More time passed.
That evening, Yemu Hyuga walked down the street after class and distinctly felt that the atmosphere around him was different.
Since Yemu Hyuga knew the plot, he easily noticed that something was wrong tonight.
Normally, members of the Konoha Military Police Force could be seen patrolling the streets from time to time.
But tonight, the streets were empty, and masked ninja occasionally flashed through the dark corners.
It felt as though people were being herded into a designated area.
Then slaughtered indiscriminately.
Every sign indicated that tonight would be anything but ordinary, and Yemu's mood grew heavy.
"Qingxue, have you heard anything from your family?"
Yemu Hyuga turned toward Qingxue Uchiha, who stood beside him holding cotton candy with a happy expression, and chose not to tell her about the Clan Annihilation Night.
Yemu had his own considerations.
Besides, spending her childhood without worries like this seemed rather nice.
Because the world of adulthood was nowhere near as wonderful as people imagined.
As children, people wished they could grow up, only to grow up and miss their carefree childhoods.
"No. They don't bother with me anymore." Qingxue Uchiha shook her head, looking entirely untroubled.
As far as she was concerned, Yemu alone was enough.
Yemu Hyuga naturally understood how Qingxue felt. After a brief pause, he asked, "Are you really okay with that? What if something happens to them?"
This was meant to prepare her.
"Something happens to them?"
Qingxue Uchiha frowned, considering it.
But as soon as she remembered their earlier argument, anger welled up inside her.
Her family clearly disliked her, making Qingxue Uchiha feel as though she wasn't their biological child.
After all, they hadn't heard from her in a year, yet even then, they had done nothing.
Perhaps, in their eyes, she was already as good as dead.
She was probably someone they could take or leave.
"Honestly, I don't know either. Haven't you made it through all these years? Even without parents."
Qingxue Uchiha voiced her thoughts.
Her heart ached a little for Yemu.
Her eyes flickered, and she wanted desperately to hold him tight, forgetting that her own situation was actually much the same as his.
"I see." Yemu Hyuga nodded.
With a casual knife-hand strike, he hit Qingxue Uchiha on the neck.
Qingxue Uchiha went limp in Yemu Hyuga's arms.
Or rather, she would never have guarded herself against Yemu, never believing he would attack her.
Yemu Hyuga's gentle expression gradually turned cold.
He didn't know whether Qingxue Uchiha was on Uchiha Itachi's kill list.
But if Uchiha Itachi wanted to cut Qingxue Uchiha down tonight, he would have to step over Yemu's corpse first.
Meanwhile.
In the Uchiha Clan's district.
In a dark alley, a girl dressed in black clutched a kunai, her expression panicked as she ran toward Uchiha Itachi's home.
She glanced behind her from time to time, her eyes filled with intense fear.
She had to tell Itachi and the others what was happening here.
But in the end.
Her eyes went vacant, and a vicious slash came from behind her, instantly snuffing out her vibrant life.
Blood blossomed in the air.
Yet in her final moments, a faint, happy smile rested on her lips.
As though she had fallen into an illusion.
"Uchiha Itachi, you really didn't hesitate, did you?"
A rather teasing voice came from beside him.
Wearing an Anbu mask, Uchiha Itachi remained silent and slowly sheathed his long blade.
"Everyone's been dealt with, right?"
Uchiha Itachi's voice grew even colder.
In his view, letting a girl he liked escape would show a lack of vision. Between a village and a woman, or even between a village and a clan, choosing the village clearly demonstrated greater vision.
"From what I've observed over the past few days, it seems there's still one left."
"Who?"
Uchiha Itachi's voice was icy.
That shouldn't be possible. Didn't I have Clan Head Fugaku summon every Uchiha back?
Someone actually disobeyed the clan head's order. It seems this clan really has no reason to exist.
"Nobody important. Seems to be some little brat, probably about the same age as your darling younger brother."
Red Night Obito spoke with complete indifference.
"I'll go."
Uchiha Itachi gave no assent. He simply left those two cold words behind and vanished.
Tonight, he was like an executioner, ruthlessly taking lives.
As Red Night Obito looked at the girl collapsed in a pool of blood, there was not a trace of pity in his eyes, only intense mockery.
Sure enough, only a world of illusions can give people ultimate happiness.
That night, the Hyuga Clan compound looked no different from usual, but beneath the surface, tensions were stirring.
As one of Konoha's great sensory clans, they possessed the Byakugan and could easily detect all manner of events within Konoha.
When powerful Hyuga Clan ninja activated their Byakugan to the fullest, they could even cover all of Konoha.
After all, the Byakugan's long-range and penetrating vision were terrifying.
Ao of Kirigakure had easily become a key figure in his village simply because he possessed a single Byakugan.
He had also earned a place on Konoha's wanted list.
"Father, what are you doing? Why have you locked me in my room?!"
Hinata Hyuga pounded on the wooden door, vaguely sensing that something major might be happening in Konoha.
She had originally been rather timid.
But under Yemu Hyuga's influence, she had begun to express her own thoughts courageously.
In the past, she never would have challenged her father for confining her like this.
"Hinata, this is for your own good. Tonight, at least for tonight, you must stay home. I won't allow you to go out!"
Hyuga Hiashi stood outside the door. As the head of a great clan, he naturally had his own sources of intelligence and could roughly guess what was stirring in Konoha.
The Uchiha Clan was now facing a matter of life and death.
Confusion crossed Hinata Hyuga's face.
But she soon understood.
Because there was only one place she would go at night: the home of Yemu Hyuga of the Branch Family.
He wouldn't let her go out.
Didn't that indirectly mean that Yemu and the others might be in danger?!
"Father, has something happened to Yemu and the others?"
Hinata Hyuga's voice held a note of worry, but her eyes soon grew determined. "Father, let me out. You can't do this!"
Hyuga Hiashi listened to Hinata throwing herself against the door behind him.
His eyes twitched.
He hadn't expected his eldest daughter to become so forceful.
He didn't know whether to feel happy or something else.
After all, if she wanted to take over the Hyuga Clan in the future, she certainly couldn't remain as timid as she used to be.
Even if someone died because of her, she couldn't remain consumed by guilt forever.
"Father, let me out!"
Hearing Hinata raise her voice even further, Hyuga Hiashi felt helpless.
This was the first time he had ever seen Hinata angry.
It was something he wouldn't have imagined even in his dreams.
"All right, all right. I'll go take a look. Stay in your room."
"Yemu Hyuga will be fine. He's the greatest genius among our Hyuga Clan's younger generation, after all."
Hyuga Hiashi spoke helplessly.
He had previously assigned quite a few guards to Hinata.
Naturally, he knew the results of Yemu Hyuga's daily training. Given his current strength, he could probably have graduated early long ago.
The talent he had displayed placed him among the very best of Konoha's recorded prodigies.
That boy was worth taking a risk for.
It would also serve as repayment for his parents, who had died because of Hinata.
With that thought, Hyuga Hiashi ordered the guards to keep a close watch on Hinata, then activated his Byakugan. Veins bulged around his eyes as he hurried toward Yemu Hyuga's home in the Branch Family compound.
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