Homeless

"Hey—vodka really is the best!"

Kurenai Yuhi drained the canteen in one gulp, raised her hand to wipe away the droplets left at the corner of her mouth, and tossed it toward Izumi with a bold, carefree air.

Only Ingetsu and Izumi, who were sitting beside her, had seen that tantalizing scene just now.

"Huh?"

Izumi widened her beautiful eyes and caught the canteen. She tipped it over, and when not a single drop came out, she immediately pouted in grievance and wiped the mouth of the canteen with the hem of her clothes.

It isn't clean anymore.

This woman is really too much. She dirtied the canteen, drank someone else's water, and actually complained that it didn't taste good.

The gathered Uchiha, including Mikoto and Nonō, were focused on Ingetsu's words and didn't notice this little incident.

White Zetsu...

So those monsters had a collective name after all.

Everyone frowned deeply, lost in thought.

Ingetsu patiently explained:

"You only need to know the three basic techniques of these monsters for now.

The first is called Spore Technique. It allows White Zetsu to parasitize a ninja they have touched and absorb the Chakra of the person they possess.

The second is called Impersonation Technique. By absorbing a ninja's Chakra, White Zetsu can transform into that ninja, and even a Byakugan or a ninja hound can't distinguish their identity.

The third is called Mayfly Technique. With this ability, they can merge their bodies with the earth, grass, and trees, allowing them to move rapidly underground.

There may be countless White Zetsu beneath the ground we're standing on!"

As he spoke, Ingetsu glanced at the grass beside him, completely unconcerned.

The other Uchiha wore frightened expressions. Not knowing where to look, they frantically scanned the ground beneath them and carefully inspected it.

Izumi suddenly seized the crux of the matter. Fear flashed through her beautiful eyes as she pressed on:

"Then... Captain, we've technically come into contact with them too. Could someone among us already have been parasitized or... replaced?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the Uchiha's expressions and postures stiffened. They looked at their companions, suspicion appearing in their eyes.

Ingetsu shook his head without changing expression.

Everyone immediately relaxed.

Before the Uchiha could ask anything,

Ingetsu explained, "All of you have been affected by my Mangekyo ability. If there is anything abnormal in your minds or Chakra, I can sense it."

That was why he had nothing to fear.

Yachihoko had effectively replaced his sensory abilities, leaving no opening for White Zetsu, or even stronger disguised ninjas, to infiltrate them.

Only then did the Uchiha remember.

The Night of the Uchiha Massacre.

They had pursued Ingetsu, but after a single exchange, everyone had become his captive.

At the thought, everyone's old faces flushed with shame.

Izumi's expression grew solemn. She raised a finger and pointed toward Kurenai beside Ingetsu and Nonō beside Mikoto. "What about the two of them?"

Ingetsu glanced sideways at the two women, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "They were branded the moment we met."

At that, Kurenai and Nonō widened their beautiful eyes. Both wondered when they had been branded with some inexplicable mark.

Uchiha Nanfeng's expression turned thoughtful. The blazing firelight was reflected in the lenses of his square-framed glasses. After thinking it over, he still asked honestly:

"Yinyue Captain, I want to ask... how did you learn about these monsters?"

Only then did everyone realize that Ingetsu seemed to know a great deal about those humanoid creatures.

The Uchiha all turned their eyes toward Ingetsu.

The firelight illuminated Ingetsu's handsome face in scarlet, dyeing the edges of his black hair orange-red and adding a touch of mystery.

A sudden voice broke the brief silence.

"Heh, this is what happens when you don't read enough and lack culture. My big brother always has a book in his hands at the Military Police Force. You think he was reading it for nothing?"

After snorting, Tamao declared this with his nose in the air.

"..." Uchiha Nanfeng's expression changed again as he was choked by this lunatic, leaving him speechless.

The Uchiha immediately recalled the past.

One Uchiha sighed:

"Yinyue Captain really did like to spend his afternoons at the Military Police Force sitting in the flower garden behind his office, basking in the sun—alone, with one chair, one book, and one cup of tea, reading all afternoon."

