The days passed, winter gave way to spring.
Before long, a year had quietly slipped by.
Under Izumi Uchiha's secret tutelage, Yue Uchiha's mastery of Yin Release had advanced by leaps and bounds.
If his abilities could be measured, Yue could proudly say that his genjutsu had reached Kage Level.
With genjutsu alone, he could directly contend with Kage Level opponents.
In fact, under his self-created Mirror Flower, Water Moon, any Kage Level shinobi who had never studied Yin Release or mental energy would find it a distant dream even to land a hit on him.
Over the past year, the situation in the Ninja World had grown increasingly tense.
The Uchiha Clan's madness continued to escalate, prompting the Senju Clan and several other families to join forces in defense. Yet they still suffered defeat after defeat at the Uchiha Clan's hands.
As a result, even the low-ranking Uchiha who couldn't keep up with the clan's war machine became kindling, continually fueling its advance.
The Uchiha population might well have fallen to less than half of what it once was.
Ironically, most of the Uchiha who had died were killed not by the Senju Clan, but by their own people.
Meanwhile, during the late-night lessons at Moon-Severing Cliff, Chiri's condition visibly deteriorated.
She coughed more and more often, and the light in her one remaining eye grew ever dimmer.
"Grandma Chiri, your health..."
Late one night, Yue and Chiri were practicing Izanagi when Chiri coughed up blood. He couldn't help rushing over to support her.
Yue had already removed the bandage over his left eye. Though his ocular power hadn't fully recovered, he could now make out blurred shapes and light.
It was the first result of using Yin Release to nourish his optic nerve.
"It's nothing. Just an old ailment."
Chiri waved her hand and sat on a rock by the cliff, gazing at the waning moon on the horizon.
"Yue, how has Hikari been lately?"
"She's doing well." A faint smile touched Yue's lips. "She's learned to go to the market and buy groceries on her own. People mistake her for someone collecting protection money because she never changes her expression, but at least... she's starting to seem like a normal person."
"That's good. That's good..."
Chiri nodded with relief. Then, all at once, her expression grew grave.
She took a remarkably ancient scroll from her robe. It even bore traces of dried blood. With solemn care, she placed it in Yue's hands.
"Yue, I've watched your talent and character over the past year. You're even more exceptional than I imagined, and even more like the Uchiha I always hoped to see."
"What is this...?" Yue took the scroll. It felt heavy in his hands, and he already had a good idea what it contained.
He had learned nearly all of Grandma Chiri's secret techniques and the mysteries of Yin Release. There was no need for Chiri to pass them on to him through this precious scroll.
That left only one thing worth entrusting to him: the construction formula and principles behind the Spring of Returning Light, which Yue had never stopped thinking about.
Chiri looked at Yue intently. "This old woman's time is nearly up. The old men in the clan have gone mad. I'd planned to take this with me to hell, but you, child... sigh. You've truly stolen this old woman's heart."
Hearing those words, Yue could guess what Chiri was about to do. A pang of sorrow rose within him.
"Grandma Chiri, what are you going to do?"
"I can't stand by and watch the Uchiha be destroyed by them."
Chiri rose to her feet. In that moment, her frail, stooped frame exuded the imposing bearing of a true master.
"Tomorrow, I'll attend the Clan Assembly. I'll use this old life of mine and my last eye to cast Izanami one final time and cleanse the Uchiha of its corruption."
"Grandma Chiri! You..." Yue tried to stop her, but Chiri raised a hand to silence him.
"This is my fate, and my atonement. If only I'd been able to harden my heart back then..."
Chiri smiled and patted Yue's head, just as she had once patted Hikari's.
"Yue, promise me one thing."
"Name it." Yue's voice caught in his throat.
"Take Hikari and live. No matter what becomes of the Uchiha in the future, you two must live on. Live as people, and live happily."
"And... if you can, go and see the world of the future for me. See what the Uchiha of that time is really like, and whether it's what I hoped for."
With that, Chiri Uchiha didn't look back.
Her figure turned into a flock of black crows and vanished into the night wind at Moon-Severing Cliff.
All that remained was Yue Uchiha, alone, clutching the scroll that carried the long-considered resolve of an old woman.
"I promise."
Yue spoke softly to the empty night sky.
