Creating a world without the Uchiha

The winter evening wind howled.

Uchiha Itachi was about to turn away.

"Whew! I'm not dead yet. What are you crying for? Pull me up!"

Suddenly.

A familiar voice came from below the cliff, making Uchiha Itachi freeze... Big Brother Shisui?

Itachi looked down in disbelief.

On the rock face.

A bloodied hand clung to a jutting ledge, struggling to climb upward.

"Big Brother Shisui!!!"

Overjoyed and astonished, Itachi grabbed Shisui's arm.

Shisui looked up, about to thank him, but his remaining eye fell on Uchiha Itachi's eyes. He paused. "Itachi, your eyes..."

Uchiha Itachi said nothing, silently pulling Shisui up.

By then.

The sky was growing dark.

After making sure their surroundings were safe, the two lit a campfire and sat on the ground.

Strangely, Shisui showed none of the signs of his earlier grievous injuries. Ignoring the dried blood on his body, he ate Soldier Pills with relish beside the fire, replenishing his strength.

Crackle!

A branch snapped in the burning fire, breaking the silence.

Shisui glanced up at Itachi.

"Why so quiet? Nothing you want to ask? Why Root and Danzo were hunting me, or how I survived Root's ambush?"

Uchiha Itachi hugged his knees and shook his head. "...There's no need to guess."

Shisui smiled helplessly.

There really was no need to guess. His empty eye socket had already explained everything.

"You're no fun."

Still.

Hoping to lighten the mood, Shisui complained anyway, looking at him expectantly. "At least be curious about why all my injuries suddenly healed."

"...Was it the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

"Uh... right. Lord Fugaku is your father, after all."

Shisui swallowed his last mouthful and dusted off his hands, looking at Uchiha Itachi. "I know what happened today hit you hard. But as Shinji said, everything happens for a reason. These past few years, you've been caught between the village and the clan, with more and more weighing on your mind. I can more or less guess what you're struggling with."

"Actually... I used to have plenty of questions, too. You know my grandfather was Kagami Uchiha. But fortunately, I had Shinji."

At the mention of Shinji Uchiha's name.

Uchiha Itachi finally raised his head. "Big Brother Shinji?"

"Yeah."

Shisui smiled and surveyed the scorched earth around them. "What kind of person is Shinji, in your eyes?"

"Strong."

"Oh? Do you know how strong he is?"

Shisui gave him a teasing smile. "Maybe you're even stronger than he is now."

Uchiha Itachi shook his head. "No. I could never be as strong as Big Brother Shinji."

"...Hmm."

Shisui thought for a moment. "Besides strong?"

"Gentle."

"That's true. He's a gentle person, though he's not exactly gentle with his enemies."

"Mm."

Uchiha Itachi suddenly lowered his head again.

Shisui stood and patted Itachi's shoulder. "If there's something on your mind that you find hard to say, try talking to Shinji... Before that, you're eligible to attend tomorrow night's clan meeting. Why not come and see what Shinji does? It might clear up your doubts."

"All right?"

Uchiha Itachi raised his head, a flicker of conflict and hesitation in his eyes.

A double agent—and a known double agent, at that—attending a clan meeting?

After considering it for a moment, he nodded anyway.

"All right!"

Shisui left.

Uchiha Itachi sat by the campfire, staring blankly at the flames.

A faint ripple in space suddenly appeared beside him.

Then the distortion spread, until a man shrouded in a black robe and wearing a yellow tiger-striped mask stepped out of the warped space.

"Oh? Warming yourself by the fire?"

"What are you doing here?"

Uchiha Itachi frowned and said coldly, "This is Konoha. Be careful, or you might not get out."

"Ahahaha!"

"..."

The Masked Man laughed with his hands on his hips. When Uchiha Itachi remained unmoved, he sneered. "There is nowhere in the shinobi world that I, Madara Uchiha, cannot enter or leave!"

"..."

As for the man's insistence that he was "Madara Uchiha," Uchiha Itachi.

Was utterly unmoved.

Itachi had met this strange fellow while out on a mission.

He had recognized him... at first sight!

By coincidence, Uchiha Itachi had been there during the Nine-Tails' Attack and witnessed everything... But that was nothing to celebrate.

It had been a tragedy instead.

Two figures who had died horribly before him flashed through his mind, along with the cold, merciless gaze of a boy who had always treated him gently... Itachi's expression turned murderous.

He clenched his fists.

His chakra erupted.

"Oh! You want to fight me? What a rude youngster!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Whoosh!

The instant the Masked Man finished speaking, Uchiha Itachi sprang up from a crouch, forming hand seals with one hand before his chest. A massive fireball burst from his mouth and hurtled toward the Masked Man!

"Oh, my! You're really attacking?"

The Masked Man casually leaped aside, dodging the Fireball Technique. He glanced at the distant explosion, clicked his tongue twice, then turned back to the motionless Uchiha Itachi.

