Highest Martial Law

Wooo—wooo—wooo—

The alarm tore through the dusk.

It was not the long, drawn-out kind of air-raid siren, but urgent and shrill, three short blasts and one long, like fingernails scraping across a blackboard.

The Uchiha compound boiled over.

"What's going on? Enemy attack?"

"It's that direction! Naka Shrine!"

"Hurry! Bring the children!"

The normally quiet streets instantly dissolved into chaos. Women in the middle of cooking threw down their spatulas, men who had just come home from work rushed into bedrooms to dig out ninja tool pouches, and elderly people who had not fully woken were carried on their children's backs.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Pounding on doors rose and fell from every direction.

Police Force members in dark-blue uniforms charged into every alley like a pack of rabid wolves, kicking open every tightly shut door.

"By order of the clan head! We have intel on a level-one enemy attack!"

Yashiro Uchiha stood at the crossroads, spittle flying, the veins on his neck twisting like earthworms.

"Everyone! Head to the underground shelter at Naka Shrine immediately! Ten minutes! You have only ten minutes! Lock all doors and windows! Bring dry rations and water! Move! Move! Move!"

His roar was laced with chakra, shaking the roof tiles until they rattled.

Xuan Shi stood at the entrance to his home.

He had already changed into that washed-out Police Force uniform, his ninja blade slung diagonally at his waist.

"Brother..."

Akane stood behind him with a small bag on her back, clutching that drawing tightly in her hand. "Are we really... going to war?"

Her face was deathly pale, her lips trembling.

"Drill."

Xuan Shi crouched down, tightened the straps of her backpack, and casually stuffed a bottle of water into the side pocket.

"Don't be scared. Follow Brother Tekka to the shrine basement and find a corner to sit in. If I don't come get you, don't leave no matter who calls you."

"What about you?" Akane grabbed his sleeve.

"I'm going to pick up a guest."

Xuan Shi stood and looked toward Uchiha Tekka not far away.

Tekka was drenched in sweat as he directed the residents in this area to evacuate. When he saw Xuan Shi, he nodded hard.

"Take her." Xuan Shi pushed Akane toward Tekka.

"Brother!" Akane still tried to shout.

"Go!"

Xuan Shi growled, turned, and walked against the flow of people toward the shrine gate.

The streets were filled with running clansmen.

Children crying, adults shouting abuse, wooden sandals striking stone slabs—all of it mixed into a roaring, chaotic torrent.

Panic.

This was the truest kind of panic.

No one suspected it was fake. Because everyone knew full well what position the Uchiha Clan held in the village. That blade had been hanging over their heads for too long; even a gust of wind could snap this taut string.

The outskirts of the compound.

In the crowns of several towering trees, a few dark figures wearing blank masks crouched low.

Root.

"What's going on?"

The ninja codenamed "A" lowered his voice, pressing his fingers to his wireless earpiece. "There's chaos inside the Uchiha. Looks like they're gathering."

"They're moving toward Naka Shrine."

His companion beside him narrowed his eyes. "Are they planning to launch the coup ahead of schedule? Didn't Lord Danzo's intel say they would wait a few more days?"

"Doesn't matter. Report it first."

Just as A was about to form hand seals and summon.

Buzz!

A purple screen of light rose without warning from around the compound.

Four massive pillars of light shot into the sky, standing in the east, south, west, and north respectively. The light screen closed like an inverted bowl, instantly sealing shut and covering the entire Uchiha compound completely.

Uchiha Flame Formation.

"Damn it!"

A felt his field of vision blur in an instant, and his sensing chakra was bounced back by that layer of barrier too.

"Barrier squad! Analyze the formula, now!"

"No good! This is an advanced Uchiha barrier. There's no way to crack it in less than half an hour!"

"Force our way through?"

"Do you want to die? That's the Uchiha's nest! Without Lord Danzo's orders, who would dare move?"

The few Root ninja looked at one another, only able to watch helplessly as that purple screen of light cut off all sight and sound.

At the entrance of Naka Shrine.

The crowd was like ants returning to the nest, pouring endlessly into that huge underground entrance.