"I'll live, and I'll... go see that future for you. If it isn't what you hoped for, then I'll build one myself."
"But... I won't just stand by and let you die."
"Yue."
At some point, Uchiha Hikari had quietly come up behind him.
She didn't ask any questions. She simply reached out with her slightly cold hand and gently clasped Yue's fingers, white at the knuckles from how tightly he was gripping them.
"Are we going back?" Hikari asked softly.
Yue didn't answer at once. He turned around, and his right eye, restored to its former depth, settled on Hikari.
"Hikari, Grandma Chiri gave us everything she had: the mysteries of Yin Release, the clan's secret techniques, even her hope for the future."
Yue clasped Hikari's hand in return, his voice low.
"She wants to use what remains of her life to die alongside those mad dogs, who've been utterly corrupted by power, so she can leave a relatively untainted Uchiha for those who come after."
"But how can we let an old woman on the verge of death face the darkness alone, while we young people who benefited from her hide behind her and enjoy the shade?"
Hikari blinked. Then her beautiful eyes flashed with pure, unwavering resolve. There was not a trace of fear in them.
She adjusted the Short Blade at her waist. Her red-and-white clothes fluttered in the night wind.
"So we're going to kill people."
Hikari tilted her head, her voice as calm as if she were confirming what they'd have for breakfast tomorrow.
"We're going to cut down all those old men, right?"
"Not every last one, but more or less."
"What we're going to do is drag those lofty Elders down from their pathetic thrones in front of everyone at the Clan Assembly!"
"Come on, Hikari. Let's go to this final banquet—and to the moment of our revenge."
The following night, at the Uchiha Clan's Underground Core Ancestral Hall.
The vast underground hall was brightly lit.
Hundreds of Uchiha elites knelt on one knee below, while several high-ranking officials led by the Great Elder sat upright on the raised dais at the far end, looking down at their clansmen.
"The Senju Clan has shifted from offense to defense. Under our leadership, the Uchiha have reached the height of their prosperity—and we can grow even more prosperous."
The Great Elder slammed his hand against the armrest. His deeply lined old face twisted with savagery and madness.
"Izanagi is a miracle bestowed on us by heaven! We cannot afford not to use it! And as long as we have the Spring of Returning Light, we needn't worry about the cost! On my orders, bring up that rabble of Uchiha who refuse to improve themselves from the dungeons and throw them into the formation!"
"Great Elder, those people..." A Chunin couldn't help raising his head, his voice trembling.
"Silence! Such trivial sacrifices are necessary for the Uchiha's great ambition! Our clan has no place for the weak."
The Second Elder cut him off with a sharp shout.
"Your attitude doesn't seem very enlightened either. Would you like to join them?"
The atmosphere in the hall grew unbearably oppressive. Many young Uchiha wore fanatical expressions as they gazed admiringly at the Elders above.
Some Uchiha with minds of their own looked troubled, but under the Elders' absolute authority and the clan's brutal rules, no one dared to resist.
Just then, a deep rumble echoed from the hall's massive bronze doors.
"Rumble—"
The doors slowly swung open, and a stooped, elderly figure entered the hall, leaning on a cane and taking one step at a time.
"Chiri?!"
The Great Elder's brow furrowed as soon as he saw her.
"You old hag, you should've been in your coffin already. Why aren't you waiting to die in your tent? What are you doing at the Clan Assembly?"
He seemed to realize something, then let out a laugh. "Have you come to save those useless fools?"
Uchiha Chiri ignored the Great Elder's taunts.
In her one remaining right eye, her Three Tomoe slowly turned as she gazed sorrowfully around the ancestral hall. It had once symbolized the clan's glory; now it had become a slaughterhouse.
"I came to see just how much blood this family, dragged into the abyss by you lunatics, still has left to spill."
"Impudent!" The Second Elder leapt to his feet. "Uchiha Chiri! Don't think your past contributions give you the right to run your mouth here! Someone, seize this old lunatic and lock her in the dungeon! She can make one last contribution to the Uchiha there. I'd like to find out how much ocular power we can get from a Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"Yes, sir!"
More than a dozen elite members of the Police Force guarding the ancestral hall drew their Ninja Blades at once, fanatical expressions on their faces.
In this mad age, the notion of respecting one's elders had long been discarded if power could be gained in its place.
