Something unbelievable happened.
The three black tomoe in his eyes began spinning at incredible speed. Then, six tomoe actually split off within his pupils!
The six tomoe spun rapidly, radiating powerful ocular energy.
The chakra in Uchiha Xin's body was being consumed at a tremendous rate, transforming into pure mental energy that battered the blood-red world without cease.
Crack!
A crisp cracking sound suddenly came from the sky.
A massive fissure appeared in the blood-red sky.
Then, the entire Tsukuyomi Space was forcibly shattered.
In the real world, the instant Tsukuyomi broke, Itachi let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Itachi covered his left eye, staring in disbelief at the burly figure before him.
"You actually broke through Tsukuyomi with brute force." Itachi's voice trembled.
He had to admit that this mysterious person's strength was unfathomable.
"Your strength has certainly earned my respect." Itachi wiped the blood from his mouth and straightened up.
"But I can't entrust Sasuke to a stranger who won't even show his true face." Itachi tightened his grip on his short sword, his stance firm.
Uchiha Xin had anticipated Itachi's reaction.
He formed hand seals.
"Release!"
With a soft pop, the white smoke dispersed.
The burly adult vanished, replaced by a six-year-old child who barely reached Itachi's waist.
Moonlight fell across Uchiha Xin's young but calm face.
Itachi drew in a sharp breath, involuntarily stepping half a pace back.
"Uchiha Xin?" Itachi's voice suddenly rose, filled with shock.
He had never imagined that the terrifying expert who had just used Flying Thunder God and forcibly broken through Tsukuyomi was actually the clan's unremarkable six-year-old orphan.
"Surprised?" Uchiha Xin tilted his head up, looking at Itachi's stunned face.
"Six years old... how is that possible?"
Itachi stared fixedly at Uchiha Xin, his Mangekyō Sharingan spinning wildly as he tried to see whether this was yet another genjutsu.
"The facts are right in front of you." Uchiha Xin spread his hands.
"If you entrust Sasuke to the Third Hokage, can he stay by Sasuke's side every day?" Uchiha Xin demanded.
Itachi remained silent.
"But I'm different." Uchiha Xin pointed to himself.
"Sasuke and I are the same age, and we're in the same class. Over the next five years, we'll graduate together and carry out missions together."
"No one is better suited to protecting him up close than I am."
Looking at this meticulous, terrifyingly powerful peer before him, Itachi finally began to relent.
"All right. I agree." Itachi put away his short sword.
"From now on, you'll be responsible for protecting Sasuke for five years, until he graduates from the Ninja Academy."
"In exchange, I'll tell you in advance when the coup and the operation will take place."
Itachi made his promise solemnly.
"It's a deal." Uchiha Xin nodded.
Without another word, he directly activated the chakra in his body.
Whoosh!
Uchiha Xin vanished instantly, leaving only a faint breeze behind.
Itachi stood alone on the empty rooftop, staring at the spot where Uchiha Xin had disappeared. Only after a long while did he quietly melt into the night.
Back in his secluded little courtyard.
Uchiha Xin let out a long breath.
Although he had reached an agreement with Itachi, he would never stake his entire life on someone else's promise.
He took more than a dozen specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai from his ninja tool pouch.
Over the next half hour, under cover of darkness, he took these kunai bearing the Flying Thunder God Formula.
He secretly hid them in secluded corners throughout the village, even burying a few in the forest outside.
These were all escape routes he had prepared for himself.
A few days later.
A thick-browed man in a green jumpsuit came charging through Konoha's gates, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Might Guy had returned to the village on leave.
Uchiha Xin knew perfectly well that Konoha High Command had recalled a top-tier fighter like Guy at this critical moment to guard against the Uchiha Clan's coup.
That meant the night of the massacre was imminent.
Uchiha Xin immediately packed a few changes of clothes and ran straight to Might Guy's home.
"Uncle Guy! I've hit a bottleneck in my training lately, so I'd like to stay here for a few days and undergo your hellish training!" Uchiha Xin stood outside Guy's front door and shouted.
Moved to tears, Might Guy pulled Uchiha Xin into his arms.
"This is youth! No problem, Little Xinxin! Starting today, we'll eat together, live together, and work up a sweat together!"
And so, under the pretext of training, Uchiha Xin openly took refuge in Guy's home.
With a Jonin like Guy beside him, neither Root nor Anbu would dare approach lightly.
The days passed one after another.
One evening, a crow silently landed on a windowsill overlooking Guy's courtyard.
Uchiha Xin walked over and removed the note tied to the crow's leg.
It contained only a few short words: "In three days, at night."
Uchiha Xin crumpled the note and tossed it into the stove, burning it to ashes.
The three days passed in a flash.
On this night destined for bloodshed, Uchiha Xin underwent extremely brutal weighted training under Guy's supervision.
He kept pushing his physical endurance to its limits until his vision went black and he passed out completely.
When he opened his eyes again, it was already the following morning.
He lay in Guy's guest room, aching all over.
Might Guy pushed the door open and entered. His usually smiling face was now heavy with grief.
"Xin, you're awake." Guy walked to the bedside, his voice a little hoarse.
"Uncle Guy, what happened?" Uchiha Xin feigned the bewilderment of someone who had just woken up.
Guy took a deep breath, considering how to begin.
"Last night, the Uchiha Clan... was wiped out by Uchiha Itachi."
Guy forced the words out with difficulty.
Uchiha Xin froze in bed, his mind blank.
Although he had long known this would happen, when the moment truly arrived, his feelings were still impossibly complicated.
"Aside from you and Sasuke, no one in the entire clan survived."
Guy patted Uchiha Xin's shoulder, trying to comfort him.
Uchiha Xin lowered his head, clutching the corner of the blanket tightly with both hands.
He felt both the relief of finally having the uncertainty end and an indescribable sorrow.
The clansmen who had once greeted him in the streets and alleys, the women who had brought him rice balls-all of them had become cold corpses.
With his current strength, even if he had forced his way into the situation, he would only have thrown his life away for nothing. He could not have changed anything.
"Uncle Guy, I want to go home and have a look," Uchiha Xin said quietly.
Guy nodded and did not stop him.
Dragging his exhausted body along, Uchiha Xin returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The once-bustling streets were now cordoned off with yellow tape.
Anbu had already cleaned the blood from the ground, but a faint smell of blood still lingered in the air.