Masked Man and Traitor

"Run!"

Xuan Shi spun around and slammed his palm hard into Akane's back.

That shove used every ounce of his strength.

Akane stumbled several meters forward, fell to the ground, then scrambled up on all fours and ran crying toward the woods at the edge of the square.

"Don't look back! Just keep running!"

Xuan Shi roared, his fingers flashing through hand seals so fast only afterimages remained.

Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.

His chest swelled, chakra compressing violently in his throat and transforming into scalding-hot oil.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Boom!

A massive fireball over five meters across erupted from his mouth.

The raging flames swept over the corpses littering the ground, instantly scorching the air until it warped and twisted. Carrying devastating heat, the fireball swallowed the black-robed figure sitting atop the pile of bodies.

The flames slammed into the steps and burst into a rain of fire.

The heat wave forced Xuan Shi to narrow his eyes, but he did not stop.

As long as he could hold that monster back for even one second, Akane would have a chance to survive.

He pushed off with his feet, and the stone tiles beneath him cracked.

His entire body shot forward like an arrow loosed from the string. Braving the oncoming heat wave, he drew the ninja blade in his hand and, using the momentum of his charge, slashed viciously toward the center of the flames.

It had to hit!

The blade cut through the curtain of fire.

Xuan Shi saw that figure.

The man in the tiger-striped mask was still sitting there, his posture unchanged. The flames raging around him seemed to have no effect on him at all. Even the black cloak with red clouds had not been scorched in the slightest.

The blade arrived.

Straight for the neck beneath that mask.

Die!

The three tomoe in Xuan Shi's eyes spun madly. He pressed his wrist down, and the blade fell.

Whoosh.

There was no resistance of cutting into flesh.

No crisp crack of shattered bone.

Not even the feeling of striking something solid.

The sharp ninja blade was like it had cut into a mass of air, passing through the masked man's neck without the slightest obstruction, then through his shoulder, before finally cleaving hard into the stone steps beneath him.

Clang!

Sparks flew.

Because he had used too much force, Xuan Shi lost his balance. His whole body passed straight through the masked man's "body," and he staggered several steps forward.

An illusion?

No.

At the instant the blade passed through him just now, he had clearly seen a flash of red light in the masked man's eye.

He was solid.

But at the moment of contact, he had turned into nothingness.

"Too slow."

That hoarse voice came from behind him.

Xuan Shi's scalp prickled. Before he could turn around, the clatter of a metal chain being dragged rang by his ear.

Snap!

A cold iron chain coiled around his right arm like a venomous snake.

Immediately after came an irresistible force.

"Ugh!"

Xuan Shi grunted. His entire body was yanked into the air by the chain and smashed hard toward the ground.

Thud!

His back struck the stone tiles, and the air in his lungs was forced out in an instant.

Before he could catch his breath, the chain suddenly tightened, its barbs digging deep into his flesh.

Rrrip.

A large chunk of flesh was torn off alive.

Blood gushed out, dyeing half his sleeve red.

Xuan Shi's vision went black with pain, but he gritted his teeth and did not let himself cry out.

He braced one hand against the ground, rolled away to create distance, and half-knelt on the ground, his left hand clamped tightly over the wound on his right arm. Blood surged through his fingers and dripped onto the ground, drop by drop.

The masked man slowly stood up.

He shook the chain in his hand, flinging off the blood on it, and that single eye curved into a mocking arc.

"So this is the current level of the Uchiha?"

He started walking, his leather boots stepping through the blood with sticky sounds.

"Aside from that rather loud shout, everything else is worthless."

Xuan Shi panted heavily. Cold sweat mixed with dust and flowed into his eyes, stinging sharply.

He could not beat him.

He really could not beat him.

Ninjutsu was useless. Taijutsu passed right through.

This was Kamui.

This was the space-time ninjutsu that had driven the Fourth Hokage into a corner.

Before this monster, a so-called three-tomoe elite was as laughable as a baby who had just learned to walk.

But that was fine.

As long as he could stall him.

Xuan Shi glanced out of the corner of his eye toward the woods.

Akane's figure was almost gone into the darkness.

As long as she could run into that forest, where the terrain was complicated, there might still be a slim chance of survival.

"Trying to run?"

The masked man suddenly stopped.

He seemed to have seen through Xuan Shi's thoughts, his head tilting slightly toward the woods.

"To protect that little girl? How touching, this family love."

Xuan Shi's heart lurched.

"Don't touch her!"

