Massacred Village, I Awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!

Sunlight filtered through layers of leaves at the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, casting dappled shadows across the clearing at the eastern end of Konoha.

"Whoosh!"

A throwing knife struck the bullseye thirty paces away with precision, its handle trembling slightly in the sunlight.

"That was amazing! Brother Dai Tu hit it again!"

Clear applause rang out behind him. A little girl in a coarse cloth dress, with two horn-shaped braids, had flushed cheeks from excitement.

Dai Tu turned around and scratched his signature black, spiky short hair. His large round eyes brimmed with sunlight, making him seem even more childish than his actual age.

"Arin, you've been watching for half the day. Aren't you tired of it?"

"Not at all!" Arin skipped over and naturally took Dai Tu's hand.

"Brother Dai Tu looks so cool when he throws knives! Even Uncle Wang, the village hunter, said that if you used your Martial Soul, you'd definitely be even stronger!"

At the mention of Martial Souls, the smile on Dai Tu's face faded slightly.

He raised his left hand, and the phantom image of a sapling no taller than his palm appeared above it.

The sapling was pitifully frail, with only three tender leaves trembling gently in the wind, as though a slightly stronger gust could snap it apart.

"Sapling Martial Soul..." Dai Tu laughed at himself, lowered his hand, then pointed at his eyes.

At that moment, a single tomoe quietly emerged in the depths of his black eyes, slowly rotating.

"And this One-Tomoe Sharingan. Arin, don't you think these two Martial Souls together are kind of ridiculous?"

That was right. Dai Tu was a transmigrator. He had come to Douluo Continent twelve years ago and retained memories of his past life since infancy.

Twin Martial Souls were real enough, but these two Martial Souls were absurdly weak.

The One-Tomoe Sharingan merely gave him slightly better dynamic vision than ordinary people and allowed him to barely see in the dark. It had almost no other special abilities.

The Sapling Martial Soul was even more of a joke. He had tried countless times. Aside from releasing an extremely faint vitality that slightly accelerated wound healing, the tiny sapling was inferior even to the most ordinary Blue Silver Grass. At least Blue Silver Grass could Bind enemies.

Innate Soul Power Rank Three was considered decent talent in a remote village like Konoha, but across the entire Douluo Continent, it was hardly worth mentioning.

He had trained desperately for six years, yet he was only Rank Seventeen now.

Still, there was nothing particularly bad about this life.

He had a childhood sweetheart, as well as a group of kind and simple villagers.

That was right. He had been raised by the whole village.

Twelve years ago, his mother had fled here and given birth to him. But when Dai Tu was five, she fell gravely ill and died.

She had left behind a dagger bearing the image of a black tiger.

Unfortunately, the village had suffered a disaster last year, and the harvest had been poor. To keep the children from going hungry, Dai Tu had voluntarily sold the dagger to a traveling merchant.

Though reluctant, he did not regret it. The children of the village deserved full meals.

After practicing for a while longer, the two prepared to head back. But as they drew near the village, Dai Tu's footsteps gradually slowed.

Dai Tu frowned and took a deep breath. A faint scent drifted through the air... like rust.

It was the smell of blood.

Though faint, the One-Tomoe Sharingan had given him senses sharper than those of ordinary people. He could not be mistaken.

"Arin, stay close to me." Dai Tu's voice sank as he took Arin's hand and lightened his steps.

The closer they got to the village, the stronger the bloody scent became.

When they quietly reached the small hill outside the village, the sight before them nearly froze Dai Tu's blood.

The villagers of Konoha, every familiar face he knew, had been bound with thick hemp ropes and forced to kneel in the open ground at the village entrance.

Around fifty soldiers in silver-white armor surrounded them. Every one of them radiated a fierce aura, and the tips of their spears glinted coldly beneath the setting sun.

A roaring White Tiger was engraved upon the breastplates of their armor.

"The White Tiger Army..." Dai Tu's heart clenched violently. One of the Star Luo Empire's most elite legions, the personal army of Duke of White Tiger Dai Hao—why were they in this remote border village?

Before the villagers, a young man who looked to be in his twenties paced with his hands behind his back.

He wore a luxurious dark-red brocade robe and carried a gemstone-inlaid longsword at his waist. His face was delicate and handsome, but an inescapable sinister malice lingered between his brows.

"This young master will ask one last time."

The young man's voice was not loud, yet every villager heard it clearly.

"Is there a boy around twelve years old in this village with the surname Dai?"

He paused and took out a dagger from his robe—the very Black Tiger Dagger Dai Tu had sold.

"This dagger was intercepted from a traveling merchant three months ago. After our investigation..." The man's voice suddenly turned cold.

"It turned out to be an old possession of the White Tiger Duke Mansion! Its owner's mother was once a servant of the Duke Mansion. To tell you the truth, that little bastard is Duke of White Tiger's illegitimate son. The Duchess has decreed that if you hand him over..."

He straightened and swept his gaze over all the villagers, revealing a seemingly gentle but actually icy smile.

"The entire village will be spared. Otherwise... die."

On the hillside, Dai Tu felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

An illegitimate son?

Duke of White Tiger Dai Hao's illegitimate son?

That Duke of White Tiger, a man beneath only one and above ten thousand in the Star Luo Empire, the man who had abandoned his wife and son in the original story, was his... father?

Then Huo Yuhao... was his younger brother.

They were half-brothers sharing the same father.

"What boy named Dai? We don't know anyone like that."

"There's no such person in our village."

After a moment of silence, the villagers gritted their teeth and answered.

The young man, Zhu Ye, the Duchess's younger brother, had clearly lost his patience.

"So you won't yield until you see the coffin." He waved his hand. "Drag these lowlifes out one by one and chop off their fingers. This young master would like to see just how hard their mouths are."

