第17章 最后的准备

Xuan Shi's lips barely moved.

Only a faint puff of air carried his words.

"If we return to that point in time... Shisui is still alive."

The sentence struck like an invisible bolt of lightning, instantly shattering the icy, unchanging mask on Itachi's face.

Itachi jerked his head up.

Within those scarlet Sharingan, the original coldness and dead silence collapsed in an instant, his pupils trembling violently.

Shisui.

The man who was both mentor and friend.

The back of the man who had entrusted his eyes to him at the edge of the cliff before resolutely leaping into the Naka River.

That was a wound in Itachi's heart that could never heal, and the greatest punishment for his own helplessness.

Could they... really meet again?

Could that tragedy be prevented?

Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance.

Itachi took a deep breath.

The hand hanging in mid-air no longer hesitated; he lunged forward and grabbed Xuan Shi's palm.

Their hands locked tightly together.

Cold.

Powerful.

"If you dare to lie to me..."

Itachi's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a tremor suppressed to the extreme.

Xuan Shi did not answer, merely tightening his grip.

The next second.

Itachi closed his eyes.

The Mangekyo Sharingan he had long since awakened spun frantically beneath his eyelids.

A massive, heart-stopping surge of chakra poured out like a bursting dam, flowing through their clasped hands.

Unlike the blue chakra of ordinary clansmen.

Itachi's chakra was a deep, dark red.

Chilling, sharp, and heavy with the scent of blood and despair.

The moment this power was injected into the array's core.

Hum—!

The seal patterns on the ground flared instantly.

The previously unstable light, as if injected with high-purity fuel, stabilized in a heartbeat, its brightness increasing several times over.

Every gap in the complex circular array was filled.

The strongest piece had returned to its place.

In Xuan Shi's mind, the system notification chimed incessantly.

[S-rank high-intensity chakra source detected!]

[Mangekyo Sharingan resonance confirmed!]

[Charging efficiency increased by 300%!]

[Current charging progress: 85%... 88%...]

It was working.

Xuan Shi let go, stepped back, and stood in the very center of the array.

The underground chamber was now filled with dazzling, radiant chakra. Thousands of Uchiha clansmen sat cross-legged, each of them extending a ribbon of light that converged at Xuan Shi's feet.

It was like countless rivers flowing into the sea.

The air was as thick as glue; every breath required every ounce of strength.

Xuan Shi scanned his surroundings.

He saw the sweat on Fugaku's face, saw Mikoto clutching Sasuke tightly, and saw Yashiro biting his teeth to the point of breaking in his persistence.

He had to make things clear.

This was a high-stakes gamble, and the wager was everyone's life.

"Listen up!"

Xuan Shi channeled chakra into his throat, his voice drowning out the humming of the array.

"This is not a space-time teleportation jutsu!"

"This is not the Flying Thunder God!"

"What we are doing is reversing time!"

A stir ran through the crowd, but it was quickly suppressed.

Xuan Shi held up a finger, his gaze sharp as a blade.

"Once this jutsu starts, there is no turning back."

"The physical bodies you sit in now will die completely from the tearing force of space-time."

"Even your souls, should they lose their way during the transition, will scatter into nothingness."

"This is a one-way ticket."

"We are abandoning these bodies, abandoning everything we possess in this world, and returning to our younger selves with our memories intact."

Xuan Shi paused, his gaze sweeping over the mothers holding their children.

"In other words."

"When the sun rises, this chamber will be left with thousands of corpses."

"In the eyes of this world, the Uchiha Clan... will have been wiped out."

Dead silence.

Only the sound of dust falling from the ceiling could be heard.

The price was too heavy.

It meant they had to "die" first.

"Are you afraid?"

Xuan Shi asked loudly.

No one spoke.

In the corner, a young woman holding an infant raised her head.

Her face was pale and her lips were cracked, but her eyes were terrifyingly bright.

"As long as the child can live..."

The woman lowered her head, rubbing her cheek against the sleeping baby in her arms. "This body was meant to block blades anyway. What does it matter if it rots here?"

"Well said!"

An old man nearby threw his cane aside and formed hand seals. "I've lived long enough! As long as we can reach a future without slaughter, this old bag of bones can be discarded!"

"Death it is!"

Yashiro roared, the chakra on his body surging again. "As long as we don't let that old dog Danzo Shimura have the last laugh!"

No backing down.

No fear.

When despair reaches its peak, death becomes a form of liberation.

Since they were destined to be lambs for the slaughter in this world, they might as well leave these skins for the enemy and let their souls become vengeful ghosts, crawling back into the past.

Xuan Shi looked at these resolute faces.

His heart hammered against his ribs.

This was the Uchiha.

This was the true Uchiha.

"Good."

Xuan Shi nodded and turned to face the array core.

The numbers on the system panel continued to jump.

[92%... 93%...]

Almost there.

Just a little more time.

Just then.

BOOM—!!!

A dull, thunderous roar came from above.

The entire underground chamber shook violently, and countless rocks and dust fell from the dome, crashing into the crowd and causing a wave of exclamations.

"What's happening?"

"An earthquake?"

Fugaku stood up abruptly, looking at the ceiling.