As the clansmen charged at her like a pack of wolves, Chiri's white hair fluttered in the surging chakra.
"I'll be the one to sever the Uchiha's sorrow!"
She yanked a short blade from inside her cane. In an instant, her body erupted with a burst of speed far beyond what an old woman should have possessed.
Her blade flashed. Two sharp sounds rang out, and the two elites at the front had their throats precisely slit before they could even see her move.
Chiri formed a Hand Seal with one hand and spat out a blazing line of fire. "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
The flames instantly engulfed the enemies on the flank.
But there were far too many Uchiha elites in the hall.
And they had already been thoroughly brainwashed.
"It's useless! For the glory of the Uchiha!"
The bodies of the two elites whose throats had been slit vanished like a dream, twisting strangely. In the next instant, they reappeared in Chiri's blind spot, unharmed, and drove Kunai into her back without hesitation!
"Izanagi..."
Chiri grunted and cut off one attacker's arm with a slash, but she staggered back several steps, blood immediately staining her clothes.
Her mastery of Yin Release and swordsmanship might have reached its peak, but human strength had its limits when facing a vast force of death soldiers who could rewrite their deaths at any moment.
After just a few minutes of brutal fighting, more than a dozen bodies lay around Chiri. Yet even more Police Force members, their Three Tomoe activated, had her surrounded.
Seven or eight deep wounds gaped across her body. Leaning on her blade, she gasped for breath.
"It's over, Chiri." The Great Elder looked down from above at the old woman cornered below. "The tide cannot be turned. Under my leadership, the Uchiha will become the strongest clan in the Ninja World. The only price is a little kindling."
Chiri gave a bitter laugh, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.
"If that's the case... then even if I can only take a few of you with me..."
She slowly closed her eyes. Chakra began to gather furiously in her one remaining right eye as she prepared to unleash the final version of Izanami—the technique she had created, refined, and empowered with her Mangekyō Sharingan.
Just as Chiri prepared to die, footsteps suddenly sounded from beyond the bronze doors.
Then two figures in black cloaks crossed the threshold.
"Boom!"
A violent surge of chakra blasted the dozen or so death soldiers surrounding Chiri away. Yue and Hikari took their places on either side of her, standing firmly at her side.
"Who are you? How dare you interfere in the affairs of the Uchiha Clan?"
"You may call me Aizen. As for who I am, I suppose I'm a student of Teacher Chiri's."
Yue's low voice came from beneath the mask.
He lowered the hood over his head slightly, making sure they couldn't recognize him.
"Chiri's student? Aizen? You're that wandering swordsman who dared meddle in our affairs? We didn't come looking for you, and yet here you are, walking straight to your death!"
One of the Elders laughed in fury.
"If you want to be buried alongside that old woman, so be it! Cut them to pieces! Don't give them a chance to fight back!"
"Kill!"
Dozens of Uchiha with their Three Tomoe activated charged at them.
The blazing light of Fire Release instantly illuminated the hall's ceiling. Dozens of Kunai interwove into an airtight web of death, sealing off every escape route.
Yue, who called himself "Aizen," made no move to defend himself.
He simply raised his right hand and drew an ordinary straight sword with no distinctive sheen from beneath his loose black robe.
"Teacher Chiri once taught me that the essence of Yin Release is to 'create form from nothing,'" Yue said quietly.
Yue turned the tip of his sword downward, pointing it straight at the ground.
"Today, I'll show you the ultimate form of Yin Release, stripped of the senses."
The tip of the sword touched the bluestone floor with a crisp chime, as if it had struck the depths of the soul.
"Shatter, Mirror Flower, Water Moon."
"Voom!"
There was no dazzling light, nor any violent surge of chakra.
Only a pure wave of mental energy from Yin Release, too subtle for the Sharingan to perceive, spread from the sword's tip like a drop of water falling into a still lake, instantly reaching every corner of the underground ancestral hall.
"Die, you arrogant rat!"
A Police Force Jōnin at the very front wore a savage grin. His katana, clad in Wind Release chakra, slashed toward "Aizen's" face with thunderous force!
"Splurt!"
Blood sprayed everywhere. He could even feel the blade slicing through warm flesh!
"Hahaha! I killed him! Great Elder, I cut him down in one strike..."
