Murdered, the Ashen-White Sharingan

Within the Land of Fire, inside an elegant classical building with an antique charm, four ninja squads composed of twelve Uchiha clan members stood on either side of the Land of Fire's daimyo.

Daimyo Ashitaka sat atop the steps before them, looking at the Uchiha guards beside him with considerable satisfaction.

"Oh ho ho~ My dear friends, what do you think of the guards I invited from Konoha? They're all elite ninja from the Uchiha clan. After the Konoha Police Force reforms, they had a drill formation in Konoha, so I spent a fortune bringing these ninja here to open your eyes!"

Ashitaka looked proudly and smugly at the other nobles on both sides below the platform, raising his paper fan to cover his mouth as he laughed.

These twelve Uchiha ninja were elite squads led by Jonin and composed of Chunin. To invite these twelve people to the palace, he had spent eight million ryo on a major commission for Konoha, personally entrusting Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi with it.

Because of this, Kazuma of the Twelve Guardian Ninja had even confronted him, infuriating him. Kazuma had actually claimed that a village like Konoha, with its Hokage, was undermining the peace and stability of the Land of Fire!

What a joke. This was the one-country, one-village system established by the God of Shinobi, Hashirama. All Five Great Nations followed it, and he was extremely satisfied with Konoha's performance. They had never lost a single Ninja World war.

Besides, Tsunade was his granddaughter. He was Tsunade's grandfather, so his relationship with Konoha was even closer than family. The only person in Konoha he disliked was that fellow with bandages around his head and a cane in his hand. He looked gloomy and sinister, not like a good person.

The nobles below began discussing it among themselves.

"I think I did hear something about that. A few days ago, I heard quite a few merchants from Konoha bragging that they had seen that drill formation."

"Uchiha ninja, huh? They may be powerful, but their temperaments are awful. How good could they possibly be? I've seen it myself before, so I wouldn't dare jump to conclusions."

It seemed this noble had hired Uchiha ninja before, but he had not been satisfied with the Uchiha's service attitude.

"Lord Ashitaka, why not have them march for us now?"

"Uchiha Chikura, please lead them in from the entrance and give the nobles a proper look."

"Yes!"

Uchiha Chikura expressionlessly led the other eleven outside.

Though they looked grim, they were all laughing inside. In his entire life, he had never carried out such an easy large-scale A-rank mission. He had originally thought the daimyo wanted to go sightseeing and had hired so many guards.

But after receiving the mission and arriving at the Land of Fire daimyo's residence, they had spent the past week doing nothing but marching in formation through the palace every day.

And it was nothing like the dull monotony he had imagined. The speeches of the nobles and daimyo were full of juicy gossip! Things like a young master contracting an illness from being too promiscuous, an eldest princess having an affair after marriage with her husband's father, or a young master from one family falling for his betrothed's older brother just after the two families had arranged a marriage alliance!

But none of that was important. What mattered was that the pay was incredible! The mission would end tonight, and as squad leader, he would be able to return to the village and collect his reward. It would probably be at least one million ryo, considering he was in charge of this mission.

Thus, Chikura arranged the formation outside and began the drill march!

The sound of orderly footsteps came from beyond the palace.

As the formation entered the palace, the nobles on both sides were immediately stunned by the sight before them.

The daimyo once more covered his mouth with a paper fan as he laughed. He had watched this scene more than a dozen times over the past week, but he never tired of it. He loved seeing those nobles' shocked expressions; it gave him immense satisfaction and a sense of superiority.

When the formation ended and night fell, Uchiha Chikura led his clansmen to bid the daimyo farewell before setting off toward the village.

Dark clouds blotted out the full moon overhead. With the moonlight obscured, the forest became even more dim and gloomy. Uchiha Chikura raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop.

"Uchiha Teiu, Uchiha Eiki, and Uchiha Ri, have your three squads rest first. I'll lead the night watch."

And so, the members of the other three squads leaned against tree trunks and closed their eyes to sleep.

