The lights in the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters had gone out, plunging the building into darkness. Far fewer people had been saved here than expected.
Uchiha bodies lay strewn across the floor. Blood poured from their wounds and spread across the cold ground in dark red pools. The air was thick with the smell of blood, mingled with the scent of soaked wooden floorboards.
Menma sighed softly and walked toward the only two Uchiha members left unconscious in a corner. According to Shisui, they were the only doves in the entire force. Every other member was a staunch hawk.
It was hardly surprising. The nature of their work brought the police force into frequent conflict with Konoha's villagers. Over time, the villagers' rejection and hostility had only deepened. In such an adversarial environment, the idea of changing things through a coup was almost inevitable.
If anything, it was remarkable that two doves remained.
Menma deftly finished the cleanup. First, he made the two doves appear convincingly dead. Then he carefully removed the Sharingan from every hawk.
When the last pair of Sharingan went into a jar of nutrient solution, the first stage of tonight's mission was finally complete.
Menma stood in the bloodstained hall of the Konoha Military Police Force and looked into the distance. In the darkness, he could only wonder whether his judgment had been right.
Things were fundamentally different from the original story. In the original timeline, Fugaku Uchiha had completely lost his ability to suppress the calls for a coup within the clan. The hawks had pushed him so far that, however reluctant he was as Clan Head, the coup was inevitable.
This time, though, the massacre had come a full year later. The tragedy that should have happened when Naruto was eight was only