Night of the Clan's Destruction

"Shisui, listen to those wretched screams. They're coming from the people you chose as your successors, slaughtering their own clan without restraint under the command of the Third Hokage you respected most. Are you happy?"

"The peace between the clan and village that you've always longed for is about to be realized. Aren't you excited?"

The night wind swept through Konoha's deserted streets, stirring only a few fallen leaves with a soft rustle.

That morning, the Third Hokage had issued a curfew. There had been spy activity from other villages lately, and people were not to go out at night unless absolutely necessary.

Beneath the stillness, a faint scent of blood hung in the air around the Uchiha Clan Compound, quietly spreading through the night.

Uchiha Naro sat on the veranda of his little house, a steaming cup of tea in his hand. He calmly watched the night sky ahead, glowing red in the firelight.

Screams, cries, and the sounds of jutsu exploding came from the compound.

But he didn't move.

He didn't even lift his eyes.

"Master... I... I never thought it would end like this..."

A phantom formed from crimson resentment knelt beside him, respectfully holding out a teapot with both hands. It was the soul of a young man with handsome features, his brows weighed down by unrelenting guilt and pain.

Uchiha Shisui.

Once Konoha's strongest genjutsu shinobi, Body Flicker Shisui.

Now he was nothing but a vengeful spirit, the main soul of the Ghost Bone Banner, serving at Uchiha Naro's side.

At that moment, he bowed his head, his spirit body trembling violently. Black energy poured from within him, gradually turning the red aura inside him black.

"Never thought?" A mocking smile tugged at Uchiha Naro's lips. "You gave Uchiha Itachi your eyes and pinned your hopes on him, naively believing he could use Kotoamatsukami to stop the Uchiha coup. But he did stop it, didn't he?"

He set his teacup down and looked down at the spirit kneeling before him.

"You told Hiruzen about your eyes' power, and Danzo came to take them from you right afterward. Then you killed yourself, and your chosen successor, Uchiha Itachi, turned around and planned to wipe out the entire clan. Shisui, is this how you protect Konoha and your clan? What a unique approach!"

More and more black energy poured from Uchiha Shisui. His spirit began to twist, and pain appeared on his face.

"Master... please... save the Uchiha Clan..." Uchiha Shisui prostrated himself, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud. "I know I have no right to ask, but please, for the sake of our shared clan..."

"Save them?" Uchiha Naro cut him off. "How?"

"Wasn't this what you chose?"

He turned toward the compound. The flames had grown brighter, and the screams came faster and thicker.

"Take them away? Where to? Danzo's Root was all around Konoha, and your old Anbu teammates were waiting on the outskirts. Can you guarantee that even if they got past Uchiha Itachi's kunai, they'd survive the two layers of execution teams outside?"

Uchiha Shisui had no answer.

"Or should they stay in Konoha?" Uchiha Naro continued, his voice cold as ice. "Uchiha Itachi already leaked the coup plan to the Konoha High Command. Danzo and the Third have decided to wipe out the clan. They won't let anyone live. Do you think anything can still be changed?"

He picked up his teacup again.

"Nothing can be changed."

Uchiha Shisui's spirit slumped to the ground. The light in his eyes grew dimmer as the black energy nearly swallowed him whole.

"But..." Uchiha Naro changed tack. "There is one thing I can help you do."

Uchiha Shisui jerked his head up.

"Make their deaths mean something."

As soon as he spoke, gray and red figures began to rise from beneath the courtyard and drift toward a banner at its center, wreathed in red smoke.

They were all souls of people who had died only recently.

Their spirit bodies still looked as they had in life. Some clutched spatulas, others held children in their arms, and some wore the uniforms of the Military Police Force. Their bodies were covered in wounds, and blood still dripped from them.

"That's the woman who ran the ramen shop in the clan," Uchiha Naro said calmly. "Her husband died in the Third Shinobi World War. She raised two children alone. The older one had just graduated and joined the Military Police Force, and the other..."

The first spirit to drift over was a middle-aged woman. She still wore an apron and held a fallen ladle. Terror filled her face. A kunai had pierced her chest, and blood continued to run down her body.

He looked at Uchiha Shisui. "Do you know how she died?"

