Chapter 8: The Last Uchiha's Plea
The image of Uchiha Fugaku remained suspended across the heavens.
Golden light surrounded the former clan head while the God List continued presenting its final evaluation.
[Uchiha Fugaku possessed the strength to challenge Konoha's leadership.]
[He possessed eyes capable of witnessing his clan's destruction.]
[He possessed the authority necessary to alter its fate.]
[Yet when leadership demanded courage, he chose hesitation.]
Thousands of people throughout Konoha stared upward.
Shinobi, civilians, clan leaders and academy students watched the final moments of the eighteenth-place presentation.
Almost no one noticed the young boy silently leaving the roof.
Sasuke moved without speaking.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his fingernails had torn through the skin of his palms.
Blood dripped between his fingers.
He felt nothing.
The God List had revealed everything.
The Uchiha had not simply gone mad and attempted to betray a village that had treated them fairly.
They had been isolated.
Watched.
Suspected.
Driven to the outskirts of Konoha.
The village leadership had known about the planned massacre.
The Third Hokage had failed to stop it.
The elders had allowed it.
Danzō had ordered it.
Itachi had accepted it.
And his father had foreseen it.
Fugaku had possessed the power to fight.
He had seen possibilities in which families escaped.
He had seen futures in which Itachi was restrained.
He had seen himself confronting Hiruzen and exposing Danzō.
Yet he had chosen to sit beside Mikoto and wait for the blade.
Sasuke's entire body trembled.
They all knew.
His footsteps carried him into the abandoned Uchiha district.
They knew, and they left me alone.
The once-proud district stood empty.
Dust covered the roads.
The clan symbol remained painted upon walls that no Uchiha family would ever again call home.
Broken doors creaked in the wind.
Grass had grown between stones once cleaned daily by Uchiha hands.
Sasuke passed the house where an elderly woman had once given him sweets.
The God List had shown her body.
He passed the courtyard where children had practised throwing wooden shuriken.
The List had shown those children hiding beneath tables while killers moved from house to house.
None of them had participated in the coup.
None had been given a trial.
They had died because they possessed Uchiha blood.
Sasuke's breathing became ragged.
A violent surge of chakra erupted from his body.
Pain burned through his eyes.
The single tomoe inside each Sharingan spun.
A second tomoe appeared.
Then a third.
Sasuke staggered and caught himself against a wall.
The world suddenly became clearer.
Every drifting grain of dust appeared distinct.
He could see the smallest movement of leaves and hear his own heart pounding like a war drum.
Three black tomoe rotated within each crimson eye.
He had awakened the fully matured Sharingan.
But the power brought no pride.
Only hatred.
Sasuke knew he could not fight Konoha.
Not yet.
Danzō controlled Root.
The Third Hokage commanded the Anbu and thousands of shinobi.
Kakashi alone could defeat him.
If Sasuke allowed his anger to control him completely and attacked now, he would die before reaching any of those responsible.
Worse, Danzō might take his eyes.
Sasuke forced his raging chakra inward.
He compressed it.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The presence around him gradually weakened until it became nearly impossible to sense.
He had spent years hiding his emotions behind a cold expression. Now he used that same control to bury his chakra beneath layers of hatred and discipline.
Sasuke reached the Naka Shrine and slipped inside.
The building appeared abandoned.
Dust covered the floor, and the shrine's damaged walls revealed nothing unusual.
But Sasuke knew the secrets of his clan.
He approached the seventh tatami mat behind the central altar and channelled chakra into his Sharingan.
A hidden seal appeared.
It resembled the Uchiha fan surrounded by three tomoe.
Sasuke placed his bloodied palm against it.
The seal rotated.
Stone shifted beneath the shrine.
A concealed staircase descended into darkness.
Sasuke entered and closed the passage behind him.
The first underground chamber contained the clan's meeting hall and the stone tablet that could be read by the Sharingan.
But Sasuke did not stop there.
He crossed the chamber and activated another seal hidden behind the stone tablet.
His three-tomoe Sharingan allowed him to perceive layers within the formation that he had never noticed before.
The wall silently opened.
Beyond it lay a narrow passage descending far deeper beneath the earth.
