Night of Extermination, Time for Action

"Goodbye, Arashi-nii!"

"Goodbye."

"Hey, you stinky guy, can I borrow this book to read at home?"

"Absolutely not. You ruined that last book, so pay me back for it first before you even think about asking!"

"Did you really write this story yourself? Where's the rest of it?"

"I really did write it. Don't be impatient; I'll let you see it first when it's finished."

Uchiha Arashi wore a gentle smile as he pacified the group of little brats before him.

Only after everyone had left, fully satisfied, did Uchiha Arashi begin to tidy up his things at a leisurely pace.

His movements were slow and gentle, as if he were fulfilling a special ritual, or perhaps trying to hold onto these few remaining days of normalcy.

He truly should hold onto them, for after tonight, the entire Uchiha clan would cease to exist.

"Konoha... Uchiha... Heh, the Heavens really do love a joke."

Uchiha Arashi was a transmigrator, having arrived over a decade ago. However, for the first few years, he had lived in a daze, simply believing himself to be a native-born Uchiha.

It wasn't until the Nine-Tails Incident seven years ago, when his "parents" in this world both perished, that he finally recovered the memories of his past life in a moment of crisis.

Since then, Uchiha Arashi had been working in the shadows, hoping to save his clan from the fire.

It wasn't that he held any deep affection for this Uchiha clan—he hadn't before, and he likely never would—but saving the clan was purely for his own sake.

Unfortunately, after several years, he had achieved nothing.

The injustice of Konoha, the "madness" of the Uchiha, and the secret machinations of those with ulterior motives—this historical momentum was not something he, a "trash" who couldn't even awaken a Sharingan, could reverse.

"At least there is a turning point."

Uchiha Arashi carried a candle into the basement, passed through piles of wooden crates and bookshelves, and arrived before a sword rack.

He set the candlestick down steadily, reached out to take the long sword, and drew it from its scabbard.

By the light of the candle, he began to admire it carefully.

The blade was 80 centimeters long with a silvery-white edge, a simple oval-shaped guard, and a hilt wrapped in blue-green ribbon.

The blade was covered in cracks, looking as if it might shatter at any moment.

Uchiha Arashi performed a casual flourish with the sword, then suddenly thrust it into the ground.

Despite the hardness of the brick and stone, the moment it touched the blade, it became softer than tofu.

The long sword sank easily into the ground, and an unknown substance resembling black slime surged out, rapidly climbing up Uchiha Arashi's body.

"Since saving the entire Uchiha clan is unlikely, I'll just save a few promising young sprouts... I still have to snatch eyes from Obito and Danzo, this is truly too difficult for me..."

Muttering softly to himself, Uchiha Arashi sank bit by bit into the ground and vanished.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Smoke rose from chimneys throughout the village as the villagers prepared dinner, soothing their weary bodies.

It was in this moment of ten thousand flickering lights that a massacre had already begun within the Uchiha compound.

"Uchiha Itachi, why are you doing this..."

"Traitor! You've betrayed the clan!"

"Fugaku! This is the fine son you've raised!"

"Ah—"

Screams rose one after another.

Uchiha Itachi, the most prominent young man in the clan, the son of the clan head, the future leader once held in high hopes by his kin, and the wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan, had now raised his blade against his own people.

No one could resist him.

The Mangekyo possessed absolute suppression over the three-tomoe Sharingan.

Another clansman fell with a wail. This was an ordinary Uchiha who had not awakened his eyes and possessed no talent for ninjutsu; he had run a fabric shop within the compound, living a plain and ordinary life.

Itachi flicked the blood off his short blade and turned to look at the adjacent room, unable to stop his brow from furrowing slightly.

It was strange. He had clearly sensed a living person in that room earlier—if he remembered correctly, it should have been the daughter of this family—but now, her presence was gone.

Did she die of fright?

Itachi thought to himself.

That would be fine, too; it saved him from having to do it himself.

He reached out to push open the door and scanned the room, his brow furrowing even tighter.

The person was gone?

The room was empty. Aside from the simplest table, chairs, and a small bed, there was not a shadow of a person to be seen.

It was clearly impossible for anyone to be hiding under the bed.

"Is this a genjutsu?"

Itachi instinctively channeled his ocular power, yet he found no traces of any illusion.

"Or could it be that they have already escaped?"

That possibility was even lower; how could a child who had just entered the Ninja Academy escape from right under his nose without making a sound?

The doubts were too great, but unfortunately, this was not the time to investigate further.

"I hope you truly managed to escape..."

Thinking this to himself, Itachi flashed away from the small courtyard and leaped directly into another yard not far away, where the sounds of screaming continued to ring out.

Meanwhile, in another unknown black space.

"Arashi, Brother Arashi, how did you..."

Uchiha Shizuka widened her eyes, looking in bewilderment and helplessness at Uchiha Arashi, who had suddenly appeared before her, along with several companions behind him.

There were those she knew and those she didn't, some she was close with and some she wasn't, but without exception, they all wore the Uchiha clan crest on their clothing.

"I am here to save you, of course. What, is it hard to believe?"

"But, I was clearly still at home... Right, Brother Arashi, Mom and Dad, they..."

Uchiha Shizuka suddenly snapped back to reality; she had watched with her own eyes as her mother was killed, followed by her father.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't save them."

Uchiha Arashi shook his head, speaking with a look of regret.

If he could, he would naturally hope to preserve the entire Uchiha clan; only with a large number of clansmen could the family be called powerful.

But unfortunately, this Shadow Space was still in its infancy, and the number of people it could accommodate was extremely limited. If he wanted to save people, he had to select those with potential and those worth saving. Shizuka's parents were just ordinary Uchiha, and even if he saved them, it would be of little significance, merely wasting precious slots in vain.

"How could it be like this..."

Uchiha Shizuka widened her eyes, tears flowing silently down her cheeks.

Uchiha Arashi withdrew his gaze and looked "upward." The Shadow Space could currently cover a small half of the clan grounds, and he could perceive part of the situation outside.

The clansmen were almost all dead, with only sporadic resistance remaining. Sasuke should already be on his way home, and the brothers' meeting was about to begin.

Yet, Arashi turned his gaze toward the outside of the clan grounds; there was still one more person he had to save.

The Konoha Military Police Force was now littered with corpses.

Obito looked at the young girl before him, sneering as he raised his weapon.

"Three-tomoe Sharingan, you have a bit of talent, at least."

The weapon swung down.

Clang—

The sound of metal clashing exploded, but the sharp pain did not arrive.

"Yo, Sister Izumi, why are you in such a sorry state? Didn't you love to lecture me in the past?"

Familiar attire, a familiar voice, a familiar back—Uchiha Izumi widened her eyes, bit by bit.