Uchiha Shisui shook his head, his spirit trembling even harder.

"When Itachi broke into her house, she was making a late-night snack for her daughter. She heard a noise and came out to look. A kunai stabbed her through the heart from behind. Her daughter was hiding in the cupboard behind her, watching her mother fall into a pool of blood."

Blood tears began to run from Uchiha Shisui's eyes.

"Uchiha Nakajima fought in the Second Shinobi World War and lost a leg on the battlefield in the Land of Rain," Uchiha Naro continued, introducing the spirits to Uchiha Shisui. In life, Shisui had spent all his time navigating between the Hokage and the Uchiha leadership, and had paid little attention to ordinary people. "After he retired, he returned to the compound and lived on his pension. He never got involved in clan politics, and never even joined the Military Police Force. All he did was tend his flowers and raise birds."

The vengeful spirit was an old man. He carried a severed head with white hair and limped as he walked. The left leg of his pants hung empty, and the head in his hands bore a scar running from forehead to chin.

Uchiha Naro paused. "When Itachi killed him, he was watering his garden. He didn't even know what was happening before his head went flying."

"Uchiha Aya's parents died on a mission, leaving her with no other relatives in the village. The elders in the clan took turns looking after her, and it had been Uchiha Nakajima's turn today. After killing Uchiha Nakajima, Itachi went into the bedroom and stabbed her too."

The third vengeful spirit had a little face mottled blue and purple, still bearing the innocent look of a child her age. She drifted into the Ghost Bone Banner, waving her arms and legs.

Uchiha Shisui's spirit dropped to its knees. He braced himself against the ground with both hands as black energy poured from him in a torrent, and a low growl rose from his throat.

"Master... kill me... It's all my fault... It's all my fault..."

"Kill you?" Uchiha Naro shook his head. "Would killing you bring the dead back to life? Would it undo what happened? You can't die. You have to bear these sins, bear all this resentment..."

He continued introducing the spirits that came after.

"Uchiha Huahua fought in the Third Shinobi World War. His wife was killed by an Iwagakure Ninja during the war, and he raised their daughter alone. He supported the coup, but opposed slaughtering civilians. His last words were spoken as he looked toward his home. He didn't know that Itachi had already found his Minako in the bedroom, where she died curled up beneath a blanket, clutching a photograph of her mother."

"Uchiha Ken was a member of the Military Police Force. He was lucky enough never to have seen a battlefield, and was always the dove who supported you most. He believed the clan should negotiate with Konoha's leadership, and that a coup by force would destroy both the Uchiha and Konoha. He even secretly corresponded with Sarutobi Hiruzen because he firmly believed the Third shared his desire to protect the Uchiha."

"When he fell, his eyes were still fixed on the unfinished letter in his hand. It ended with: 'I believe the Will of Fire is right. I believe the Third Lord will lead the Uchiha Clan to a new path, just as he protects Konoha.' As he wished, the Third he trusted really did find him a way forward. Itachi slit his wife's throat in the kitchen. The spirit following behind her now was their child."

"Uchiha Miyuki was Uchiha Mikoto's cousin. She was nine months pregnant and waiting to give birth at home. They had already chosen a name for the child, the same as the one-word name of the Uchiha prodigy who came after you. If it was a boy, they'd call him 'Hikari'; if a girl, 'Sakura.' Her husband happened to be on night watch with the Military Police Force tonight. He had died before she did."

"Itachi...?"

"Miyuki, Auntie."

"What's happening? What's going on outside?"

"No... please... I beg you... my baby is about to be born..."

"You can kill me, but please save my baby... Take him to the hospital..."

"Hikari... my Hikari..."

Look, her ghost and her baby are still joined by the umbilical cord. She wouldn't let go of her baby's spirit, even if it meant giving up her own head.

"By blood, Uchiha Cang was your cousin, I suppose. Today was his third day with a Forehead Protector. He hadn't been assigned a teacher yet, though I doubt the Third had ever intended to give him one. After all, why go to the trouble of assigning a teacher to someone who was about to die?"

"His mother was an ordinary person, and the two of them depended on each other. She was sick today, so he helped watch her vegetable stall for a while. He didn't get home until nearly evening. But as soon as he arrived, he saw the person he admired plunging a kunai into his mother's chest. He rushed over to save her, and in that instant, his eye awakened—the Two-Tomoe Sharingan."