Xuan Shi stood beneath the torii.

He did not go in. Instead, he leaned against the vermilion pillar and lit a cigarette.

He did not know how to smoke.

After just one drag, he choked and coughed hard.

But he did not throw it away.

The cigarette was pinched between his fingertips, smoke curling upward and blurring his face.

Night had fallen completely.

The streetlights came on, their dim-yellow halos stretching his shadow very long.

He was waiting.

Waiting for the final piece of the puzzle.

Caw—

A hoarse crow cry.

Xuan Shi raised his head.

On top of the utility pole directly opposite him crouched a pitch-black crow.

The crow tilted its head, its black-bean eyes reflecting the lantern fire at the shrine entrance.

He was here.

Xuan Shi pinched out the cigarette and flicked it casually into the grass beside him.

Whoosh.

The crow scattered, turning into black feathers that filled the sky.

A figure dropped from the rain of feathers and stood soundlessly five meters in front of Xuan Shi.

A gray Anbu vest, white bandages wrapped around the hilt of the ninja blade on his back.

That face was hidden in shadow, its expression impossible to see.

Only a pair of red eyes were especially striking in the darkness.

Itachi Uchiha.

He looked at the clansmen who were frantically pouring into the shrine, then looked at Xuan Shi standing at the entrance like a guardian deity.

His hand slowly rose and pressed against the hilt on his back.

"So this is Father's decision?"

Itachi spoke.

His voice was as cold as ice striking ice, without a trace of warmth.

"Gathering the old, weak, women, and children as hostages, then having the elite force raid the Hokage Building?"

He had interpreted this evacuation as the prelude to a coup.

Fair enough. Aside from a coup, what other reason could there be for that indecisive father of his to give such an order?

Xuan Shi looked at him.

At this genius who had carried too much, and in the end crushed himself, and crushed his clan along with him.

"Hostages?"

Xuan Shi shook his head. "You're underestimating the clan head too much. And underestimating the Uchiha too much."

He turned sideways, clearing the path to the shrine gate.

And made a "please" gesture.

"If you want to know the answer, go in and see for yourself."

Itachi did not move.

His fingers hooked around the guard of his blade, his thumb applying slight pressure, pushing the blade out an inch in a cold gleam.

He was evaluating.

Evaluating the defenses here, evaluating Xuan Shi's strength, evaluating, if he made a move, how many seconds it would take to kill every guard at the entrance.

"What?"

The corner of Xuan Shi's mouth curved in a mocking arc. "The famous Itachi Uchiha even hesitates to return to his own family's shrine? Or are you waiting for your teammate? The one wearing a mask?"

Itachi's pupils abruptly contracted.

Masked Man.

Aside from him and Danzo, no one knew this secret.

"Who are you?" The killing intent around Itachi instantly locked onto Xuan Shi.

"Who I am isn't important."

Xuan Shi pointed at the closing gate. "What's important is that the gate is about to shut. If you don't want to miss tonight's good show, you'd better hurry."

Creak—

The heavy shrine gate began to close slowly.

The last few clansmen had already run inside.

Itachi took a deep breath.

The killing intent receded.

He released the hilt and started forward.

No matter what deadly trap lay inside, he had to enter.

If it was a coup, he would sever the source from within. If it was something else... he would witness it with his own eyes.

The two brushed past each other.

Neither spoke again.

Itachi walked through the gate.

Xuan Shi followed behind him.

Boom!

The gate closed completely.

Several sealing formulas lit up on the inner side of the gate, like several great locks, turning this place into an isolated island.

The underground secret chamber.

This had originally been the place used to store the Naka River Stone Tablet and hold secret meetings.

The space was huge, large enough to hold thousands of people.

But at this moment, it was packed with people.

The air was filthy, thick with the smell of sweat, dust, and fear.

There was no uproar as one might imagine.

On the contrary, it was eerily quiet here.

Several thousand people were crammed together, yet there was only the occasional sound of a baby crying, and sobs muffled by mothers covering mouths.

Everyone was looking at the high platform at the front.

Two rows of torches burned there, illuminating the platform brightly.

