Flee! Flee! Flee Konoha!

"Lord Danzo!!!"

"My lord?"

"How is this possible?!"

The Root Organization members present were unable to move, yet they could only watch it happen. Lord Danzo, whom they revered as a God, had been pierced through by a shinobi blade and gave no further response.

At that moment.

Their beliefs, like a dilapidated building, came crashing down and shattered completely!

Swish—Swish—Swish—

Outside the forest, countless dark figures leaped over, arriving nearby.

"Captain Ingetsu, I'll cover the rear!!"

Uchiha Nanpu roared.

He had already resolved to die.

The other Uchiha also wanted to declare their willingness to die, only to suddenly discover that they had once again been controlled by Yachihoko. They could not force out a single word no matter how hard they tried.

Nanpu and the others turned red in the face, trying to speak by force, but they ultimately could not overcome the mental control.

"Noisy."

Ingetsu said indifferently. He released his grip, leaving the shinobi blade behind, and decisively Led the Team away.

He still had a use for these people.

Before leaving, he manifested his Mangekyo and glanced back toward the outskirts of the forest.

Footsteps surged like a tide.

A large number of ANBU poured into the forest. They were the vanguard of the Hokage's direct ANBU forces and answered only to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"What happened here?"

An ANBU captain approached the Root Organization members standing at the forest's edge and asked in a low voice.

They did not answer.

The ANBU captain frowned tightly, finding these Root members extremely strange, but he chose to lead his team onward.

Just as all the ANBU entered the forest.

The Root Organization members moved. In unison, they drew their shinobi blades. Red light flickered in their eyes, and the Yachihoko marks revolved as they swung their blades at the nearest ANBU like puppets.

"Argh!!!"

In an instant, half the ANBU were struck, and screams rang out one after another.

"Withdraw from the forest!!"

The ANBU captain's eyes widened. Looking at the wound in his abdomen where a shinobi blade had pierced through and blood was pouring out, he kicked a Root Organization member beside him flying and roared furiously.

"Captain, these Root Organization members have all been controlled by someone!"

"Then kill these beasts!!"

The Root Organization members paid no attention to the ANBU's curses. They charged madly at the ANBU reinforcements.

How could the ANBU tolerate such provocation? Though they did not know the reason, they still drew their blades and fought back, intending to subdue these madmen from Root first.

The ANBU and Root forces broke into a fierce battle.

Boom—

The explosions of Explosive Tags, the clash of shinobi blades, and the whistles of thrown kunai echoed like musical notes, playing the final requiem for the end of this assassination.

At the entrance to the Uchiha Compound.

Sasuke, carrying a schoolbag, hurried anxiously through the streets. Whenever he heard an explosion, he would look around in panic before continuing on his way.

It was as though he had been plunged into a war.

Lost and helpless.

Until a figure he knew best came running swiftly down the street, giving his unsettled heart somewhere to rest.

"Mom!"

Sasuke beamed and walked to the middle of the street, wanting to open his arms and welcome his running mother.

In the darkness, it was as though he had seen a beam of Light.

While sprinting forward, Mikoto saw Sasuke. She froze in astonishment for a moment, then the confusion in her eyes melted away like ice and snow, revealing endless tenderness.

But she could not speak.

She could not even control her own body.

"Mom... what's wrong?"

Sasuke sensed that something was off.

Bang—

Mikoto, charging forward, slammed into young Sasuke. The powerful impact sent Sasuke flying into the street, where he crashed heavily into a wall. The blow left him dizzy and disoriented.

"Mom..." Sasuke lay facedown on the ground, closed his eyes, and fainted.

Tears welled in Mikoto's eyes, yet her beautiful, elegant face showed no change in expression.

She just kept running, running toward the forest beyond the ninja village. But the heart that had once died within her was quietly rekindled by Sasuke's earlier cry of "Mom."

Mountain Peak.

"Big Brother, when are we leaving...?"

Tamao asked weakly.

The other Uchiha had given him some basic first aid and bandaged his wounds to stop the bleeding. His condition had stabilized for now, but without treatment from a Medical Ninja, there was still a risk of infection and death.

Just as Ingetsu was about to answer—

Words appeared in his mind.

[Side Quest]: Rescue

[Conditions]:

1. Rescue people within the Uchiha Compound.

[Quest Complete!]

[Reward]:

100-cubic-meter Storage Space.

Ingetsu was somewhat surprised. At that moment, Mikoto appeared from behind Mountain Peak and ran toward them.

