The Heart of a Lecher!

At this moment, Uchiha Izumi was hurrying toward the police force, her mind in complete turmoil.

A figure appeared!

She was instantly startled, taking a Backstep as her eyes transformed into the Three Tomoe Sharingan.

With a flick of her hand at her waist, several Shuriken flew out at high speed.

Whoosh!

Several dull thuds rang out as the Shuriken passed through the figure and embedded themselves in the pillar behind him.

The Masked Man looked over, drawn in by a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan.

"Oh, nice eyes!" The masked man turned toward Uchiha Izumi, who held a kunai in her hand, and offered a faint compliment.

Uchiha Izumi's gaze sharpened. She flung out another Shuriken, but just like before, it passed right through him.

Only then did she see clearly. She said in disbelief, "How is that possible?!"

Could this guy be the one who killed the clan members before? This is bad!

Whoosh!

The sound of chains rang out as they bound her. With a light tug from the Masked Man, Uchiha Izumi fell before him.

Feeling the overwhelming killing intent, Izumi had no strength to resist. Despair showed in her eyes, which brimmed faintly with tears.

"Help me, Itachi!"

Yet at this moment, Itachi was facing his father, who had likewise activated the Mangekyō Sharingan.

He had no idea what was happening here, while the Masked Man had already raised the sickle in his hand high.

Pfft!

The blade was stained crimson as it pierced Izumi's body. The life gradually faded from her beautiful Three Tomoe Sharingan.

The masked man reached out, and a pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan fell into his hand.

He casually tossed aside the worthless corpse. His single eye turned slightly as he looked in the direction Izumi had come from.

"Hmph! I didn't expect those people to arrive so quickly. I need to speed things up."

An invisible gravitational force radiated from his eye and formed a vortex, swallowing him whole.

A moment later, a black figure emerged.

"Was that really necessary?"

Neji looked regretfully at Izumi and was about to leave.

"Itachi..."

A barely audible voice entered Neji's ears, freezing his steps.

"Ah!"

Sure enough, despite repeatedly warning himself, he had still lost to his lecherous heart. He turned and walked over to Izumi.

After a quick examination, he found that she still had a faint breath. The main issue was the penetrating wound in her chest; blood had blocked her airway, putting her into a temporary state of suspended death.

Green light enveloped his hand. Ah, the light of justice—at this moment, it took on a different meaning.

After simply stopping the bleeding, he also noticed that her eyes had been dug out.

He treated her wounds, then took a pair of fake eyes from his inventory and stuffed them into the empty sockets.

Byakugan!

Chakra flowed into his eyes, and a flawless three-hundred-and-sixty-degree field of vision appeared.

There was no one at all in this area. Whether Anbu or Root, they all seemed to be waiting on standby far away.

Neji's lips twitched slightly. Filthy politics—only the weak needed to resort to such things.

Otherwise, why fear the mere Uchiha Clan? They could have suppressed them with a backhand.

After scoffing at Konoha's higher-ups, Neji checked his inventory. He was only one pair short of having ten pairs of Three Tomoe Sharingan.

He did not plan to collect any more. It was time to leave. Once Uchiha Fugaku was killed and Itachi reported to the Third Hokage—

This place would become an airtight encirclement, unlike now.

After all, they were still afraid of alerting the Uchiha Clan, so they did not dare approach too closely.

Neji hoisted Uchiha Izumi onto his shoulder, tore off a piece of cloth from her body along with the Konoha ninja headband on it, and left a scorch mark with a wisp of flame.

He scattered a layer of black ash. The cloth drifted gently to the side, accompanied by several slightly singed strands of long hair. Then he merged into the night and vanished without a trace.

On his way back, Neji also noticed the clueless Uchiha Sasuke, who was preparing to go home.

He sighed inwardly. The protagonist had appeared, and within the Uchiha Clan, the actors had already set the stage and were ready to begin the performance.

The next day, news of the Uchiha Clan's extermination instantly spread throughout Konoha.

Everyone was shocked by the incident. The Uchiha Clan, one of Konoha's two foremost great clans—

Had been wiped out overnight!

It was like a nuclear explosion, shaking all of Konoha. Nearly everyone was discussing it.

As Konoha issued an S-rank wanted order, the former Uchiha Clan genius and the clan head's son—

Uchiha Itachi became a rogue ninja, charged with the extermination of the Uchiha Clan.

What a laughably ironic wanted order!

Anyone with even a little sense could figure out what had happened after giving it some thought.

Unfortunately, those who understood would not speak. Meanwhile, half-baked fools, guided by manipulated public opinion, spread all kinds of speculation about why Uchiha Itachi had exterminated his clan.

They directly cemented Uchiha Itachi's extermination of the Uchiha Clan as an established crime.

A lie repeated by many becomes truth. When most people believed something was true, then even if it was not, it became true.

Danzo had played this move brilliantly, but unfortunately, he still could not outplay the Third Hokage.

Neji did not have much of a reaction, maintaining his usual cold and aloof persona.

After spending another ordinary day at the Ninja Academy, he parted with Hinata and returned to his personal Laboratory.

In the basement, a young girl lay on a bed, bandages wrapped around her neck and shoulders.

"Looks like you're awake. Still, I suggest you don't move around, or the wound will split open."

Neji spoke casually, making no effort to disguise his voice.

"Who are you? Why did you save me? What happened to the Uchiha Clan?"

Izumi kept her eyes closed. She had awakened long ago, but her body was too weak to move.

Everything had been dark, and she could feel the pain in her chest. She guessed that someone had saved her.

She had clearly been killed, yet she was alive now. Her rescuer probably did not mean her harm.

So she did not panic too much. After all, she was a proper ninja and a Three Tomoe Sharingan genius.

"Stop guessing. The Uchiha Clan is gone. The culprit is Uchiha Itachi, and the only survivor is his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Impossible! Itachi! How could Itachi possibly do something like that?!"

Seeing Uchiha Izumi's intense reaction, Neji gave a cold laugh.

"You should understand why."

Izumi immediately fell silent. She had long noticed that Itachi carried a heavy burden he could not speak of.

She had always wanted to guide him, believing that one day, she could make him tell her.

But now, there was clearly no longer any chance.

After a long silence, Izumi slowly asked, "Did that Masked Man dig out my eyes?"

"Mm."

"Why did you save me?"

"I need you."

Silence fell once more. Neji did not explain what he needed her for, and Izumi did not ask again.

As for what each of them was thinking, perhaps only they themselves understood.

"So... does that mean I'm already dead?"

"Mm."

After a long stretch of silence, Izumi did not speak again, while Neji resumed his work.

"Is there anything else you want to ask? Don't keep it bottled up. Go ahead and ask."

Neji did not mind telling this excellent experimental subject—who could even be trained into an assistant—some things.

There was not even any need to place restrictions on her, because smart people understood their own circumstances very well.

"Who are you?"

"Neji Hyuga."

"That Neji Hyuga who dug out his own eyes?!"

Izumi's lifeless tone finally showed some reaction, aside from when Itachi had been mentioned.

"What do you want from me?"

"Everything."

Galandis: "Warrior, I have been waiting for you."