Danzo's Frustration, a Huge Haul

Before long-

Even the Uchiha Clan's library, where Ninjutsu and Secret Techniques were stored and which no one was permitted to enter without the clan leader's and elders' permission, was targeted.

Its Uchiha guards had long since awakened their Three-Tomoe Sharingan and possessed considerable strength, having reached the level of Jonin or even elite Jonin. Uchiha Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan from the outset, overwhelming them with his powerful ocular power and slaughtering them one after another.

Naturally gifted and once guided by his close friend Shisui Uchiha while he was alive, Uchiha Itachi was indeed astonishingly skilled in Genjutsu, having mastered all manner of tricks.

He mixed illusion and reality, making the false seem real.

Even without using the Mangekyō Sharingan's unique Dōjutsu, which placed a tremendous burden on its user,

those Uchiha clansmen, who at most possessed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, were no match for him.

Most importantly, these powerful Uchiha relied far too heavily on their Sharingan, to the point of being blindly overconfident in its power.

Convinced that the Sharingan could see through any Genjutsu, they did not even realize they were still trapped in one.

Otherwise, even if Uchiha Itachi had caught them off guard, he could not possibly have dealt with so many powerful Uchiha so easily in such a short time.

From a distance, they watched Uchiha Itachi kill the library guards and hurry off in another direction without stopping.

Several white figures slowly emerged from the ground.

Taking out storage scrolls they had found in other Uchiha homes, they began rummaging through everything.

One by one, they sealed the Ninjutsu and Secret Technique scrolls the Uchiha Clan had accumulated over countless years into the storage scrolls.

With their extraordinary ability to move through obstacles, not even the exceedingly well-hidden secret chambers containing important Secret Techniques and related Forbidden Techniques could stop them.

Before long, everything had been looted.

Immediately afterward, the entire library went up in flames...

At that moment-

In the Uchiha clan leader's compound,

Uchiha Fugaku and his wife, Uchiha Mikoto,

knelt facing Uchiha Itachi, who had barged in with a blade in hand.

Uchiha Fugaku, who had long since realized what was happening, said calmly, "It seems you've made your choice, Itachi, and sided with them..."

"Father, I'm sorry..."

Uchiha Itachi's gaze was resolute. "This way, war won't break out in the village, and Sasuke will be able to live!"

"Though I'm the Uchiha clan leader, I'm also a father. I don't want to fight my own son to the death..."

Looking at his son, Uchiha Fugaku said, "Since you've made your choice, keep walking that path without wavering!"

"Your father and I have already taken a deadly poison..."

Uchiha Mikoto looked at Uchiha Itachi. Without the slightest fear of death, she smiled and said, "Itachi, you don't have to be sad. I don't blame you!"

"Father, Mother..."

Tears streamed down Uchiha Itachi's face.

Even the Ninja Blade in his hand trembled.

Looking at the tear-streaked Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Mikoto said with deep tenderness, "Our pain will last only an instant, but yours will last a lifetime!"

"No matter what, you'll always be the son I'm proudest of!"

"Remember to take good care of Sasuke!"

Trembling, Uchiha Itachi went behind his parents.

He gripped the Ninja Blade stained with the blood of countless clansmen in both hands and shakily raised it.

His face twisted in pain, and he closed his eyes.

He brought it down hard.

"Schick! Schick!"

The two figures

fell into pools of blood.

Uchiha Itachi collapsed to the ground, tears streaming ceaselessly down his face.

His Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned into a triangular pinwheel once more.

After a long while, he took a deep breath.

He wiped the blood from his face.

He looked at the small figure that stumbled inside, its face filled with terror.

It was his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, who had just returned from the Ninja Academy.

As for why the Ninja Academy had happened to hold an event and let out so late...

there was no way to know.

"Big Brother, what happened?"

He stared at the bloodied corpses of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto.

And at Uchiha Itachi, standing there covered in blood and radiating killing intent.

Pale and terrified, Sasuke Uchiha trembled in disbelief. "Mom and Dad... and everyone else..."

After returning to the clan grounds,

he had found the bodies of many clansmen lying in the streets.