"But what good did that do? His throat was still cut. As he died, he choked out through a mouthful of blood, 'Dad... I'm sorry... I couldn't protect... Mom... I... I was... useless, wasn't I...'"

"Uchiha Yosuke was called 'the disgrace of the Uchiha' from childhood because he couldn't mold chakra and would never become a shinobi. He and his wife ran a cake shop that did well and was quite popular with ordinary people in Konoha. Before they died, they were making a cake for an old customer from the Mito family. The couple's blood slowly flowed over the cake that had fallen to the ground, turning its white frosting red."

"Uchiha Daiki had happily taken five days off to care for his wife while she recovered from childbirth. His parents had both died in the war. Their little family was his whole world."

"A kunai pierced his throat, and his wife was burned alive by Fire Release... He wasn't dead yet. He struggled toward the little wooden crib he'd made himself, making a hoarse 'gurgling' sound. Bubbles of blood rose from his throat. He reached out, trying to touch the face in the crib... His hand stopped in midair, then fell limply. His eyes remained open as he died, unable to rest in peace."

There were so many more... too many for Uchiha Naro to introduce one by one...

There was a boy who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy. He hadn't even had time to put on his Genin vest before a single slash killed him;

There was an elite jōnin who had just returned from the front, still exhausted from his mission. He'd barely made it home before he collapsed in a pool of blood, without even a sip of water;

There was a woman three months pregnant, stabbed in the back by Itachi's blade—one body, two lives;

There were hard-line hawks who had always advocated a coup to overthrow Konoha's leadership, dying with weapons still in their hands as they tried to fight back;

There were moderate doves who had always tried to negotiate with the Third Hokage, hoping for a peaceful solution. They died empty-handed, shock and indignation still on their faces;

There were disabled people who had lost both legs in the war, sitting in their wheelchairs with their throats slit;

There was a newlywed couple, married only a month and still in the middle of their honeymoon, who died together in their bridal chamber;

As he listened to Uchiha Naro's account, Uchiha Shisui's spirit disappeared completely beneath the black energy, leaving only a human-shaped outline. Yet under Uchiha Naro's gaze, a faint hint of blue-green still showed within the darkness.

What flowed from his eye sockets wasn't tears, but a blood-black light—the fury and despair of a vengeful spirit ascending into a demon.

"Do you still want me to save them?" Uchiha Naro asked.

Uchiha Shisui's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible. "I... I don't know..."

"You already know the answer." Uchiha Naro stood and walked over to Uchiha Shisui. "These people are dead. They can't be brought back. But you can make their deaths mean something."

Uchiha Shisui looked up at him, his blood-black eyes full of confusion.

"How?"

"Take the Uchiha Clan's anger and hatred, and get revenge on those high above, on those who think of themselves as saviors." Uchiha Naro stared into Uchiha Shisui's eyes. His spirit invaded Shisui's soul, constantly showing him the lofty figures of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, Uchiha Itachi, and the others.

In the sky, clouds covered the moon, leaving only a few stars shining.

"I can't bring them back to life, but I can make their deaths mean something."

"The Uchiha Clan will not die in vain. Konoha was the one that abandoned the Uchiha Clan first. As its founders, let the Uchiha Clan sound the death knell of Konoha."

"The Uchiha Clan will become the fuse that ignites the conflicts of the Ninja World. Konoha, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Mist Village, Kumogakure—all the ninja villages will be swept into this storm and return to the Pure Land alongside the Uchiha Clan..."

Uchiha Shisui stared at him in a daze.

"What you must do now is willingly bear the sins, grievances, and hatred of the Uchiha Clan within the Ghost Soul Banner... Let their spirits find peace and rest..."

"From now on, your soul will be gnawed at every moment by the vengeful spirits of the Uchiha Clan who died so horribly. You will experience the pain they felt before they died and feel the hatred they carried, until they finally let go of the resentment in their souls..."

"Can you do it?"

"Boom—"

Just then, a distress flare exploded over the Uchiha Clan Compound, its vivid red light illuminating the entire sky above Konoha.