Xuan Shi roared. Ignoring the sharp pain in his arm, he grabbed the ninja blade from the ground and charged again.

He just had to pin him down!

The masked man did not turn around.

He did not even glance at Xuan Shi as he rushed over.

The space behind him merely twisted slightly, and his entire body vanished on the spot like an ink painting being sucked into a whirlpool.

Xuan Shi's blade struck empty air once more.

Where was he?

Not good!

A chill that pierced to the marrow exploded through him.

Xuan Shi slammed on the brakes and turned to look toward the woods.

A hundred meters away.

Akane staggered to the edge of the forest.

With just one more step, she could dive into the bushes.

Just then.

The air in front of her suddenly twisted into a vortex.

A foot in a black leather boot stepped out of the void.

Then came the black cloak with red clouds, and that nightmare-like tiger-striped mask.

The masked man blocked Akane's path without warning, like a ghost crawling up from hell.

"Ah!"

Akane let out a short scream of fright. Her legs went weak, and she fell to the ground.

She retreated backward on hands and feet, her eyes filled with sheer terror.

"No... don't..."

"Stop!!!"

Xuan Shi's eyes nearly split apart, and his throat almost screamed blood.

He sprinted toward them like a madman.

One hundred meters.

A distance that would normally take only a few seconds now seemed as far away as a chasm in the heavens.

The masked man lowered his head and looked at the trembling girl at his feet.

In that scarlet single eye, there was no pity, no killing intent, only the coldness of someone observing a lab rat.

"Brother!"

Akane heard Xuan Shi's roar.

She suddenly turned back and looked at Xuan Shi sprinting toward her in the distance.

Tears hung on her dust-covered little face, her lips trembling as she stretched out one hand, as if trying to grasp something.

"Brother..."

Those were the last two words she left in this world.

The masked man raised his right hand.

In it, he held a black kunai.

There was no flashy movement, and no hesitation.

His hand rose.

The blade fell.

Pfft.

A line of blood bloomed beneath the moonlight.

Akane's voice stopped abruptly.

The hand she had reached toward Xuan Shi froze in midair, then dropped limply.

Her small body fell softly onto the grass like a kite with its string cut.

Blood poured from her neck, quickly dyeing her favorite kitten pajamas red.

It also dyed red the drawing in her pocket, the one she had not had time to give him.

The world went quiet.

The wind stopped.

The crackling of burning wood vanished.

Xuan Shi's footsteps stopped.

He still held that forward-charging posture, but his legs felt as if they had been filled with lead, and he could not take another step.

He just stood there blankly.

Looking at that tiny corpse dozens of meters away.

Looking at that pool of blood rapidly spreading.

"Ah..."

A broken breath escaped Xuan Shi's throat.

His mind went completely blank.

Only that image remained, branded onto his retinas like a hot iron.

She was dead.

Akane was dead.

His little sister, who would warm food for him, wipe his face, and link pinkies with him while saying they would go to the summer festival.

The person he had sworn to protect.

Right before his eyes, she had been killed like a chicken.

[Clan prosperity: 2.1]

[Direct blood relative death detected.]

[Mental threshold breaking...]

The system's icy notification echoed in his mind, every word like a blunt knife cutting into his brain.

"Ahhhh!!!"

A heart-rending roar exploded from Xuan Shi's chest.

The corners of his eyes split, and two streams of bloody tears slid down his cheeks.

Like a wounded beast, he threw himself forward with no regard for anything.

The masked man did not stop him.

He took a step back, yielding the space, and watched the scene unfold with keen interest.

Xuan Shi threw himself beside Akane's corpse and lifted her into his arms with trembling hands.

Her body was still warm.

Blood was still flowing.

"Akane... Akane..."

In a panic, Xuan Shi pressed his hand over the wound on her neck.

But the blood would not stop at all. It gushed out between his fingers, staining his hands red, staining his clothes red.

Akane's eyes were still open.

Staring fixedly at the blood moon in the sky.

There was no light left in those eyes, nor any anticipation for the summer festival.

"Why..."

Xuan Shi held Akane tightly in his arms, his forehead pressed to her cold one, his whole body shaking violently.

"Why!!!"

He suddenly raised his head and stared hard at the masked man.

The three tomoe in his eyes spun to their limit, even beginning to seep blood.

Hatred.

Hatred that towered to the heavens.

If looks could kill, the man before him would already have been cut to pieces.

"Does it hurt?"

The masked man looked down at Xuan Shi from above, a trace of pleasure in his voice. "Are you angry?"

