Sasuke: Itachi!!

A week had passed since the Night of the Clan Annihilation. Dark clouds blanketed Konoha's skies, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

The streets were no longer as bustling as before.

On the third day after the Night of the Clan Annihilation, the bodies of Uchiha Fugaku, along with those of Uchiha ninja and civilians, were buried one after another.

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen personally attended in plain clothes, accompanied by two Hokage Advisors and the heads of other clans, to pay his respects.

At the same time, the Hokage and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire jointly announced that the Land of Fire had entered a state of war, with border defenses raised to the highest alert level.

Konoha's upper ranks issued a shinobi-world-wide warrant for the Uchiha Rogue Squad.

They dispatched ten elite three-man ANBU squads as Pursuit Ninja to hunt down the rogue ninja without rest until they were dead!

All kinds of information, both true and false, became entangled together. For a time, the major clans were gripped by unease.

Uchiha Compound.

Clan Head's Residence.

Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, one grown and one small, sat on the wooden steps beneath the eaves with expressionless faces, staring directly at the cracked Uchiha Gunbai on the wall beyond the gate.

Young Sasuke's eyes were black and bright, clear and lively. His features were handsome, but he looked exhausted at the moment.

He remembered that the clan members had mistakenly believed Itachi had killed Shisui and come to confront him. Enraged, Itachi had destroyed the clan emblem.

The once lively Uchiha Compound was now empty and desolate, its streets wide and bleak.

Itachi lowered his eyes and glanced sideways at his younger brother, who neither cried nor made a fuss. Guilt weighing on him, he lowered his head.

After the Night of the Clan Annihilation, Sasuke had awakened the Single Tomoe Sharingan. Overwhelmed with grief, he had hidden at home and wept all day.

Only a Single Tomoe Sharingan...

Itachi was not satisfied with that.

But at least...

It was a start.

The day before yesterday.

Sasuke had finally accepted the fact that his father had died miserably, his clan had been annihilated, and his mother had fled.

Yet he was still dazed, neither speaking nor saying a word. Still, he ate with endless hatred in his heart, which pleased Itachi.

Only extreme hatred could allow the Uchiha to grow. It was both a curse and an opportunity.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, two elite members dressed like the Root Organization appeared, making several leaps before landing steadily in front of Itachi.

The two swept their gaze over the dull-eyed Sasuke.

One of them leaned close and whispered into Itachi's ear.

Itachi's expression changed slightly. He slowly rose to his feet and looked down at Sasuke. Two faint curves formed at the corners of his mouth as he narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Sasuke, you'll have to handle your own breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next few days. I received some intelligence—I may need to go out for a while to carry out a mission."

Sasuke's expression turned cold. He stood up, turned away, then stopped with his back to Itachi and asked, "Are you going to find Mom?"

Itachi nodded with a smile, trying his best to make his voice sound as gentle as it had been before.

"Mm. I'll bring Mom back!"

Sasuke walked straight toward the training ground in the open courtyard, offering no further response.

Itachi watched his brother's retreating back. The expression on his tear-trough-lined face gradually faded, as though he had never smiled at all. He said coldly to the subordinates beside him, "Let's go!"

"Yes—"

In the inner courtyard training area of the Uchiha Clan Head's Residence, Sasuke's face twisted fiercely as he gritted his teeth. His fists flew like the wind, unleashing a storm of taijutsu attacks on the wooden post before him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Punch after punch smashed into the surface of the wooden post.

The skin on Sasuke's small fists split open, and blood stained the wooden post red, yet his assault never stopped.

His rage finally erupted.

Bang!!

Sasuke sprang into the air and launched a sideways kick. With a dull thud, he sent the wooden post, taller than himself, flying heavily away.

Caw—

A pitch-black Raven perched on the courtyard wall seemed drawn by the commotion. It flapped its wings and landed steadily, poking its head around as it watched Sasuke.

"Ha—"

Sweat beaded on Sasuke's forehead. With both hands supporting his knees, he panted heavily. Suddenly, he turned his head to stare at the Raven on the wall, and in the next instant, his pupils turned blood-red.

His one-tomoe Sharingan activated.

The Raven's pupils constricted. Sensing danger, it was just about to flap its wings and leave.

Whoosh!!

A kunai anticipated its movement and struck its neck with precision. Blood sprayed as it was decapitated, and its body fell to the ground.

"Pant... pant..."

Sasuke lowered the hand that had thrown the kunai, panting heavily. His Sharingan faded as he collapsed onto the grass and slammed his fist into the ground again and again.