Uchiha Nanpu and Uchiha Izumi instinctively drew their blades in vigilance, but Ingetsu waved a hand to signal that there was no need to be nervous.

When everyone saw who it was, they immediately cried out in surprise:

"Clan Leader's Wife?"

"Madam!!"

They had never imagined that Uchiha Mikoto could have survived the clan's extermination as well.

But seeing that Mikoto remained silent, they all turned to Ingetsu. When they saw that he did not seem surprised, they were stunned. Had this also been arranged by Ingetsu?

"Everyone's here. Let's go."

Ingetsu said calmly.

"Does this mean we've become rogue ninja?"

Izumi looked troubled as she raised her head toward the Uchiha Compound. It had already become a battlefield of ruin, with flames and thick smoke soaring into the sky.

Aside from them—

There were probably no Uchiha survivors left.

The other Uchiha also wore sorrowful expressions, occasionally casting strange looks toward Uchiha Mikoto.

Mikoto's mind was blank. She did not know why she had appeared here, much less how these few Uchiha at her side had survived.

Suddenly, the sound of sobbing rang out.

Ingetsu looked up to see Uchiha Nanpu and several team members crying bitterly. Their civilian families had been left behind in the Uchiha Compound forever.

After venting their hatred through revenge, grief flooded over them like a tide. Eight Uchiha planted their ninja swords in the ground and bent toward the compound, bowing at a ninety-degree angle.

"Hahaha, that felt great!" Tamao laughed and sighed. "We can finally leave this damned place!"

One Uchiha had only just cried out a stream of snot, but Tamao's words made him suck it back in.

For a moment, the other Uchiha had no idea what attitude they should take toward this mentally ill patient.

While everyone processed their grief and pain, Ingetsu focused his mind and searched for the reward he had obtained from completing the quest.

This 100-cubic-meter space lay deep within his mind. By concentrating, he could enter it.

It was a bright space roughly 7.4 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 2.7 meters high.

Ingetsu felt that, after tidying it up a little, it could probably fit a one-bedroom apartment with a living room.

He just did not know whether it could store living people.

As he thought about it—

Ingetsu stuffed all the scrolls on his body into the space, then discovered that he could freely retrieve them and arrange their positions within it. It was very convenient.

He glanced at the enormous full moon hanging in the night sky.

Ingetsu looked down over Konoha.

Hokage Rock stood directly opposite this mountain peak. Below, the streets crisscrossed in a maze, and the busiest districts were still brightly lit and bustling, radiating vitality for Konoha Ninja Village.

The Uchiha Compound, transformed into a battlefield, and Konoha's central district seemed like two separate worlds, clearly divided.

The battle in the forest was also nearing its end.

This land had lost the Uchiha.

Yet it seemed to make no difference.

Seeing the Uchiha's emotions gradually stabilize, Ingetsu swept his gaze over them. Just as he had expected, their Pupil Power had increased dramatically. Several who had only possessed Two Tomoe had broken through to Three Tomoe.

"Goodbye, Konoha!"

Ingetsu turned and left.

Uchiha Izumi watched Ingetsu's departing back, and it felt as though time had returned to graduation, to their first mission.

That day, she had stood at the village gates, staring blankly at the back of this gentle and kind young man as he Led the Team out of the village. He seemed to possess a special charm that drew her in.

Izumi unconsciously took small steps after him.

Just like that day.

It seemed that as long as this gentle and compassionate captain was there, no matter how far they left the village behind, they would be able to complete the mission.

The other Uchiha followed one after another. Only Mikoto was still being controlled by Ingetsu as she followed along.

The night moon shone brightly.

At Konoha's edge.

Ingetsu easily broke through the village's barrier.

He stepped beyond the barrier.

And left Konoha.

At that moment, a certain burden settled upon the shoulders of the nine Uchiha.

They had a premonition: if they could survive On the Road, then when they returned next time, they would flatten Konoha!

Under the bright moonlight.

Only Tamao was carried on someone's back. The eleven Uchiha became dark silhouettes as, led by Ingetsu, they began their road of escape.

Ingetsu led them northwest.

Leaving the Land of Fire in that direction would bring them to the most chaotic region of the ninja world—a wartime buffer zone pieced together from the Land of Rain, the Land of Birds, the Land of Grass, and other small countries.

This journey was destined to be fraught with danger.

Ingetsu estimated that Konoha would dispatch ninja teams to intercept and kill them before dawn.

Before dawn.

They had to run as far as they possibly could.

To survive, Ingetsu had long planned out an escape route. All of this had taken only a week.

At the end of this road.

Someone would be there to receive them.