Itachi had barely pulled his blade from a clansman's chest when eight-year-old Sasuke shoved a recording of the evidence right in his face.
Blood crept along the gaps in the tatami.
The wind chime beneath the eaves was still swaying.
Itachi turned his head, his Mangekyo spinning in the darkness.
Sasuke stood in the doorway, clutching a black scroll. He wasn't crying, and he didn't call out to his brother.
He merely glanced at the corpse on the floor, then at the blade in Itachi's hand.
"Uchiha Itachi, you really went through with it."
Itachi's sword hand froze in midair.
"Sasuke, you shouldn't be here."
Sasuke raised his hand and waved the scroll in front of him.
"Of course I should."
"If I hadn't come, the whole clan would be dead tonight, and tomorrow you'd cram a whole hatred indoctrination package down my throat. Right?"
Itachi frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Sasuke glanced down at his palm.
This body was only eight years old.
But a few minutes ago, the soul inside it had stopped being that little boy who only knew how to chase after his brother and call his name.
When he opened his eyes, memories that weren't his had appeared in his mind.
He had seen this story in his previous life.
He knew what would happen tonight.
More importantly, he knew the man before him would send their parents and clansmen to their graves, all in the name of protecting his little brother.
Deep in his mind, a notification only he could hear had already finished.
It wasn't some god who would save his life, nor a wish-granting lamp.
It had given him just one rule.
Malice left traces.
Conspiracies that had actually taken place could be extracted as evidence.
Sasuke didn't need to understand much.
He only needed to know that Itachi and Danzo had already discussed exterminating the clan.
So the evidence existed.
So he could report them.
Itachi took a step forward.
"Sasuke, close your eyes."
Sasuke stared at him.
"Tsukuyomi?"
Itachi stopped.
Sasuke gave a short laugh.
"Planning to make me watch the whole clan get slaughtered for seventy-two hours in a genjutsu?"
"Then tell me to hate you, get stronger, and come kill you?"
At last, Itachi's gaze changed.
"How do you know?"
Sasuke didn't answer.
He poured chakra into the scroll.
The sealing patterns on its surface lit up.
The next moment, Danzo's raspy voice rang out from the scroll, loud enough for the entire street to hear.
"The Uchiha Clan must be eliminated tonight."
Itachi's expression changed.
Then came Itachi's own voice.
"As long as Sasuke lives, I'll carry it out."
For a moment, the room fell silent.
The wind chime stopped.
Sasuke raised the scroll high and headed outside.
Itachi reached out to stop him.
Sasuke immediately stepped back and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Murder!"
"Uchiha Itachi is murdering people!"
Itachi's hand froze in midair.
Sasuke turned and dashed into the street, pouring chakra into his throat. His voice carried past row after row of closed wooden doors.
"All Uchiha, listen up!"
"Uchiha Itachi has colluded with Konoha High Command to betray and exterminate the clan!"
"Help me arrest the traitor!"
The first door opened.
A middle-aged Uchiha rushed out with a coat draped over his shoulders.
"Sasuke? What are you shouting about?"
Sasuke pointed the scroll at him.
Danzo's voice rang out again.
"Retrieve the Sharingan. No bodies must fall into outside hands."
The clansman's expression changed instantly.
"Is that Danzo?"
Sasuke pointed behind him.
"The bodies are inside, and the blade is in Itachi's hand. See for yourself."
Itachi slowly emerged from the house.
For the first time, his face had lost that lofty composure.
"Sasuke, stop."
Sasuke turned to stare at him.
"You want me to stop?"
"When you were killing them, did you ask whether they wanted you to stop?"
Another door opened.
Then a third, and a fourth.
Lights spread down the street.
The Uchiha Clan Compound was dragged violently out of sleep.
A young ninja drew a short sword.
"Itachi, whose blood is on your hands?"
Itachi didn't answer.
Sasuke answered for him.
"He just killed them."
"The bodies are still warm."
