Uchiha Clan Leader's Residence.
"Come in. There are no traps."
Uchiha Fugaku and his wife, Uchiha Mikoto, knelt on the floor, expressions indifferent.
Their silent composure answered the miserable wails echoing throughout the clan compound.
The bedroom door creaked open.
Uchiha Itachi walked in, his body stained with the fresh blood of his clan.
He wore the Konoha forehead protector and donned the gray armor of the Anbu, a sharp ninjatō in hand.
Fugaku sensed the hesitation in his son and bowed his head with quiet acceptance:
"So it's true… You've chosen their side."
Itachi's eyes were bloodshot. He couldn't bring himself to look his parents in the eye.
"We understand, Itachi," Mikoto said coldly.
"Itachi, promise me one thing. Take care of Sasuke." Fugaku's voice was calm.
Tears welled up in Itachi's Sharingan as his hands trembled, barely able to hold his blade.
"There's no need to fear. This is your own choice, isn't it? Compared to you, our pain will only last a moment."
Fugaku's tone was resolute. "Even if we see things differently, we're still proud of you."
Itachi raised his sword—its mirrorlike blade held steady between his parents.
Reflected on either side was their cold, composed expression.
At last, Fugaku spoke gently:
"You're such a kind child."
Itachi's heart clenched. He gritted his teeth, tears streaming freely, falling onto his trembling hands.
A path with no retreat.
All of it turned into black chains, winding around his heart.
Uchiha Itachi, suffocating and struggling to breathe, stared at the thickest chain wrapped closest to his heart.
If he could just sever that…
Maybe then… he could finally find peace.
He didn't hesitate for long.
Moments ago, he had already resolved to fall into hell.
Now, he swung the sharp blade down with all his strength.
Blood splattered onto the wooden floor, like crimson brush strokes across a blank canvas.
But at that very moment—
Mikoto's body twitched.
Her pupils glowed red, and in her eyes spun the blade-shaped pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Just as Itachi raised his sword for a second strike—
A kunai slipped from Mikoto's sleeve.
She gripped it tightly, spun around with explosive speed, and blocked his blade head-on.
Metal clashed, ringing sharply as sparks scattered into the air.
Itachi's brow furrowed, stunned.
He looked up at her with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and gasped:
Mikoto's mouth hung open blankly. Her expression was dazed, her body moving on its own.
It was as if something within her had made its own decision.
As if her body itself was telling her: "I don't want to die here."
Without hesitation, Mikoto's body sprang back, breaking away from her son, crashing toward the bedroom window.
Mikoto darted into the darkness at full speed.
She never looked back.
She vanished into the night.
Itachi looked at his father's lifeless body on the floor.
Then, at the fading silhouette of his mother.
His emotions surged and crashed, unable to settle.
Praised by Hiruzen Sarutobi as a genius with the mind of a Hokage,
Itachi quickly gathered his thoughts—
And realized something wasn't right.
"Is it because I couldn't let go of Sasuke?"
Father is already dead.
Mother awakened the Mangekyō?
Even if she's still alive, it wouldn't change the current situation.
Itachi left the clan leader's residence and returned to the main street.
He looked around but saw no one.
"If both Mother and Father had Mangekyō, I'd probably be the one who died."
With these thoughts, Itachi continued deeper into the Uchiha compound.
On the way, he glanced in the direction of the Uchiha Police Headquarters.
The sounds of battle there had already ceased.
He figured he had around fifteen minutes left.
On the outskirts of the Uchiha compound, the forest was pitch black and shadowy.
Light footfalls and the rustling of branches echoed through the dark.
Multiple three-man squads had gathered there.
Each of them wore blue-green patterned masks, gray-and-white armored harnesses, and bore tattoos on their left arms. Ninjatōs were strapped to their backs.
They were Danzo's most trusted subordinates—an independent faction formed under the pretense of the Anbu Training Division.
Now, the Root operatives stood or crouched on tree branches, each radiating an oppressive darkness, like beasts long accustomed to lurking in the shadows.