Another Uchiha added:

"It's also because of that lazy personality that Inaho, Tekka, Yashiro, and the others disliked him."

Yet another Uchiha added:

"Those Military Police Force higher-ups were simply narrow-minded. Everyone knows that Yinyue Captain managed the Leaf Village district under his responsibility in perfect order. He finished his patrols in the morning, and no one caused trouble in the afternoon, so he didn't need to respond to calls constantly."

With all those excellent qualities and interests, Ingetsu appeared refined and gentle. Reading was also a hobby of his known to everyone.

Kurenai Yuhi listened as the Uchiha talked about Ingetsu's past, and her mature, alluring face immediately revealed an intoxicated expression. After all, he was the man she had chosen.

His excellence was also something she took pride in.

But no one could have imagined it.

That such an elegant and handsome, gentle-as-water captain would commit the devilish act of exchanging life for life on the Night of the Uchiha Massacre.

These Uchiha who had survived—

had been bought with the lives of Ingetsu's clansmen.

The gathered Uchiha's thoughts suddenly returned to the Night of the Uchiha Massacre. Their expressions grew sorrowful, and their hearts ached.

The emotion came quickly.

"Waa..."

Several younger Uchiha suddenly burst into tears, sobbing bitterly.

Their grief erupted like a volcanic explosion!

"Why did it have to be like this!"

"Why didn't they even spare the civilians?"

"Brother, little sister!"

One Uchiha knelt on the grass, sobbing and choking as he slammed his fist hard into the ground.

No one stopped him.

At the edge of the bonfire, Mikoto lowered her head and remained silent. Her eyes were red as tears flowed from them.

Fugaku's decision.

It really was wrong.

Itachi's decision had only made it worse.

Mikoto bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, her fingers digging into the grass. She felt that the Uchiha should never have reached this point.

For a time, grief filled the area around the bonfire.

Even outsiders like Nonō and Kurenai Yuhi felt sympathy and sorrow for the Uchiha beside them.

Whoosh—

The mountain wind howled, fanning the bonfire and making it burn brighter, as though heaven and earth were sheltering this group of homeless people and sending them strands of warmth through the night.

Ingetsu said nothing. He reached out and turned the wild boar that had been roasting unattended for a long time. He had never been good at comforting anyone.

After coming to the Ninja World,

was he not also homeless?

In that spacetime,

he had younger brothers and sisters, parents, grandfathers, grandmothers, and maternal and paternal grandparents...

So how could he die here!

Ingetsu suddenly raised his brows slightly through his control over spiritual power via Yachihoko.

He personally sensed that after enduring another round of grief, the Eye Power of the Uchiha he had brought out had strengthened considerably once again.

As for whether any of them could awaken the Mangekyo,

that remained unknown.

The Sharingan was the eye that reflected the heart. The way to awaken it was not necessarily through the utmost pain; it could also come from the utmost joy and anticipation.

Yet even the utmost pain and hatred, or the utmost joy and anger, might not be enough to awaken it.

The Uchiha had developed from the Warring States Period to the present day. In the entire modern Uchiha clan, aside from Fugaku, only three super-geniuses had awakened the Mangekyo.

Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke.

These three shared one characteristic: even without the Mangekyo, their individual strength was already exceptional, and their talents were extraordinary.

The people Ingetsu had brought out were guaranteed to have good character, but none of them possessed that kind of genius. Nor did the Uchiha have any more such geniuses to spare.

The modern Uchiha's scarcity of Mangekyo users

was inevitably caused by many different factors.

Ingetsu had not conducted any in-depth research into this aspect.

While everyone mourned in silence, Ingetsu summoned the Black Sword Dark Moon. Space trembled like ripples, and a pitch-black, razor-sharp blade emerged.

He gripped Dark Moon tightly, wanting to test what kind of effect would appear if he infused the sword with other Chakra nature transformations.