The Commotion Finally Explodes

Obito Uchiha suspected he had been caught in a genjutsu, or perhaps he was dreaming.

So he first tried to dispel the genjutsu, but to no avail.

Then he punched himself, confirming through the pain that he was not dreaming.

Obito Uchiha clenched his newly regenerated teeth, forced his nearly trembling body under control, and roared, "Who the hell are you?"

Nothing being out of the ordinary was the most terrifying thing of all.

Knowing the enemy was absurdly powerful, Obito stopped being stubborn. After retreating several hundred meters, he cautiously left the Kamui Dimension through a vortex.

Once he confirmed that distance was safe, Obito Uchiha finally let out a breath.

Over the years, Obito had long grown accustomed to treating the Kamui Dimension as his fallback, his safest sanctuary.

He came and went through the Kamui Dimension, appearing and vanishing mysteriously as he showed off and intimidated others.

He had even dragged enemies into the Kamui Dimension before killing them. Obito had never imagined that one day, an enemy would trap him inside the Kamui Dimension, leaving him unable to get out no matter what he did.

For one brief moment, he had found the Kamui Dimension terrifying. It was as frightening as an empty wilderness, and he had desperately wanted to escape.

Obito Uchiha secretly swore, After tonight, I'm storing enough food and water in there, along with a comfortable bed.

If I meet an enemy like this again, I'll outlast him until he dies!

Then he changed out of his bloodstained clothes and striped mask, putting on the large cloak he wore when deceiving people and a new orange, single-eyed spiral-patterned mask.

He tossed all his dirty clothing into the Kamui Dimension, entered Hollowfication, sank into the ground, and quietly returned to the battlefield.

"Damn bastard, have a taste of being pierced by Wood Release!"

After their battle, Shazo had figured out Obito Uchiha's limits and was confident he could seal off Kamui's movements at close range.

So Shazo stopped patrolling around and instead stayed beside Uchiha Izumi, allowing her and the other Uchiha Ninja to organize the clan members' evacuation.

Besides, most of these Uchiha were not ninjas. Nearly half of them were children too young to understand what was happening.

With enough confidence in himself, and knowing he could save them just by reaching out a hand, Shazo did not think himself cold-hearted enough to let Obito Uchiha or Root slaughter them.

The Uchiha group was in complete chaos. Adults shouted for missing family members, children cried for their mothers, and elderly people endlessly complained about Clan Head Fugaku.

Inside his office, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the disorderly procession through his crystal ball. His pipe fell to the floor, but he did not even notice.

He murmured, "Something huge is about to happen..."

Not far outside the Uchiha compound, Shimura Danzō witnessed the scene with his own eyes. He stood frozen for a full minute before furiously cursing, "Those evil Uchiha are this useless?!"

Uchiha Itachi and that man claiming to be Madara Uchiha had both awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. They were true Kage-level Ninja, and among the stronger ones at that.

In particular, the Mangekyō Sharingan possessed absolute suppression over ordinary Sharingan. Killing Uchiha Clan Jonin should have been as easy as crushing Genin.

With two Mangekyō Sharingan working together, plus the advantage of launching a surprise attack, they should have been enough to wipe out more than three hundred Uchiha Clan ninja.

How had they failed to kill all the Uchiha civilians, even allowing them to gather into an escape party?

Following his own way of thinking, Shimura Danzō concluded that the two evil Uchiha had done it deliberately, specifically to cause trouble for him and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

In his mind, he pictured the two Uchiha staring at him with blood-red eyes and evil smiles, smugly saying: We killed all the Uchiha ninja. What about you?

You can't just do nothing and reap all the benefits, can you?

So, we sent the ordinary Uchiha out.

Will you kill them all and stain your hands with the blood of Konoha's people like us, or spare those innocent civilians and let tonight's events be exposed?

Shimura Danzō cursed again, "The Uchiha Clan is evil by nature. This filthy, evil bloodline must be completely eradicated!"

"Hmph, you underestimate me. I am the darkness of the ninja world, the root of Konoha!"

"For Konoha, I do not care if my hands are stained with blood!"

Shimura Danzō raised his left hand. "Root ninja, prepare for battle!"

"Tonight, we will personally destroy the evil Uchiha Clan and completely erase this stain from Konoha!"

Shazo sensed killing intent rising from outside the Uchiha compound—cold, deathly still, yet filled with strange fervor.

That killing intent did not belong to one person, but to a large group of ninja. It was so intense and undisguised that the surviving Uchiha Ninja soon sensed it as well.

They stepped out from the noisy crowd and stood behind the tall Shazo.

All the Uchiha Ninja lined up. Whether they had awakened the Sharingan or not, they pushed their chakra as hard as they could and released their strongest presence, separating the killing intent from the clan members behind them.

Root and the Uchiha Clan survivors faced each other across the wall, and battle could erupt at any moment.

Just as Shazo was considering whether to reveal his Wood Release early, Uchiha Itachi suddenly appeared by the wall, standing atop a utility pole.

He was deeply surprised that the man calling himself Madara Uchiha had failed to complete the clan's extermination.

But what shocked him even more was that the Uchiha Ninja were confronting Root ninja.

Uchiha Itachi would never allow the Uchiha and Root to fight.

In his view, if Uchiha Ninja killed Root ninja belonging to the village tonight, then the Uchiha Clan's extermination would no longer be pure and unblemished.

If the clan's destruction was stained with the blood of Konoha Ninja, how could his beloved younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke, continue living in Konoha as the perfect victim?

And the new Uchiha Clan Sasuke would rebuild in the future would likewise be unable to remain absolutely pure because of that trace of blood.

Would that not mean Uchiha Itachi had killed so many clan members and even his own parents for nothing, and borne such monstrous sins in vain?

No. Absolutely not!

The Uchiha Clan members had to be killed by him or that scheming man!

Their deaths had to remain "absolutely pure"!

At that thought, Uchiha Itachi drew his ninja sword from behind his back.

That sword had cut down too many people tonight, and its edge had already chipped somewhat.

The blood on the blade had been wiped away, but beneath the moonlight, it still reflected a faint bloody hue, as though the blood had completely seeped into the steel.

Seeing Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Izumi did not recognize him at first and called out in delight, "Hey, come over here! There's an enemy!"

Shazo reached out and stopped Izumi before she could say anything more. He said coldly, "Don't call out. That's Uchiha Itachi."

After hearing him clearly, Uchiha Izumi jumped in fright and quickly hid behind her brother.

But the other surviving Uchiha Ninja could not believe Shazo's words. "How is that possible? He's Itachi!"

Shazo pointed at Uchiha Itachi, who had drawn his ninja sword. "Look at the blood on him and his equipment. Look at his eyes. Look at what he's doing now. Feel the killing intent he's giving off."

Uchiha Itachi's breathing was unstable. Though he appeared somewhat weak, he reeked of blood.

Clearly, he had killed people—a great many people.

Only one powerful and terrifying enemy had appeared inside the Uchiha compound. It did not take much thought to figure out whom Uchiha Itachi had killed.

The Uchiha Ninja did not want to believe it, but they had no choice. Tears of panic streamed down their faces.