As the clan head, he knew the barrier of Naka Shrine better than anyone.

"Someone is attacking the barrier!"

Fugaku's expression changed drastically. "And it's... forced destruction!"

Pfft!

The Third Elder, responsible for maintaining the outer perimeter barrier, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply.

"Clan head..."

The Third Elder pointed weakly upward. "It's... Wind Style... and a summoning beast..."

"They're here."

Xuan Shi narrowed his eyes.

Faster than expected.

Gathering the chakra of thousands of people here was like lighting a bonfire in the dead of night; it was impossible to hide. Ninjas of Danzo Shimura and Obito's caliber could smell it from kilometers away.

BOOM!

Another loud crash.

This time it was closer and louder.

A crack appeared in the rocks overhead, and dirt mixed with tree roots fell through.

A nauseating, fishy stench drifted in through the gap.

It was the aura of a large summoning beast.

"Stop them!"

Yashiro tried to stand, only to find that all his chakra had been poured into the array, making even standing difficult.

"Don't move!"

Xuan Shi barked. "No one is to move! If the chakra supply is cut, the array will collapse! Everyone will die!"

"But..."

"There are no 'buts'!"

Xuan Shi stared fixedly at the system panel.

[96%... 97%...]

Just a few more seconds.

Just a few more seconds.

"Take the gamble!"

Xuan Shi roared. "Pour all the chakra maintaining the barrier into the array! Forget about the ceiling! Let them smash it!"

This was life-or-death.

Abandon defense, go all out.

If they were interrupted before then, it would be total annihilation.

Fugaku gritted his teeth.

"Listen to the commander!"

He shouted, being the first to release his defensive jutsu, squeezing out the last bit of his chakra and pouring it into the ground.

Itachi didn't move either.

He maintained his hand-seal posture, his brow furrowed, sweat sliding down his cheeks.

He was gambling.

Gambling on Xuan Shi's promise.

Rumble—

The rocks overhead finally gave way.

A massive claw with sharp talons smashed through the dome.

Moonlight poured down like a waterfall.

Followed by a howling gale.

It was Danzo Shimura's summoning beast, Baku.

The immense suction instantly formed a vortex in the chamber, and several clansmen who had exhausted their chakra were sucked into the air, slamming heavily against the walls.

It was broken.

The underground chamber of Naka Shrine, the Uchiha's final sanctuary, was completely exposed to the enemy's sight.

All the clansmen looked up, staring in horror at the massive hole.

At the edge of the breach stood several figures.

At the very front stood a Masked Man wearing a black robe with red clouds.

Obito.

He stood there, looking down from above at the thousands of Uchiha clansmen sitting cross-legged, a flicker of astonishment crossing his single visible eye.

He had anticipated that the Uchiha would resist, and he had expected an ambush.

But he had never imagined he would see this.

Thousands of people sat in a circle, without weapons, without defenses, simply releasing their chakra in a frenzy.

The scene did not look like they were preparing for battle.

It looked more like they were performing some ancient and insane sacrificial ritual.

"Uchiha..."

Obito's voice was distorted by the wind. "What the hell are you playing at?"

From the shadows behind him, Danzo stepped out, leaning on his cane.

His single exposed eye was filled with greed and murderous intent.

"It doesn't matter what they are doing."

Danzo ordered coldly, "Kill them all. Leave no one alive."

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Dozens of Root ninjas leaped down from the hole, their ninja blades glinting coldly in the moonlight.

Obito raised his hand as well.

Space began to distort.

Destruction was right before them.

Even if it were only for a second, the butcher's blade would fall.

Xuan Shi looked up.

He looked at the Masked Man standing in the moonlight.

He looked at the killers descending from the sky.

He looked at the Baku that was about to devour everything.

He did not dodge.

Nor did he feel fear.

Instead, a smile, brilliant to the extreme, appeared on his face.

It was the wild laughter of someone watching prey fall into a trap.

It was the relief of someone finally set free.

It's too late, Obito.

Xuan Shi said softly in his heart.

Goodbye.

And... thank you for the assist.

On his retina.

The red progress bar finally reached its end.

[Charging complete.]

[Current clan prosperity: 5.]

[Consumption requirement: All.]

[Execute?]

Xuan Shi's consciousness slammed hard against the word "Yes."

Without any hesitation.

All prosperity instantly returned to zero.

[Karmic Judgment System... Full clan regression... Initiating!]

Hum—

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The Root ninjas leaping in mid-air locked in place.

The distorted spatial patterns of Obito solidified.

Even the moonlight pouring down stood still.

Immediately after.

A light.

A white light, ten thousand times more dazzling than the sun, erupted from beneath Xuan Shi's feet, from within the body of every Uchiha clansman, and from deep beneath the foundations of Naka Shrine.

There was no sound.

Because sound had already been swallowed by the radiance.

The white light instantly filled the entire chamber, shattered the dome, broke through the blockade set by Obito and Danzo, and pierced the night sky of the Hidden Leaf Village.

In that instant.

Everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village woke up.

They saw a white sun rising from the direction of the Uchiha compound.

The light engulfed everything.

It covered all the darkness, all the conspiracies, and all the bloodshed in a sheet of pure white.

The world.

Rebooted.