"Stop!"

Dai Tu leaped down from the hillside and positioned himself between the villagers and the soldiers.

Every gaze instantly focused on him.

"Dai Tu! Why did you come back?" the old village chief cried hoarsely, his eyes full of anxiety.

Dai Tu did not turn back. Looking at Zhu Ye, he said word by word, "I'm the one you're looking for. Let them go, and I'll come with you."

Zhu Ye examined Dai Tu from head to toe. When he saw his black, spiky short hair and distinctive large eyes, a cruel curve lifted at the corner of his mouth.

"So it really is you. You do bear a few traces of the Dai family."

He slowly walked up to Dai Tu, then suddenly raised his foot and viciously kicked Dai Tu in the abdomen.

Bang!

Dai Tu flew backward and crashed heavily into a tree before sliding to the ground. Agonizing pain tore through his abdomen, and he felt as though his organs had shifted out of place.

Dai Tu was subdued in an instant, pinned to the ground beneath Zhu Ye.

"I never expected a bastard to possess Twin Martial Souls. What a pity... they're far too weak."

Dai Tu struggled desperately, but Zhu Ye's foot was as heavy as a mountain.

Only then did he see the four Soul Rings behind Zhu Ye—two yellow and two purple. A four-ring Soul Ancestor!

Dai Tu resigned himself and glared at Zhu Ye. "I'll go with you. Let them go. You promised."

"Promised?" Zhu Ye seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world and suddenly burst out laughing.

When the laughter abruptly stopped, his expression had turned icy as frost.

"Who told you this young master keeps his word?"

Dai Tu's pupils shrank sharply.

Zhu Ye slowly drew his longsword and pointed its tip toward the kneeling villagers, his voice echoing through the open ground at the village entrance.

"The White Tiger Duke Mansion will never permit filthy illegitimate bloodlines to exist, especially a Twin Martial Souls bastard who might threaten my sister's child's inheritance rights."

He paused, and an almost delighted cruelty appeared on his face.

"As for these villagers? Heh, only the dead can keep secrets forever."

"Kill them." Zhu Ye's voice was soft, yet it exploded beside Dai Tu's ears like thunder.

"Leave none alive."

"No!!!"

Dai Tu's eyes split with rage as he tried to rush forward, but two soldiers had already pinned him down.

He watched helplessly as the first row of villagers was dragged out.

It was the blacksmith's family. The blacksmith was a quiet middle-aged man who always hummed tuneless songs while forging iron. His wife was the best seamstress in the village, and she had made many of Dai Tu's clothes.

They also had a seven-year-old son, a sturdy little boy who always pestered Dai Tu to teach him how to throw knives.

The blacksmith did not beg for mercy. He turned and looked at Dai Tu, who was being held down on the ground. A forced smile appeared on his soot-blackened face.

"Little Tu... don't blame yourself. Live well..."

One villager after another fell, yet none of them ever blamed Dai Tu.

"Look carefully, little bastard. They died because of you."

"If not for an illegitimate son like you, who should never have existed, they could have lived peaceful lives in this desolate place."

"You killed them."

Dai Tu's teeth ground together with a creak, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He wanted to close his eyes, but Zhu Ye used Soul Power to forcibly hold his eyelids open.

Arin was weeping uncontrollably!

Zhu Ye walked over to Arin and lifted her chin with the tip of his sword.

"Little girl, seeing how fiercely you protect him, this young master will give you a chance." He pointed at Dai Tu. "Curse him now. Call him a bastard and say he's the one who got you all killed. Then this young master will spare your life. How about it?"

Arin's tiny body trembled, and huge tears rolled down her face.

"It... it isn't Brother Dai Tu's fault..."

She sniffled and tried her best to force out a smile, though it looked worse than crying.

"Brother Dai Tu... don't cry... Arin isn't afraid..."

Zhu Ye's expression instantly darkened.

"You're courting death."

The longsword rose, then fell.

Squelch!

The sharp blade pierced through Arin's back and emerged from her chest.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Blood sprayed into Dai Tu's eyes, dyeing his vision crimson.

Zhu Ye walked up to Dai Tu and patted his face with the bloodstained sword.

"Don't worry. This young master won't let you die too quickly. I'll gouge out your eyes, cut off your hands and feet, turn you into a human stick, and bring you back to the Duke Mansion. I'll let my sister see what happens to anyone who dares sully the Dai family bloodline."

"Then I'll burn this place to the ground. No one will know what happened in Konoha. No one will know that fifty-three lowlifes once lived here."

"In everyone's eyes, the White Tiger Duke Mansion will forever be righteous, glorious heroes who protect the empire."

"And as for you?" Zhu Ye's smile widened, revealing pale, chilling teeth.

"You're just piles of trash that should never have existed."

Dai Tu did not move.

He was not even looking at Zhu Ye.

His gaze rested upon Arin's body as it gradually turned cold, upon where the blacksmith's family had fallen, upon the old village chief's face with its unclosed eyes, upon Aunt Li's final look toward him.

Blood.

Blood was everywhere.

The people he knew, the people he had sworn to protect, fell one after another.

And he could do nothing.

Dai Tu felt as though the entire world had turned blood-red!

Dai Tu slowly raised his head.

Zhu Ye met a pair of eyes.

A pair of scarlet eyes, as though blood flowed within them.

The pupil that had once held only one tomoe began rotating madly. One tomoe split into two, and two split into three. The three tomoe spun at high speed within his pupils, faster and faster, faster and faster...

Then, at a certain instant, they abruptly froze.

The three tomoe twisted, warped, connected, and finally condensed into a pattern that had never before existed in this world.

It was a complex, eerie, shuriken-shaped pattern that seemed capable of sucking in a person's soul.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

"You... all deserve to die!!!"