Uchiha Sen's voice was hoarse and broken, yet carried a chilling killing intent. Every word seemed squeezed through clenched teeth. "And Uchiha Itachi... I won't spare you either! I, Uchiha Sen, will never let any of you get away with this!"
As his words faded, the survivor named Uchiha Sen staggered as he stripped off the clan robes that symbolized the Uchiha's honor and hurled them into the flames at his feet.
The robes were instantly engulfed by the blaze and reduced to ashes.
Then, without looking back, he dragged his battered body away, staggering like a walking corpse until he vanished into the depths of the night and firelight.
The screen in the sky did not follow Uchiha Sen as he left. Instead, the view abruptly shifted back to Konoha, showing indiscriminate scenes of the village on fast-forward. There was no particular protagonist or additional plot, yet the entire Shinobi World erupted once again!
The Uchiha Clan actually had another survivor!
And he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan!
The news struck like a thunderclap, shaking shinobi across the world to their cores. Discussions erupted in every street and alley as everyone speculated wildly.
How exactly had Uchiha Sen survived that horrific night of the massacre?
Most people were utterly baffled, without a single clue. Only the few who knew part of the truth already understood.
The Land of Rain!
A cold glint flashed in Uchiha Itachi's eyes as he silently recited the name of that forbidden technique: Izanagi.
Only that forbidden technique, which could briefly rewrite reality and evade death at the cost of a Sharingan, could explain Uchiha Sen's survival.
His expression remained impassive, but a bone-chilling killing intent quietly spread around him.
He had never feared Uchiha Sen coming to take revenge on him.
But he was afraid-afraid that this unexpected survivor would extend his hatred to Sasuke and attack the younger brother he had sacrificed everything to protect.
You must die.
With that cold, murderous resolve settled in his heart, Uchiha Itachi's gaze toward the screen lost every trace of warmth.
Apart from Sasuke, the Uchiha Clan could have no survivors!
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office!
The moment Shimura Danzō stepped into the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi confronted him in a fury.
"Danzo! Just how did you handle this?"
"You actually left a survivor in the clan massacre, and an Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, at that!"
"Do you have any idea how great a threat this poses to Konoha?!"
"And no matter how much you hate the Uchiha Clan, they were still one of Konoha's clans."
"Don't you know how to cover your tracks at all?"
"Now look what you've done. Your ugly true colors have been exposed, and you've dragged the rest of us down with you."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was livid, his voice taut with suppressed anger.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu looked equally grave. They joined in, fixing Danzo with stern gazes. "You must take full responsibility for this oversight!"
Faced with their accusations, Danzo was utterly unconcerned. Rather than showing the slightest remorse, his lone eye blazed with greed, and his voice brimmed with excitement. "The Mangekyō Sharingan! To think one of those useless fools actually awakened a pair!"
He paused, then curled his lip with a hint of regret and said with certainty, "Though I suppose only one remains. For that brat to have survived, he must have exhausted and ruined his other eye using Izanagi. What a waste."
"If he gave it to me, I would surely make Konoha even stronger."
In his eyes, Uchiha Sen's Mangekyō Sharingan already belonged to him.
All he felt now was regret that a treasure which should have been his had been squandered.
That was how confident he was!
"No! We cannot let that Mangekyō Sharingan slip away!"
Danzo suddenly snarled, his eye filled with determination to claim it. Without even asking Hiruzen Sarutobi's opinion, he turned and issued an order to those outside the door, his tone harsh and ruthless. "Spare no effort in tracking down Uchiha Sen. If he's alive, bring me the man. If he's dead, bring me the eye. Make certain you bring his Mangekyō Sharingan back to me!"
"Yes!"
The Root shinobi outside answered in perfect unison, then their footsteps swiftly receded as they moved to carry out his orders.
This display of unilateral action, completely disregarding the Hokage, left Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu stunned.
"Danzo!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hands on the desk and shot to his feet, fury written across his face as his chakra stirred.
What enraged him was never Danzo's decision to track down Uchiha Sen. It was that Danzo had openly bypassed the Hokage to issue orders right in front of him, utterly disregarding his authority as the village's leader and showing him no respect whatsoever!
Only then did Danzo slowly turn his attention back, looking calmly at the furious Hiruzen Sarutobi. His tone was indifferent. "Hiruzen, things have already come to this. Dwelling on such matters is meaningless."
"What matters most now is eliminating the threat that Uchiha Sen poses."
"Everything I do is for Konoha."
With that casually delivered sentence, he absolved himself of all responsibility.
Nor did he explain what the screen had shown. He had been so excited that day that he no longer remembered exactly what he had said to Uchiha Itachi.
Besides, it had already happened. It no longer mattered.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared hard at Danzo, fury churning in his eyes, his chest heaving.
If the mystery of the screen in the sky had not remained unresolved, if undercurrents were not surging through the Shinobi World, if foreign nations were not eyeing Konoha hungrily while tensions among its clans threatened to erupt...
He would never have let the matter rest. He would have firmly reined in Shimura Danzō and never allowed him to act with such impunity!
But now, he could only force down his anger. Already prone to hesitation, he clenched his hands until his fingers turned white, unable to utter a word.
The images on the screen raced onward, time compressing rapidly within its glow.
In just a few short minutes, time had advanced to year 60 of Konoha.
The view abruptly settled on the Konoha Ninja Academy.
"Is that... the Ninja Academy?"
"From the looks of it, that's us a few years from now!"
Konoha's students gazed up at the screen, cheering excitedly as though they were seeing their future selves become true shinobi.
On the screen, groups of students were led away by their respective teachers, graduating in batches until only three lonely figures remained.
Then a masked figure appeared. It was Kakashi Hatake.
He approached the three with an expressionless face. A brief exchange revealed their names to everyone in the Shinobi World:
The "cool and handsome" Sasuke Uchiha,
The "dim-witted" Naruto Uzumaki,
And the "love-struck" Sakura Haruno.
The scenes that followed left everyone in the Shinobi World unsure whether to laugh or cry-amid the comedy, there was an inexplicable hint of warmth.
On the screen, Kakashi put the three through the classic bell test.
The process was full of mishaps: the timid Sakura Haruno was frightened straight into unconsciousness...
The impulsive Naruto Uzumaki was nearly sent to the next world by Kakashi's Thousand Years of Death...
Before you continue