Night of the Massacre

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."

In the forest behind the Uchiha Compound, Chen was practicing ninjutsu. He quickly formed a series of hand seals and spat a ball of flame toward an open clearing in the woods.

This was the Fire Style ninjutsu from the Original Story, the Great Fireball Technique—gathering Chakra in the throat and expelling it as a massive fireball with devastating power.

This technique was the first ninjutsu Chen had ever learned. He'd picked it up two years ago when Sasuke pestered Itachi to teach him, and Chen had followed along. At the academy, they only taught the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques.

Chen had known his Chakra nature for a long time—same as Sasuke in the Original Story, Lightning and Fire. It seemed every Uchiha clan member had Fire Style Chakra.

"That's enough for today," Chen said, a little out of breath. He'd clearly been training for a while. He walked over to a tree and sat down.

"System, check my Points," he asked after resting a moment.

"Host's total Points: 2739. Open Exchange Page?"

"No need," Chen replied to the system.

"I've saved these up over two years. I'll keep them for emergencies." These Points all came from the system's welfare gifts. In those two years, Chen hadn't received a single mission. Worth noting, besides the Points, he'd also gotten two chances to draw.

On his first draw, he got Moon Step from the Six Powers of the Navy—a skill that let him tread on air and float.

On his second draw, he got a contract for a Summoned Beast from a race called "Pomeranian." This was a battle-hungry race. Every Summoned Beast in this clan shared one trait: they loved to fight. From newborn Pomeranians to adults dozens of meters tall, all of them craved combat. The strongest Pomeranian Chen could currently summon was only about ten meters tall. Its name was "Six Paths Dog." Despite having "Six Paths" in its name, it had nothing to do with the legendary Sage of Six Paths. Chen called it "Erha," just his own little joke.

But Six Paths Dog was a real tough guy. In its clan, it was famous for being ruthless. True to Pomeranian nature, it had loved picking fights with its kin since childhood. Even if someone beat it, it would keep challenging that clan member until it won. Over time, Six Paths Dog earned a lot of respect among its generation of Pomeranians. Then one event cemented its position as the Boss of its peers. In a fight, Six Paths Dog faced a creature stronger than itself alone. It fought tooth and nail, and in the end, it paid the price of losing an eye to a stab, but it killed that creature dead. Then, dragging its badly wounded body, it knocked out all the creature's teeth, strung them into a Bone Tooth Necklace, and wore it. After that, Six Paths Dog was down one eye and had to wear an eyepatch. (You can search online for "The Proud Hunter" to see the original design.)

Over these two years, Chen's strength had been steadily rising. His Sharingan had Rose to Two Tomoe, and his power had reached the level of an Elite Genin.

"Dinner's almost ready. Let's head back," Chen said, standing up and walking home.

When he got back, Fugaku Uchiha wasn't home. Itachi was actually there, a rare sight, and Sasuke was clinging to him. Seeing Chen return, Itachi said, "Chen's back. Come here."

"Huh?" Chen walked over, puzzled. "What's up, Brother?"

"Nothing much. Just suddenly thought that we three brothers haven't had a good talk together," Itachi said with a smile.

"Oh, is that so?" Chen looked at Itachi's smile and felt a little surprised. Itachi was famous for being stone-faced.

"Yeah, that's right. Let's chat today." Then he turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, you and Chen have never gotten along since you were kids. That won't do. We're all brothers, and you two are twins born on the same day—there shouldn't be a rift between you."

Hearing this, Sasuke and Chen exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

"Time to eat! What are you brothers chatting about?" Mikoto had finished cooking and called out to them.

"Heh, just take care of yourselves from now on. Don't overthink it. Let's eat first," Itachi said with a smile to Chen and Sasuke, then stood up and walked to the table.

After dinner, Chen went back to his room and lay on the bed, thinking about Itachi's words. "Itachi was really off today. Why would he say that? Could it be..." A sense of unease suddenly surged in Chen's heart.

