Uchiha Ingetsu

[One hour until the Night of the Clan Annihilation]

A full moon hung in the night sky, its clear light casting a silver sheen over the buildings and streets of Konohagakure in the Land of Fire.

Uchiha Compound.

Police Force prison.

On the rooftop, blood flowed like a river. The bodies of the Uchiha Police Force members lay scattered everywhere. Blood streamed from their eye sockets, and all of them had lost their Sharingan.

In the middle of the corpse pile.

A young man stood there in the Uchiha Police Force's ninja uniform. He had short black hair and handsome features, and he held a Ninja Blade in his hand. His posture was straight and imposing.

[Side Quest: Evolve the Sharingan]

[Condition: Absorb the Pupil Power of 50 pairs of Sharingan]

[Quest Complete]

[Reward: Yachihoko—Mangekyo]

Uchiha Ingetsu gasped heavily. Suddenly, the three tomoe in his eye began to spin, transforming into three sharp, blade-shaped Mangekyo.

The Pupil Power in his brain surged. It was violent and chaotic, forcibly flooding into every neural pathway in his mind like a waterfall, filling them to the brim.

Blood vessels covered Ingetsu's eyes. He breathed through both his nose and mouth and needed only a dozen seconds to adapt to this spiritual power, which contained a destructive and ferocious aura.

His entire demeanor became sinister.

An explanation of the ability surfaced automatically in his mind.

Yachihoko:

"By making eye contact, the Mangekyo's Chakra can ignore distance—or, through physical contact, plant a mark on another person. The mark can then connect to and control that person's mind and Chakra at will!"

The corners of Ingetsu's lips lifted.

He crouched down.

He placed all the Sharingan he held in both hands into a cylindrical container filled with liquid.

The scarlet eyeballs were packed tightly together, staring in every direction through the glass walls of the cylinder like indescribably bizarre creatures.

Then.

He sealed the container inside a Storage Scroll.

A week had passed since he crossed over to Konoha.

With the help of the [System Quests], he had finally obtained the identity marker of a powerful figure in the Shinobi World: the Mangekyo Sharingan!

Although the Mangekyo's abilities remained to be tested, he now possessed the qualifications to defect from Konoha.

At that moment, there was still one living person in the corner.

Uchiha Inabi leaned against the wall, covered in blood. He glared at the scene with his only remaining Three Tomoe eye and said through a tremble:

"Uchiha Ingetsu, as one of the Police Force captains, you murdered your clansmen to awaken the Mangekyo. You definitely won't come to a good end!!"

Ingetsu tucked the scroll into his robes. After estimating the time, he walked toward Inabi and crouched before him.

"The Uchiha patrol should arrive here in about a minute.

"I can have a chat with you.

"Inabi.

"You reported me for contacting an S-Rank Rogue Ninja.

"Then you had me locked up.

"After that, you took over all my positions in the Police Force and came here to provoke me.

"That whole process must have felt pretty good, right?"

Inabi lowered his head without speaking, his whole body trembling.

He had indeed come to the dungeon tonight.

He had wanted to use the torture instruments in the Uchiha dungeon to teach Ingetsu—a man who usually appeared refined and gentle but secretly colluded with rogue ninjas and had become a prisoner—a lesson.

As long as he did not torture him to death.

Clan Head Fugaku would not blame him.

But when Ingetsu saw him, he had exploded without warning, awakened the Three Tomoe, and fought his way out of the dungeon.

With a single man and a single blade, he had slaughtered every guard stationed at the Uchiha Police Force prison, like a demon gone mad.

Ingetsu's strength had exceeded Inabi's imagination.

"You got one thing wrong. I didn't kill them in order to awaken the Mangekyo. Normally, even if I killed them, I wouldn't have been able to awaken the Mangekyo."

Ingetsu spoke, fell silent for a moment, and then smiled.

"Oh, right. The reason you were able to intercept my letters to the rogue ninja was because I deliberately left an opening for you."

Inabi's pupils widened. As he carefully recalled the entire affair and connected the details one by one, he understood many things. His face turned ashen.

"The clansmen guarding the dungeon tonight are your subordinates, and the three patrol teams arriving soon are led by Izumi, Nanfeng, and Tamao. I arranged all of their duty rotations before I was imprisoned."

As he spoke, Ingetsu slowly rose and added:

"I know your personality very well. You wouldn't have come to attack me unless your people were stationed both inside and outside the dungeon."

As the two spoke on the rooftop, nine dark figures leaped across the densely packed rooftops beneath the moonlit sky, rapidly closing in.

"What exactly are you doing this for?!"

Inabi roared with all his strength.

He wanted to stall for time.

He wanted to wait for his clansmen to arrive.

Ingetsu withdrew his gaze from the nine distant figures and reached out to pat Inabi on the shoulder, as if bidding a final farewell to an old friend.

