The Last Peace

Click.

The sound of the bolt springing out was especially crisp in the silent night.

Then came the heavy clatter of an iron chain, wound around the door handle, turned twice, and locked tight.

Xuan Shi sat on the wooden floor of the entryway, his back against the door.

Figures moved outside the window. Two clansmen in police force uniforms stood outside the courtyard, spoke a few words in low voices, then took positions on either side of the window.

Called confinement, but really surveillance.

Xuan Shi did not move.

He did not even turn on the light.

Darkness surged in from all sides like a tide, drowning him.

His clothes were still stained with dust from the street. The dried blood from his nose had caked above his lips, itching a little, but he was too tired to wipe it away.

On his retina, that blood-red number was still ticking down.

68:42:15

68:42:14

He had thought it was only a number.

Now it seemed like a guillotine hanging over his head, dropping little by little.

Xuan Shi closed his eyes.

His mind was filled with the scene at the utility pole just now.

Itachi Uchiha.

That boy called a genius, the clan chief's eldest son who was always gentle and modest in daily life.

In that gaze just now, there had been no warmth, no humanity.

It was the look one gave a pile of meat about to rot.

"So that's how it is."

In the darkness, Xuan Shi tugged at the corner of his mouth and let out a dry laugh. "You decided long ago... this so-called double agent still turned the blade on his own people in the end."

He remembered the masked man from the simulation.

He remembered the eyes on Danzo's arm.

He remembered Shisui, who had already gone missing.

This was a net.

A net painstakingly woven over years, even more than a decade. Now, the mouth of the net had tightened, strangling the great fish that was Uchiha so hard it could not even open its gills.

Creak—

The sound of a door opening came from the hallway behind him.

A warm yellow light cut through the darkness of the entryway.

Xuan Shi's body stiffened, and he instinctively covered his face with his sleeve.

"Brother?"

The soft, sweet voice carried the nasal tone of someone who had just woken up.

Uchiha Akane stood in the bedroom doorway, rubbing her eyes. She wore pajamas printed with little cats, her hair sticking out in a messy explosion.

She narrowed her eyes, adjusted to the light, and saw Xuan Shi sitting by the door like a little mud monkey.

"Ah!"

Akane woke up completely and ran over barefoot, crouching in front of Xuan Shi. "Brother, what happened to you? Why are you covered in dirt? And you're bleeding? Did you get into a fight?"

In a fluster, she used her sleeve to wipe the blood from Xuan Shi's face.

The coarse fabric of her cuff scraped against his swollen cheek. It hurt badly.

Xuan Shi did not dodge.

Through the gap in her sleeve, he looked at his little sister's face, so close to him.

Her eyebrows were like his, her eyes like their mother's.

Only seven years old.

The most troublesome, and also the most adorable, age.

Just a few days ago, she had still been clamoring for a new set of shuriken, saying she wanted to become a ninja like Brother Shisui.

"I'm fine."

Xuan Shi caught her wrist and moved her hand away. "I fell while on patrol."

"Liar."

Akane wrinkled her nose. "Would falling make them lock the door? I heard people talking outside."

She tilted her head, glanced out the window, and lowered her voice. "Was it Uncle Yashiro scolding you again? I heard the auntie next door say the police force has had a really bad temper lately."

Xuan Shi was silent for two seconds.

"Mm." He nodded. "I accidentally talked back to the captain, so I was punished with three days of confinement."

"I knew it."

Akane sighed, looking like a little grown-up. "Brother, you're just too honest. I told you ages ago, when you're on patrol, talk less and do more."

She stood up, ran to the bathroom, wrung out a hot towel, and came back to wipe Xuan Shi's face carefully.

The heat steamed against his pores.

Xuan Shi closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the towel.

This was the warmth of being alive.

"Does it hurt?" Akane asked.

"No."

"You're lying. Your eyebrows are all scrunched up."

Akane tossed the towel back into the basin, turned, and ran back to her room.

A while later, she came out with her hands behind her back, all mysterious, with a fawning smile on her face.

"Brother, since you're going to be confined for three days, that means... you don't have to go to work for these three days?"

Xuan Shi opened his eyes. "Yes."

"Great!"

Akane cheered and pulled a crumpled piece of drawing paper from behind her back, spreading it out in front of Xuan Shi.

The picture was drawn with crayons.

The lines were crooked and uneven, but one could make out two little figures in yukata, holding hands as they walked down a street full of hanging lanterns.

The taller little figure held a round fan, and the shorter one held a skewer of three-color dango.

"Look!"

Akane pointed at the date on the drawing. "In three more days, it'll be the summer festival! You were always busy before and said you had patrol and didn't have time to take me. This time, your confinement just happens to end that day, so we can go at night!"

Her eyes shone brightly, as if two stars had been placed inside them.

