Night of Extermination

Night. Silent.

The villagers had long since fallen asleep. In a world like the Hokage's, with little in the way of entertainment, nightlife simply didn't exist.

Just like in ancient times on Earth, people rose with the sun and rested at sunset. As soon as it got dark, they headed home early, shut the doors, turned off the lights, and worked hard to add new members to the world.

Only a few ninjas still patrolled the streets, guarding the village's safety.

Narak found this pretty puzzling. This world had electric lights, cameras, and plenty of advanced tech, yet no TVs or phones. It was like the world's tech tree had grown crooked—really strange!

In the end, Narak chalked it up to the original author's world-building quirks.

Right now, Narak sat on a rooftop, staring blankly at the star-filled sky, a bottle of '82 Thunder Pop in his hand, taking a sip now and then.

He'd been pretty resistant to the food he got from the system check-ins at first. Just the name alone screamed knockoff counterfeit.

But then one time, he used Naruto as a guinea pig. After drinking it, Naruto fell completely in love with the stuff, pestering Narak for Thunder Pop all day long. Unable to resist his curiosity, Narak took a taste.

And then... he found out this Thunder Pop tasted even better than the real thing from his past life.

One sip, and it was true "chill to the bone, heart soaring." Forget the heart—it felt like his whole soul was about to take flight. After that, Narak was hopelessly hooked on Thunder Pop.

"Eight years... eight whole years since I came to this world."

Narak muttered to himself, sitting on the roof.

As for why he ended up in this world, he'd long since learned from the system.

That night, he was sound asleep at home when a small meteorite flew in from space, smashed through the wall, and nailed him square in the middle of his sleep. Poor Narak was killed on the spot by the meteorite in his dreams.

And the meteorite carried the system!

As for the system's origin, according to itself, it was born from the world's will, specially picking lucky individuals to take across worlds and make them stronger.

And Narak was the lucky one this system had chosen.

Narak silently rolled his eyes at that explanation.

So you kill me, and I'm supposed to thank you... you damn system, you think I can't take you to court for murder?

Still, in his past life, Narak had no attachments—one person, one full belly, no one else to worry about. He was just a useless loser anyway, so there was nothing worth missing.

"Take things as they come. I can't go back anyway, and getting stronger through training here isn't bad. Isn't this exactly the daydream I used to have in my past life?" Narak could only console himself.

"Speaking of which, I've been in this world for eight years now. I'm at Chunin level, which is just cannon fodder on the battlefield. I need to find a way to get stronger."

"From all these years of check-in experience, the only way to power up is through major event check-ins. As for those, the Chunin Exams in four years count, and later Pain destroying Konoha counts. What else was there?"

Narak racked his brain, trying to recall the plot from his past life, but it had been too long, and a lot of it was fuzzy.

"Ah... forget it. If I can't remember, I won't bother. I'll just save my check-in every day, use it on a big event if I run into one, and if not, I'll do it before bed. That way I won't miss it, right? Hmph..."

"Whatever, let's just check in now and go to sleep. Finally finished a mission without having to watch my back, so I can get a good night's rest."

Narak downed the last of his Thunder Pop, stood up, and stretched.

"System, I want to check—"

Before he could finish, the corner of his eye caught a few flashes of white light in the distance. It was too dark to see clearly, but with his Intermediate Byakugan's terrifying eyesight, he could tell it was the glint of weapons.

"Isn't that the Uchiha Clan Compound? Strange, what are they doing out this late?"

Narak shook his head, initially planning to ignore it, but his curiosity got the better of him. He moved, darting toward the Uchiha compound.

Narak arrived outside the Uchiha Clan Compound. The main gate was tightly shut, and not even a guard was posted at the entrance. That struck him as even stranger.

"What's going on? The Uchiha don't even have gate guards? Do they really think they're Konoha's top clan, untouchable?"

Narak thought to himself.

But then he noticed something off—a faint smell of blood drifting in the air.

"Something's wrong. Something's happened to the Uchiha."

Narak made a snap judgment.

"Byakugan—activate."

He activated his Byakugan and peered into the compound. All walls became transparent under its gaze, and his sight pierced straight through to see what was inside.

Then he saw a horrifying sight.

Lying scattered across the Uchiha compound were bodies, every single one killed with a single slash based on their wounds.

"Who? Who dares to kill inside Konoha? And they're killing members of the Uchiha, the village's top clan?"

Narak's heart churned with doubt and fear.

At that moment, he was torn and started to think about backing off and leaving.

After all, if the enemy dared to storm the Uchiha compound—the so-called strongest clan in Konoha, a reputation not earned lightly, filled with elite fighters—then what chance did a mere Chunin like him have? Running into them would just mean death.

Just as Narak hesitated, footsteps echoed from the road in the distance.

He quickly ducked into a corner to peek, and saw that the newcomer was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, known on the streets as Second Pillar.

"Is Second Pillar not at home? If he goes back now, it'll be dangerous... Should I stop him?" Narak's heart churned with hesitation.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Narak, as if something had occurred to him.

"Wait, in the original story, Second Pillar comes home late at night and finds his entire clan slaughtered, with the killer being his own older brother, Uchiha Itachi."

"Hiss... Could it be tonight?"

The more Narak thought about it, the more likely it seemed—otherwise, with the Uchiha Clan's strength, who could silently kill people within their ranks?

Just as Narak was lost in thought, Second Pillar pushed open the door and walked inside. Moments later, his panicked cries echoed from within.

"Should I go in and take a look..." Narak hesitated for a moment, then steeled his resolve.

"Screw it, great fortune comes with great risk. I'll slip in, check in, and leave. The Uchiha Clan's annihilation is definitely a major event—the rewards from checking in won't be small. Even if I get spotted, with the speed of Flash Step, I might not get caught by Uchiha Itachi."

Having made up his mind, Narak silently crept into the compound.