Yet two kilometers behind them, more than thirty Root ninja were following closely. Aburame Ryoma led them. There were twelve Jonin in total, and even the weakest among the rest were Chunin.

"The mission this time is to assassinate these twelve Uchiha traitors. Remember, do not damage their eyes. Those are what Lord Danzo wants. Understood?"

"Yes, understood!"

"Move out!"

Every Root ninja was proficient in assassination and concealment. Even Chunin-level ninja among them had successfully assassinated Jonin before. After all, ninja were a profession with high attack and low defense.

Danger and murderous intent crept ever closer to Uchiha Chikura and the others.

The surroundings were utterly silent—so quiet that it was almost eerie. Chikura sensed that something was wrong and felt unease rising within him, so he decisively activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to investigate.

!!!

His extensive experience told Chikura there was danger, but he had not expected dozens of ninja to be stealthily approaching them.

He immediately reached behind him, preparing to grab his ninja tools.

But Aburame Ryoma saw everything and immediately ordered the attack.

Countless shuriken, kunai, and senbon flew straight at them.

"Enemy attack! Wake the fuck up, all of you!"

Although Chikura had alerted them as quickly as possible, five Uchiha Chunin were still struck in vital spots and killed outright. Even Uchiha Teiu's arm was pierced by a kunai.

But the Root ninja had already completed their encirclement, and every squad leader now faced attacks from three Root Jonin at once.

Dance of the Crescent Moon!

Three dark figures flashed silver light in their hands as they killed Uchiha Ri.

Only after Chikura saw their swordsmanship did he understand. They were Konoha ninja, which meant they had to be Root. There was no way they would survive today. He had to find a way to send the information back!

Chikura used the Body Flicker Technique to pull back and widen the distance.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

"Meow~ Summoning... meow!!!!"

The summoned Ninja Cat's tail was caught by a Fire Style jutsu, and it let out an ear-piercing curse!

"Root has made its move! Go back and tell the Clan Head for me!"

With that, he immediately released the summoning.

"What a desperate man. To transmit the information and protect the Ninja Cat, he actually took Ri's attack with his body."

At that moment, the outer flesh of Chikura's right arm had been charred by Fire Style. His entire arm had lost all sensation and hung limp at his side, while numbness spread from it through his body.

Gritting his teeth, Chikura raised his sword in his left hand and severed his right arm.

"You Root bastards, even if I die today, I'm taking a few of you down with me!"

Chikura's expression was savage. The instant he saw them, he knew there was no escape. Fortunately, the information had been sent back, so now he could fight without worry. It was just a pity—he was sorry for his young son and wife at home...

A moment later, the ground was covered in blood and severed limbs. The Uchiha ninja had been completely wiped out. Ryoma stepped on Chikura's corpse and reached out to dig out his eyes, but his fingers suddenly passed through the body.

Ryoma frowned and instantly sprang backward.

Suddenly!

The supposedly dead Chikura appeared behind Ryoma, completely unharmed. Only the pupil in his left eye had turned white and murky.

He raised his ninja sword and slashed down in an instant!

Uchiha Sword Style—Sword Leap Flame!

The ninja sword, wrapped in blood-red flames, slashed out from behind Aburame Ryoma.

The momentum of his backward retreat left Ryoma, despite sensing the danger, no time to change direction. He could only twist his body to the right with all his strength!

Bang!

As his arm hit the ground, Ryoma could no longer endure the searing pain from his severed limb and began roaring.

"You damned Uchiha! What right do you have to resist? You're nothing but Konoha's cancer!"

Dozens of ninja tools instantly flew toward Chikura. After using Izanami once, he had little stamina and chakra left. Sword Leap Flame had drained him completely, leaving him unable to dodge.

Splat!

The ninja tools pierced through Chikura's body, while some lodged directly in his flesh.

Though Chikura had failed to kill his opponent, he had still crippled much of Ryoma's strength, avenging his severed arm and easing the hatred in his heart.

His body fell backward, and only one thought remained in his mind: Vice Clan Head Senya, you must avenge us. And please, take good care of my wife and child...