"Uchiha Itachi!!!"

Sasuke clenched his teeth, his eyes blazing with fury. He treated the grass before him as Itachi's face and pounded it mercilessly.

Afterward, he pulled another kunai from his Ninja Tool Bag and viciously stabbed it into the grass.

The grass churned as dirt flew everywhere.

Once he had exhausted himself, the young Sasuke lay on the grass, gasping for air. He stared at the gloomy sky, released the kunai in his hand, and fell into a daze as memories resurfaced.

That night of the clan massacre.

His mother had knocked him unconscious. After that, a familiar figure appeared, woke him up, and supported him against the wall.

Sasuke had seen that person a few times at the Police Force.

His name was Uchiha Ingetsu!

Long ago, when Sasuke had met him, under his mother Mikoto's guidance, he had respectfully addressed Ingetsu, the captain of the Police Force, as Uncle Ingetsu.

That night, Ingetsu had appeared and used genjutsu to make him witness firsthand how Uchiha Itachi had raised his blade against their clansmen—and how he had raised it against their parents.

That was when

Sasuke awakened his eyes.

He also learned that it had been Ingetsu who acted, controlling his mother's body and saving her.

Otherwise...

Sasuke's face twisted once more. He clenched his teeth so tightly that his gums bled, his fists balled tight.

Otherwise, his mother would have died at the hands of that demon Itachi that night as well!

At that thought, Sasuke threw another heavy punch into the grass.

After that, Sasuke had begged Ingetsu to take him and his mother away with him. Ingetsu had left behind only one sentence:

"Don't worry about your mother. What you need to do now is survive. When the time is right, I'll come back for you."

After saying that, Ingetsu left the Uchiha Compound and headed for its outskirts. Before leaving, he used genjutsu to knock Sasuke unconscious again.

Over the past few days, Sasuke had also figured out how public opinion within the ninja village had shifted regarding the "Uchiha Clan Massacre."

Now, Sasuke felt that the so-called Konoha Ninja Village was filthy, foul-smelling, and incomparably dark!

Itachi, the true culprit who had slaughtered his own clan, had become one of Konoha's upper echelons, standing high above others and praised by the Third Hokage as a hero who had tried to save the Uchiha!

Meanwhile, Ingetsu, the victim who had preserved the Uchiha's last spark, had instead been accused of massacring civilian clansmen and branded by Konoha as an S-Rank Rogue Ninja!

How absurd, laughable, and tragic.

So this was the "capacity" Itachi had always spoken of. He had not even had the heart to sit down and talk with his clansmen. Instead, he had arbitrarily judged them and sentenced the clan's civilians to death!

Disheartened, Sasuke dragged his exhausted body away from the grass and put away his kunai.

Before Ingetsu returned to reunite him with his mother, he had to live properly in Konoha—even if it meant temporarily keeping company with Itachi!

Uchiha Compound streets.

Itachi noticed that Sasuke had killed his surveillance Raven. He merely raised a brow, sighed, and left with his subordinates.

Arriving at the Hokage Building, he passed through the corridor.

When Itachi reached the entrance to the Hokage's office, before he could knock, he heard cries of alarm and commotion from within.

After thinking for a moment, he reached out and pushed open the door.

Itachi's pupils widened as he saw the most astonishing sight of his life.

"Hiruzen, Hiruzen, open your eyes!"

"Monkey, hold on!!"

The two Hokage Advisors scrambled in panic, sprawled on the floor.

And that old man who had held Konoha's power in his grasp for half his life, stood at the pinnacle of power in this world, and was known as the Professor of the Shinobi World—Sarutobi Hiruzen!

He lay flat on the cold floor, his eyes vacant and his face aged, allowing Utatane Koharu to administer emergency treatment.

Itachi's gaze trembled slightly as he walked to the Hokage's desk and looked at the intelligence scroll spread open there.

Two waistcloths bearing the character for fire had been placed beside it.

The intelligence scroll recorded Asuma's death in battle and the destruction of the Temple of Fire.

PS: Let me explain.

There had been foreshadowing for Sasuke being awakened by the protagonist's Shadow Clone. After Mikoto knocked him unconscious, he had been lying face-down on the ground. When Itachi found Sasuke, Sasuke was leaning against the wall—he had been Supported upright by Ingetsu's Shadow Clone.

It was just that after writing about the Shadow Clone saving Mikoto, I deliberately didn't make it clear that the Shadow Clone had also taken care of this along the way.

As for those who should be destroyed, they will all be destroyed later. Not a single one will escape.

Rest assured and keep reading!