Help Me See the Future Uchiha

Days passed, and winter gave way to spring.

In the blink of an eye, a year had quietly slipped away.

Under the secret tutelage of Izumi Uchiha, the progress Yue Uchiha made in Yin Release could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.

If there were a way to quantify his ability, Yue could proudly say that his genjutsu level had already reached the Kage rank.

Relying on genjutsu alone, he could stand his ground against a Kage-level opponent.

In fact, under his self-created Kyōka Suigetsu, it would be a pipe dream for any Kage-level powerhouse who hadn't studied Yin Release or spiritual energy to even land a strike on him.

Throughout this year, the situation in the Ninja World grew increasingly tense.

The madness within the Uchiha Clan continued to escalate, prompting the Senju Clan to unite with several other families for defense, yet they still suffered defeat after defeat under the Uchiha's onslaught.

Correspondingly, the grassroots Uchiha who could not keep up with the speed of the Uchiha war machine became mere firewood, constantly fueling the acceleration of the clan.

As it stands, it is uncertain if the current Uchiha population is even half of what it once was.

Ironically, most of the fallen Uchiha did not die at the hands of the Senju Clan, but at the hands of their own kin.

Yet, during their late-night lessons at Moon-Severing Cliff, Izumi's condition was visibly deteriorating.

Her coughing grew more frequent, and the light in her one remaining eye grew dimmer with each passing day.

"Grandma Izumi, your health..."

Late one night, as Yue and Izumi were sparring with Izanagi, he couldn't help but step forward to support her when she coughed up blood.

At this moment, the bandage on Yue's left eye had been removed; although his ocular power had not fully recovered, he could already perceive blurred light and shadows.

This was the initial result of him using Yin Release to nourish his optic nerves.

"It's nothing, just an old ailment."

Izumi waved him off, sitting on a rock at the cliff's edge, gazing at the crescent moon on the horizon.

"Yue, how is that child Hikari doing lately?"

"She is doing well." A hint of a smile appeared at the corners of Yue's mouth. "She has learned to go to the market to buy groceries by herself. Although she gets mistaken for a protection-money collector every time because of her expressionless face, at least... she is like a normal person."

"That's good, that's very good..."

Izumi nodded with relief, and then, her expression suddenly turned incomparably solemn.

She pulled an extremely archaic scroll, stained with a trace of old blood, from her bosom and handed it to Yue with great gravity.

"Yue, over this past year, I have seen your talent and your character with my own eyes. You are even more outstanding than I imagined, and even more... like the Uchiha I once envisioned."

"This is..." Yue took the scroll, feeling its heavy weight in his palm. He had already guessed what was inside.

He had already mastered all of Grandma Izumi's secret techniques and the mysteries of Yin Release, so there was no need for her to pass them on through this precious scroll.

Therefore, the only thing left worth entrusting was the construction technique and principles of the Spring of Returning Light, which Yue had never stopped thinking about.

Izumi looked deeply at Yue. "This old woman's time is near. The old fools in the clan have lost their minds. I originally intended to take this to the grave with me, but you child, sigh... you have truly won this old woman's heart."

Hearing this, Yue couldn't help but harbor some guesses about Izumi's next move, and a wave of sorrow welled up in his heart.

"Grandma Izumi, what are you going to do?"

"I cannot watch the Uchiha be destroyed by their hands."

Izumi stood up, and her once hunched figure suddenly radiated the aura of a grandmaster, one that made it difficult to look directly at her.

"Tomorrow, I will attend the clan meeting. I will use this old life of mine and this final eye to activate Izanami one last time, to... cleanse the house for the Uchiha."

"Grandma Izumi! You..." Yue wanted to dissuade her, but Izumi raised a hand to stop him.

"This is my destiny, and my atonement. If only I had been truly ruthless back then..."

Izumi smiled and patted Yue's head, just as she used to pat Hikari's.

"Yue, promise me one thing."

"Please, speak." Yue's voice was choked with emotion.

"Take Hikari and live. No matter what the Uchiha becomes in the future, you must live. As humans, live happily."

"And... if it is possible, help me see the world of the future. See what that future Uchiha is really like, and whether it is as I imagined."

After saying this, Izumi Uchiha did not look back.

Her figure transformed into a sky full of black crows, vanishing into the night wind of Moon-Severing Cliff.

Only Yue Uchiha remained, clutching the scroll that carried the long-held intentions of an old woman.

"I promise you."

Yue spoke softly to the empty night sky.

