Uchiha Ingetsu

One hour remained until the Night of the Uchiha Massacre.

A full moon hung in the night sky, its pure light coating the buildings and streets of Konoha in the Land of Fire with a layer of silver.

Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Military Police Force prison.

On the rooftop, blood flowed like a river, and the corpses of Uchiha Military Police Force officers lay scattered everywhere. Blood streamed from their eye sockets, and all of them had lost their Sharingan.

In the middle of the corpse pile.

A young man stood there wearing the Uchiha Military Police Force's shinobi uniform. He had short black hair and a handsome face, and he held a ninja blade in his hand. His posture was straight and unyielding.

Side Mission: Evolve Sharingan

Condition: Absorb the Eye Power of fifty pairs of Sharingan

Mission complete

Reward: Yachihoko—Mangekyo

Uchiha Ingetsu gasped for breath. Suddenly, the Three Tomoe in his eye sockets began to rotate, transforming into three sharp, blade-shaped Mangekyo.

The Eye Power in his brain surged explosively. Violent and chaotic, it forcefully poured into every neural pathway in his mind like a waterfall, filling them to the brim.

Blood vessels covered Ingetsu's eyes. His mouth and nose both drew breath, and in just over ten seconds, he adapted to this mental power filled with a destructive, brutal aura.

His entire presence became sinister.

An explanation of the ability surfaced automatically in his mind.

Yachihoko:

"The Mangekyo's Chakra can ignore distance through eye contact, or by touch, and plant a mark on another person. Through the mark, it can connect to and control that person's mind and Chakra at will!"

The corners of Ingetsu's mouth lifted.

He crouched down.

He placed all the Sharingan he held in both hands into a cylindrical container filled with liquid.

Countless scarlet eyes were piled inside, facing in every direction toward the glass walls of the cylinder like indescribably bizarre, secret things.

Then.

He sealed the container inside a storage scroll.

A week had passed since he crossed over to Konoha.

With the system's missions helping him, he had finally obtained the credentials of a strong shinobi in the ninja world: the Mangekyo Sharingan!

Although the Mangekyo's ability still needed to be tested, he now possessed the qualifications to defect from Konoha.

At that moment, there was still one living person in the corner.

Uchiha Inaho leaned against the wall, his entire body drenched in blood. He glared with his only remaining Three Tomoe left eye and trembled as he watched this scene.

"Uchiha Ingetsu, as one of the Military Police Force captains, you killed your clansmen to awaken the Mangekyo. You definitely won't meet a good end!"

Ingetsu put the scroll into his clothes and estimated the time. Then he walked toward Inaho and crouched in front of him.

"The Uchiha patrol team should arrive here in about a minute.

I can have a chat with you.

Inaho.

You reported that I was in contact with an S-Rank Missing-nin.

Then you had me thrown into prison.

After that, you took over all my duties in the Military Police Force and finally came here to provoke me.

That process must have felt pretty satisfying, right?"

Inaho lowered his head without saying a word, his entire body trembling.

He had indeed come to the dungeon tonight.

He had wanted to use the torture implements in the Uchiha dungeon to teach Ingetsu, who seemed refined and gentle on the surface but secretly colluded with missing-nin and had become a prisoner, a lesson.

As long as he did not torture him to death.

Patriarch Fugaku would not blame him.

But when Ingetsu saw him, he had instantly gone berserk, activated his Three Tomoe, and fought his way out of the dungeon.

One man and one blade had slaughtered all the guards stationed in the Uchiha Military Police Force prison, like a demon driven mad.

Ingetsu's strength had surpassed Inaho's imagination.

"You've got it wrong. I didn't kill them to awaken the Mangekyo. Normally speaking, even if I killed them, I still wouldn't have been able to awaken the Mangekyo."

Ingetsu fell silent for a moment as he spoke, then smiled.

"By the way, the reason you were able to intercept my letters to the missing-nin was because I deliberately left an opening for you."

Inaho's pupils widened. He carefully recalled the entire incident, linking the details together one by one. As he understood many things, his face turned ashen.

"The clansmen stationed at the dungeon tonight are your subordinates, and the three patrol teams arriving soon are led by Izumi, Nanfeng, and Tamao. I arranged all of those duty rotations before I went to prison."

As Ingetsu spoke, he slowly rose and added:

"I know you well. With your personality, you would only come to attack me if your people were stationed both inside and outside the dungeon."

As the two spoke on the rooftop, nine black figures leaped across the densely packed rooftops beneath the moonlit sky, rapidly approaching them.

"What exactly are you doing this for?"

Inaho roared with all his strength.

He wanted to stall for time.

He was waiting for the clansmen to arrive.

Ingetsu withdrew his gaze from the nine distant figures and reached out to pat Inaho on the shoulder, as if bidding a final farewell to an old friend.

"So I can survive in the ninja world.

