Three Days Before the Massacre!

Konoha Year 47, summer.

The chirping of cicadas sawed at the nerves like jagged teeth, and the air was thick with stifling dampness, pressing down until it was hard to breathe.

Uchiha Xuanshi raised a hand and wiped the sweat from his temple. The sticky sensation made him frown. He adjusted the security force uniform on his back, marked with the fan crest, and swept his gaze over the commercial street before him.

Shops lined both sides of the street, and cries of vendors rose and fell.

This was the busiest district in the Hidden Leaf Village, packed with streams of people.

But wherever Xuanshi and his teammate, Uchiha Tekka, walked, it was like a stone thrown into a fishpond. A visible vacuum instantly rippled out around them.

A woman who had just been loudly haggling immediately shut her mouth and retreated to the foot of a wall, clutching the vegetables she had just bought.

Several children who had been chasing and playing were yanked back by their mothers by the collars and forcefully pushed behind them, leaving only pairs of terrified wide eyes peeking through the gaps beside their mothers' legs.

There was no respect in those gazes.

Only fear, distance, and disgust hidden deep in their eyes.

"Tch."

Beside him, Uchiha Tekka spat, his palm instinctively settling on the hilt at his waist, his knuckles whitening from the force of his grip.

"These ungrateful bastards."

Tekka kept his voice very low, like thunder rumbling in his throat. "We're the ones patrolling day and night to keep order, yet they guard against us like we're thieves."

Xuanshi did not answer.

He only looked calmly ahead, his steps not pausing in the slightest because of the strange looks around him.

For the Uchiha now, this kind of treatment was as normal as breathing.

Ever since the Nine-Tails' rampage two years ago, rumors that "the Uchiha controlled the Nine-Tails" had never stopped spreading through the village.

The security force building had been moved to the edge of the village, the clan compound was monitored, and their share of missions had been cut.

An invisible wall had long since separated the Uchiha and Konoha into two worlds.

"What's going on up ahead?" Xuanshi suddenly stopped.

A ring of people had gathered at the intersection ahead. Noisy arguing came from within, accompanied by the crisp sound of something being smashed.

"Let's take a look."

Tekka had a bellyful of anger with nowhere to vent it. When he heard the commotion, he immediately strode over and roughly pushed aside the crowd of onlookers.

"Security force enforcement! Everyone, move aside!"

The crowd scattered with a clatter like startled birds, revealing the scene inside.

A porcelain stall had been overturned, and shattered pieces of china were scattered all over the ground.

The stall owner was a slightly plump middle-aged man. His face was flushed as he pointed at a skinny old man in front of him and cursed, "Old bastard, you broke my goods and think you can run? If you don't pay today, I'll break your legs!"

The old man shrank his neck, trembling all over, tightly clutching a worn money pouch. "I... I didn't mean to. Your rack wasn't stable to begin with..."

"You still dare talk back!"

The fat stall owner raised his palm and was about to slap him.

A hand intercepted his wrist in midair.

Xuanshi's hand clamped around the other man like iron pincers. He did not use much strength, yet the fat stall owner could not move.

"Fighting in the street and disturbing public order."

Xuanshi released his hand, his tone flat. "According to village rules, come back to the security force with us first and explain what happened."

The fat stall owner was just about to flare up, but when he turned and saw the bright red fan clan crest on Xuanshi's back, his originally arrogant fire immediately shrank by half.

That was fear of this fan, carved into the bones.

But he quickly glanced around.

The surroundings were packed with people. Not only had they not dispersed, more and more were gathering. Everyone's eyes were fixed on this place, and the whispers buzzed like mosquitoes.

"So what if you're the security force?"

The fat stall owner seemed to draw some kind of courage from the surrounding gazes. He stiffened his neck and took a step back, his voice suddenly rising. "He was clearly the one who smashed my things, but you Uchiha want to arrest people without telling right from wrong? Is it because we civilians are easy to bully?"

He put that big accusation on them with practiced ease.

Agreement immediately sounded from the surrounding crowd.

"Exactly. The Uchiha are always like this."

"Old Wang from Second Street was taken away by them last time too. They said it was to cooperate with an investigation, but when he came back, his leg was crippled."