"I will live, and I will... see that future for you. If that future is not as you wished, then I will forge it myself."

"But... I will not just stand by and watch you die."

"Yue."

I do not know when it happened, but Uchiha Hikari had already silently walked up behind him.

She did not ask any questions, simply extending her slightly cold, small hand to gently clasp Yue's fingers, which had turned white at the knuckles from the force of his grip.

"Are we going back?" Hikari asked softly.

Yue did not answer immediately; he turned around, his right eye, which had returned to its deep, dark state, fixed upon Hikari.

"Hikari, Grandmother Izumi Uchiha has given us everything she had. The mysteries of Yin Release, the secret techniques of the clan, and even her hope for the future."

Yue gripped Hikari's hand back, his voice very low.

"She wants to use her own exhausted life to drag those mad dogs, who have been completely corrupted by power, down into the grave with her, all to leave a relatively clean Uchiha for those who come after."

"But how can we justify letting a dying old woman face the darkness alone, while we young ones who have received her grace hide behind her to enjoy the shade?"

Hikari froze for a moment, then, in those beautiful, large eyes, there was not a shred of fear; instead, a flash of extremely pure resolve flickered.

She pulled the short blade at her waist upward, her red and white casual clothes snapping in the night wind.

"In other words, we are going to kill."

Hikari tilted her head, her tone as calm as if she were confirming tomorrow's breakfast.

"We are going to cut down all those old things, right?"

"Not all of them, but it's not far off."

"What we must do is, at the Clan Assembly, in front of everyone, drag those high-and-mighty elders down from their pathetic thrones!"

"Let's go, Hikari. Let us attend this final banquet, and at the same time, it is time for our revenge."

The following night, at the Underground Core Ancestral Hall of the Uchiha Clan.

Inside the massive underground hall, the lights were blazing.

Hundreds of elites from the Uchiha Clan knelt on one knee below, while on the high platform at the end of the hall, several high-ranking members led by the Great Elder sat upright, looking down at the clansmen below.

"The Senju Clan has shifted from offense to defense, and the Uchiha have reached the peak of prosperity under our hands, yet we can be even more prosperous."

The Great Elder slammed his hand onto the armrest, his old, furrowed face full of ferocity and madness.

"Izanagi is a miracle bestowed upon us by the heavens! We cannot afford not to use it! Furthermore, as long as we have the Spring of Returning Light, we need not fear exhaustion! Pass on my order: bring out all those disgraceful Uchiha in the dungeons who refuse to seek progress, and throw them into the formation!"

"Great Elder, those..." A Chunin could not help but look up, his voice trembling.

"Shut up! For the sake of the Uchiha's hegemony, such minor sacrifices are necessary! Our Uchiha Clan does not tolerate the weak."

The Second Elder barked, cutting him off.

"I see your ideological awareness is not high enough either; do you also wish to become one of them?"

The atmosphere in the hall was suppressed to the extreme; many young Uchiha clansmen wore fanatical expressions, looking at the elders above with worship.

Some Uchiha who possessed their own thoughts showed signs of unbearable pity, but under the absolute pressure of the elders and those cruel clan rules, no one dared to resist.

Just then, the heavy bronze doors of the hall emitted a dull roar.

"Boom—"

The doors were slowly pushed open, and a hunched, aged figure, leaning on a cane, walked into the hall step by step.

"Izumi Uchiha?!"

Seeing the person who had arrived, the Great Elder's brow furrowed sharply on the high platform.

"You old hag who should have stepped into a coffin long ago, why aren't you waiting to die in your tent instead of coming to the Clan Assembly?"

He seemed to realize something, then let out a dry laugh: "Are you here to save those pieces of trash?"

Izumi Uchiha ignored the Great Elder's clamoring.

In her only remaining right eye, the Three Tomoe slowly rotated, sorrowfully surveying this ancestral hall that once symbolized the glory of the clan, but had now been reduced to a slaughterhouse.

"I have come to see how much more blood this clan, which you lunatics have dragged into the abyss, can possibly shed."

"Insolent!" The Second Elder stood up abruptly. "Izumi Uchiha! Don't think that because you had some merit in the past, you can spout such nonsense here! Men, take this old madwoman down and throw her into the dungeon! It just so happens that she can make one last contribution to the Uchiha; I am quite curious to know how much ocular power the Mangekyō Sharingan can provide us?"

"Yes!"

A dozen Police Force elites responsible for guarding the ancestral hall immediately drew their ninja blades, their faces filled with fanaticism.

