The next evening.
Uchiha Izumi changed into a brand-new outfit.
After two months of meticulous care, punishment and instruction, sparring and adaptation.
Uchiha Izumi had grown even more beautiful and captivating.
Every movement.
Besides the fragrance of youth, she radiated feminine charm.
This was a pure, youthful allure as enchanting as an apple—one point more than Nohara Rin, yet one point less than a mature woman.
It was just right, embodying the traits of the perfect maiden.
"Master... I'm going to attend the gathering."
Uchiha Izumi said this to Hyuga Sho.
Tonight, the Uchiha Clan would once again hold a secret clan gathering.
All things considered, including what had happened before and after.
Uchiha Izumi had not attended one in more than half a year.
This time, she would attend again.
It was partly out of habit.
But it was also because this gathering would determine the future of the Uchiha Clan.
Regardless of what that future might be.
Uchiha Izumi understood.
She would forever be her master's most obedient disciple, and his possession.
Past, present, and future—all of it would remain the same.
At the same time.
In a secret Root facility.
Inside a cramped, pitch-black room.
A man wearing a monkey mask sat before Uchiha Itachi.
The table was piled high with documents.
The man worked at a leisurely pace.
One side of every sheet was covered in densely packed writing and pictures.
All of it recorded information concerning the Uchiha Clan.
Itachi was in the room Shimura Danzō had assigned to him.
"That incident happened a year ago already..."
The man wearing the monkey mask spoke.
His voice sounded like that of someone in his twenties, but the face beneath the mask did not match it.
It was a face Itachi had seen several times when