Torches lit the long street.
Sasuke walked at the front, followed by the Uchiha, then the civilians who had been startled awake.
The sight of an eight-year-old leading a march on the Hokage Building made everyone's chest tighten.
Someone asked quietly.
"Is that really Sasuke?"
"Wasn't he the little kid who used to follow Itachi around?"
An old ninja nearby stared at Sasuke's back.
"After tonight, no one will dare treat him like a child."
Sasuke heard him but did not turn around.
He needed to make a scene now.
The bigger, the better.
Big enough that the Third Hokage could not play deaf.
Big enough that Danzo could not clear his name.
Big enough that everyone in Konoha would know the leadership's blades could turn on their own people.
A young Uchiha caught up to him.
"Young Master Sasuke, we haven't subdued Itachi yet."
Sasuke asked.
"Did he escape?"
"No. Our people have him tied up."
"Then that's enough."
The young man spoke urgently.
"But he has the Mangekyo. What if he kills his way out?"
Sasuke glanced at him.
"Getting hurt isn't what he fears most tonight."
"He's afraid of killing another member of his clan."
"He's already a traitor. If he kills again, he'll lose even that last scrap of consolation."
The young man froze.
Sasuke kept walking.
"Don't put geniuses on a pedestal."
"They feel fear too."
"Especially when they can't pretend to be noble anymore."
A chill ran down the backs of the Uchiha following him.
Those words were vicious.
Yet every single one rang true.
A civilian by the roadside worked up the courage to ask.
"Young Master Sasuke, did Danzo really intend to wipe out your entire clan?"
Sasuke paused and tossed the scroll to an Uchiha beside him.
"Play it for them."
The Uchiha immediately channeled chakra into it.
The conversation between Danzo and Itachi rang out again.
After listening, several civilians turned deathly pale.
"Is this still Konoha?"
"It's the Uchiha today. Will it be us tomorrow?"
"Does Lord Hokage know?"
Sasuke spoke up.
"That's why I'm going to ask."
"If the Hokage didn't know, he's incompetent."
"If the Hokage knew, he allowed it."
The crowd fell silent at once.
That accusation carried too much weight.
So much that no one dared respond right away.
An Uchiha squad member quietly cautioned him.
"Young Master Sasuke, isn't saying that about the Hokage going too far?"
Sasuke turned to look at him.
"Were they going too far when they tried to wipe out our clan?"
The squad member clenched his teeth.
"No."
"Then keep moving."
The procession continued forward.
The Hokage Building drew ever closer.
Several dark figures moved across the rooftops overhead.
In Sasuke's mind, a dense barrage of warnings of malicious intent pressed in.
Three on the left.
Two on the right.
Four more at the corner ahead.
All Root.
Sasuke raised his hand.
The procession stopped.
The Uchiha behind him immediately drew their blades.
"What's wrong?"
Sasuke looked at the empty intersection ahead.
"Danzo's men are here."
A frightened civilian stepped back.
"Where?"
Sasuke did not explain.
He could not tell them he could sense malicious intent.
Nor did he need to.
He simply turned and addressed everyone.
"All civilians, get under the eaves on either side."
"Uchiha, don't push too far forward."
"Wait for them to strike first."
One of the Uchiha grew agitated.
"Why should we wait?"
Sasuke looked toward the Hokage Building.
"Because I want the whole village to see who's silencing witnesses."
As his words fell, they struck.
Dark figures leaped down from the rooftops.
A kunai shot straight for Sasuke's throat.
Sasuke had already turned sideways, and the blade skimmed past his collar.
He rolled along the ground with the momentum, failed to regain his footing, and took a slash across his arm.
Blood spilled out.
Sasuke immediately shouted toward the crowd.
"Help!"
"Root is killing a child in the middle of the street!"
"The leadership wants to silence me!"
The killing intent in the Root Ninja's eyes intensified.
"Shut up!"
A second kunai thrust toward him.
Rather than block it head-on, Sasuke flicked a pebble off the ground with his toe.
The pebble struck a wooden crate nearby.
Beneath the crate, an explosive tag planted in advance lit up.
An explosion tore through the long street.
Wood splinters and smoke billowed upward.
The watching civilians screamed and backed away.
The blast forced the Root Ninja back, but did not seriously injure him.
Sasuke sat on the ground, clutching his bleeding arm, and shouted to everyone.
"Did you see that?"
"They're not here to catch a killer!"
"They're here to kill me!"
A middle-aged noodle vendor braced himself against his doorframe, his face filled with shock and fury.
"This is the village's main street!"
"They don't even care about us?"
