Infinite Cycle of the Uchiha Massacre Night

"Stop!!!" Izumi's cry tore through the night as the kunai flew from her hand.

But she was still too late. Young Itachi's short blade slashed across the child's throat, then the bloodied blade swept upward, precisely blocking the incoming kunai.

Clang—

Amid the piercing ring of metal striking metal, the blade obscured half of young Itachi's face. Only the crimson Mangekyō Sharingan in his left eye turned within the shadows.

"So, it's Izumi..." Young Itachi's voice was low, and there was no warmth in his gaze as he stared at her.

"Itachi! What are you doing?!" Izumi rushed into the house. Looking at the family lying in pools of blood and the young child dead beneath Itachi's blade, she demanded in a trembling voice.

Itachi slowly stepped out of the shadows. Under the moonlight, he stood noticeably taller than Izumi in his combat attire.

"I merely wanted to test my own capacity." Itachi Uchiha held the short blade in his hand, its cold gleam reflecting his indifferent expression.

At that moment, Izumi felt that the Itachi Uchiha before her was a complete stranger.

She could not believe that the Itachi who had once been so gentle could commit such cruel acts against his own clan!

Faced with Itachi's overwhelming presence and the killing intent radiating from his body, Izumi trembled so badly that she did not dare move.

Although she had awakened her Sharingan at the age of five, she had remained a Genin after graduation and had never experienced much real combat.

"Tsukuyomi!" Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyō suddenly spun, and Izumi's consciousness instantly fell into a genjutsu.

Within the genjutsu world, Izumi and Itachi fell in love beneath a cherry blossom tree. As adults, they clasped hands at their wedding. She saw Itachi's helpless expression at the cry of their baby and his stern expression when their child became rebellious.

Until their twilight years, they sat nestled together beneath the eaves, their white hair shining as they admired the bright moon.

Thus, Izumi lived out a false lifetime within the genjutsu.

"How pathetic." Just as Izumi was lost in the genjutsu world, unable to pull herself free, a cool voice laced with mockery suddenly rang out.

Izumi abruptly woke within the genjutsu world.

A black-robed figure wearing a Fox Mask sat quietly beside her, looking up at the moon.

"Who are you?!" Izumi sprang up on instinct like a startled wild kitten.

The mysterious person turned his head slightly. A teasing gaze showed through the holes of his mask as he looked at Izumi. "Are you still going to immerse yourself in the Mangekyō's genjutsu? Your eyes might be able to stop all of this."

"No! This is a genjutsu!" Izumi finally realized that this was not the real world at all.

"Your reaction is too slow." Menma was somewhat puzzled as well.

Among the Uchiha who had awakened their eyes, Izumi was undoubtedly the youngest known to have done so.

At only five years old, Izumi witnessed her father's death on the Night of the Nine-Tails. Overwhelmed by grief, she awakened her Sharingan. Even Itachi had envied her for it.

Itachi Uchiha awakened his eyes at eight, Sasuke Uchiha at seven, Shisui at seven, while Obito and Madara had both done so at around twelve.

By the time of the Uchiha Clan Downfall Night, twelve-year-old Izumi had already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

In terms of talent, Izumi should not have been much inferior to Shisui or Itachi.

Yet after the early-awakened Izumi moved back to the Uchiha clan grounds with her mother, she received no attention. Even with three tomoe, she was still only an ordinary Genin.

When Menma had been planning how to arrange the Uchiha Clan Downfall Night, he had thought of Izumi Uchiha, this rather unusual Uchiha clanswoman with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Despite awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, she was still a Genin. Every day, the missions she accepted involved either helping a daimyo's wife care for her pets or assisting nobles and officials of the Land of Fire with moving.

Who knew what kind of stimulation she had experienced, or when she had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Menma was merely curious about what sort of emotional turmoil and reaction this gentle Uchiha woman, who valued feelings so deeply, would display upon witnessing the Uchiha clan being slaughtered.

"Then let's continue." Menma slowly rose to his feet. After leaving those words behind, his figure faded away and vanished from the genjutsu world.

In an instant, Izumi Uchiha felt as though the sky and earth had turned dark. The courtyard before her and the blood-soaked scene changed once more.

She was still seated on the bank of the Naka River. The water babbled softly, while a flock of geese flew across the sky.

It was still early, and the Three-color Dango in her hand retained a trace of warmth.

"That sneaky person..." Izumi hurriedly got to her feet. Of course, she did not believe Itachi would slaughter his own clan. Her first thought was to report this to the Konoha Military Police Force.

After eating the skewer of Three-color Dango in her hand, Izumi hurried toward the Konoha Military Police Force building.

"Though I don't know what that person is trying to do, it must be something harmful to the Uchiha clan!" Izumi was frantic.

Yet she failed to notice that the sky was growing darker and darker.

By the time Izumi arrived before the Konoha Military Police Force building, night had completely fallen. The building was pitch-black inside, without a single lamp lit.

"Strange, where are Uncle Yashiro and Uncle Tekka?" Izumi panted lightly. Just as she was about to enter the Konoha Military Police Force building, she caught the scent of blood.

This sudden change made Izumi tense up once more. She had barely drawn her kunai when a deep voice sounded from the front entrance of the police force building.

"Those eyes really are beautiful." A mysterious man wearing a Tiger-Patterned One-Eyed Mask slowly walked out through the entrance.

"He's different from the previous mysterious person..." Izumi had no time to think. She threw the kunai in her hand, then drew two shuriken and hurled them at the Tiger-Striped Mask Man.

Whoosh, whoosh—

Clang, clang—

Yet the kunai and shuriken passed straight through the Tiger-Striped Mask Man's body and embedded themselves in a pillar.

"How is that possible?!" Izumi stared in shock as the masked man raised his head slightly.

Their eyes met, and through the single eyehole of the tiger-patterned mask, Izumi vaguely saw a Sharingan!

Knowing she was no match for him, Izumi turned and fled.

But an iron chain shot toward her at high speed, binding Izumi as she tried to escape.

"Itachi! Save me!" When faced with death, the first person Izumi thought of was still Itachi.

A short blade pierced through Izumi's body. She felt her life draining away, until darkness finally swallowed her vision completely.

Quack! Quack! Quack!

A chorus of ducks woke Izumi with a start.

The scene before her had returned to the bank of the Naka River.

Having experienced "death" once, Izumi was drenched in cold sweat and gasped for breath.

"A genjutsu? Another genjutsu?" Izumi trembled as she hurriedly activated her Sharingan and circulated the chakra within her body. Everything seemed normal; she could not sense any interference with her chakra.

"Multiple genjutsu? Who is it?!" Izumi looked around in every direction, but there was no sign of anyone else along this riverbank.

"Those two mysterious people? Are they both targeting the Uchiha?" Izumi set the Three-color Dango aside, thinking of the two mysterious figures with different masks whom she had encountered within the genjutsu.

And the scene of Itachi slaughtering the old and young members of his clan.

"Damn it!" Izumi rose, intending to go to the Konoha Military Police Force, but she feared she was still inside the genjutsu world. The moment she took a step, her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

So Izumi turned and ran toward the center of the village.

"Lord Hokage... Only Lord Hokage can..." Izumi placed her last hope in the Third Hokage.

As she ran, the sky darkened again.

Two masked ninja suddenly appeared in front of Izumi.

"I want to see..." Before Izumi could finish speaking, two flashes of cold light swept past, and the ninja's swords viciously stabbed into her abdomen.

Izumi's face filled with disbelief as she collapsed in agony. Her scattered black hair was dyed red with blood.

The last words she vaguely heard were—

"Orders from above! Do not let a single Uchiha escape!"