Liuyu finally turned his gaze squarely on Fugaku.
Those violet eyes were as still as an ancient, icy pool, reflecting Fugaku's wretched, desperate struggle.
"Don't be impatient, Clan Head."
Liuyu's voice remained level, yet carried the indifference of one who held dominion over fate.
"Tonight is not the 'night of the massacre.'"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the Uchiha clanspeople kneeling on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, then over the dying Itachi beneath his foot, before returning to Fugaku.
"It is 'selection day.'"
"A day to select those worthy of basking in the glory of Las Noches..."
"New blood."
Before his words had faded-
"Uncle Fugaku-! Everyone-!"
A young, panicked voice, thick with tears, rang out from the other end of the street.
Everyone instinctively shifted their eyes toward the voice.
At the end of the street, a small figure in a blue short-sleeved shirt, an orange schoolbag on his back, braced his hands on his knees and gasped for breath. He had clearly sprinted all the way there.
He had spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes, and six faint whisker-like marks on his cheeks.
Naruto Uzumaki.
He had lost track of time practicing the "chakra control game" in his amulet.
Iruka-sensei had kept him after class for a lecture. When he finally got away, he sensed a terrifying atmosphere in the village, with alarms and explosions ringing out one after another.
Worried about Sasuke, he remembered the rumors about the Uchiha he had heard that afternoon. Finding courage from somewhere, he slipped out of his home.
He sprinted all the way toward the Uchiha Compound.
He had imagined flames of war, desperate fighting, and the tearful faces of Sasuke and his family.
But what he saw was-
A silent street filled with the stench of burning and blood.
A