"Shh, keep your voice down. Be careful they hear you."

Tekka's eyebrows shot up. He stepped in front of the fat stall owner, and his eyes instantly turned bloodred, three black tomoe slowly rotating in his pupils.

"What did you say? Want to sit in an interrogation room for a while?"

The pressure of the three-tomoe Sharingan made the fat stall owner's legs go weak, and he nearly knelt.

Fear made him somewhat reckless with his words.

"Eyes... those eyes! Those cursed eyes again!"

The fat stall owner pointed at Tekka, his voice sharp enough to crack. "Everyone, look! I told you the Nine-Tails' rampage was your doing! Other than monsters like you, who could control that kind of demon beast? You... you'll get what's coming to you sooner or later!"

Boom!

Those words were like a spark dropping into an oil barrel.

Tekka's reason snapped in an instant. Chakra erupted violently, and his right hand directly drew his ninja blade half an inch. "You bastard! You're asking to die!"

Cold light flashed.

The surrounding crowd let out a burst of terrified screams.

"Stop!"

Xuanshi grabbed Tekka's wrist as he drew the blade.

His hand was steady, but his fingertips were trembling slightly.

Not because of exertion, but because of those words just now.

—"You'll get what's coming to you sooner or later."

In that instant, Xuanshi's mind seemed to be smashed hard by a heavy hammer.

Buzz—

The screams beside his ears, Tekka's furious roar, the cicadas' cries—all sounds stretched out in that moment, distorted, and turned into piercing electronic static.

The scene before him began to shatter.

The sunlit streets of Konoha cracked like a mirror, and countless unfamiliar images rushed into his mind like a flood.

Steel towers soaring into the clouds.

Iron boxes speeding over asphalt roads.

Glowing rectangular screens.

And a young man... sitting in front of a computer, watching Naruto.

Two completely different sets of life memories violently collided and merged in that moment.

Agony.

It was as if someone had thrust a red-hot iron rod into his cerebral cortex and used it to stir his brain.

Xuanshi gave a muffled groan, let go of Tekka's hand, and staggered back two steps, leaning against a wooden utility pole.

"Xuanshi? What's wrong?"

Tekka noticed something was off with his companion. He no longer cared about the stall owner and hurriedly turned to support him.

Xuanshi gasped for air, sweat pouring out like a waterfall and instantly soaking his back.

His vision was blurred, and the world before him swayed in double images.

But he saw it clearly.

He saw the things that had appeared in his mind.

He was Uchiha Xuanshi.

He was also a soul from Earth.

He had lived muddleheadedly in this world for sixteen years until this moment, when those words, "get what's coming to you," were like a key that unlocked the chains sealing away his memories.

Retribution?

Heh.

It was something far more terrifying than retribution.

It was a purge.

It was slaughter.

It was extermination.

Xuanshi abruptly raised his head and stared fixedly at the sky above.

Although it was daytime now, he seemed to see a scarlet blood moon hanging over Konoha, giving off a nauseating stench of blood.

He knew what would happen next.

He also knew his current situation.

Shisui was already dead.

That genius who had devoted himself to finding a peaceful path between the village and the clan had jumped into the Naka River a few days ago.

The conflict between the village and the clan had already reached an irreconcilable breaking point.

In a few more days...

That man, that genius called Itachi, would raise his butcher's blade and slash it toward his own parents, toward every person here.

"Xuanshi! Talk to me! Don't scare me!"

Tekka anxiously shook his shoulders, those Sharingan staring at him with concern.

Xuanshi looked at that familiar face.

Tekka.

A security force squad captain with a fiery temper, yet he took good care of Xuanshi.

In his memories, on that night three days later, Tekka lay in a pool of blood, his chest pierced through by a long blade, those eyes that were always filled with anger wide open, not closing even in death.

"I'm... fine."

Xuanshi forced out a few words with difficulty, his voice hoarse as if he had swallowed burning charcoal.

He pushed away Tekka's support and forced himself to stand straight.

The instant his vision refocused.

Ding.

A crisp mechanical sound exploded directly against his auditory nerves.

Immediately afterward, a translucent pale-blue light screen unfolded without warning on his retina, covering the real scene before his eyes.