The Jōnin's smug laughter abruptly died.
Because, in his perception, the space before him seemed to ripple like water.
The black-robed man he had cleaved in two was gone. In his place stood his closest adjutant! Warm blood sprayed across his face from the adjutant's split-open chest!
"What... what's going on?! I clearly struck the intruder!"
"What are you doing? Are you insane?!" another death soldier beside him shouted in terror.
He tried to stop the Jōnin, only to see the resurrected adjutant, brought back by Izanagi, kill him on the spot!
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The Fire Release launched from the rear was aimed straight at the doors, but the moment it left the user's mouth, it strangely "turned a corner" and slammed into the stone statue enshrining the ancestors.
Everything descended into chaos.
Everything had descended into chaos.
The entire hall had instantly turned into an absurd, blood-soaked slaughterhouse.
In the proud Three-Tomoe Sharingan of these Uchiha elites, illusions of "Aizen" and the nameless figure in black robes were everywhere.
They roared and attacked the enemies before them like madmen, but every time their blades fell, it was their own clansmen who hit the ground!
"Genjutsu?! What kind of genjutsu is this?! See through it with your Sharingan! Break it, now!"
An Elder stood on the raised platform, watching the elite shinobi slaughter one another below. His face twisted with fury and alarm as he bellowed.
"Release!"
Countless Uchiha death warriors frantically stirred the chakra inside their bodies, trying to disrupt its flow and break the genjutsu.
But it was useless.
"There's no point."
"Aizen's" ethereal voice seemed to come from every direction at once, pressing down on them with a despairing weight.
"The Sharingan sees through genjutsu by detecting and disrupting abnormal chakra flow in the brain. But I haven't controlled your chakra."
Yue strolled through the maddened death warriors like a god taking a leisurely walk.
Dozens of swinging Ninja Blades passed close by him, yet not one even brushed his clothes.
"I've merely used Yin Release to its utmost to rewrite the 'reality' your five senses perceive. Your sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch... From the moment you heard me draw my sword, they've been entirely under my control."
"Stop your theatrics! Find them!" The Fourth Elder shook with rage. He glared down at the scene, only to realize in horror that he couldn't tell reality from illusion either.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the hall,
Hikari, wrapped in a black robe, moved like an emotionless phantom assassin, silently reaping lives on the battlefield.
She kept her promise to Yue and refrained from revealing her unique power.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
One loyal Uchiha shinobi after another lost their lives.
To enemies trapped in Mirror Flower, Water Moon, Hikari's attacks were completely invisible.
They couldn't even take up a defensive stance before their vision went black and they crumpled limply to the ground.
Even when they activated Izanagi, they only recovered for a moment before coming to their senses. But with only their jonin-level mastery of Yin Release, they soon fell into the Mirror Flower, Water Moon Yue had created once more.
In barely five minutes,
the Uchiha elites who had just been roaring with murderous fury, so powerful and arrogant, now lay sprawled across the floor.
The few who remained knelt like headless flies, clutching their heads and letting out despairing cries. They didn't dare swing their blades again.
Tap, tap, tap.
Unhurried footsteps climbed the stone steps.
Yue Uchiha sheathed his straight sword and walked up to the platform with his hands behind his back.
The nameless girl beneath the black robe followed like a shadow, standing beside him as his most loyal retainer.
On the platform, the Great Elder, the Second Elder, and several other top authorities still watched with cold indifference, as if they couldn't care less that the elite squad of Three-Tomoe Sharingan users had been wiped out.
Until—
"Tap, tap, tap." Footsteps sounded from a distance.
A sharp glint flashed in the eyes of the Great Elder and the other high-ranking figures.
"Clap, clap, clap!" Hearing the footsteps, the Great Elder slowly rose and began clapping from his lofty perch. The applause rang out, jarringly out of place and grating in the blood-soaked hall.
"I admit that you're strong. To wield Yin Release at a level even we can barely see through at a glance... 'Aizen,' you truly are a rare genius." The Great Elder's aged face twisted into a cruel smirk. "But if you think this parlor trick is enough to challenge the Uchiha's absolute power, you're sorely mistaken."
The instant he finished speaking, the pupils of the Great Elder, the Second Elder, and the Third Elder, who had remained silent until now, all contracted sharply!