"I've already drawn what my new yukata should look like. Tomorrow I'll alter that old one, and I can still wear it. We have to go eat candy apples, and scoop goldfish too! I heard this festival is being held by the Naka River, and there'll be huge fireworks!"

Three days later.

The summer festival.

Xuan Shi's gaze passed over the drawing and landed on the system panel in the air.

68:30:00

On that night three days later, there would indeed be fireworks.

But they would be the blaze of exploding detonation tags.

The Naka River would indeed be very lively too.

But that would be the sound of corpses falling into the water.

His heart felt as if someone had grabbed it and twisted hard.

Xuan Shi looked at the little figure in the drawing, smiling so wide its eyes had vanished, and his throat felt as if a red-hot coal had been stuffed inside.

In three days, you will die.

You will be pierced through the chest by that cold ninja blade.

Your blood will dye red the yukata you spent a whole day altering.

You will never eat candy apples again, and you will never scoop up a goldfish either.

"Brother?"

Seeing that he did not speak, Akane shook his arm, her eyes a little uneasy. "You don't want to go? Is it... because your wound hurts?"

Xuan Shi snapped back to himself.

He looked at his little sister's clear eyes.

There was only anticipation for the future in them, not a trace of shadow.

She knew nothing.

She did not know this house was already a prison.

She did not know the clansmen patrolling outside were already pigs and sheep waiting for slaughter.

She only knew that her brother had time off and could go have fun with her.

"We'll go."

Xuan Shi heard his own voice trembling and quickly cleared his throat, forcing out a smile uglier than crying. "Of course we'll go. I promise."

"Pinky swear!"

Akane held out her pinky.

Xuan Shi reached out. That hand, used to gripping a blade and still trembling slightly at this moment, hooked around that tiny finger.

"Pinky swear, hang it high, break it and you'll lie for a hundred years."

Akane withdrew her hand in satisfaction, carefully folded the drawing, and stuffed it into the pocket of her pajamas. "Then hurry up and take a bath. I'll go heat up dinner for you. We have tomato scrambled eggs tonight. They're cold, but they'll still be good after heating."

Humming an off-key tune, she skipped into the kitchen.

Before long, the sound of the gas stove igniting came from the kitchen, along with the crisp clatter of a spatula striking the wok.

Sounds full of everyday life.

Xuan Shi still sat on the floor of the entryway.

He looked at the light spilling from the kitchen doorway, watched Akane's busy shadow cast on the wall.

Tears fell without warning.

They struck a tiny pit into the dust on the floor.

The next day.

Countdown: 44:15:00.

The cicadas were even louder than yesterday.

The vicious sun baked the earth, even twisting the air.

The air conditioner was not on in the house, and it was as stifling as a steamer.

Xuan Shi sat by the table in the living room, holding a whetstone and mechanically wiping down the police force uniform blade.

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

The sound was monotonous and grating.

Akane sat across from him, sewing clothes.

That old red yukata had been taken apart, and she was comparing the measurements, thread held between her teeth, her brow tightly furrowed.

"Brother, stop sharpening it. It's making my teeth ache," Akane complained.

Xuan Shi's hand paused, then he changed the angle and continued sharpening.

"The sharper the knife, the better it cuts watermelon," he said.

"We don't even have watermelon at home." Akane muttered, then lowered her head again to wrestle with the needle.

Outside the window, the two clansmen in charge of surveillance changed shifts.

The new guards were two unfamiliar faces, probably newcomers who had just graduated from the police academy. They leaned against the base of the wall and smoked, the smell of tobacco drifting in through the crack in the window.

"Did you hear? Tonight the clan chief's holding a meeting at the shrine."

"Shh, keep your voice down. That's top secret."

"What secret? The whole clan knows. Everyone's saying that this time, we have to show the village what we're made of. Otherwise they'll really think we Uchiha are toothless tigers."

"Exactly. Why should we only get to guard the gates? The position of Hokage should rotate too."

The two young men's voices carried excitement, as if they were about to take part in a grand hunt.

Xuan Shi listened, the movements of his hands never stopping.

Fools.

You're going there to die.

That is the grave Danzo dug for you, and not only are you jumping in yourselves, you're happily shoveling dirt over your own heads.

"Brother, what are they talking about?" Akane bit off the thread and asked curiously. "What color? What tiger?"

"Nothing."

Xuan Shi lowered his eyes and tested the blade with his thumb.

Sharp.

Sharp enough to cut through bone.

"Grown-up business. Kids shouldn't ask."

The third day.

Countdown: 20:30:00.

The atmosphere had changed.

The surveillance outside the window had been withdrawn.

Not only the watchers; the entire street seemed to have emptied.

At this hour on any ordinary day, the streets would have been filled with vegetable vendors hawking their wares and the sound of children running home from school.

But today, there was only a deathly silence.

