Night of the Clan Extermination

Abin's beady eyes lit up with the pure excitement of someone looking for a good show. "Sounds like there's a good show tonight. Fine, I'm on it. Two pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan, right?"

"Correct." Qianyu nodded. "Bring them back immediately and hide them in the usual spot."

"Understood!" Abin grinned, his entire body shrinking back into the floorboards until he vanished.

Qianyu stood where he was, taking several deep breaths to steady his racing heart. He splashed some water on his face and stared at his slightly pale reflection in the mirror, struggling to adjust his expression so he would look like an ordinary student with an upset stomach.

When he walked out of the restroom, the moon had already risen outside the corridor windows.

It was a reddish moon, looking like a giant, bloodshot eye coldly staring down at Konoha.

Qianyu quickened his pace back to the classroom. As he pushed the door open, Iruka glanced at him. "Are you alright?"

"Much better," Qianyu replied softly, returning to his seat.

For the rest of the time, he couldn't focus on the test at all. His mind was filled with chaotic images: blood in the Uchiha Clan Compound, Sasuke's broken cries, Itachi's cold gaze, and the arm covered in Sharingan hidden beneath Danzo's bandages...

He forced himself to look down, pretending to be focused on the exam, but his hand holding the pen trembled slightly.

In the front row, Sasuke had already finished his paper and was checking his answers. That proud young master of the Uchiha was, at this moment, completely ignorant of his own future.

Uchiha Clan Compound.

Abin poked half his head out from the ground, his beady eyes darting around to observe the situation.

A faint scent of blood permeated the air. From the distance came a few short, sharp screams that cut off abruptly.

Several Uchiha corpses lay on the street, their blood staining the clan crest.

"Whoa..." Abin muttered to himself, "This is really a mess."

He retreated back underground, moving rapidly through the soil using the Mayfly Technique. He wasn't familiar with the layout of the Uchiha compound, but the Police Force building was conspicuous—it was the tallest structure in the center of the district.

As he approached the Police Force, Abin heard the sounds of a struggle. He quietly peeked his eyes out from the shadow of a wall and saw two figures confronting each other.

One was a ninja wearing the uniform of the Police Force. The other... Abin's beady eyes brightened. That long hair, those tear troughs beneath his eyes—it was exactly the Uchiha Itachi that Qianyu had described.

"Young Clan Leader, why!"

Itachi didn't respond. His movements were as swift as a ghost, and the shuriken and kunai in his hands transformed into a deadly dance. The Police Force ninja barely managed to parry a few strikes before his throat was slit, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Tsk, such clean work," Abin evaluated internally. He watched as Itachi leaned over and extracted a pair of blood-red eyes from his clansman, each pupil containing three tomoe.

Sharingan.

Itachi placed the eyes into a small container, turned, and left, his figure disappearing into the night.

Abin waited a few seconds, and after confirming no one was around, he quickly emerged from the ground and slipped into the Police Force building. The interior was a wreck; documents were scattered everywhere, and several Uchiha corpses lay in disarray.

Terrifyingly efficient. Abin thought to himself. Truly a successor that old man Madara once had his eye on.

The air was thick with the heavy stench of blood. Corpses were everywhere on the streets, their blood casting a dark red sheen under the moonlight. Abin saw an Uchiha corpse lying not far away, eyes still open, the three tomoe in the pupils slowly rotating even in death.

That's the one.

After confirming the coast was clear, Abin quickly emerged from the ground. He used his twisted fingers to pry open the corpse's eyelids and inspected them carefully. They were indeed three-tomoe Sharingan, and since the person had just died, the eyes still retained their vitality.

"Sorry about this, my Uchiha friend," Abin whispered, his fingers suddenly piercing the eye sockets. "I'll be borrowing your eyes."

His movements were terrifyingly practiced; after all, Madara had once taught him how to handle Sharingan. With a flick and a scoop of his fingers, a pair of blood-red eyeballs were extracted intact. Abin quickly tucked them away.

He placed the eyeballs into a vial and injected a special nutrient solution. The eyes floated inside, the three tomoe slowly rotating in the liquid as if they were still alive.

"One pair." Abin stuffed the bottle into his own body; his body could store items temporarily, which was one of his innate abilities.

He continued to search the piles of corpses for suitable targets. The second body was a female Uchiha, and her eyes were also three-tomoe. Abin repeated the process, digging out the eyes and placing them into a second glass bottle.

"Two pairs, all set." Abin tucked the second bottle into his body with satisfaction.

Just then, he heard footsteps approaching from the distance. Abin immediately retreated underground, leaving only his eyes exposed to observe.

It was Uchiha Itachi. He was walking out of a building, the kunai in his hand still dripping with blood. Behind him, the building was deathly silent—clearly, everyone inside had already been slaughtered.

Itachi seemed to sense something and turned his head toward the direction where Abin was hiding. His eyes... they weren't ordinary three-tomoe; there was a complex pattern in the pupils, rotating with an eerie light.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

Abin immediately ceased all movement. He merged himself completely into the ground, not daring to leak even a trace of chakra fluctuation.

Itachi stared for a few seconds, his brow furrowing slightly, but in the end, he didn't investigate further. He turned and walked deeper into the clan compound, where more Uchiha clansmen awaited their purge.

Once Itachi was far away, Abin finally emerged from the ground. He glanced in the direction Itachi had left, his beady eyes blinking.

"What a ruthless character. But... what does that have to do with me? Mission accomplished, retreating!"

His entire body sank into the ground, activating the Mayfly Technique to travel rapidly through the soil.