Their once-scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun and intertwined like grinding wheels drenched in blood, finally transforming into three distinct Mangekyō patterns, each radiating an aura that made the soul tremble!
A violent, frigid chakra surged like a tangible storm, sweeping across the entire platform.
Under this absolute suppression of ocular power, the space of Mirror Flower, Water Moon created a faint cracking sound, as if it couldn't bear the strain.
Some of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan elites instantly came to their senses, drenched in cold sweat.
But it wasn't over.
From the shadows behind the platform came two more sets of stiff, mechanical footsteps.
Two Uchiha shinobi clad from head to toe in black nightwear stepped out.
Their faces were blank, their eyes as lifeless as stagnant water. They looked like soulless puppets on strings.
And in their eye sockets, two pairs of eerie Mangekyō Sharingan were spinning!
"These are the finest creations of the Spring of Returning Light: ultimate weapons without emotion or pain, born only to kill," the Second Elder declared cruelly.
"Unfortunately, there used to be two more tools, but they're dead now."
Five pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan in all!
Five terrifying forces of ocular power, as solid as mountains, locked onto the "Aizen" Yue was impersonating and Hikari at his side.
The air seemed to freeze into mercury, making it almost impossible to breathe.
"Despair, you arrogant wandering swordsman. Before the Uchiha's true power, your Yin Release is nothing but..." The Great Elder looked down at them with contempt.
Then five Susanoo appeared together, blotting out the sky as they towered over Hikari and Yue.
Faced with power enough to flatten any one of the Warring States' shinobi clans, or even several of them, Yue drew a deep breath.
"Hikari," Yue called softly.
"I'm here." Hikari gripped her Short Blade, standing firm without a hint of retreat.
Since ordinary Yin Release couldn't withstand the overwhelming force of five Mangekyō, there was only one option: flip the table.
Yue tightened his grip on the hilt. His one remaining right eye's Three Tomoe began to spin faster, showing faint signs of evolving into a Mangekyō.
He was ready to reveal his identity, no matter the cost. Even if it left him blind in his right eye, he would unleash the full power of their Mangekyō alongside Hikari and bury those old bastards here!
Sacrificing all the ocular power in his right eye to unleash Amenominakanushi would create a force of attraction strong enough to tear everything apart.
Even if the other side used Izanagi, Hikari could counter it with Izanami.
By contrast, if Yue and Hikari used Izanagi, their opponents had no way to counter it.
They still had a chance to survive.
The price would be nothing more than...
Just as Yue was about to tear off his disguise, with the decisive moment at hand—
"Enough!!"
An old voice roared, abruptly interrupting the battle that was about to erupt.
Uchiha Chiri, who had been gravely wounded and barely clinging to life, somehow managed to straighten up.
A dazzling chakra aura unlike anything before blazed around her, bright enough to sting the eyes.
It was the final radiance of a life and soul burning away!
Her hunched frame stood between Yue and Hikari. With her back to them, she gave a slight shake of her head.
"Teacher Chiri..."
"Chiri! You old hag, you're still not dead?!" The Great Elder's eyes flashed with fear as he watched Chiri rise again.
"As long as this eye can still see the Uchiha's suffering, I can't fall! Behind me stand countless Uchiha who are still sane."
Chiri raised her head. The Mangekyō Sharingan in her one remaining right eye blazed with unprecedented red light, and two trails of crimson tears ran down her cheeks.
"Great Elder, Second Elder, Third Elder... You demons, consumed by power—the Uchiha Clan is not your slaughterhouse!"
"You old fool, what nerve! Everything I've done was for the Uchiha! Attack together—kill her!" the Great Elder roared.
All five pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan flared at once. Dark purple and black Susanoo skeletons instantly grew muscles and armor, then charged toward Chiri with a roar, bearing down on her with world-destroying force!
Faced with this despairing assault, Chiri didn't retreat a single step.
She spread her arms and let the violent attacks tear into her frail body, a relieved smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
"Within an endless cycle, seek the true selves you lost long ago..."
"Izanami!!!"
"Vooom—!!!"
There was no earth-shaking explosion, no scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere.
The instant Chiri's ocular power erupted, time seemed to be forcibly brought to a stop.
