The Clan Massacre Begins

Konoha.

Uchiha Clan compound.

Inside a house drenched in blood.

"Why...?"

A clansman with a three-tomoe Sharingan clutched the blade in his chest and asked with difficulty.

Slash!

Itachi Uchiha pulled out his sword without hesitation. The blade scraped as it tore the clansman's heart to pieces.

"You clearly... had the power... to save everyone..." The clansman stared at Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan as he slowly collapsed, his eyes filled with fury and confusion.

Itachi Uchiha watched him stop breathing.

Only then did he slowly say, "I am saving everyone. It's just that... the 'everyone' I understand is this village."

With that, he turned and left.

He returned to the street and looked back at the house.

From top to bottom, all seven members of the family had died by his blade.

The youngest had been only one year old, barely having learned to speak.

"I'm sorry..."

A trace of sorrow flashed through Itachi Uchiha's eyes, but his expression quickly hardened again. "But this is for Konoha, for peace!"

"The Uchiha Clan is the greatest source of instability."

"Once the Uchiha Clan is dealt with, Konoha can enjoy lasting peace."

He drew a deep breath and cast aside all reluctance and pity in his heart.

For the village's peace.

He had already steeled himself. Even if they were family, he would kill them without hesitation!

"The next household belongs to Mato Uchiha, a retired jonin."

Itachi Uchiha stepped forward impassively, heading toward the next house.

But the master of that house—

Had long since been standing at the door, one withered hand gripping a ninja sword tightly.

"Why bother, Uncle Mato..." Itachi Uchiha looked at him and sighed. "You're so old that you don't even have enough chakra left to use a single jutsu."

"Why struggle?"

"Why not stay quietly and let me send you on your way?"

Ahead of him.

The aged Mato Uchiha gave a scornful laugh, his eyes full of contempt and mockery. "An Uchiha would rather die standing than cower in fear."

"Honestly..." Itachi Uchiha shook his head, his gaze turning cold.

It was precisely this pointless persistence that had brought the Uchiha Clan to its present fate.

Why couldn't you understand?

Following Lord Third's leadership and actively integrating into the village was the right path!

"Then let these eyes send you on your way." Itachi Uchiha spoke coldly. His Mangekyō Sharingan unleashed an overwhelming wave of ocular power.

Deep within the clan compound.

At the home of the current clan head, Fugaku Uchiha.

"It's begun..."

Fugaku stood in the courtyard, grief etched across his face as his voice trembled. "The Third has finally made up his mind to wipe out the Uchiha Clan!"

"Dear." Mikoto, equally sorrowful, embraced Fugaku from behind.

"Ah..."

Fugaku let out a long sigh, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He still remembered how high-spirited and ambitious he had been when he first took over as clan head.

Reorganizing the clan, nurturing the younger generation, mediating conflicts.

Under his management.

The Uchiha Clan's circumstances had improved greatly, almost returning to how things had been when Kagami Uchiha was still alive.

But then the unexpected happened.

The Nine-Tails was unleashed, and the Fourth Hokage died.

That upheaval directly destroyed Fugaku's decades of work.

Minato Namikaze had been a rare Hokage without prejudice against the Uchiha Clan. He had even accepted Obito Uchiha as his disciple.

Though Obito had died, his eye remained with another disciple, Kakashi.

That connection ran as deep and enduring as a river. It would not be severed.

At the time.

Fugaku had nearly been able to foresee the glorious future in which the Uchiha Clan fully integrated into Konoha and competed for the position of the Hokage after next.

Yet the dream had shattered overnight.

Even now, he still did not know who had been behind the Nine-Tails attack.

"Power..."

Fugaku clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

He was deeply unwilling to accept it.

If he had possessed great power, if he had possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, perhaps he could have changed the outcome of the Nine-Tails attack.

Perhaps the situation would not have collapsed step by step into its current state.

(Note: This Fugaku follows the manga setting and does not possess the Mangekyō Sharingan.)

But now.

It was too late to say anything.

"It's Itachi and Sasuke who will suffer for this." Fugaku weakly released his fists and turned to embrace Mikoto.

"Sasuke..." Tears streamed from Mikoto's eyes, and she could no longer speak through her sobs.

She could imagine the bleak future awaiting her two children.

But at least they would survive.

As for the other clansmen, they were destined not to live past tonight.

"Don't worry. The Third will take good care of Sasuke." Fugaku gently patted his wife's back, soothing her.

This was the understanding he had reached with the leadership.

As a dove who had always worked to integrate into Konoha, his past efforts had always been recognized.

He had even sent his exceptionally gifted eldest son to the Anbu, allowing the Third to educate him as he wished.

It had been his desperate gamble in the face of a hopeless situation.

Yet it had still failed.

Then, as a former "friend," he could at least receive a measure of dignity and consideration.

In other words.

His younger son, Sasuke, could survive as the seed of a new Uchiha Clan.

"Sasuke, you must live well." Mikoto wept.

Fugaku nodded firmly and promised, "He will. Sasuke will live well. Many people will always be watching over him."

It was not that he trusted the Third and the others.

It was that he trusted interests!

The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan was one of the shinobi world's foremost bloodline limits, and they were among the village's founders.

By sentiment and by reason.

The leadership would not allow that power to die out.

At the same time.

Inside the Hokage's office.

Before the floor-to-ceiling windows, two elderly men calmly gazed toward the Uchiha Clan compound, their faces bearing the composure of men who had everything under control.

"It has already begun," the Third Hokage said softly.

"Yes."

Danzō nodded, his eyes gleaming with eagerness.

Those damned Uchiha were finally being wiped out.

He would finally obtain a large batch of the Sharingan he had long coveted, enough to conduct his research to his heart's content.

At that thought.

Danzō casually touched his right arm.

Wood Release cells had been transplanted into that arm, but the fusion had never gone smoothly.

Orochimaru had proposed a solution.

Use restrained Yin Release power to suppress the overly active Wood Release.

And the most suitable restrained Yin Release power was naturally the Sharingan. The Uchiha Clan and the Senju had fought for over a thousand years.

Now the Senju had declined, and the Uchiha Clan was being destroyed.

Then let their slaughter continue for another thousand years within his arm.

Heh heh...

The corners of Danzō's mouth curled up as he sneered inwardly.

Beside him.

The Third Hokage quietly glanced at him and slightly shook his head.

His old friend was good in every way, except that he was far too greedy and did not know restraint.

Those dark thoughts were practically written all over his face.

Still.

The Third Hokage chuckled inwardly.

It was precisely because he had such obvious flaws that he was a blade easy to control, one the Third had kept firmly in hand for decades.

Thinking this.

The Third Hokage leisurely looked toward the Uchiha Clan compound and thought:

Itachi is a fine blade as well.

At the same time.

Inside Junichi's home in the Uchiha Clan compound.

A tall man with lean muscles and the agility of a leopard appeared out of thin air.

The man slowly opened his eyes, looked at the familiar living room, and revealed a faint smile. "I'm back."