Don't worry.

I don't like owing anyone favors. From now on, I am the Uchiha. As long as I live, the Uchiha can continue in the ninja world with dignity."

After saying that, Ingetsu did not linger. He sheathed his ninja blade across his back, walked to the edge of the rooftop, spread his arms, and fell backward toward the ground, leaving behind one final statement.

"Inaho, open wide your only remaining Three Tomoe and see clearly what happens next in the Uchiha Clan Grounds!"

During his descent, Ingetsu completed a backward flip in midair and landed steadily in a half-crouch. Then he used the Body Flicker Technique, darting and leaping through the streets toward the forest at the edge of the village.

"He killed so many clansmen and actually said it was for the Uchiha... You won't get away! Patriarch Fugaku and Itachi won't let you off!"

Inaho's heart sank into despair. His lips trembled as he weakly muttered.

Swish—

Nine shinobi wearing Uchiha Military Police Force uniforms landed one after another beside Inaho.

The nine men and women looked around. In an instant, their scalps went numb, their expressions turning shocked and bewildered as they froze in place.

The corpses of their clansmen covered the rooftop, the stairs, and the streets near the Military Police Force dungeon.

The stench of blood spread through the air.

Most of the corpses had died from a single clean strike to a vital point, without a single unnecessary wound.

It was the first time the nine of them had seen the Uchiha Clan pay such a devastating price in battle.

Inaho opened wide his only remaining Three Tomoe left eye. When he saw the captains of the three Military Police Force patrol teams that had arrived, his heart sank completely.

Leading them were precisely Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Nanfeng, and Uchiha Tamao, just as Ingetsu had said.

"What... what exactly happened here?"

Izumi's face was deathly pale. She stood rooted to the spot, at a loss, as if she might collapse at any moment.

She had waist-length hair and a pair of beautiful, large eyes. A beauty mark sat beneath the corner of her right eye. Now, her eyes were filled with disbelief and terror.

"It was Ingetsu."

Inaho said weakly.

Izumi's entire body trembled.

The image of that captain who had guided her growth, refined and gentle, always smiling, and making others feel as though they were basking in a spring breeze surfaced in her mind.

"How is that possible? How could Ingetsu Captain kill so many of our clansmen?"

Uchiha Tamao's forehead bulged with veins. He grabbed Inaho by the collar, drew his ninja blade, and held it against Inaho's neck as he demanded fiercely.

He had a baby-faced appearance, but when he lost his temper, he was like a beast ready to devour a person.

Inaho stared coldly at him.

He remained silent for a moment.

Uchiha Tamao stated firmly, "Even if Ingetsu Captain killed these clansmen, he was helping them obtain release!"

"Heh heh... No wonder you're the guy Ingetsu dragged out of the hospital's psychiatric ward. If he killed your parents, would you still speak for him?"

Inaho glared at Tamao with his remaining Three Tomoe and gritted his teeth weakly.

"Ingetsu Captain doesn't like killing people!"

Inaho: "???"

He had forgotten that Tamao's parents were already dead.

Everyone was stunned as well.

At that moment, a black shadow rushed toward Tamao and shoved him away from Inaho. It was Uchiha Nanfeng, who wore glasses.

"Bastard!!!"

Uchiha Tamao was about to fly into a rage, but Izumi stopped him.

Nanfeng was different from Izumi and Uchiha Tamao. He was not one of the team members Ingetsu had personally led.

"Enough. Shut up!" Nanfeng looked at Inaho and asked, "Which direction did Uchiha Ingetsu flee in?"

Inaho raised his hand and pointed toward the forest at the edge of the village.

"Chase him!!!"

Uchiha Nanfeng's expression was cold, but before he could act, Tamao was already anxiously leading two team members in a Body Flicker toward the forest.

No matter what had happened.

As the Military Police Force patrol teams on duty tonight, they were all responsible for tracking down the culprit.

Izumi and Nanfeng exchanged a glance, then led their respective team members closely after them.

Inaho could not understand Ingetsu's purpose.

The others advanced at full speed with confusion, puzzlement, and fury. Nine figures rose and fell through the air, entering the forest beneath the bright moonlight.

Whoosh—

A flock of birds burst from the forest. The nine people leaped from branch to branch when the hairs on their bodies suddenly stood on end. A powerful sense of danger came from ahead. They stopped, their expressions solemn, held their breath, and drew their ninja blades.

Moonlight pierced through the leaves and spilled across the ground.

A straight figure familiar to them all slowly walked out from beneath the mottled moonlight. He slowly raised his head and activated the blade-shaped Mangekyo.

"Everyone, long time no see.

As for reminiscing.

We can do that later.

For now, please help me test the Mangekyo's ability!"

The corners of Uchiha Ingetsu's mouth curved upward as the Mangekyo in his eyes quietly rotated.

"Yachihoko—!!"