In this crazy era, as long as one could gain power, things like respecting one's elders had long been cast to the back of their minds.

Facing the clansmen who pounced like wolves and tigers, Izumi Uchiha's graying hair fluttered under the agitation of her chakra.

"The sorrow of the Uchiha shall be severed by these old bones of mine!"

She suddenly drew the short blade hidden within her cane, her figure unexpectedly erupting with extreme speed that did not belong to an old woman.

With a flash of the blade and two "squelch" sounds, the two elites at the front did not even see the movement before their throats were precisely slit.

Izumi Uchiha formed hand seals with one hand, spitting a scorching line of fire from her mouth: "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

The flames instantly engulfed the enemies on the flank.

However, there were simply too many Uchiha elites in the hall.

Furthermore, they had long since been thoroughly brainwashed.

"It's useless! For the glory of the Uchiha!"

The throats of the two elites had been slashed, yet their corpses twisted in a bizarre distortion, dissipating like a dream. Immediately after, they appeared unscathed in Izumi Uchiha's blind spot, plunging their kunai into her back without a moment's hesitation!

"Izanagi..."

Izumi let out a muffled groan and severed the attacker's arm with a single slash, but she staggered back several steps, her clothes instantly stained crimson with blood.

Although she possessed peak-level Yin Release and swordsmanship, human strength had its limits when facing a massive number of death-seekers who could "rewrite death" at any moment.

After only a few minutes of brutal combat, over a dozen corpses lay around Izumi, yet more members of the Police Force, their Three Tomoe activated, surrounded her tightly in the center.

Her body was covered in seven or eight wounds deep enough to reveal bone, and she leaned on her short blade, gasping for air.

"It's over, Izumi." The Great Elder looked down from on high at the old woman trapped in a desperate situation. "The tide cannot be turned. The Uchiha will become the strongest ninja clan in the Ninja World under my hand; the cost is merely some firewood."

Izumi let out a miserable laugh, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"If that is the case... even if I can only drag a few of you down with me..."

She slowly closed her eyes. In her remaining right eye, chakra began to condense frantically, preparing to unleash the ultimate version of [Izanami]—a technique she had created, refined, and strengthened with her own Mangekyō Sharingan.

Just as Izumi prepared to meet her death, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the bronze gate.

Following that, two figures draped in black trench coats stepped across the threshold.

"Boom!"

A violent surge of chakra air currents instantly blasted the dozen death-seekers surrounding Izumi away, and Yue and Hikari stood firmly on either side, shielding Izumi Uchiha.

"Who are you? You dare interfere in the affairs of our Uchiha Clan?"

"You may call me Aizen. As for my specific identity, I suppose I am, at best, a student of Teacher Izumi."

From beneath the mask came Yue's low voice.

He pulled the hood over his head slightly lower to avoid being recognized.

"Izumi's student? Aizen? That wandering samurai who dares meddle in Uchiha business? We didn't go looking for you, yet you come here seeking death?"

An elder laughed in extreme anger.

"Since you want to be buried with this old hag, then we shall grant your wish! Hack them into pulp! Do not give them any chance to resist!"

"Kill!"

Dozens of Uchiha clan members with Three Tomoe activated charged forward.

The scorching light of Fire Style instantly illuminated the dome of the great hall, and dozens of kunai wove into an airtight web of death, completely sealing off all paths of retreat for the two.

Yue, who called himself "Aizen," did not adopt any defensive posture.

He merely raised his right hand slowly and drew a plain, straight blade with no special luster from beneath his wide black robe.

"Teacher Izumi once taught me that the essence of Yin Release is 'creating form from nothing'." Yue spoke softly.

Yue inverted the tip of his blade, pointing it straight down toward the ground.

"Today, let me show you the pinnacle of Yin Release, once the senses have been stripped away."

The tip of the blade touched the bluestone floor, emitting a crisp sound so sharp it seemed to strike the depths of the soul.

"Shatter, [Kyōka Suigetsu]."

"Hum!"

There was no blinding light, nor any violent surge of chakra.

It was merely a ripple of Yin Release spiritual energy, so pure it could not be perceived by the Sharingan, which spread from the tip of the blade like a drop of water into a calm lake, instantly permeating the entire underground ancestral hall.

"Die! Arrogant vermin!"

A Police Force jonin at the forefront wore a ferocious expression, his katana coated in Wind Style chakra, slashing toward "Aizen's" face with the force of a thunderbolt!

"Puchi!"

