Is It Over, Itachi?

"Good."

Chen Xiaoxi nodded in satisfaction. Then he turned and walked toward the shrine, smiling as he spoke over his shoulder:

"For now, your lives are spared."

As he spoke,

he had already used Flash Step to enter the shrine's main hall.

Only then did the two guards let out a sudden sigh of relief.

"Phew..."

But they soon realized the pressure on them hadn't lifted at all. Neither of them could stand; they could only remain kneeling there...

"..."

The two exchanged a look, then could only smile bitterly.

In their hearts, they prayed that someone would come to save them.

Meanwhile,

Chen Xiaoxi paid no attention to his surroundings as he entered the shrine. Following the information the guards had given him, he went straight past the second entrance.

Sure enough, an object resembling a Mechanism Stone was set up in this small room.

With a thought, Chen Xiaoxi released his Reiatsu, and the Mechanism Stone began to operate.

The next moment, two floor tiles abruptly slid apart, revealing an entrance leading underground.

It was the basement.

Without hesitation, Chen Xiaoxi headed down the stairs.

He knew that somewhere below,

there should be the tablet Black Zetsu had altered.

As he continued downward,

he could feel the temperature dropping and the surroundings growing quieter.

Only after Chen Xiaoxi reached the bottom did he see the end of the passage: a stone door sealed shut.

All manner of complex incantations were inscribed on it,

clearly indicating that something extraordinarily important lay inside.

But Chen Xiaoxi had no intention of examining the incantations. Calmly, he simply raised an index finger and pointed it at the stone door.

The next moment, moon-white Void Reiatsu began gathering at his fingertip, rapidly condensing like a tiny ball of energy.

Once it had reached a certain limit, Chen Xiaoxi said coolly:

"Cero."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the sphere of light at Chen Xiaoxi's fingertip shot forward, turning into a brilliant beam of Reiatsu. Like a laser cannon, it slammed straight into the stone door!

The powerful aftershock of the Reiatsu made the entire space seem to tremble!

The sealed stone door was instantly shattered by Chen Xiaoxi's Cero, exploding into pieces!

Stone fragments and dust flew everywhere.

Chen Xiaoxi smiled in satisfaction.

The power of Cero had certainly lived up to his expectations.

Chen Xiaoxi stepped into the stone chamber. The moment he entered, he saw a black stone tablet standing silently inside.

Chen Xiaoxi's eyes lit up, and he immediately walked toward it.

The Naka Stone Tablet,

an object carved by the Sage of Six Paths himself.

Originally, it had been meant to guide the reincarnation of his eldest son, Indra, back from the wrong path.

But history was often full of unexpected twists.

After the Sage of Six Paths died, Black Zetsu found the tablet and altered its contents, using it to lead that man astray.

Afterward, the tablet became part of the Uchiha Clan's Naka Shrine.

According to the tablet's design, its contents were divided into three parts, which could only be read with the Sharingan, Mangekyō Sharingan, and Rinnegan, respectively.

Those who hadn't awakened their eyes could only see the most superficial content.

"So this is the thing that ruined Uchiha Madara's life."

Chen Xiaoxi looked at the tablet before him and smiled faintly.

He didn't have the Sharingan, so naturally, he couldn't understand any of the clues it contained.

But that didn't matter.

Because the moment he finished reading the superficial text before him, a notification sounded.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. Main branch quest completed!"

"Read the Naka Shrine tablet once (1/1). Completed. Reward: Reiatsu +5!"

Five points of Reiatsu, just like that?

Chen Xiaoxi's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help smiling in delight.

As expected of a main quest branch—

the reward was far better than an ordinary side quest!

It seemed

he couldn't afford to slack off on the remaining branch quests, either.

At that moment,

outside Naka Shrine.

Just as Chen Xiaoxi was reading the text,

a black figure suddenly appeared in front of the shrine.

It was Itachi Uchiha.

His expression was still impassive, but a few drops of fresh blood had somehow appeared on his face.

The blade in his hand was streaked with blood, looking especially sinister in the moonlight.

A bleak, cold wind swept past.

He silently walked toward the two guards,

his eyes occasionally flickering with complicated emotions, only for him to suppress them at once.

By now,

he knew there was no turning back.

Having slaughtered his entire clan, he could no longer stop here.

However,

he had only just reached the two guards when one of them noticed him and exclaimed in delight:

"Itachi, Lord Itachi?

Thank goodness! You're finally here!"

"We just spotted someone..."

"Pfft!"

Before he could finish speaking, blood sprayed into the air.

Beneath the pale moonlight, the blood bloomed across the ground like scattered flowers.

Itachi Uchiha's sharp blade swept across the two guards' throats at incredible speed, without pausing for an instant.

As for the words the guards hadn't finished saying,

Itachi no longer cared.

Whatever they had meant to say no longer mattered.

Because now,

everything was about to end.

This

was the final meeting place he had agreed on with the mysterious Masked Man.

The cold wind swept past.

The smell of soil mingled with the stench of blood.

Itachi Uchiha lowered his eyes slightly, sheathed his blade, and slowly let out a breath.

By now,

he had done everything that needed to be done.

Itachi lifted his head and looked toward the Uchiha Compound, his gaze complicated.

He could still picture his younger brother's despair and fear, and the fury in his eyes as he awakened the Sharingan.

Forgive me, Sasuke.

Live well, and become stronger...

As Itachi was lost in thought,

a spatial vortex suddenly began to form in the air behind him.

Immediately afterward, the Masked Man appeared from within it, clad in a black robe.

"Oh..."

"Is it over, Itachi?"

The instant he appeared, the Masked Man spoke in his distinctive, low voice.

He had chosen Naka Shrine as their meeting place for two reasons.

First, it was remote. Ordinary Leaf Village residents rarely came here, and even members of the Uchiha Clan seldom visited.

The other reason was that it sat right on the edge of the Leaf Village. One could practically leave by hopping over a wall.

Hearing the Masked Man's voice, Itachi immediately came out of his reverie and turned around.

He saw that quite a bit of blood had somehow stained the Masked Man's black robe, turning it a strange, dark red.

Clearly, the fact that he had made it here meant that every member of the Uchiha Police Force had been killed as well.