Darkness blanketed the surroundings.
The night stood silent and desolate.
Moonlight poured downward like flowing water, illuminating the Uchiha district that had already beco a living hell.
The air carried a nauseating mixture of blood, burning ash, and decay.
The Uchiha clan—
Once one of Konoha's strongest great clans—
Had now beco nothing more than a fragnt of history after tonight.
And the young boy destined to continue carrying the Uchiha na into the future had already been placed by his older brother at a prearranged location.
He too would walk a fate filled with hardship.
At this mont, Itachi Uchiha stood at the edge of the flas after finishing the cleanup.
The bloodstains on his dark combat clothes had already been carefully removed.
His gaze quietly rested upon the burning residence once known as "ho."
Deep within his scarlet eyes flickered emotions impossible to describe.
"So in the end, you still found the path you believed was correct, Itachi…"
A cold voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
"Is this your last remaining attachnt to family?"
"You didn't want the corpses of your clansn desecrated?"
However—
The owner of that voice was not the person Itachi had expected.
Because Itachi knew this voice far too well.
So well that he never imagined he would hear it again here.
Slowly, Itachi turned around.
Under the moonlight, his Mangekyō Sharingan radiated eerie crimson light.
Then—
The shock within his eyes beca completely genuine.
"Shisui?!"
Illuminated by both moonlight and firelight, the figure standing there was reflected clearly within Itachi's pupils.
Though his build had changed slightly…
Though black cloth covered his eyes…
Though his skin possessed an unnatural pale color…
None of those things could prevent Itachi from recognizing him instantly.
Because during these past two years, not a single mont passed in which Itachi forgot this friend and ntor-like companion.
The instant he saw him, the emotions on Itachi's face beca indescribably complex.
So complex that even observant Shisui completely failed to realize the true reason behind Itachi's shock—
Because within Tsukuyomi, the Fourth Hokage never once ntioned that Shisui was still alive.
Sothing changed.
"You and that Madara Uchiha…"
"He saved ."
Shisui answered calmly.
"So I joined his organization."
"He's the one who sent to pick you up."
The instant Shisui finished speaking, Itachi suddenly frowned and covered his right eye with one hand.
Pain flashed across his face as he closed his Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Looks like you overused your ocular power…"
Seeing this, Shisui showed no suspicion whatsoever.
He walked forward and naturally supported Itachi's body.
"Thank you."
Itachi slowly reopened his eyes.
This ti, only ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan remained.
He showed absolutely no vigilance toward Shisui.
"Being able to see you again…"
"I truly believed you were dead."
"That really…"
"It's hard to describe."
Before the nearly burned-out ancestral residence, Itachi quietly spoke while carefully observing Shisui through his eyes.
Eventually, his gaze shifted toward the black cloth covering Shisui's eyes.
As though sensing Itachi's stare, Shisui spoke calmly:
"I obtained new power."
"I simply can't fully control it yet."
"So I still can't show it to you."
After hearing Shisui's response—
Itachi's heart sank completely.
He didn't respond to their old code phrase.
He didn't even notice the eyes hidden beneath my own…
Still, outwardly, Itachi's acting remained flawless.
The expression on his face perfectly conveyed the complicated emotions of soone who had just slaughtered his entire clan, only to unexpectedly reunite with a long-lost friend amidst corpses and blood.
Relief.
Wariness.
Confusion.
Pain.
Everything blended together naturally.
"It's over…"
Shisui's voice remained emotionless.
"So?"
"Are we leaving now?"
He didn't even ask a single question regarding what Itachi had done to the clan.
As though such matters no longer interested him whatsoever.
Itachi turned back toward the gradually dying flas.
The mories of his parents and younger brother seed to burn away alongside the collapsing house, leaving only ruins behind.
After a long silence, he finally answered:
"You go ahead first."
"I still need to 'greet' Konoha's higher-ups a little."
Shisui neither agreed nor objected.
His figure vanished instantly through Body Flicker.
Itachi remained standing silently where he was.
The wind blew continuously, carrying thick blood scent through the air.
Mixed within it—
He vaguely sensed another unfamiliar presence.
Soone else was secretly observing him.
But it wasn't Shisui or Obito.
At their level, they would never expose themselves this easily.
So…
Root operatives.
The mont Itachi identified the hidden observers, he imdiately understood their intentions.
Ignoring them entirely, he vanished through Body Flicker as well.
Whoosh.
Two masked Root operatives imdiately dropped down into the spot where Itachi previously stood.
One of them spoke with complicated emotions hidden beneath his mask.
"We're too late."
"He already used Fire Release to destroy the corpses."
"Did he notice sothing?"
"Search again."
The other operative answered coldly.
"There might still be omissions."
"Otherwise, we won't be able to explain things to Lord Danzō."
"Damn it…"
"If not for that Hyūga…"
anwhile—
At a hidden location elsewhere—
The Third Hokage stood alone beneath the night sky.
From there, he could vaguely see Konoha's brightly lit village in the distance.
After waiting an unbearably long ti—
He still never saw Itachi Uchiha arrive.