Only the occasional few crows landed on the rooftops, letting out hoarse cries.

It was the reaper clearing the field.

The entire police force had assembled and was at Naka Shrine, preparing for the "big event" that night.

And on the other side of the village, masked men from the Anbu were sharpening their blades.

Root ninjas were lying in wait.

The man named Itachi Uchiha was putting on his tactical vest.

The last supper.

On the table were three-colored dango and sushi. Akane had gone out specially to buy them, to celebrate her brother's release from confinement.

"Brother, try this dango!"

Akane picked up a skewer and held it to Xuan Shi's mouth. "I bought it from the most famous shop. I lined up for ages! I heard Brother Shisui and Brother Itachi both love this place the most."

Itachi.

That name again.

Xuan Shi looked at the pink, green, and white dango, and his stomach churned violently.

He opened his mouth and took a bite.

It was very sweet.

So sweet it was cloying.

As if the taste of blood had been wrapped in syrup.

"Is it good?" Akane looked at him expectantly.

"It's good."

Xuan Shi swallowed, feeling as if he had swallowed a stone. "You eat some too."

"I'm saving it for tomorrow."

Akane carefully put the remaining dango into the food box. "I'll eat it tomorrow while watching the fireworks."

She glanced at the wall clock.

"Brother, I'm going to bed first, then. I have to get up early tomorrow to do my hair. You have to help me braid it, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good night, Brother."

"Good night."

Akane hugged her new yukata and returned to her room, perfectly content.

The door closed.

The last trace of light vanished.

Xuan Shi sat in the dark living room.

On the table before him, only a blade remained, and that half-eaten dango.

Countdown: 01:00:00.

The moon had risen.

Huge, and full.

But red.

Like a bloodshot eyeball, coldly watching over this land.

Moonlight spilled in through the window and shone on Xuan Shi's face, stretching his shadow long across the wall like a twisted monster.

He did not move.

Even his breathing was kept very light.

He was waiting.

Waiting for that final judgment.

The numbers on the system panel were making their final sprint.

00:00:10

00:00:09

Xuan Shi gripped the hilt of his blade.

His palm was slick with cold sweat, but his grip was steady.

Since he could not save everyone.

Since death was certain.

Then before he died, he would slash a few more times.

Killing one would make it worth it. Killing two would be a profit.

At the very least, he could not let that masked man, or that so-called brother, step through this door easily.

From the bedroom behind him came Akane's even breathing.

She was still dreaming of fireworks and goldfish.

00:00:03

00:00:02

00:00:01

Ding.

The system hit zero.

In that instant, time seemed to stop.

Then, immediately after.

"Ah—!!!"

An extremely shrill scream, like a sharp blade, instantly cut through the deathly still night sky.

It was a human voice.

It was the sound of someone on the brink of death.

The sound came from next door.

Then came a second scream, a third.

Those were the sounds of flesh being cut open, of heavy bodies hitting the ground, of desperate cries.

Boom!

A blaze of fire shot into the sky, turning the window paper red.

That was the Great Fireball Technique the Uchiha Clan was best at.

But tonight, it was not a ninjutsu used to kill the enemy. It was the dying struggle of the clan members.

The hunt had begun.

"Mm..."

Movement came from the bedroom.

Akane had been startled awake.

"Brother?"

Her tearful voice came through the crack in the door. "What's happening outside? Why is someone screaming? Is there a fire?"

Footsteps sounded. Barefoot, she ran toward the door.

"Don't come out!"

Xuan Shi let out a low growl.

He stood with his blade in hand, his back to the bedroom door, facing the night beyond the window that had been dyed red by firelight.

His shadow fell across the door like a wall.

"Brother..." Akane was frightened still, her hand stopping on the doorknob.

"Go back."

Xuan Shi stared out the window.

Several black shadows were leaping swiftly across the rooftops.

Blade light flashed amid the flames.

With every flash, a spray of blood mist rose.

Those were neighbors he saw every day. Those were teammates who had still been on patrol the day before yesterday.

Now, they fell like straw.

"Don't be afraid, Akane."

Xuan Shi's hand tightened around his blade, his nails nearly digging into his flesh.

His voice was terrifyingly calm, as if he were telling a bedtime story.

"Close your eyes."

"Cover your ears."

"No matter what sound you hear, no matter who calls your name."

"Do not open your eyes."

He slowly raised his head, and his eyes snapped open in the darkness.

His originally pitch-black pupils instantly turned blood red.

Three tomoe spun wildly within them, faster and faster, faster and faster, until they even began to blur, beginning to fuse.

A cold, violent chakra, filled with the desire to destroy, erupted from the depths of his mind.

That was despair.

That was hatred.

That was the source of the Uchiha Clan's power.

The seed of the Mangekyō finally tasted its favorite fertilizer in this moment.

The blood of kin.