The battle grew ever more thunderous!
Setsuna's estate had already been reduced to rubble!
The temperature kept rising, and fragments of scorching smoke and dust filled the sky! Flecked with crimson, they drifted back and forth through the air!
The place seemed to have become the mouth of a volcano, searing hot and dangerous!
Already consumed by rage, Setsuna aimed to kill with every move!
The throat, the neck, the heart!
Itachi relied on the Substitution Technique and his outstanding taijutsu to evade Setsuna's frontal assaults.
Like a shadow that never left their side, he slipped among the other members of the Hawk Faction.
His coldly gleaming blade was like the scythe in the Grim Reaper's hands!
With every slash, another person fell!
"Itachi!!!"
"Uchiha Itachi!!!"
"Why on earth are you doing this?!!"
Left trailing behind him, unable to stop him, Setsuna gritted his teeth and roared!
Itachi had no answer. He could only lower his head and faithfully play the silent Grim Reaper.
Seeing that only a handful of the Hawk Faction remained, Setsuna glared with wide eyes, flecks of scarlet spilling from the corner of his mouth!
It was unclear whether his rage had caused an internal injury or he had bitten through his own lip.
"Aah!!!"
"You traitor to the Uchiha Clan!!!"
Beside himself with fury, Setsuna had already descended into madness!
"Fire Sealing Method!"
"Fire Style: Flame Formation Great Explosion!!!"
Outmatched in speed, Setsuna saw that he could not catch Itachi.
He immediately stopped worrying about the remaining clansmen and unleashed a major attack over the entire area!
"S-rank Fire Release Ninjutsu!!"
"We're finished if that hits us!!"
Already terrified by Itachi's slaughter, the few survivors fled in panic when they saw the crazed grand elder cease to distinguish friend from foe!
With that strike, formed from an immense amount of chakra, the brown earth instantly turned dark red!
The attack gathered underground, then erupted at the surface!
Boom!!!
An earth-shaking explosion rang throughout Konoha!
It was like a volcanic eruption! Flames shot into the sky! The earth shattered layer by layer!
Within a hundred-meter radius, everything in sight blazed red.
The earth turned to lava, surging like waves!
Layers of heat waves overlapped, clearly visible!
An utterly terrifying area attack.
Two members of the Hawk Faction did not even manage to escape. They perished in that blazing hell!
Setsuna stood on the only stable foothold within a hundred meters, his bloodshot eyes searching all around.
Like someone stranded on a lone island in a fiery-red ocean, he desperately searched for someone passing by!
In a house not far away.
Fugaku, dressed in ninja attire, and the masked Haruma had gathered there.
The two looked out the window, witnessing the entire battle firsthand.
Fugaku looked despondent, his voice tinged with sorrow. "These were all pillars of the Uchiha Clan. Members of our already limited clan."
The Uchiha Clan had only a little over five hundred surviving members in total, including the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
And almost the entire Hawk Faction consisted of young and middle-aged adults, numbering close to a hundred.
Back then, Fugaku had not told Haruma that Setsuna had secretly diverted the clan's cash reserves to expand the Hawk Faction.
Fugaku had also been entirely sincere in his repeated attempts to persuade Setsuna.
If Setsuna had agreed to disband the Hawk Faction, Fugaku would even have tried every possible means to save him.
Ultimately, these dead clansmen had not committed any unforgivable crimes. They had merely been driven by circumstances onto this path of no return.
When Haruma had first explained this plan to Itachi, he and Shisui had also been present.
Although he knew that the plan's success would benefit the clan's development more!
Fugaku had been even more shocked by the ruthlessness of Haruma and his eldest son!
Two boys had sipped tea at the table, casually plotting the slaughter of their own clansmen.
That scene had also left a deep mark on Fugaku's heart.
"Before long, you'll feel that everything sacrificed today was worth it!" Haruma said gravely. "Only after this plan is carried out can the Uchiha Clan truly become a unified whole."
"And every order I give will be absolute!"
Fugaku snorted irritably without replying, inwardly rolling his eyes.
Now he isn't even bothering to keep up appearances. It's straight to your orders.
Before, I was still the dear clan leader.
Now...
Ignoring Fugaku, Haruma continued, "Second! After this battle, the Uchiha Clan will enjoy a long period of stability."
"Whether because of the unsettled public sentiment or the other clans' suspicions, that old man Sarutobi absolutely won't dare keep moving against the Uchiha Clan at a time like this."
"Even if he has evidence of the Hawk Faction's rebellion! Once Itachi personally kills every member of the Hawk Faction, that evidence will be nothing but wastepaper!"
"After all, Itachi's surname is Uchiha, and he personally exterminated all the clansmen who harbored rebellious intentions toward the village!"
"Such loyalty and righteousness could even earn him a good reputation among the people."
"Unless that old man dares announce to everyone that he sent Itachi into his own clan as a spy!"
Fugaku shook his head and picked up the thread gravely. "Sarutobi wouldn't dare do that."
"The human experimentation has already made all the clans suspicious. If Sarutobi now dares openly say that Itachi was a spy he sent..."
"Which clan would still dare send anyone into the Anbu?"
"Who would still dare put their lives on the line for Konoha?"
"The clans would even immediately distance themselves from any clansmen who had served in the Anbu."
"Even if Itachi publicly said the Hokage sent him undercover into the clan, that old fox would never admit it."
Haruma chuckled softly. "Exactly! So Itachi's only possible outcome is to be hated by the rest of his clan and abandoned by the village leadership."
"Then, like Orochimaru, he'll become a missing-nin of Konoha."
"Then Itachi can legitimately infiltrate the Akatsuki."
On the surface, this plan alone killed three birds with one stone.
There were plenty of hidden benefits as well.
For example, Orochimaru, whom he had met during the kidnapping incident. He had also left behind that shuriken bearing a mark.
The reason Haruma valued Orochimaru, the scientist of the Shinobi World, was simple.
Innovation!
Although Haruma had a cheat that could be called invincible, he could only obtain ninjutsu and abilities that had appeared in the Shinobi World.
If he could bring Orochimaru under his control and have him research and develop ninjutsu that had never appeared in the original story, or new kekkei genkai...
Would his cheat automatically update and evolve again?
Even if it could not,
With his left eye's copying ability, Haruma could steal any results Orochimaru developed whenever he wanted.
On top of that, the aftermath of the kidnapping incident had planted a seed of doubt toward the Hokage in every clan.
It had also deepened the conflict between Danzo and Sarutobi!
Finally,
On the battlefield before him, nearly a hundred pairs of Sharingan were still waiting for him to collect.
A true plan to kill a whole flock of birds with one stone.
Though Haruma was ruthless enough and a little scheming,
He had not devised this plan specifically to harvest Sharingan.
It could only be said that he had gone with the flow.
Looking at the heat waves not far away, Haruma glanced at the slightly worried human puppet beside him.
He reassured him, "Relax. Itachi isn't that easy to take down."
"Even if something unexpected happens, he still has my mark on him."
Glancing at the perfectly composed Haruma, Fugaku's expression grew considerably calmer.
After all, those words had come from Haruma, who could see into the future!