"So I can survive in the Shinobi World.

"Don't worry.

"I don't like owing people favors. From now on, I am the Uchiha. As long as I live, the Uchiha will be able to continue existing in the Shinobi World with dignity."

After speaking, Ingetsu did not linger. He slid his Ninja Blade into the sheath on his back, walked to the edge of the rooftop, spread his arms, and fell backward toward the ground, leaving behind one final remark:

"Inabi, open wide your only remaining Three Tomoe and see clearly what is about to happen in the Uchiha Compound!!"

During the fall, Ingetsu completed a backflip in midair and landed steadily in a half-crouch. He then used the Body Flicker Technique, leaping along the streets toward the forest at the edge of the hidden village.

"After killing so many clansmen, you actually claim it was for the Uchiha... You won't escape. Clan Head Fugaku and Itachi won't let you off!"

Inabi's heart had turned to ash. His lips moved as he muttered weakly.

Whoosh—

Nine ninja figures wearing the uniforms of the Konoha Military Police Force landed beside Inabi one after another.

The nine men and women looked around. In an instant, their scalps prickled, and their faces filled with shock and confusion. They all froze in place.

The corpses of their clansmen covered the rooftop, the stairs, and the streets near the Police Force dungeon.

The stench of blood filled the air.

Most of the corpses had died from a single clean strike to a vital point, without any unnecessary wounds.

It was the first time the nine of them had seen the Uchiha clan pay such a disastrous price in battle.

Inabi widened his only remaining Three Tomoe eye. When he clearly saw the captains of the three arriving patrol teams, his heart sank completely.

Leading them were precisely the people Ingetsu had mentioned: Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Nanpu, and Uchiha Tamio.

"This... what exactly happened here?"

Izumi's face was deathly pale. She stood rooted to the spot, at a loss, as if she might collapse at any moment.

She had waist-length hair and a pair of beautiful, large eyes. A beauty mark rested beneath the outer corner of her right eye. Now, disbelief and terror filled her gaze.

"Ingetsu killed them."

Inabi spoke weakly.

Izumi's entire body trembled.

The image of the captain who had guided her growth surfaced in her mind. He had been refined and gentle, always smiling, and gave people the feeling of a warm spring breeze.

"How is that possible? How could Captain Ingetsu kill so many of his own clansmen?!"

Uchiha Tamio's forehead bulged with veins. He seized Inabi by the collar, drew his Ninja Blade, and held it against Inabi's neck as he demanded harshly.

He had a baby face, but when enraged, he resembled a beast ready to devour a person.

Inabi stared at him coldly.

After a moment of silence.

Uchiha Tamio said with certainty, "Even if Captain Ingetsu killed these clansmen, he was helping them find release!"

"Heh... No wonder you're someone Ingetsu dragged out of the Hospital Psychiatric Department. Even if he killed your parents, you'd still speak up for him?"

Inabi glared at Tamio with his remaining Three Tomoe and gritted his teeth weakly.

"Captain Ingetsu doesn't like killing people!"

Inabi: "???"

He had forgotten that Tamio's parents were already dead.

Everyone else was stunned as well.

At that moment, a dark figure charged at Tamio and shoved him away from Inabi. It was Uchiha Nanpu, who wore glasses.

"Asshole!!!"

Uchiha Tamio was about to erupt in anger, but Izumi stopped him.

Unlike Izumi and Uchiha Tamio, Nanpu was not a team member Ingetsu had trained.

"All of you, shut up!" Nanpu looked at Inabi and asked, "Which direction did Uchiha Ingetsu flee in?"

Inabi raised his hand and pointed toward the forest at the edge of the hidden village.

"After him!!!"

Uchiha Nanpu's expression was cold and grim, but before he could move, Tamio was already filled with worry. He led two team members toward the forest with the Body Flicker Technique.

No matter what had happened.

As the patrol teams on duty tonight, they were all responsible for tracking down the murderer.

Izumi and Nanpu exchanged a glance, then led their respective team members closely after him.

Inabi could not understand Ingetsu's purpose.

The others advanced at full speed, carrying confusion, bewilderment, and fury. The nine figures rose and fell as they entered the forest beneath the bright moonlight.

Swoosh—

Flocks of birds burst from the forest. The nine people leaped from branch to branch when their hair suddenly stood on end. A powerful sense of danger came from ahead. They stopped, their expressions solemn, held their breaths, and drew their Ninja Blades.

Moonlight pierced through the leaves and scattered across the ground.

A familiar, upright figure slowly emerged from the dappled moonlight. He gradually raised his head and activated his blade-shaped Mangekyo.

"Everyone, long time no see.

"We can catch up later.

"For now, please help me test the abilities of the Mangekyo!"

The corners of Uchiha Ingetsu's lips curled upward as the Mangekyo in his eyes began to spin silently.

"Yachihoko—!!"