"A Shadow Clone? What a boring trick!" he mocked.

No sooner had he spoken than the Masked Man twisted sideways, whipping his robe around in an exaggeratedly sinuous pose. "Wood Release! Cutting Technique!"

Bang!

"What?!"

An unexpected turn!

The wooden spikes growing wildly from the Masked Man's arm easily pierced Uchiha Itachi's body, but "Itachi" was like an inflatable doll.

He burst into a cloud of smoke with a bang!

Then...

Whirr!!!

A huge, rapidly spinning Fūma Shuriken shot from the smoke, slicing toward the Masked Man's neck!

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique... oh?"

He glanced out of the corner of his eye.

The motionless "fake Itachi" he had initially assumed was a Shadow Clone leaped backward again, already forming one-handed seals while still airborne.

His other hand discreetly scattered a handful of Shuriken.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!"

Countless small fireballs clung to the Shuriken like blooming phoenix flowers, blanketing the area around the Masked Man.

They sealed off every possible escape route!

"Hmph!"

The Masked Man snorted, thoroughly annoyed. "That's enough of your insolence!"

"Kamui!"

Whoosh!

The Fūma Shuriken passed straight through the Masked Man's body. The fireballs likewise accomplished nothing, landing on the surrounding ground and igniting little patches of flame...

"Fluctuations in ocular power... genjutsu? No, some kind of dōjutsu that alters reality!"

Tap!

Uchiha Itachi landed lightly, his face expressionless.

"What technique is that?"

Uchiha Itachi openly adopted a stance of truce, but the Masked Man kept watching him warily, not daring to relax. He had grown stronger again...

And he was as full of tricks as ever.

Devious, cunning, and frighteningly shrewd!

He had once kept an eye on that fellow called Shinji Uchiha, who had been active along the Land of Lightning Border. If his fighting style was the art of war and violence.

Then Uchiha Itachi was an utterly insidious assassin!

In short...

Every last one of them.

They were the sort of people he loathed most, and they belonged to the very clan he most wanted to exterminate—the Uchiha!!!

This clan was too dangerous!

So the Masked Man neither deactivated Kamui nor answered Itachi's question. Instead, he changed the subject. "It looks like there was a battle here just now..."

"Are the Uchiha preparing another coup? Oh, what a laughable clan."

Itachi frowned slightly. "That's none of your business."

"None of my business?" the Masked Man sneered. "Back then, this despicable clan betrayed their clan head. Now they're going to betray Konoha again?"

"Aren't the Uchiha the filthiest, most loathsome clan in the shinobi world? They shouldn't exist in this world at all. Wherever they are, there's hatred, betrayal, arrogance, and slaughter! All the evil in human nature is laid bare in them!"

"This world shouldn't be like this. But as long as the filthy Uchiha clan exists, the future will never change!"

"I've seen this clan for what it truly is!"

As he spoke, the Masked Man spread his arms. "Itachi! You're powerful! Cast aside that sickening Uchiha name and join me! Together, we'll create a new world without the Uchiha!"

"What do you say?!"

Uchiha Itachi glanced at him, his fingers twitching slightly.

"What if I say no?"

"Oh? I won't do anything to you. But one day, you'll realize this world is nothing but darkness, beyond all salvation!"

"When that day comes, we'll stand together, side by side!" The Masked Man chuckled, his tone earnest. "You're worthy of standing beside me!"

Uchiha Itachi betrayed nothing.

He slid his left foot half a step back. "You won't do anything to me, or you can't?"

"Hmph!"

The Masked Man scoffed. "You know nothing of Madara Uchiha's pow—"

Hum!

Barely visible threads silently pulled taut, gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

"Uchiha Style: Manipulated Shuriken Technique!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

At some point.

More than a dozen Shuriken embedded in the nearby ground had been attached to fine wire. Under the nimble control of Uchiha Itachi's fingers, they came whipping back for another attack!!

"...You tricked me again."

The Masked Man looked down as the Shuriken passed through his body, then turned toward Uchiha Itachi, who was frowning thoughtfully.

His voice grew quiet. "You... really are rude."

"Still..."

He glanced into the distance and said coldly, "That's enough for today, Uchiha Itachi. That restless heart of yours tells me you'll come looking for me!"

The Masked Man slowly flowed into a vortex. "When that happens, we'll join forces and create an entirely new... world!"

Uchiha Itachi remained unmoved by the Masked Man's disappearance.

His brow stayed tightly furrowed.

"What was that...?"

Tekka and Inabi arrived in Konoha Military Police Force uniforms. Staring at the wreckage strewn across the ground, they asked gravely, "Uchiha Itachi! What happened here?"

Uchiha Itachi glanced at them.

Without a word.

He turned and left.

"That insolent brat! I'll keep a close eye on him. I won't let him do anything that harms the clan's interests!"