Blood sprayed wildly; he could even clearly feel the sensation of the blade slicing through warm flesh!

"Hahaha! I killed him! Great Elder, with one strike I..."

The jonin's smug, manic laughter came to an abrupt halt.

Because in his perception, the space before him seemed to ripple like water.

The black-robed man he had split in two was gone, replaced by his closest deputy! The warm blood was currently spraying wildly from his deputy's severed chest onto his own face!

"What... what is happening?! I clearly struck that intruder!"

"What are you doing! Have you gone mad?!" another death-seeker roared in terror.

He tried to intervene, only to find that the jonin had already been cut down by the deputy, who had just been resurrected by Izanagi!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The Fire Style released from the rear, which was clearly aimed at the direction of the gate, "took a turn" in a bizarre fashion the moment it left his mouth, crashing violently into the stone statue dedicated to the ancestors.

Chaos ensued.

Everything fell into complete chaos.

The entire great hall instantly transformed into an absurd and bloody Asura field.

Within the vision of those Uchiha Clan elites, who took such pride in their Three-Tomoe Sharingan, there were nothing but phantoms of Aizen and the nameless figure in the black robe everywhere.

They roared, launching frenzied attacks against the enemies before them, yet every time a blade fell, it was their own kin who collapsed!

"Genjutsu?! What kind of genjutsu is this! Use your Sharingan to see through it! Break it, quickly!"

An elder stood upon the high platform, watching the elites below slaughtering one another, and roared in a mix of shock and fury.

"Release!"

Countless Uchiha death squads frantically mobilized the chakra within their bodies, attempting to disrupt the flow of chakra to dispel the genjutsu.

However, it was completely useless.

"It is futile."

Aizen's ethereal voice seemed to arrive from all directions simultaneously, carrying a sense of oppressive despair.

"The principle of the Sharingan seeing through genjutsu is to detect and interfere with the abnormal flow of chakra in the brain. But I have not controlled your chakra at all."

Yue strolled through the midst of the maddened death squads like a god taking a leisurely walk.

Dozens of swinging ninja blades brushed past him, yet they could not even touch the hem of his garment.

"I have simply used the ultimate Yin Release to rewrite the 'reality' received by your five senses. Your sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch... from the moment you heard the sound of me drawing my blade, they have been completely under my command."

"Stop playing god!! Find them for me!" The Fourth Elder was trembling with rage. He stared fixedly at the scene below, only to discover with horror that even he could no longer distinguish between reality and phantom.

Meanwhile, in the shadows of the great hall.

Hikari, draped in a black robe, moved like a heartless ghost assassin, harvesting the battlefield in silence.

She strictly adhered to the promise she made to Yue: not to expose her own unique power.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

One after another, the loyal ninja of the Uchiha Clan lost their lives.

To the enemies trapped in Kyōka Suigetsu, Hikari's attacks were completely invisible.

They couldn't even manage a proper defensive stance before their vision went black and they collapsed limply to the ground.

Even if they activated Izanagi, they only recovered for a brief moment of shock; given their level of mastery over Yin Release as jonin, they quickly fell back into the Kyōka Suigetsu created by Yue.

In just five short minutes.

The Uchiha elites, who had been shouting and acting invincible just moments ago, were now lying scattered across the floor.

The remaining few knelt on the ground like headless flies, clutching their heads and emitting desperate wails, not daring to swing their blades again.

Step, step, step.

Unhurried footsteps ascended the stone stairs.

Yue sheathed his straight blade, stood with his hands behind his back, and walked up to the high platform step by step.

The nameless girl under the black robe followed like a shadow, standing by his side like his most loyal reflection.

On the high platform, the Great Elder, the Second Elder, and the other top leaders remained cold-eyed, seemingly indifferent to the deaths of these Three-Tomoe Sharingan elites.

Until.

"Step, step, step." Footsteps echoed from the distance.

A chilling light flashed instantly in the eyes of the Great Elder and the other high-ranking officials.

"Clap, clap, clap!" Hearing the footsteps, the Great Elder slowly stood up and began to clap, looking down from above. The applause sounded abrupt and jarring in the blood-soaked hall.

"I admit you are strong. To be able to use Yin Release to such a realm that even we find it difficult to see through instantly—Aizen, you are indeed a rare genius." A cruel, cold smile curled across the Great Elder's aged face. "But if you think you can challenge the absolute foundation of the Uchiha with such parlor tricks, you are too naive."

The moment his voice fell, the Great Elder, the Second Elder, and the Third Elder—who had remained silent until now—felt their pupils contract violently!