Uchiha Fugaku stood at the center of the platform.

He wore formal attire, hands clasped behind his back, his face so dark it looked ready to drip water.

Yashiro, Inabi, and several other elders and jonin stood arrayed on both sides, hands resting on sword hilts, expressions murderous and grim.

Itachi stood at the very edge of the crowd, leaning against a stone pillar.

He hid half his face beneath his hood, only revealing a pair of cold eyes that swept across the whole place.

No weapons.

These ordinary clansmen had no weapons in their hands.

This did not look like they were about to launch a coup. A coup required every person capable of holding a blade to rush forward as cannon fodder.

Then what were they doing?

Taking shelter?

Hiding from whom?

Just as Itachi was puzzled, a person walked onto the platform.

Not an elder, and not a jonin.

A young man stood there, wearing the standard uniform of the Police Force.

Xuan Shi.

He walked over to Fugaku and stood side-by-side with the clan head.

Fugaku actually stepped half a pace to the side, subtly deferring to this young man as the leader.

The entire room erupted in an uproar.

"Who is that?"

"Xuan Shi? That chunin?"

"Why would the clan head let him stand in that position?"

The whispers buzzed like flies.

Xuan Shi raised his hand and pressed it downward.

The movement was slight.

But the scene fell silent instantly.

Because his eyes had changed.

The three tomoe merged into one, and that eerie black gear pattern rotated slowly under the firelight.

A cold, sinister ocular power swept across the room.

Everyone felt a chill at the back of their necks, as if they had been licked by a venomous snake.

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

Mangekyo.

Another pair of Mangekyo Sharingan.

When did the Uchiha Clan produce such a person?

Xuan Shi did not look at the thousands of eyes below; instead, he cast his gaze accurately toward a stone pillar in the corner.

He looked toward Itachi in the shadows.

Their eyes met.

Xuan Shi smiled.

"Everyone is here."

Xuan Shi spoke. His voice was not loud, but in the enclosed secret chamber, the echo was clearly audible.

"Good evening, everyone."

"I know many of you didn't even finish dinner because I called you here so urgently, and you must be furious."

"I am the same. I haven't finished making the scrambled eggs with tomatoes I promised my little sister."

A few suppressed chuckles came from the crowd, and the atmosphere loosened slightly.

But the next second, Xuan Shi's tone shifted, striking the ground like a blade.

"The Police Force just reported an enemy attack."

"This is not a drill."

"It is real."

The crowd grew restless again.

"Who is the enemy?"

"Has the village attacked us?"

"Should we fight back?"

Xuan Shi shook his head.

"Fight back?"

"With what?"

"With the spatulas in your hands? Or the children in your arms?"

He pointed toward the ceiling.

"Outside, Danzo's Root has already surrounded the clan grounds. The Masked Man's space-time ninjutsu has blocked our retreat."

"We are birds trapped in a cage."

"If we do nothing tonight, by the time the sun rises, the Uchiha Clan will be nothing but a pile of corpses."

"A name that won't even be carved onto the Konoha Memorial Stone."

Panic.

Extreme panic exploded within the secret chamber.

Some began to cry, some began to curse, and some wanted to rush out to fight to the death.

"Silence!"

Fugaku roared, his chakra erupting to suppress the chaos.

Xuan Shi continued.

"A coup is a dead end. Surrender is also a dead end."

"Therefore, the clan head and I have made a decision."

He looked at Itachi.

Itachi's fingers had already pushed the blade from its scabbard. He was calculating how many seconds it would take to rush the platform and slit Xuan Shi's throat.

This madman was spreading panic; he had to be stopped.

However.

Xuan Shi's next words caused Itachi's hand, gripping the sword, to freeze in mid-air.

"Tonight, we are not staging a coup."

Xuan Shi spread his hands, the red light in his eyes flaring brilliantly.

"We are... fleeing as a clan."

"Fleeing where?" someone shouted.

Xuan Shi pointed to his own eyes.

"Fleeing to... the past."

"Fleeing to a time before all the tragedies began."

"Fleeing to that... battlefield where only we can win."