The Wonders of the Book of Vermilion Moon

After who knew how many awakenings, Izumi found herself back on the banks of the Naka River once again.

The setting sun dyed the sky red. Geese flew across the twilight, while a flock of ducks played in the river, their quacks ringing out in bursts.

Having been "killed" countless times, Izumi's eyes had gradually gone numb.

Under the relentless barrage of genjutsu, she could no longer tell whether this was reality or an illusion.

On the first Uchiha Clan Downfall Night, she was killed by Itachi's Tsukuyomi within the Uchiha compound;

On the second Uchiha Clan Downfall Night, she tried to seek help from the Konoha Military Police Force, only to find that it too had been attacked. In the end, she was killed by the Tiger-Striped Mask Man.

On the third Uchiha Clan Downfall Night, she tried to seek help from the village, but before she could even leave the clan compound, she was intercepted and killed by a group of masked ninja.

After that, Izumi Uchiha was trapped in an endless cycle of the clan downfall night. No matter how she struggled, she could not escape the compound or this endless cycle of massacre.

So, Izumi decided to seek help within the compound and uncover the truth.

She ran through every corner of the compound, even visiting the clan head's residence, only to witness again and again the nightmare of Itachi Uchiha slaughtering his clansmen, sparing neither the elderly nor the weak, neither women nor children.

She also tried rushing to the Konoha Military Police Force ahead of time to find more people who could help, but no matter how fast she hurried, she could never arrive before the massacre began.

Either the Tiger-Striped Mask Man had bathed the police force in blood, or Itachi Uchiha had slaughtered the entire compound.

No matter who it was, no one could escape. The shackles of fate seemed to have been decided long ago.

Even her own mother...

The only thing that confused Izumi was that the mysterious person wearing the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask had never appeared again after first showing up in her genjutsu world.

Instead, Itachi Uchiha and the mysterious person who massacred the Konoha Military Police Force appeared every single time.

"Who... exactly was that guy..." After enduring one clan downfall night after another in an endless cycle, Izumi finally realized that the key to this genjutsu world had most likely been created by the mysterious person she had encountered the first time.

"What was his purpose in giving me this genjutsu world? Would the Uchiha... truly be wiped out?" Without realizing it, the inevitable conclusion of the "Uchiha Clan Downfall Night" had already been planted deep in Izumi's heart.

She just could not understand why it had to be Itachi! How could it possibly be Itachi?!

Unable to figure it out, Izumi gathered her courage once more and headed solemnly toward the clan compound.

She was determined to uncover the truth behind the clan downfall night and find a way to break this genjutsu world.

Yet when she cautiously arrived at the Uchiha compound, she found that the sun had only just set.

"Oh, isn't that Izumi? You're back." Grandma Kuna came over from afar, holding her grandson Keiju's hand as she smiled and waved at Izumi.

"Izumi!" Little Keiju bounced toward her.

"Good evening, Grandma Kuna, Keiju..." Izumi's voice caught in her throat, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

After her father died, she had moved into the Uchiha compound with her mother and taken the Uchiha surname.

Over the past three years, she had been accepted by the Uchiha, a clan that valued bloodline and family ties. The clansmen had treated her as one of their own.

Although she had not performed particularly well at the Ninja Academy and had no plans to become a Chunin, as an Uchiha ninja who had awakened the Sharingan, she received all the clan benefits and allowances she was entitled to.

"Izumi, why are your eyes so red?" Grandma Kuna stepped closer and lovingly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you having trouble adjusting now that you've started your ninja career? Come eat at Grandma's tonight. I'll make something tasty to celebrate you becoming a ninja!"

"Yeah! Come with us, Izumi!" Keiju happily circled around her.

"Thank you, Grandma Kuna. I just..." Izumi wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Feeling this warm family affection, she was terrified that this, too, would turn out to be another endless cycle of the clan downfall night.

Trembling with unease, Izumi followed Grandma Kuna and Keiju to their home as a guest.

She forced herself to stay alert, keeping her guard up with every ounce of focus.

But from the time Aunt Kuna prepared a lavish meal, to after dinner when Izumi played games with Keiju for a while, until she said goodbye to Grandma Kuna and Keiju, nothing happened.

As she hurried home, lights dotted the streets of the compound. Children played joyfully in the neighborhoods and alleys, their laughter drifting on the breeze, while adults out for walks chatted in small groups.

After returning home, Izumi opened the door, nervous and lost.

"Izumi, you're back." Her mother, Hazuki Uchiha, emerged from the kitchen.

"Mom..." Seeing that her mother was still alive, Izumi could no longer restrain her emotions. She threw herself into Hazuki's arms and burst into tears.

"You silly child." Hazuki Uchiha merely thought that her daughter had suffered some grievance while on a mission. She gently stroked her daughter's long hair and softly comforted her.

"The Book of Vermilion Moon really is useful." Beneath the night sky, on a rooftop somewhere within the Uchiha compound, Menma reclined against the ridge and quietly watched Izumi Uchiha in the distance.

Moonlight coated his White Three-Eyed Fox Mask in a cold sheen, while the night wind stirred his fur collar.

Mini-Kurama poked her head out from his collar, clutching an opened bamboo scroll and looking it over from side to side.

"Menma, there's nothing in this scroll?" Mini-Kurama turned it over and over with a puzzled expression, searching for ages without finding even a single word on the bamboo slip.

"Because it's the Book of Vermilion Moon." Menma chuckled and took the bamboo scroll from Mini-Kurama's hands.

After Mini-Kurama revived in Menma's spiritual world, Menma arranged the environment there so she could have a better living space within his mind.

By chance, he discovered the Book of Vermilion Moon in the depths of that spiritual world.

After some exploration, Menma discovered that this wordless bamboo scroll, the "Book of Vermilion Moon," contained the essence of the Limited Tsukuyomi World. It could be used as a ninja tool to cast genjutsu comparable to Tsukuyomi, and while holding it, he could make all sorts of adjustments to the illusion world, causing people to sink into layers upon layers of genjutsu.

Even now, Menma had yet to discover the limits of the Book of Vermilion Moon.

The Book of Vermilion Moon also came with resistance against genjutsu, allowing Menma to become immune to certain illusions and resist the Sharingan's genjutsu.

With the Book of Vermilion Moon making up for Menma's weakness in genjutsu, dealing with Itachi Uchiha in the future would become somewhat easier as well.

"You seem really interested in that girl, Menma?" Mini-Kurama tilted her head, somewhat curious about this Uchiha clanswoman she had never seen before.

"I just wanted to see whether she had any value I could use." Menma truly had never seen her in the Limited Tsukuyomi World.

If the Limited Tsukuyomi World was the opposite of reality, then Izumi's father had most likely not died during the Night of the Nine-Tails. That meant he probably had not awakened the Sharingan, she likely had not moved back to the compound with her mother, and she would never have met Itachi Uchiha.

There were still several years until the clan downfall night. In Menma's plans, there were three Uchiha he might be able to use.

Izumi was merely one of them.

"Her Sharingan really is beautiful." Remembering Obito's assessment of Izumi, Menma found himself looking forward to seeing her Sharingan as well.