Are You Ready to Face the Wrath of Madara Uchiha?

"Mr. Juzo,"

"Where did this Chen Xiaoxi come from? Why did he join the Akatsuki?"

"Huh?"

Juzo Biwa hadn't expected Itachi Uchiha to suddenly ask him that. He just pursed his lips and said flatly,

"Tch, who knows?"

"I heard the leader, Pain, and the others investigated him, but they couldn't find out anything about his background."

"But,"

"According to Kakuzu, it seems..."

"He was also someone whose home had been destroyed by war."

"Apparently, when Konan found him, he was in the desert of the Land of Wind, where he'd defeated Sasori of the Red Sands, the rogue Sand Hidden Puppeteer."

"He was very strong, and had nowhere else to go, so he joined us."

Juzo Biwa spoke casually.

It had nothing to do with him, so he naturally didn't care.

However,

after hearing this, Itachi's gaze suddenly sharpened.

Hmm...

So he was a victim of war?

He'd joined the Akatsuki because he had nowhere else to go...

Itachi fell silent.

He hadn't expected that answer.

Just as he was pondering it, Juzo Biwa suddenly spoke again, impatiently.

"Come on."

"Quit dawdling, Itachi."

"Anyway, just remember not to provoke him."

"After all, that guy's Wicked Eye of the Tyrant is bizarre and unpredictable. It might even be more powerful than the Sharingan of your Uchiha Clan."

"Hmm... Wait, what?"

At those words, Itachi, who had been deep in thought, froze.

What?

...Wicked Eye of the Tyrant?

What the hell was that?

"Wicked Eye... of the Tyrant?"

Itachi's breathing hitched as he repeated the words in disbelief.

Juzo Biwa didn't seem to notice his surprise. He just nodded and continued walking, his tone as casual as ever.

"Yeah."

"I heard it from Kakuzu, too."

"You must've noticed his golden eyes, right?"

"Apparently, when he uses his ocular techniques, white streams of air appear in his pupils, burning like flames."

"Then he can release all kinds of elemental techniques without hand seals—even genjutsu."

"As for how powerful they are..."

"Let me put it this way: both Kakuzu and Orochimaru have been defeated by those eyes, and were practically powerless to fight back."

"...!"

Itachi's pupils contracted.

There was no doubt that Juzo Biwa's words had surprised him.

He hadn't expected that, besides the leader Pain, who possessed the Rinnegan, there would be another wielder of ocular techniques in the Akatsuki!

And golden eyes with flames burning in them?

He'd never heard of anything like that...

What was it?

Some entirely new, unknown Kekkei Genkai?

"..."

Itachi fell silent, his expression unexpectedly grave.

As he followed Juzo Biwa onward, his mind raced.

It seemed that from now on...

there was one more person in the Akatsuki he'd need to keep a close eye on.

As a spy for the Leaf Village,

Itachi suddenly felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavier.

In the blink of an eye,

night fell.

Beyond Amegakure, in the distant Konoha of the Land of Fire,

the moon was bright, the stars sparse, and crows flew south.

The Uchiha Clan Downfall had happened only recently, yet Konoha seemed to carry on as if nothing had occurred.

Aside from the absence of Uchiha Police Force patrols, everything was as it had always been.

Almost everyone

seemed to have silently agreed not to discuss it.

Even some people who had been friendly with the Uchiha Clan avoided the subject.

Everyone knew

that this incident would become a dividing line in Konoha's history.

As for the news that the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out,

Third Hiruzen Sarutobi had soon ordered the entire village sealed off, preventing information from leaking out.

This left many civilians and merchants confused and disgruntled.

But Konoha's shinobi all understood what it meant.

The Uchiha Clan's demise had left Konoha severely weakened in an instant.

At a time like this, if the news got out, Konoha could easily be attacked by its many hostile forces while it was down.

Things like that had happened time and again in the past.

For example, Konoha had been attacked while vulnerable after the Nine-Tails Incident.

So this time,

Hiruzen Sarutobi moved faster than ever and imposed an unprecedentedly strict information blackout.

Konoha might have looked unchanged,

but an atmosphere of killing intent hung over it at all times.

Meanwhile,

inside an ordinary teahouse,

the Root leader, Shimura Danzō, sat facing an elderly woman, sipping some sort of tea.

The old woman lifted her teacup and asked softly,

"Shimura, how are you feeling?"

"I hope my visit won't disturb your rest."

"...I'm fine."

Danzō answered flatly, then raised his teacup and took a sip.

The old woman before him

was, of course, Utatane Koharu, one of Konoha's two advisors.

Back then, she, Shimura Danzō, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mitokado Homura, Kagami Uchiha, and Torifu Akimichi had all been among the six pupils of Second Tobirama Senju.

But after the Second died,

Hiruzen Sarutobi had followed Tobirama's orders and taken over as Third, leading Konoha. Kagami Uchiha and Torifu Akimichi, unwilling to fight for power, had voluntarily withdrawn from the village leadership.

The three who remained were Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, who became advisors, and Shimura Danzō, who led Konoha's Root.

Though they weren't as close as they had once been,

they had still been old friends.

When Utatane Koharu heard that Shimura Danzō had suddenly coughed up blood the day before, she immediately made time to visit him.

When she saw Danzō,

she immediately noticed that he looked as though he'd aged ten years overnight, his face pale and haggard.

It seemed he'd suffered some kind of devastating blow...

After a moment's hesitation,

Utatane Koharu couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer and asked,

"Last night... what exactly happened?"

"What could have made someone as composed and steady as you so frantic?"

Utatane Koharu looked somber.

Of course she knew about the Uchiha Clan Downfall. After all, she had been one of the people pulling strings behind the scenes.

But she had a nagging feeling that something must have gone wrong along the way, leaving Danzō, who had always been in robust health, suddenly so dispirited.

At her question,

Danzō glanced up at her, then raised a hand and waved it lightly without answering.

He didn't want to bring it up again.

After plotting for so long,

he'd finally managed to bring about the Uchiha Clan Downfall, only to end up without a single Sharingan!

It often made Danzō feel as if he'd been force-fed shit. It was unbearable!

If he ever saw that Masked Man Madara Uchiha again, he would demand an explanation to his face!

And while he was at it, he'd use whatever means necessary to take back every Sharingan the man had!

Danzō lowered his eyes slightly.

A flash of malice flickered through his pupils.

But just then,

something unexpected happened!

A black vortex suddenly appeared out of thin air in the corner of the teahouse!

Then a low, furious voice rang out from within:

"Shimura... Danzō!"

"Are you ready to face the wrath of Madara Uchiha...?!"

"!"