The Uchiha Massacre Begins

Although the Uchiha Clan lived in an extremely remote area, the Uchiha ninja were not blind.

Since yesterday, they had reported every unusual development they discovered and spontaneously begun gathering all clan members back in the clan compound to prepare for danger.

Early that morning, an endless stream of abnormalities in Konoha was reported by the Uchiha ninja to clan head Fugaku Uchiha.

At noon, every Jonin of the Uchiha Clan gathered in the conference room of the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters, anxiously awaiting the clan head's decision.

After reading all the intelligence, Fugaku Uchiha faced danger signals so abnormal they were practically an open warning, yet he said nothing. He even returned home alone.

Then he shut the door and refused to see anyone.

Elders such as Shifo Uchiha and Setsuna Uchiha, as well as Jonin loyal to the clan head like Inabi Uchiha and Tekka Uchiha, all wore livid expressions.

The moment of passionate outrage had passed. Now, every Uchiha Jonin felt only despair and fury.

Shifo Uchiha cursed bitterly, "He never should have been made clan head!"

Thus, the Uchiha Jonin stopped paying attention to their clan head and convened an emergency meeting on their own.

But Uchiha ninja were born to follow the strong. They would not submit to elders who were not obviously stronger than themselves.

No matter what they did, they could not reach a consensus. More and more differing opinions were raised, until by nightfall there were twelve proposals in all.

Even the most popular proposal had the support of only six Jonin.

The two elders, Shifo Uchiha and Setsuna Uchiha, were so angered by their own clansmen that they felt dizzy. Yet neither could agree with the other's proposal, so cooperation was utterly impossible.

Precious time was wasted in arguments.

The Uchiha ninja were so engrossed in their quarrel that no one noticed Uchiha Itachi had quietly left long ago.

The thirteen-year-old Jonin first returned home, changed into Konoha Jonin combat gear, put on his Konoha forehead protector, and took all his weapons and ninja tools.

Fully armed, he then came outside the walls of the Uchiha Clan compound and met Shimura Danzō.

Danzo, with one eye covered, concealed his disgust and killing intent as he asked, "Are all the Uchiha Jonin here?"

Uchiha Itachi answered blankly, "All the Jonin have returned. Not just the Jonin—every Uchiha ninja who has awakened their Sharingan has returned. Only some civilians on the outskirts, who barely count as clan members, have not come back."

Shimura Danzō snorted coldly. "Give me a list of those who haven't returned. I'll deal with them."

"But how exactly I deal with them will depend on whether you can handle things cleanly tonight."

Uchiha Itachi opened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and stared at Shimura Danzō. "Just make sure the compound is surrounded. Don't let anyone escape."

"If you or your men dare enter the compound before dawn, I'll kill you too."

Shimura Danzō said disdainfully, "First fulfill what you promised, then talk big. Don't kill only half of them and need me to save you."

Uchiha Itachi did not argue. He simply turned and returned to the Uchiha compound.

As he reached the outside of the Konoha Military Police Force building, a hoarse voice suddenly chuckled. "Hehehe, you've finally made up your mind to eliminate this rotten clan?"

"Everyone inside is an elite Jonin with Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Can you really kill them all alone?"

"Want me to help?"

Uchiha Itachi did not turn around. He only said coldly, "Go do your job. This is mine."

A ninja carrying a long-handled scythe linked to chains emerged from the shadows. Wearing a white mask, he shook his head. "Honestly, you snatched the most interesting job and threw the most tedious one to an old man."

"Fine, fine. Let's see where I should start killing."

The Uchiha Jonin continued arguing. The rattling sound of the sliding door was not particularly harsh.

But when the fully armed Uchiha Itachi entered, the bloody scent from the blood dripping off him was more than stimulating enough. The corpses of the Uchiha Chunin guards outside the door made it even clearer what he had done.

The meeting room instantly fell silent. Thirty-two Three-Tomoe Sharingan eyes belonging to the Uchiha Jonin met Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan, and the hostility between them was no longer concealed in the slightest.

The hot-tempered Setsuna Uchiha drew a kunai and roared, "You! You really are a traitor to the clan!"

The tomoe in Uchiha Itachi's eyes spun rapidly. His ocular power swelled madly, creating an irresistible pressure.

A contest between Uchiha was a contest of Sharingan ocular power. The Jonin attacked by Uchiha Itachi had no choice but to raise their ocular power with all their strength to resist him.

Suddenly, they saw the tomoe in Uchiha Itachi's eyes disappear—and they lost control of their own bodies as well.

The Uchiha's Sharingan suppressed other ninja with tremendous force, but the Mangekyō Sharingan's suppression of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was even stronger—more than ten times stronger.

Facing the Uchiha Jonin who had lost control of their bodies, Uchiha Itachi raised the blood-soaked ninja blade in his hand.

Uchiha Itachi was only thirteen. Though he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, his experience and strength were insufficient to achieve perfect suppression.

As a result, the sounds he made during the slaughter were far from quiet. Shazo, who had infiltrated the Uchiha compound, heard them clearly.

He did not go to stop Uchiha Itachi.

The Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō were the chief culprits behind the Uchiha massacre, while the Uchiha Clan's upper ranks had mostly responded passively.

Shazo knew that most of them had been forced into it, and he felt considerable sympathy for them.

But during his investigations over the past period, Shazo discovered that the Uchiha Clan's Jonin and elders were not entirely innocent. They truly had prepared for a coup and decided to act.

Had they not chosen such a terrible clan head and delayed until Uchiha Itachi exterminated the clan, the Uchiha truly would have launched a coup and dragged Konoha into the abyss of civil war.

From Shazo's perspective, the stance of the Uchiha Clan's upper ranks had changed. They were now his enemies.

So, after watching the Konoha Military Police Force building from the roof of a tall structure for a while, he continued swiftly searching through the Uchiha compound.

Shazo was searching for traces of Obito Uchiha.

Uchiha Itachi was slaughtering the Uchiha Clan's Jonin at the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters, but who was massacring the Uchiha Clan's Chunin, Genin, and civilians?

Root?

Impossible. Uchiha ninja were not that fragile. Root lacked the strength to silently wipe out all the Uchiha Chunin.

Only Obito Uchiha, who could appear and vanish unpredictably through Kamui, could accomplish it.

The Kamui Dimension was too troublesome. Even the Fourth Hokage, who was proficient in space-time ninjutsu, had been unable to track Obito Uchiha.

To protect Uchiha Izumi, Shazo could only patrol everywhere as quickly as possible.

Shazo's efforts were not in vain. He soon found Obito Uchiha, because that man had not concealed himself at all and was openly walking down the street.