The lines of the light screen were cold and sharp, carrying a mechanical beauty that did not belong to this world.

Several lines of text rapidly appeared:

[Detected intense fluctuations in host soul...]

[Previous-life memory fusion complete.]

[Karmic Judgment System activating...]

[Activation successful.]

Xuanshi's pupils suddenly contracted.

A system?

Was this the standard equipment for transmigrators?

Before he could react, the words on the light screen faded, and the entire interface turned into a heart-stopping dark red.

It was the color of blood.

Several lines of shocking data were branded into his eyes like hot irons:

[Current world node: Konoha Year 47, eve of the Night of Extermination]

[Clan prosperity: 5 (Status: on the verge of extinction)]

[Warning! Major karmic fracture point detected!]

[Current remaining survival time:]

At the center of the screen, a huge countdown began to tick.

71:59:58

71:59:57

Every tick of the seconds was like a heavy hammer striking Xuanshi's heart.

Seventy-one hours.

Less than three days.

Three days later would be that night filled with blood and wailing.

When the time came, this bustling street would be filled with corpses, the walls would be stained red with blood, and all pride, glory, and life would vanish into nothing.

A bone-chilling cold shot straight from the soles of Xuanshi's feet to the crown of his head, instantly freezing all the blood in his body.

The surrounding crowd was still pointing and whispering.

That fat stall owner was still cursing endlessly.

Tekka was still angrily trying to argue.

But Xuanshi could no longer hear anything.

All that remained in his eyes was that string of bloody numbers, constantly decreasing.

Death was closing in.

Not just on him, but on Tekka beside him, his little sister who was painting at home, and even the old Uchiha grandmother who sold dango on the street corner and always smiled.

Everyone was already dead.

Before this huge, rumbling wheel of history, they were like ants tied to the rails, able only to watch helplessly as the wheel crushed toward them.

How could they escape?

Where could they run?

This was Konoha, the strongest ninja village in the ninja world.

There were barriers outside, Anbu inside, and there was Itachi, who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, along with Obito, who came and went like a ghost.

This was a certain-death trap.

Xuan Shi's hands began to tremble beyond his control, his nails digging deep into the flesh of his palms, pinching out bloody marks.

"Xuan Shi, should we take this guy back first?"

Tekka's voice came again, this time with a trace of inquiry. He had clearly been frightened by Xuan Shi's ghost-seeing expression just now, and most of his anger had faded.

Xuan Shi did not answer.

He slowly turned his head, looking at Tekka, then at the fat stall owner, and finally sweeping his gaze over the surrounding Hidden Leaf villagers, with their cold, disgusted faces and looks of watching a show.

These are the people we're supposed to protect?

This is the village the Uchiha Clan has bled and wept for?

In that instant, Xuan Shi's eyes changed.

The confusion and terror from before gradually receded, replaced by an unfathomable depth.

And a trace of madness hidden in the deepest part of his eyes.

If the ending is doomed to destruction.

If no matter what I do, I die.

Then what is there to be afraid of?

He looked at the cold countdown on his retina, and the corner of his mouth suddenly twitched, revealing a smile uglier than crying.

Three days.

Enough.

Even if he died, he would tear a chunk of flesh from this damned fate.

"Tekka."

Xuan Shi's voice was frighteningly calm, nothing like someone who had just suffered a sudden attack of illness.

"What?" Tekka froze.

Xuan Shi released the hand pressed against his sword hilt, took a deep breath of the air filled with hostility, then slowly exhaled.

"Let him go."

"What?" Tekka's eyes widened, thinking he had heard wrong. "This guy insulted us like that just now, and he even..."

"I said, let him go."

Xuan Shi cut him off. His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable cold hardness.

He offered no explanation. He simply turned around and strode toward the clan compound.

His steps grew faster and faster.

In the end, they became a run.

"Hey! Xuan Shi! Where are you going? Patrol isn't over yet!"

Tekka shouted loudly from behind him.

Xuan Shi did not look back.

Where?

To witness this despair.

To seek that sliver of... life that doesn't exist at all.

Countdown: 71:55:30.

The hunt had begun.