Passing the boundary of the Uchiha compound and crossing several streets, Abin soon arrived deep beneath Konoha. There was a naturally formed cavern here, hidden and masked by genjutsu, making it an excellent hiding spot.

Abin crawled into the cave and carefully placed the two glass bottles on a stone platform. Under the faint glow of fluorescent mushrooms, the Sharingan in the bottles cast an eerie red light, the three tomoe slowly rotating in the nutrient solution as if watching something.

"Perfect." Abin clapped his hands. "Now, time to go back and report to the little fish."

He sank into the ground once more, moving toward Qianyu's shack.

At the Ninja Academy, Qianyu finally packed his bag and walked out of the classroom.

Parents from various ninja clans had arrived in person to pick up their children from school.

Ino said her goodbyes to Inoichi, though he still offered one final warning: "Don't go out tonight."

Silence—a stillness more unsettling than any sound.

Qianyu walked out of the academy gates to find the streets nearly deserted. At this hour, there would usually be a few lingering pedestrians or open shops, but tonight, almost every business had closed early, and the light spilling from windows was sparse.

It seemed the people had sensed something and chosen to hide in their homes.

Qianyu quickened his pace toward his secluded shack. The night wind brushed past, carrying a chill and... a faint, lingering scent of blood.

He returned to the shack and pushed the door open. The room was pitch black; he didn't turn on the lights.

"Mission accomplished!"

Abin's voice came from the corner, accompanied by the rustling sound of it emerging from the floorboards.

Qianyu turned to see Abin's twisted white body surfacing from the shadows. Its bean-like eyes glinted with excitement as it pulled two glass jars from its body, presenting them to Qianyu like a treasure.

"Look! Two pairs of Three-Tomoe Sharingan! Freshly plucked from Uchiha who just died—still piping hot!"

Qianyu took the jars. The eyeballs inside glowed with an eerie red light in the dimness, the three tomoe rotating slowly in the nutrient solution as if they were still alive.

His fingers felt slightly cold. This was his first time being this close to freshly gouged Sharingan, especially ones taken straight from corpses.

Finally, I've seen the "hot-swappable" hardware of the ninja world.

"You... weren't spotted, were you?" Qianyu asked.

"Of course not!" Abin puffed out its chest. "When Abin is on the job, you can rest easy! That Itachi almost caught me, but I slipped away too fast. He didn't even catch a glimpse of my shadow!"

Qianyu nodded and carefully placed the jars on the table. He turned on the light, and the dim, yellow glow illuminated the small room.

Qianyu fell silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the Sharingan. These were the symbols of the Uchiha clan's power, and the root of their tragedy.

After tonight, these eyes would become incredibly precious—because the bloodline that produced them was about to be wiped out.

"The Uchiha Clan Compound... what's it like now?" he finally asked.

Abin's bean eyes rolled. "A river of blood. That Itachi is truly ruthless; he basically left no one alive. I saw other White Zetsu moving about, too—looks like they're subordinates of that guy, Obito. They're collecting Sharingan as well."

Qianyu's heart sank. Obito was involved, after all. That pawn, tricked by Madara, was now faithfully executing the preliminary preparations for the Eye of the Moon Plan.

"What about Sasuke?" he asked. "Did you see Sasuke?"

"Didn't pay attention." Abin shrugged. "I was too busy digging up eyes. But knowing Itachi's style, he'd probably leave his little brother alive, right? Otherwise, there'd be no one left to watch the show."

Qianyu didn't respond. He knew Sasuke would survive, but the price of that survival would be witnessing the slaughter of his entire clan and being tortured by his most beloved brother with Tsukuyomi, falling forever into an abyss of hatred.

Sasuke's "hero's journey" had officially begun.

Qianyu didn't answer. He walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked toward the Uchiha Clan Compound. In the night sky, that blood-red moon hung high, coldly illuminating the tragedy unfolding below.

He remembered Fugaku's complex and heavy gaze at the barbecue restaurant. He remembered his own cryptic warning: "You might want to try hiding some children on the eve of it all."

Did Fugaku understand? Did he act on it? How many Uchiha children could survive tonight?

He didn't know. The only thing Qianyu knew was that he couldn't change anything. A seven-year-old orphan with no power, no status, and no control over his own fate—how could he possibly save anyone else?

All he could do was seize every opportunity to grow stronger in this cruel world. Strong enough to protect himself, strong enough to... at least control his own destiny.

Qianyu closed the window and turned back to the table. He picked up a glass jar containing a Sharingan and studied it closely under the candlelight. The eyeball inside glowed with an eerie red light, the three tomoe rotating slowly as if whispering the thousand-year pride and tragedy of the Uchiha clan.

"Abin," Qianyu said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "For the next little while, Konoha will be chaotic. The ANBU will increase patrols, and Root's activities will ramp up. We need to keep a low profile—a very low profile."

"Understood," Abin nodded. "I'll keep a low profile for a while."

"No," Qianyu shook his head. "I want you to closely monitor the situation at the Uchiha Clan Compound. Especially... to see if there are any other Uchiha survivors. Besides Sasuke."

Abin's bean eyes lit up. "You suspect that old man Fugaku really hid some kids?"

"I don't know," Qianyu said. "But I need to know. If there are survivors... they might be useful in the future."

"Got it," Abin grinned. "Surveillance is my specialty."

It sank into the floor and vanished.

Qianyu sat alone in the shack, the candlelight casting flickering shadows across his face. He looked at the Sharingan in the glass jar again; those blood-red eyes seemed to come alive in the light, staring back at him.

It had begun. Or rather, it was already over.