A dull thud of a cane striking the ground echoed from behind.
The Root members on the forest floor looked back, then immediately bowed their heads and stepped aside to clear a path.
From the shadows, an old yet steady figure emerged, walking step by step into the moonlight.
He passed through his subordinates to the front.
Flickering moonlight illuminated a face covered in wrinkles and crisscrossed scars.
Shimura Danzo leaned on his cane with his left hand. His head was wrapped in white bandages, hiding his right eye.
His right arm was concealed beneath a black cloak, resting across his chest.
He raised his gaze, peering deep into the forest.
His murky left eye narrowed slightly.
His silhouette swallowed the moonlight behind him—where he stood, it was as if light itself had vanished.
A place of eternal shadow.
From the trees, Uchiha Nanami and the others, blending in among the Root members, widened their pupils in shock the moment they recognized him.
Their breathing stalled.
Uchiha Yu brought them here to confront Danzo?
Was he trying to get them all killed?
It was like a hammer blow to the heart—
Snapping the Uchiha survivors out of their grief-stricken haze.
This was absolutely impossible.
That man was an advisor to the Hokage!!
Even if they added Yu, with his Mangekyō Sharingan, to the few remaining Uchiha survivors—
there was no way they could take down Danzo, who was surrounded by over a hundred elite Root operatives.
Yu could control nine of them—sure.
But could he control the hundred Root shinobi nearby as well?
That was the thought running through every Uchiha's mind.
This mission… was completely impossible.
Two Root operatives flickered back from deep within the forest, kneeling respectfully before Danzo with heads bowed.
"Lord Danzo, the battle in the Uchiha compound is about to end."
Danzo lifted his chin slightly, his left eye lowered as he stared at his trusted subordinates. His voice came out low and cold:
"Go. Make use of the time. Collect the eyes."
Suddenly, the Root member on the right raised his head.
From beneath his mask, his right eye burst into a red glow—
Three bladed tomoe spun silently in a Mangekyō pattern as he asked, mockingly:
"Shall we collect this kind of eye?"
He slowly removed his mask.
Uchiha Yu's face was revealed.
The red glow of his Mangekyō flared with Yin Release chakra.
Through a single glance, the power pierced Danzo's wide-open left eye—
Only to be met with the resistance of a familiar Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
But only for a moment.
The Mangekyō's power, like a collapsing mountain and surging tide, crushed the feeble stream of the three tomoe effortlessly.
Up in the trees, Root members who heard the noise looked down—
Just in time for their eyes to meet that red glow.
All of them froze in place, as if turned to stone.
The Uchiha observers were stunned.
With a single instant—
He had taken control of every person present.
The sheer dominance of his Mangekyō Sharingan… was terrifying.
The Root members could not speak.
They stood frozen in place, screaming inside their minds, yet unable to move.
"Why is there an Uchiha here?" Danzo stood paralyzed, struggling to react. But his thoughts suddenly stalled:
"My body… won't move."
Yu had appeared out of nowhere.
How could Danzo have predicted—
That while he saw the Uchiha as prey laid bare before him, an Uchiha had also marked him as prey?
The Root member on the left lunged at Danzo.
His mask flew off in mid-air, revealing Tamamo's baby-faced expression.
"Old bastard—take this!!"
He slammed into Danzo, and the blade of his ninjatō pierced Danzo's heart cleanly and decisively.
Tamamo was under Yu's synchronized control—
But he was overjoyed, because he finally landed a blow on the old bastard he'd longed to cut down!
Yu reached out and clawed at Danzo's wrapped right eye.
His fingers, sharp like talons, ripped through the bandages with precision.
Blood sprayed as he pulled out a Sharingan.
Kotoamatsukami Mangekyō!
From the surrounding treetops, the hidden Uchiha looked down at the red-and-white eye in Yu's hand—
Suddenly, everything made sense.
Shisui's death… was connected to Danzo.
Blood bloomed from both Danzo's right eye socket and left chest like twin crimson flowers, soaking his bandages and clothing.