"Who is it?" Mikoto, who had been about to sleep, heard a knock on her door. She got up and opened it.

Seeing it was Chen, she smiled and asked, "It's Chen. What's wrong?"

"Mom, I suddenly wanted to come sleep with you tonight. Is that okay?" Chen said to her.

"Of course, I'm really happy. Come on in," Mikoto said to Chen.

"What made Chen want to sleep with Mom today?" Mikoto asked as she tucked him in.

"Nothing. I just missed Mom, so I came," Chen said. Mikoto paused, then smiled at him. "Eh? This is the first time Chen's called me Mom." Her eyes were full of affection. "Go to sleep. You and Sasuke have school tomorrow. I heard there's a little test?"

"Yeah. Good night, Mom." Mikoto turned off the light and closed her eyes to sleep.

Though he'd said good night, Chen didn't sleep. He just kept watching Mikoto, his eyes full of attachment.

The next day, Chen got up very early. He hadn't slept all night.

Mikoto got up too and made them breakfast. After eating, Sasuke and Chen headed to school together. Chen was restless the whole way. At school, he was dazed, not even noticing when people greeted him.

"Damn it, why am I so uneasy? Is it about to happen?" Chen's mind churned, unable to calm down all day.

"Alright, we'll start a small test now. Line up one by one. The test is one of the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques: Transformation Jutsu. Begin," Iruka said, holding a record book. He didn't understand why the Third Hokage had him run a test today.

"Kiba Inuzuka, you're first," Iruka said to Kiba, who was at the front.

"Heh! Watch this!" Kiba stepped forward, formed hand seals, and with a "poof," a puff of smoke appeared around him as he transformed into Iruka.

"Pass. Next," Iruka said, recording as he addressed the rest.

"Damn it, hurry up, hurry up," Chen muttered, clenching his fists. His unease grew, and he already had an idea of what was coming.

"Alright, test's over. Class dismissed." The test finally ended as the sky was starting to darken.

"Man, why'd we have to test today? Made it so late! Geez, Chen! Let's go get ramen!" Naruto said to Chen.

"Sorry, I've got something urgent," Chen said without even looking at Naruto, then ran home with a worried look.

Sasuke saw the expression on Chen's face and felt a sudden, inexplicable unease. Without thinking, he ran after Chen, not even knowing why.

The two ran to the entrance of the compound and found it eerily silent. No usual noise, no one in sight. Everything was still, as if the whole world had shrunk to just the two of them.

Both were deeply unsettled. Chen already knew what had happened.

They walked uneasily toward home and suddenly saw two people lying on the ground, soaked in blood. Chen and Sasuke ran over—it was the uncle and aunt who'd greeted them that morning.

"Uncle, Uncle," Sasuke shook the man's body with trembling hands, but got no response.

"How could this happen? What's going on?" Sasuke asked Chen, panicked. Chen didn't answer. He stood frozen, muttering, "Mom, Mom." Then, as if snapping awake, he sprinted home like a madman. "Mom!" Sasuke suddenly realized too and followed Chen.

Along the way, they saw more and more bodies lying on the ground, lifeless. The usually lively streets were dead silent.

They finally reached home, but Mikoto wasn't there, and the lights were off.

"Dad, Mom, are you here?" Sasuke whispered, his voice full of fear. They searched room by room.

Suddenly, a noise came from the living room. Chen and Sasuke rushed over. Outside the door, both were trembling, breathing heavily, too scared to push it open. They could see the terror in each other's eyes.

Finally, Chen used his shaking hands to shove the door open. The scene inside made Chen and Sasuke freeze in horror. Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha lay in pools of blood, lifeless. "Dad, Mom," Sasuke started to run forward, but footsteps from the shadows stopped him. He stared in terror at the darkness. Chen didn't care. He ran straight to Mikoto, without a word, and pulled her cold body into his arms, tears glistening in his eyes, his heart shattered with grief.

Itachi stepped out of the shadows in an Anbu Outfit, staring coldly at Sasuke and Chen.