Frightened and worried, he had raced home from outside.

Only to find that his parents, too, had been murdered.

For a moment, he could hardly accept it.

He was heartbroken and inexplicably terrified.

"Yes, I know, because I killed them!"

Uchiha Itachi's voice was cold.

Sasuke Uchiha froze.

"What?"

Sasuke's face drained of color.

He shook his head vigorously, unwilling to believe it. "No, you couldn't have done this, Big Brother. You're lying to me, aren't you?"

"Then let me show you!"

Uchiha Itachi's triangular pinwheel Sharingan

began to spin.

"Tsukuyomi!"

In an instant,

the scene before Sasuke Uchiha changed.

Then, as though he were an outside observer, he witnessed the Uchiha Clan's destruction, from Uchiha Itachi's slaughter of his first clansman to his mercilessly raising his blade against their parents.

The scenes were incredibly lifelike.

Yet he could only watch, unable to touch anything.

Nor could he stop it.

"Aaah-"

He gasped for breath, his face pale.

Deeply shaken, he could hardly accept it and was filled with anger.

Glaring at Uchiha Itachi, he clenched his fists and shouted, "No, this isn't real! Tell me... why?"

He could not believe that the older brother he admired most had brutally slaughtered their entire clan, sparing not even their father and mother.

"To test my capacity..."

Uchiha Itachi said coldly, "This foolish, arrogant clan does nothing but wallow in the false glory of the past and dream impossible dreams. There's no need for it to exist anymore!"

"Damn you..." Sasuke Uchiha lost his senses and charged at him in fury.

His eyes turned a deep scarlet.

Black Tomoe flickered into view.

Noticing this,

Uchiha Itachi suppressed the pain in his heart and kicked out without mercy.

Only one Tomoe? But Sasuke, that's still nowhere near enough. Forgive me...

"Bang..." Sasuke Uchiha, who had lost his senses, was sent flying by the vicious kick. He curled up, breaking out in a cold sweat.

The intense pain brought him back to his senses.

Realizing the enormous gap in their strength, he was overcome with fear.

He stared in terror at Uchiha Itachi, who was brimming with killing intent and no longer resembled the gentle older brother he had known.

He tried to run.

But Uchiha Itachi appeared directly in front of him.

He seized Sasuke by the throat and used Tsukuyomi on him again. "Aaah... no, don't make me watch that again... Big Brother, please, I don't want to go through that again..."

Seeing that Sasuke's Sharingan had not advanced despite the tremendous shock,

a somewhat disappointed Uchiha Itachi held Sasuke Uchiha up with one hand and hurled him away. Sasuke was on the verge of a mental breakdown and nearly unconscious.

Looking down at Sasuke Uchiha as the boy stared at him with hatred and fear, he said coldly, "My foolish little brother..."

"If you want to kill me, then hate me, curse me, and cling to your wretched life..."

"Keep running and running, living only to stay alive. Then, one day, when you have the same eyes as mine, come before me!"

Chapter 34: Danzo's Frustration, a Huge Haul

"Sasuke, work hard and grow stronger. My eyes will always be waiting for you!"

Sasuke Uchiha's mind broke, and he fell unconscious.

Tear tracks on his face, Uchiha Itachi looked back at his parents' corpses one last time before leaving resolutely.

"Tsk, tsk, what a family-loving parents and dutiful sons, a kind older brother and a respectful younger brother!" Two white figures silently emerged from the ground.

"Leave this to me. You search the place!"

After all,

he was the Uchiha clan leader.

There was sure to be plenty to gain from Uchiha Fugaku's home.

There should also have been some related Ninjutsu and Secret Technique scrolls.

"Rip-"

Without delay,

Uchiha Mikoto's and Uchiha Fugaku's eyes were mercilessly gouged out, one after the other.

"This ocular power... he really did awaken the Mangekyō..."

Looking at the bloodied eyes, which displayed three Tomoe,

the Wood Clone disguised as White Zetsu sensed the powerful ocular power within them and was overjoyed.

Without so much as glancing at Sasuke Uchiha lying there,

he took the Sharingan he had collected and stored in a storage scroll.