Their originally scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun frantically like millstones soaked in blood, intertwining until they transformed into three distinct Mangekyō patterns, each radiating an aura that made the soul tremble!

Violent, cold chakra swept across the entire high platform like a materialized storm.

Under the pressure of this absolute ocular power, the space of Kyōka Suigetsu created by Yue began to emit faint, cracking sounds, unable to bear the strain.

Some of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan elites woke up instantly, cold sweat pouring down their faces.

But it was not over yet.

From the shadows behind the high platform, two more mechanical, stiff sets of footsteps emerged.

Two Uchiha ninja, completely wrapped in black night-raid gear, walked out.

They were expressionless, their eyes as hollow as stagnant water, like two puppets without souls.

And in their eye sockets, two pairs of eerie Mangekyō Sharingan were spinning!

"This is the perfect masterpiece of the Spring of Returning Light—the ultimate weapon born only for slaughter, without emotion or pain," the Second Elder declared cruelly.

"It is a pity that there were two other tools before, but they have already perished."

Five pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan in total!

Five terrifying, tangible bursts of ocular power locked onto "Aizen," the persona Yue had adopted, and Hikari beside him like five towering mountains.

The air seemed to solidify into mercury at this moment, making even the act of breathing an arduous task.

"Despair, you arrogant wandering samurai. Before the true power of the Uchiha Clan, your Yin Release is nothing but..." The Great Elder looked down at them with contempt.

Following his words, five Susanoo manifested simultaneously, blotting out the sky as they loomed over Hikari and Yue.

Facing a combat force capable of flattening any ninja clan in the Warring States period—or even several combined—Yue took a deep breath.

"Hikari," Yue whispered.

"I am here," Hikari replied, gripping her short blade without a hint of retreat.

Since ordinary Yin Release could not contend with the violent suppression of five pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan, they had no choice but to flip the table.

Yue tightened his grip on his sword hilt. In his only remaining right eye, the Three Tomoe began to spin at an accelerated rate, showing faint signs of evolving into a Mangekyō.

He was prepared to cast aside all caution and expose his identity; even if it meant blinding his right eye, he would unleash the full power of the Mangekyō alongside Hikari to bury these old monsters here once and for all!

By sacrificing all the ocular power in his right eye to release Amenominakanushi, the extreme gravitational force would be enough to tear everything apart.

Even if the opponents used Izanagi, Hikari could resolve it with Izanami.

Conversely, if Yue and Hikari used Izanagi, the opposition would have no means to counter it.

They still had a glimmer of hope for survival.

The price, however, would be...

Just as Yue was on the verge of tearing off his disguise at this critical juncture!

"Enough!!"

An aged, furious roar abruptly interrupted the impending life-or-death struggle.

Izumi Uchiha, who had been severely wounded and on the brink of death, had somehow managed to stand tall.

A dazzling, blinding radiance of chakra ignited from her body—an unprecedented display.

It was the final glow of a life and soul being burned away!

Her hunched frame stood before Yue and Hikari, her back turned to them as she shook her head slightly.

"Teacher Izumi..."

"Izumi! You old hag, you aren't dead yet?!" The Great Elder's eyes flashed with a hint of fear as he watched her stand again.

"As long as this eye can still see the sorrow of the Uchiha, I cannot fall! Behind me stand thousands of normal Uchiha."

Izumi suddenly lifted her head. In her only remaining right eye, the Mangekyō Sharingan erupted with an unprecedented, brilliant red light, even shedding two trails of crimson blood tears.

"Great Elder, Second Elder, Third Elder... you demons consumed by power, the Uchiha Clan is not your slaughterhouse!"

"Old thing, such empty talk! Everything I do is for the Uchiha! Attack together, kill her!" The Great Elder roared.

Five pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan flared at once. The dark purple and pitch-black Susanoo skeletons were instantly clad in muscle and armor, roaring as they crushed toward Izumi with the momentum to destroy the world!

Facing this desperate attack, Izumi did not retreat a single step.

She spread her arms, allowing those violent attacks to ravage her frail body, yet a smile of relief curled at the corners of her lips.

"Go and find the hearts you lost long ago within an endless cycle of reincarnation..."

"Izanami!!!"

"Hum—!!!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any gruesome sight of flesh and blood.

The moment Izumi's ocular power erupted, time seemed to be forcibly pressed into a pause.

Those five Susanoo, which had just condensed into their initial forms, crumbled into nothingness like weathered sand sculptures.