Because of Hiashi Hyūga's abnormal behavior earlier tonight, Hiruzen had already vaguely guessed certain possibilities.
A long sigh escaped him.
He understood now.
The mont he agreed to certain decisions—
There had never been any possibility of turning back.
Itachi failing to return and report tonight…
Was itself a silent answer.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, the Third Hokage sensed sothing strange.
Turning around instantly, he saw a kunai tearing through the air toward him.
Clang!
The sharp blade embedded itself directly into the ground beside his feet.
Attached to the kunai—
Was a paper note.
The Third Hokage looked toward the direction from which it ca.
Vaguely, he saw a crow disappearing into the night sky.
After opening the ssage, the very first line revealed a hidden location.
It was the place Itachi previously arranged with him to hide Sasuke.
But beyond that—
The note also carried another piece of information.
And the mont Hiruzen saw it—
He froze completely.
"Target suspected to be Shisui Uchiha…"
"Within Akatsuki."
anwhile—
Within the ruins of an ancient kingdom buried beneath endless sandstorms—
After barely settling the surviving clan mbers temporarily, Izumi Uchiha carefully stepped out from the ruins and looked around cautiously.
Eventually—
She found Itachi standing quietly before two gravestones upon a relatively flat stretch of land.
Perhaps because they had just survived life and death together—
Izumi slowly walked behind him.
Then gently wrapped her arms around him from behind.
Softly leaning her head against his back.
As though trying to use all her love to comfort him.
To warm the "hero" who had saved their clan.
And this ti—
Itachi did not reject her.
He accepted this final embrace.
Her black hair danced gently in the desert wind.
Her delicate face rested against his back, filled with anticipation as she waited to hear how he "saved" the remaining clan mbers.
Sand drifted endlessly beneath the moonlight.
Stars scattered across the night sky.
A beautiful pair stood beneath the moon sharing their hearts.
What a beautiful…
Romantic…
Scene.
Yet—
The mont Itachi calmly told her the truth—
Izumi's arms loosened from around him.
She staggered backward several steps instinctively.
The soft crunching sounds of sand beneath her feet suddenly sounded unbearably harsh.
When she raised her head once more toward Itachi—
The bright eyes that monts earlier resembled moonlight itself had beco utterly hollow.
Even despair itself no longer remained.
The deepest sorrow ca when the heart finally died.
"Why…"
Her voice trembled hoarsely.
"Why would you tell this…?"
Itachi remained silent.
Then suddenly—
A kunai shot directly toward him.
And pierced into his chest.
Pain caused Itachi to frown instinctively.
Fresh blood flowed from his wound, dripping down his still bloodstained combat clothes onto the desert sands below.
If the blade advanced even half an inch further—
It would pierce his heart.
Yet it stopped there.
Izumi's hand trembled violently around the kunai handle, tearing further into the wound.
But no matter how hard she pushed—
The blade refused to move deeper.
She even placed her other hand upon the handle, trying desperately to drive the kunai fully into the man before her.
Yet sohow—
The weapon now felt heavier than a mountain.
Sothing she could never push forward.
Silent tears stread endlessly down Izumi's face.
Ever since the night of the Nine-Tails Incident when he saved her…
Their story began.
Greeting him excitedly every morning outside the Academy gates.
Talking together by the lakeside.
Always hoping to "accidentally" encounter him during walks through the clan.
Wanting to hear his thoughts.
And so many more mories…
Countless scenes from the past years continuously flashed through her mind.
Every single one belonged to the ti she spent with him.
But now—
All those images froze.
Frozen upon his expression as he confessed his cris.
Frozen upon the embrace she gave him monts earlier.
Then—
Like sand beneath the wind—
Everything scattered into the desert.
In the end—
She still couldn't kill him.
She still couldn't take revenge.
In the end—
"Get lost."
The single icy word seed capable of freezing even the nightti desert itself.
Izumi pulled the kunai from Itachi's chest.
Then slowly raised her head again.
The scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan filled with tears stared directly at the man she once admired so deeply.
"Never…"
"Ever…"
"Appear before again."
"Otherwise…"
"I will kill you."
Then she turned around decisively and walked away.
Without even realizing it herself—
The tear-filled crimson eyes behind her transford the instant she turned away.
The tomoe twisted into the shape of a sharp blade.
Watching Izumi's departing figure, Itachi pressed a hand against his bleeding chest.
It hurt.
But he could no longer tell whether the pain ca from his body—
Or his heart.
Letting out a self-mocking smile, Itachi looked toward the faint firelight flickering within the ruins.
Then toward the two naless gravestones.
After a long while—
He finally turned and walked away as well.
Suddenly—
A mory returned to him alongside the dispelling of one of his Shadow Clones.
And the mont it surfaced—
Itachi froze completely.
The trap he and the Fourth Hokage prepared for Obito Uchiha…
Failed.
Obito never personally appeared before the Shadow Clone.
Nor did he trigger the Kotoamatsukami secretly implanted within it.
And more importantly—
The original owner of Kotoamatsukami…
Shisui Uchiha—
Was still alive.
Within Akatsuki!
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