"Goodbye, Arashi!"
"Goodbye."
"Hey, you jerk, can I borrow this book and take it home?"
"No way. You ruined the last one. We'll talk when you pay me back!"
"Did you really write this story? Where's the rest of it?"
"I really did. Don't rush me. You'll be the first to read it when it's done."
Uchiha Arashi smiled as he gently placated the little brats in front of him.
Only after they had all left, satisfied, did Uchiha Arashi begin to pack up, unhurriedly.
His movements were slow and gentle, as if he were indulging in some special ritual—or trying to hold on to the little bit of everyday life he had left.
He had good reason to hold on to it. After tonight, the entire Uchiha Clan would be wiped out.
"Konoha... the Uchiha... Heh. Heaven really does love a joke."
Uchiha Arashi was a transmigrator. He had arrived in this world more than ten years ago, but for the first few years, he had been in a daze, thinking of himself as a born-and-bred Uchiha.
It was only seven years ago, during the Nine-Tails Incident, when his "parents" in this world both died, that his memories of his past life finally returned in the midst of the crisis.
After that, Uchiha Arashi had worked behind the scenes, hoping to save the clan from disaster.
It wasn't that he had any particularly deep feelings for the Uchiha. He hadn't before, and probably wouldn't in the future. He was trying to save the clan purely for his own sake.
Unfortunately, after several years, he had accomplished nothing.
Konoha's injustice, the Uchiha's "madness," and the machinations of those pulling strings behind the scenes—all of this historical momentum was more than a "failure" like him, who couldn't even awaken his Sharingan, could hope to turn back.
"Good thing there's still a way out."
Uchiha Arashi carried a candle into the basement. He made his way past stacks of wooden boxes and bookshelves until he reached a weapon stand.
He set down the candleholder, took the long sword from the stand, and drew it from its sheath.
He examined it carefully by candlelight.
The blade was eighty centimeters long, its edge silvery white. The guard was a simple oval, and blue-green ribbons wound around the hilt.
Cracks covered the blade, making it look as if it might shatter at any moment.
Uchiha Arashi held the sword and casually spun it in his hand, then suddenly drove it into the ground.
The floor was made of solid stone, yet the moment the blade touched it, the stone turned softer than tofu.
The sword slid effortlessly into the ground. An unknown substance, like black slime, surged out and quickly climbed over Uchiha Arashi's body.
"If saving the entire Uchiha is impossible, then I'll just save a few promising youngsters... I'll also have to snatch some eyes from Obito and Danzo. What a pain..."
Muttering softly, Uchiha Arashi sank little by little into the ground and disappeared.
The moon was bright, and the stars were sparse.
Smoke rose from chimneys across the village as the residents prepared dinner, ready to soothe their weary bodies.
While lights shone in homes all across the village, a massacre had already begun in the Uchiha district.
"Uchiha Itachi, why are you doing this...?"
"Traitor! You betrayed the clan!"
"Fugaku! Is this what you raised your son to do?"
"Ah—!"
Screams rang out one after another.
Uchiha Itachi, the clan's most promising young man, the clan head's son and the future leader his people had pinned their hopes on, wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan—had now raised his blade against his own people.
No one could fight back.
The Mangekyō Sharingan completely overpowered the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Another clansman fell with a wail. He was an ordinary Uchiha with no Sharingan and no talent for being a ninja. He ran a fabric shop in the district and lived a plain, ordinary life.
Itachi shook the blood from his short blade and glanced toward the room beside him, his brow furrowing slightly.
Something was strange. He had sensed someone alive inside that room earlier. If he remembered correctly, it was the family's daughter, but now her presence was gone.
"Did she die of fright?"
Itachi wondered.
That would be for the best. He wouldn't have to kill her himself.
He pushed open the door and looked around, his frown deepening.
She was gone?
The room was empty. Apart from a simple table, a few chairs, and a small bed, there wasn't a person in sight.
There was no way she could be hiding under the bed, either.
"Was it a genjutsu?"
Itachi instinctively activated his ocular power, but found no trace of genjutsu.
"Or did she already escape?"
That was even less likely. How could a child who had only just started at the Ninja Academy slip away without a sound right under his nose?
There were too many unanswered questions, but now wasn't the time to investigate.
"I hope you really did escape..."
Thinking this, Itachi darted out of the courtyard and leaped directly into another one nearby. The screams continued.
Meanwhile, in another black, unknown space.
"Arashi... Arashi, how did you...?"
Uchiha Shizuka stared at Uchiha Arashi, who had suddenly appeared in front of her, and at the few companions behind him, her eyes wide with bewilderment.
Some were familiar, some weren't. Some were close to her, others less so, but every one of them wore the Uchiha crest.
"I'm here to save you, of course. What, is that so hard to believe?"
"But I was just at home... Wait, Arashi, my parents..."
Uchiha Shizuka suddenly came to her senses. She had watched her mother get killed, and then her father.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't save them."
Uchiha Arashi shook his head and spoke with regret.
If he could, he would have saved the entire Uchiha Clan. Only with enough clansmen could the family be considered strong.
But unfortunately, Shadow Space was still in its early stages and could hold only a limited number of people. If he wanted to save anyone, he had to choose those with potential who were worth saving. Shizuka's parents were ordinary Uchiha; even if he had saved them, it wouldn't have meant much. It would only have wasted precious spots.
"How could this happen...?"
Uchiha Shizuka's eyes widened. Tears silently streamed down her cheeks.
Uchiha Arashi looked away and raised his head, "looking" upward. Shadow Space could currently cover about half of the clan district, and he could sense some of what was happening outside.
The clansmen were almost all dead. Only scattered resistance remained. Sasuke should already be on his way home, and the brothers' reunion was about to begin.
But Arashi turned his attention toward the edge of the clan district. There was one more person he had to save.
The Konoha Military Police Force was now littered with corpses.
Obito looked at the girl in front of him and sneered as he raised his weapon.
"Three-Tomoe Sharingan. You've got a little talent, at least."
The weapon came down.
Clang—
Metal clashed. The pain never came.
"Well, Izumi, why do you look so miserable? You used to love picking on me, didn't you?"
The familiar clothes, the familiar voice, the familiar figure from behind. Uchiha Izumi's eyes widened little by little.
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