Still, Naruto remembered the general plot.
Including the story of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
In the original story, there hadn't been this much commotion at all, had there? No—strictly speaking, there hadn't been even the slightest disturbance. Not a single stir had been caused. In just one night, the enormous Uchiha Clan had been reduced to three survivors, with everyone else wiped out completely. And they had been slaughtered in complete silence. At the very least, not a single resident of Konoha had realized the Uchiha Clan had been massacred that night.
The High Command's schemes, and the involvement of an insider.
If that could still cause a stir, then something would truly be wrong.
So, in the original story, everyone in Konoha only learned the next day that one person had massacred the Uchiha Clan—everyone except those directly involved.
The reason, the process, the outcome!
Naruto only remembered the general outline, but one thing he could recall clearly and be certain of was that the Night of the Massacre had been the result of a deal between Uchiha Itachi and the Konoha High Command. Itachi had traded the lives of the Uchiha Clan for peace and his younger brother's freedom to live. For that, he had even been willing to kill his own parents!
The massacre had probably been carried out by Uchiha Itachi alone.
But Naruto was absolutely certain that, before Itachi acted, large numbers of Anbu—or perhaps Root members—must have been lying in wait around the Uchiha compound, keeping it under surveillance. They must have put up a barrier as well. Only then could they keep the commotion to a minimum, avoid drawing the attention of the whole village and causing panic, and let the Uchiha Clan disappear without a sound.
Yet the scene before him was far beyond anything Naruto had expected.
It seemed to differ drastically from the established course of events.
"Could someone in the Uchiha Clan have discovered the Konoha High Command's conspiracy and started fighting back?!"
Naruto's heart jolted as another possibility occurred to him. After all, this was the greatest clan in Konoha—or even in the entire Shinobi World. Surely not every one of them was a fool? It was possible that someone had noticed something amiss from a few clues and organized a rebellion in advance, wasn't it?
But that idea...
Only flashed through Naruto's mind for an instant.
There were still far too many things it couldn't explain.
He looked at the endless sea of flames in the distance, which seemed impossible to extinguish, and at Konohagakure, which had grown incredibly noisy.
Naruto's brow furrowed tighter, but only a short while later, it quietly relaxed.
"Whatever the reason, whatever the outcome, what does any of it have to do with me right now? I should just go back to sleep."
Naruto gave a self-mocking smile and shook his head. Then he drew the curtains and returned to his bed.
The spreading flames and the sounds of fighting carried faintly on the wind. Naruto seemed to hear the distant cries and screams as well.
But at a time like this, all Naruto could do was watch from the sidelines.
In fact, he didn't even want to be a bystander.
Whether because of his own strength or his position, the Uchiha Clan's destruction had absolutely nothing to do with Naruto.
On a blood-red night like this, the greatest sin in this world was having no power.
Naruto shook his head, then took one last long look at the sea of flames through the curtains. After that, he burrowed back under the covers and slowly closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, Konoha—and even the Land of Fire—would look completely different.
The destruction of the greatest clan.
It was the clearest sign of a great ninja village's gradual decline.
The next day, news of the Uchiha Clan's destruction quickly spread throughout the village.
When last night's commotion began,
the ordinary residents of the village had all been wondering what was going on.
The smell of smoke, the rumble of explosions, the faint sounds of fighting and screams, and the sea of flames—who could have failed to notice? Some had even wondered whether an enemy had invaded the previous night, or whether another Shinobi World War was about to break out.
Before these speculations could spread throughout the village,
the Konoha High Command, led by the Third Hokage, swiftly announced what had happened the previous night.
The story they made public
was just as Naruto had expected.
Uchiha Itachi, the Uchiha Clan's most talented ninja, had joined forces with outside enemies to rebel and destroy Konoha. His clanmates discovered him, so he slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan before being driven off by the Konoha Ninja who arrived afterward.
Uchiha Itachi, who had fled the village,
was now classified as an S-rank missing-nin of Konoha!
When this news spread throughout Konoha, the whole village was in an uproar. The more than ninety-nine percent of Konoha Ninja and ordinary residents who knew nothing of the truth stared in disbelief as soon as they heard it.
The Uchiha Clan's genius, who had graduated from the Ninja Academy at seven and been promoted to Chunin at ten, had joined forces with outside enemies to rebel? He had even tried to destroy Konoha?
That news alone was already shocking enough.
But then came the news that nearly the entire Uchiha Clan had been wiped out, with only Sasuke Uchiha left alive.
That sent shock waves through Konoha three times over.
The Uchiha Clan held an extremely important place in Konoha. They were one of the two great ninja clans that had founded the village, and at the present time, they were the strongest ninja clan in Konoha—and even in the entire Shinobi World. Yet they had been wiped out just like that?
It wasn't that people didn't believe it. It was that they couldn't believe it.
A piece of news like this
wouldn't just affect Konoha.
It was easy to imagine that, once it spread beyond Konoha, starting that very day,
the entire Land of Fire,
and even the entire Shinobi World, would be shaken.
Likewise, the destruction of the Uchiha Clan would draw the attention of the other four great ninja villages. What was the truth behind it?
Had Konoha's fighting strength been weakened?
These were the things the four great ninja villages—Sand Ninja, Mist Ninja, Rock Ninja, and Cloud Ninja—were most concerned about!
As someone who knew the general plot, Naruto
naturally wasn't fooled by the "truth" the Konoha High Command had announced.
In fact, this so-called "truth"
made Naruto want to laugh a little.
What was the real truth?
What role had the Konoha High Command—namely, the Third Hokage, Shimura Danzō, and the two Advisors—played in this story?
Naruto knew better than anyone.
At the end of the day,
in this matter,
the Uchiha Clan had certainly brought some of it upon themselves.
But the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō had hardly acted honorably, either.
And besides,
in Naruto's view,
even if they had acted dishonorably,
that alone was fine.
After all, as the leaders of a village, they could be ruthless and unscrupulous for the sake of the village as a whole.
But!
The key point was
the destruction of the Uchiha Clan.
Especially the matters involving Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi.
They made Naruto think the Konoha High Command was truly stupid.
Naruto made no effort to hide his malicious speculation. If the First and Second Hokage knew their successors were this foolish, the lids of their coffins probably wouldn't be able to hold them down.