When Moonlight Fell on His Face

There was no light around him. The night lay desolate, and moonlight poured down like water over the Uchiha Clan Compound, now a hell on earth.

The air reeked of blood, mingled with the sickening stench of burning and decay.

The Uchiha Clan had once been one of the most powerful clans in Konoha, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages of the shinobi world. After tonight, that clan had become history.

The boy who would live on bearing the Uchiha name had been left by his older brother at a prearranged location. He, too, would embark on his own path of hardship ordained by Fate.

Uchiha Itachi had finished tying up the loose ends and stood at the edge of the inferno. He had already cleaned the blood from his dark shinobi clothes. His gaze rested on the blazing house he had once called home, an unreadable light flickering deep within his scarlet eyes.

"So, in the end, you found the path you believed was right, Itachi... Is this the last trace of affection you have left? You don't want anyone desecrating your clansmen's bodies?"

A cool voice sounded behind him, but it did not belong to the person Uchiha Itachi was waiting for.

Itachi knew the owner of that voice all too well—so well that he had never imagined meeting him again in this place!

Itachi slowly turned his head. His Mangekyō Sharingan glowed an eerie Kurenai beneath the moonlight, and the shock that followed in his eyes was utterly genuine.

"Shisui?!"

Illuminated by moonlight and firelight, the figure was reflected clearly in Itachi's eyes.

His build had changed slightly. Black gauze covered his eyes. His skin had a pallor unlike that of a normal human...

But none of that stopped Itachi from recognizing him at a glance.