A woman clutched her child and cried out.
"Where is Lord Hokage?"
"Where are the ANBU?"
The Root squad leader barked in a low voice.
"Sasuke Uchiha is the sole target. Eliminating witnesses carries too much risk. Kill him quickly!"
Sasuke laughed outright when he heard that.
"Did you hear him?"
"They're well aware there are witnesses."
"That means they've done plenty of this when there weren't any."
The crowd erupted.
"What the hell is Root?"
"Danzo has to come out!"
"The Hokage owes us an explanation!"
The Root squad leader's expression darkened.
"Sasuke Uchiha, you're inciting the villagers with the intent to rebel."
Sasuke rose from the ground, blood dripping down his wrist.
"I'm an eight-year-old child you're trying to kill, and somehow that makes me a rebel?"
"Could you at least wipe the blood off your blades before Root tries to frame me?"
The Root squad leader waved his hand.
"Seize him!"
Several Root Ninja charged again.
The Uchiha were about to move when Sasuke raised a hand to stop them.
"Don't kill them."
"They're worth more alive."
The Uchiha immediately switched to wire and Taijutsu.
The two sides clashed in the street.
Root had better coordination, while the Uchiha had greater numbers. With civilians watching, Root dared not use large-scale ninjutsu, and the fight soon reached a stalemate.
Sasuke withdrew to one side and leaned against a wall, his face pale from blood loss.
A civilian boy offered him a strip of cloth.
"Young Master Sasuke, wrap your wound."
Sasuke took it.
"What's your name?"
The boy answered nervously.
"Ito Shin."
Sasuke wound the cloth around his injury.
"What did you see tonight?"
Ito Shin looked at the Root Ninja in the street.
"I saw Root trying to kill you."
Sasuke nodded.
"Remember."
"No matter who asks tomorrow, tell them exactly that."
Ito Shin nodded hard.
"I will."
Several civilians nearby shouted along with him.
"We all saw it!"
"Root tried to kill people right in the street!"
"They nearly got us killed, too!"
Hearing this, the Root squad leader finally panicked.
"Retreat!"
He was just about to form hand seals when a white flash of steel dropped from the rooftop, cutting off his escape.
A masked ANBU landed in the middle of the street.
Several more ANBU followed behind him.
The ANBU leader's voice was low.
"Root, put down your weapons."
A Root ninja snapped angrily.
"We're acting on Lord Danzo's orders!"
The ANBU leader drew his blade and pointed it at him.
"And I'm acting on Lord Hokage's orders."
The two sides stood at an impasse.
Everyone in the street held their breath.
Sasuke recognized that silver hair.
Kakashi Hatake.
Even with the mask on, that casual yet weary stance was hard to mistake.
Sasuke walked forward, clutching his arm.
"Sir, you're just in time."
"Root attacked the Uchiha Clan Head on the main street and endangered civilians."
"Tell me, does that count as rebellion?"
Kakashi glanced at him through his mask.
The boy barely reached his chest.
Yet every sentence out of his mouth was more damning than the last.
Kakashi did not answer. He turned to the Root squad leader.
"Put down your weapons."
The Root squad leader gritted his teeth.
"Kakashi, do you know what you're doing?"
Kakashi did not move his sword hand.
"All I know is that Lord Hokage ordered me to bring the situation under control."
"Right now, you're the situation."
The Root ninja exchanged glances.
The civilians were watching.
The Uchiha were watching.
The ANBU were watching, too.
They did not dare keep fighting.
A kunai fell to the ground.
Then a second.
Watching this, Sasuke raised the bloodstained strip of cloth.
"You all saw it."
"Itachi killed his own clansmen."
"Danzo sent Root to silence the witnesses."
"Now I'm going to the Hokage Building."
"Anyone who stops me is an accomplice!"
Shouts erupted from the crowd.
"To the Hokage Building!"
"We want answers!"
"Make the Hokage come out!"
Kakashi did not stop them.
He stepped aside to clear the way.
As Sasuke passed him, he paused.
"Sir, tonight you made the right choice for once."
Kakashi said nothing.
Behind his mask, his gaze settled on the blood on Sasuke's arm, then shifted to the Root ninja being held in custody.
He thought of White Fang.
Of missions.
Of the village's so-called greater good.
That night, many old convictions began to loosen.
Sasuke kept walking.
The Hokage Building stood just ahead.
Its top floor was brightly lit.
The Third Hokage was already standing by the window.
Sasuke looked up at that aged figure, raised his bloodstained hand, and pointed at the entrance to the Hokage Building.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Come out."
"Give the Uchiha an explanation."
Before you continue