He spread his hands, as if admiring a work of art that was about to be completed.

"Remember this feeling."

"This is the fate of the Uchiha Clan. Only by experiencing the deepest loss can you awaken true power."

He bent down, that single eye drawing close to Xuan Shi, like a demon whispering.

"Hate me. Curse me. Then... use that hatred to evolve your eyes."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A faint sound of footsteps came from the shadows deep in the woods.

Xuan Shi's body went rigid.

The masked man straightened and turned to look that way.

"Looks like your side is finished too."

A figure slowly walked out.

A gray Anbu vest, a ninja blade still dripping blood strapped to his back. The fox mask on his face hung askew to one side, revealing a handsome, utterly expressionless face.

Itachi Uchiha.

He stopped beside the masked man, his gaze sweeping over Akane on the ground before finally falling on Xuan Shi, who was holding the corpse, his face covered in blood and tears.

Those deep black eyes were still deathly still.

Without the slightest ripple.

As if the one lying on the ground was not a member of his clan, but a stone.

"Madara."

Itachi spoke, his voice as cold as blocks of ice striking together. "The police force has been completely cleaned up. Fugaku's side... I've dealt with it too."

Madara?

Xuan Shi's pupils contracted sharply.

His fingers around Akane turned white from the force of his grip.

Itachi called him Madara?

Madara Uchiha?

That legendary ancestor of the Uchiha?

No wonder... no wonder he had that terrifying power.

Was this the truth?

Was this your reason for joining hands to slaughter your own clan?

One for so-called peace, one for so-called revenge.

Butchering us like pigs and dogs.

Turning my sister... into a sacrifice to awaken eyes.

"Very good."

The masked man nodded and pointed at Xuan Shi on the ground. "There's still an interesting survivor here. His eyes have good potential. He's only missing the final push."

Itachi turned his head and looked at Xuan Shi.

Their eyes met.

Xuan Shi saw himself in those eyes.

Covered in blood, wretched beyond words, like a stray dog with its spine broken.

"Xuan Shi."

Itachi called his name.

His tone was flat, just like when they had greeted each other in the police force building before.

"You're very weak."

Itachi's hand gripped the hilt on his back and slowly drew the blade. "The weak have no right to survive. Nor do they have... the right to protect their loved ones."

Clang!

The ninja blade left its sheath.

The cold gleam reflected the blood moon, stinging Xuan Shi's eyes.

"You want to kill me too?"

Xuan Shi slowly laid Akane on the ground and staggered to his feet.

He had no blade in his hand.

He had no idea where his blade had been lost long ago.

All he had were a pair of eyes streaming tears of blood, and the fury in his chest that was on the verge of exploding.

"Kill me, then!"

Xuan Shi roared at Itachi, spittle mixed with blood spraying out. "Come on! Take those hands of yours, stained with the blood of your clan, and shove them into my heart!"

"As you wish."

Itachi's figure flashed.

Fast.

Too fast.

Xuan Shi only felt his vision blur, then a chill in his chest.

Itachi was already standing behind him.

The ninja blade had pierced through the right side of his chest, the tip protruding from his back, dripping blood.

Xuan Shi lowered his head and looked at the blade in his chest.

Pain.

Heart-piercing pain.

But that pain was like the final match thrown into a brain already filled with gas.

Bzz—

The world slowed at that instant.

The flames around him stopped flickering.

The dust in the air hung motionless.

Only deep within his mind, the floodgate that had always been suppressed, sealed away, shattered with a thunderous crash.

A chakra unlike anything he had ever felt, cold to the absolute extreme, surged out from his cerebral cortex, instantly flowing through the meridians of his entire body before finally gathering in both eyes.

Under the impact of that power, the three black tomoe began to twist, stretch, and connect.

The system panel on his retina flickered wildly, the red warning text turning into an eerie purplish black.

[Detected extreme mental stimulation!]

[Mangekyo Sharingan... awakened!]

Xuan Shi suddenly threw his head back.

The whites of his eyes, originally pitch-black, were instantly flooded with blood-red.

At the center of his pupils, the three tomoe disappeared.

In their place was a complex and eerie pattern like a black shuriken, slowly rotating against the blood-red depths of his eyes.

A suffocating, icy aura erupted with him at its center.

Behind him, Itachi's hand on the blade suddenly trembled.

Beside them, a flash of surprise also passed through the masked man's single eye.

"Oh?"

The masked man let out a hoarse laugh. "At last... it's bloomed?"