The young ninja rushed inside, and an enraged roar soon followed.
"It's Uncle Kenta and Aunt Miwa!"
The street erupted into chaos.
"Itachi!"
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Why are you killing our clansmen?"
Itachi looked at Sasuke.
"You don't understand."
Sasuke straightened his collar, his movements painfully slow.
"I understand."
"You think you're above everyone else, and anyone you look down on should be sacrificed."
"You think I should thank you as long as you spare my life."
Itachi tightened his grip on his sword.
"The Uchiha coup will plunge Konoha into war."
Sasuke stepped forward.
"So you help outsiders kill your own people?"
"So the elderly deserve to die? The children deserve to die? Even our parents deserve to die?"
"You call that peace?"
An Uchiha woman stood in her doorway, holding a child, her face pale.
"Itachi, were you planning to kill us too?"
Itachi remained silent.
His silence was an answer.
The woman covered her child's ears and backed away, gritting her teeth.
Around them, one pair of Sharingan after another lit up.
Sasuke raised his hand and pointed at Itachi.
"Don't listen to his speeches about the greater good."
"Only one thing matters tonight."
"He entered the compound with a blade. He's already killed people. And Danzo is backing him."
"Take him down first, then go to the Hokage Building and demand an explanation from the Third!"
Itachi spoke.
"Sasuke, this isn't what you think."
Sasuke looked at him.
"Then what is it?"
"Tell us."
"Say it in front of the whole clan."
"Tell us why you killed Uncle Kenta."
"Tell us why you accepted Danzo's orders."
"Tell us why you were going to retrieve the Sharingan."
Itachi's Adam's apple bobbed.
He couldn't get a single word out.
Sasuke turned and shouted to the clansmen.
"What are you waiting for?"
"If he won't explain, he's admitting it!"
Several ninjas from the Konoha Military Police Force charged at once.
Kunai, steel wires, and Fire Release hand signs spread across the street.
At last, Itachi retreated.
He wasn't afraid of these people.
But he was afraid of this assassination turning into a trial.
Afraid of every clansman seeing him.
Afraid that Sasuke would tear apart his excuses about shouldering the darkness, sentence by sentence, and throw them to the ground for everyone to trample.
Sasuke didn't follow.
He knew perfectly well that he couldn't kill Itachi right now.
Killing Itachi wasn't the primary goal of this gambit, either.
It was to strip the assassination of its secrecy.
To leave the high command unable to contain the fallout.
Far away, in Root's underground base.
Danzo sat in a wooden chair, a cup of tea before him.
A Root ninja knelt on the floor, speaking hurriedly.
"Lord Danzo, something has happened at the Uchiha Clan Compound."
Danzo raised his eyes.
"Did Itachi fail?"
"It's not that he failed."
The Root ninja bowed his head even lower.
"Sasuke played your conversation with Itachi for everyone to hear."
The teacup slipped from Danzo's hand, hit the floor, and shattered.
"What did you say?"
The Root ninja did not dare raise his head.
"The entire clan heard it."
Danzo rose, leaning on his cane.
"How could an eight-year-old brat get his hands on that record?"
No one answered.
Danzo's expression darkened.
"Send men immediately."
"Don't let him leave the clan compound."
The Uchiha streets.
Alerts of malice surfaced in Sasuke's mind, one after another.
From Itachi.
From Root.
From the Hokage Building farther away.
He looked up at the night sky.
Konoha could forget about sleeping tonight.
Surrounded by his clansmen at the street entrance, Itachi staggered backward.
Sasuke suddenly raised his voice.
"The Konoha Military Police Force stays here to surround and capture Itachi!"
"Everyone else, follow me!"
One clansman asked urgently.
"The clan head isn't here yet. Where are you going?"
Sasuke turned, his gaze sweeping down the long street toward the Hokage Building.
"To question the Hokage."
"To ask him why Konoha High Command wants to wipe out the Uchiha!"
Before you continue