade.

The Fourth Raikage A, however, was bound by the peace and friendship alliance treaty and could not make a move against Konoha. But how could a warmonger like him pass up this chance? He would wait for the right moment and strike another great nation instead.

Uchiha Obito, who controlled Yagura, also noticed this opportunity. It could plunge the Five Great Nations into internal conflict, making it easier to capture the Tailed Beasts.

Kirigakure also began actively preparing for war, ready to show the shinobi world the might of the Village of the Bloody Mist, the cruelest village.

In Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen could only sigh toward the heavens. "Jiraiya, Tsunade... you must come back."

Konoha had truly reached a moment of life and death. Years of war had already left it riddled with wounds.

In an instant, the situation in the shinobi world grew tense once more. The Fourth Great Ninja War could erupt at any time.