The five Susanoo that had just begun to take shape crumbled like sand sculptures eroded by the wind.
The Great Elder's vicious expression froze. The crimson light in the eyes of the Second Elder, the Third Elder, and the two Mangekyō tools went out at the same time, leaving them hollow and vacant.
"Thump. Thump..."
The five peerless powerhouses who wielded Mangekyō Sharingan fell to their knees on the platform in unison, like empty shells robbed of their souls.
Their consciousness had been dragged forever into an inescapable cycle of fate, where it would remain until they could face their sins.
After unleashing that earth-shattering attack, Chiri's body swayed violently.
The Mangekyō pattern in her right eye instantly collapsed, drained of all color until it turned completely white.
With the last of her sight gone, the flame of her already dwindling life finally reached its end.
"Teacher..."
Hikari, who had been silent until then, hurried forward and caught Chiri's limp body.
Unable to express her feelings, she was already in tears.
She didn't know what this feeling was. She only knew she wanted to do this.
Chiri rested in the girl's arms, her breathing as faint as a thread.
Though blind, she seemed to see through the pair's disguises.
She reached out with her withered hand and accurately found the familiar outline of the mask beneath the black robe. A peaceful, relieved smile blossomed on her lips.
"This filthy era... will pass..."
"Be sure to... live happily..."
"Show me... the Uchiha of the future... and tell me if they're as I imagined..."
The old woman's hand gradually lost its strength and slipped from the air.
Her head drooped slightly, and she peacefully closed her pale eyes.
The legendary kunoichi, creator of Izanami, had burned away the final ember of her life to preserve her clan, and passed away quietly.
In the hall, Hikari clung tightly to Chiri's body as it slowly grew cold. Beneath the black robe, her shoulders trembled violently. She bit her lip hard, stifling every sob.
Yue silently sheathed his straight sword, his eyes lowered beneath the mask.
He bent down and bowed deeply to Chiri's body, with utmost solemnity.
"We'll remember your teachings, Grandma Chiri."
Yue whispered the words so quietly that only the two of them could hear.
Then he stood and gently lifted Chiri's body from the floor, placing her on the stone dais at the center of the hall—the symbol of Uchiha glory.
When he was done, Yue turned around.
"Let's go."
He paid no heed to the Elders kneeling in the endless cycle of Izanami, nor to the elites gradually waking from Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
The two dark figures walked slowly beneath the flickering firelight and passed through the heavy bronze doors, disappearing into the thick darkness of night surrounding the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Three days later, news that shocked the entire Ninja World spread throughout the countries.
An unprecedented internal conflict had erupted within the Uchiha Clan.
Everyone who had attended the clan meeting underwent an unprecedented spiritual ordeal. Several high-ranking Elders, including the Great Elder, suddenly fell into a bizarre looping genjutsu during the meeting and eventually confessed their crimes in tears.
The one responsible for it all was the legendary Uchiha kunoichi Uchiha Chiri, who had secretly trained an extraordinarily powerful disciple and whose name had rung across the Ninja World for decades. After cleansing the clan of its corruption, she had passed away peacefully in the hall.
It was said that when she died, a blissful smile still lingered on her lips.
Her disciple, "Aizen," the most formidable force in that battle, was now gazing into the distance. It lay in the direction he had come from—the place where the Dragon Vein was.
"Hikari, our journey is entering its next stage."
"Where are we going?"
"To a place... where we can truly take control of our Fate."
He had three goals, and he had already completed the first two. As for the last one—taking the secret techniques of the various clans—it was currently of little importance to him.
Only the Senju Clan's Yang Release secrets were worth examining, but who could say what trump cards the Senju Clan Compound might hold?
After all, he didn't believe the Senju Clan and the other great clans could have survived the assaults of so many Mangekyō Sharingan without having corresponding trump cards.
Taking that risk wasn't worth it.
Unless he spent a few more years in this world, but that would waste too much time. The research facilities here were nowhere near as good as those in Rōran.
He had a whole host of wild ideas he was eager to try once he returned to Rōran.
More importantly, Hashirama and Madara's era came after this one. It was a part of the main story he couldn't avoid, and if he stayed here any longer, the World Correction Force might make trouble for him.
As for what Chiri had said about the Uchiha's future, he already had a plan in mind.
Before you continue