The Great Elder's ferocious expression froze completely on his face. The Second Elder, the Third Elder, and the two tool-like Mangekyō users—the scarlet light in all five pairs of eyes extinguished simultaneously, turning hollow and dull.

"Thump, thump..."

Five top-tier experts possessing Mangekyō Sharingan fell to their knees on the high platform in unison, like shells devoid of souls.

Their consciousnesses had been dragged forever into an inescapable, fatal loop of destiny, until such time as they could face their own sins.

After releasing this earth-shaking strike, Izumi's body swayed violently.

The Mangekyō pattern in Izumi's right eye instantly dissipated, losing all color and turning completely deathly white.

The final light was stripped away, and her already exhausted flame of life finally reached its end.

"Teacher..."

Hikari, who had remained silent, stepped forward quickly and caught Izumi's collapsing body.

Not knowing how to express her emotions, she was already covered in tears.

She did not know what this feeling was; she only knew she wanted to do this.

Izumi leaned into the girl's embrace, her breathing as thin as a thread.

Though she was blind, she seemed to see through the disguises of these two.

She reached out a withered hand, accurately touching the mask that hid a face with somewhat familiar contours, and a smile of immense peace and relief bloomed at the corners of her mouth.

"This filthy era... will eventually pass..."

"You must... live... happily..."

"See for me whether the future of the Uchiha is as I envisioned..."

The old woman's hand gradually lost its strength and slipped from mid-air.

Her head drooped slightly, and she closed those pale, sightless eyes in serenity.

A legendary kunoichi of her generation, the creator of Izanami, had burned away the last of her embers for the sake of the clan's continuation, passing away peacefully.

Inside the great hall, Hikari held Izumi Uchiha's cooling body tightly. Beneath her black robe, her shoulders trembled violently, and she bit her lip hard to prevent a single sob from escaping.

Tsuki silently sheathed his straight blade, his eyes beneath the mask lowered.

He bent at the waist and bowed deeply and solemnly toward Izumi Uchiha's remains.

"We will keep your teachings in our hearts, Grandmother Izumi."

Tsuki whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Afterward, he stood up, gently lifted Izumi Uchiha's body from the floor, and placed it upon the stone dais in the center of the hall that represented the glory of the Uchiha.

Having finished this, Tsuki turned around.

"Let's go."

He paid no heed to the elders kneeling on the ground, trapped in the cycle of Izanami, nor did he look at the elites who were gradually waking from the Kyōka Suigetsu.

Two black figures, stretched long by the flickering firelight, slowly walked out through the heavy bronze doors, disappearing completely into the thick night of the Uchiha compound.

Three days later, news that shocked the Ninja World spread across every nation.

An unprecedented internal strife had erupted within the Uchiha Clan.

All those who attended the clan meeting were subjected to an unprecedented spiritual baptism; several high-ranking elders, including the Great Elder, suddenly fell into a bizarre, recurring genjutsu during the meeting, ultimately confessing their crimes while weeping bitterly.

The mastermind behind it all—the legendary kunoichi of the Uchiha Clan who had cultivated a peerless disciple and whose name had echoed through the Ninja World for decades, Izumi Uchiha—passed away peacefully in the great hall after purging the clan of its rot.

It is said that when she died, a trace of a happy smile still lingered on her lips.

And her disciple, "Aizen," who served as the most undeniable force in this battle, was currently looking toward the distance—the direction from which he came, where the Dragon Vein lay.

"Hikari, our journey is entering its next phase."

"Where to?"

"To a place... where we can truly take control of our destiny."

Of his three goals, he had already completed the primary two; as for the last one—seizing the secret techniques of the various great clans—it was currently optional for him.

Only the Yang Release mysteries of the Senju Clan were worth a look, but who could guarantee what trump cards the Senju Clan's territory might hold?

After all, he did not believe that the Senju Clan and the other great ninja clans lacked corresponding trump cards to defend themselves against the onslaught of so many Mangekyō Sharingan.

Taking such a huge risk was not worth it.

Unless he stayed in this world for a few more years, but that would be a waste of time; the experimental environment here was far inferior to Rōran.

He now had a pile of wild ideas waiting to be tested once he returned to Rōran.

Of course, the main reason was that the era following this one would be the era of Hashirama and Madara, an unavoidable link in the main plot; if he continued to stay here, he might be disgusted by the World Correction Force.

As for the future of the Uchiha that Izumi Uchiha spoke of, he already had his own plans.