This was the Uchiha clan's secret vault.
Only someone carrying Uchiha blood and possessing the Sharingan could open it.
Anyone attempting to force their way inside would trigger defensive barriers established generations ago.
Sasuke descended until even the noise of the village disappeared.
Stone walls surrounded him.
Ancient sealing characters suppressed chakra and blocked external observation.
Neither ordinary sensory shinobi nor the Third Hokage's crystal ball could see into this place.
Sasuke entered the deepest chamber and sealed every entrance behind him.
Only then did he stop.
Above him, Fugaku's ranking continued.
--------
The God List displayed two images.
On one side stood Uchiha Akira, wounded and exhausted after battling the Iron-Thunder Tyrant. Blood streamed from his eyes, and his armour had been shattered, yet he smiled as his daughter ran into his arms.
On the other side, Fugaku sat motionlessly before Itachi's raised blade.
One father had exhausted everything to protect his people.
The other had closed his eyes while his clan died around him.
[Fugaku's greatest failure was not that he lacked the power to save the Uchiha.]
[His greatest failure was that he possessed the power to try—and refused to use it.]
Fugaku lowered his head in the Pure Land.
He had no answer.
Beside him, Mikoto wept silently.
Itachi stood some distance away, staring at the image of his parents awaiting death.
For years, he had told himself their acceptance proved they understood him.
Now he was forced to face another possibility.
Perhaps their surrender had merely been one final mistake in a long chain of mistakes.
The golden reward entered Fugaku's soul.
[Eighteenth-Place Reward: Heart of Resolution.]
[The recipient will gain absolute clarity when confronting decisions clouded by fear, hesitation or excessive possibilities.]
[The accuracy of Takamimusubi will greatly increase.]
[The mental burden caused by witnessing contradictory futures will be reduced.]
[The recipient will possess the resolution necessary to act upon his chosen future.]
[The reward has been bound to Uchiha Fugaku's soul.]
[It will take effect if the recipient is resurrected or otherwise returns to the world of the living.]
Uchiha Madara's response appeared immediately.
[Uchiha Madara: The heavens granted you in death the courage you lacked in life.]
Fugaku stared at the words.
[Uchiha Fugaku: I cannot change what I did.]
[Uchiha Ryu: No. But the living can learn from your failure.]
Golden light spread across the heavens.
Fugaku's image began to disappear.
[The Eighteenth Placement has concluded.]
The screen became dark.
A new message appeared.
[The Seventeenth Placement will begin in five minutes.]
[Worldwide Chat will remain available during the interval.]
People across the world immediately began discussing Fugaku's strength, his Mangekyō abilities and the Uchiha Massacre.
But beneath the Naka Shrine, Sasuke stared at the Worldwide Chat.
The God List had finished judging his father.
Now Sasuke would speak.
His fingers trembled.
Then his first message appeared before the entire world.
[Uchiha Sasuke: DAMN YOU, DANZŌ!]
The Worldwide Chat slowed.
A second message appeared.
[Uchiha Sasuke: DAMN TOBIRAMA!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: DAMN THE THIRD HOKAGE!]
Hiruzen's expression changed.
Danzō's visible eye narrowed dangerously.
Tobirama stared at the boy's name.
More messages appeared before anyone could respond.
[Uchiha Sasuke: KONOHA ORDERED THE MASSACRE OF MY CLAN!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU MURDERED OUR ELDERLY, OUR WOMEN AND OUR CHILDREN!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU KILLED PEOPLE WHO KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THE COUP!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU LEFT ME ALONE AND FORCED ME TO LIVE BESIDE THE PEOPLE WHO ALLOWED IT!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I WILL NEVER FORGIVE ANY OF YOU!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I WILL KILL EVERY PERSON RESPONSIBLE!]
Konoha erupted.
"He threatened the village!"
"That boy has gone mad!"
"The Uchiha hatred has consumed him!"
"Arrest him before he becomes another Madara!"
"He wants to destroy Konoha!"
The civilians who had moments earlier watched proof of the Uchiha's persecution now recoiled from Sasuke's rage.
Some felt ashamed.
Others felt sympathy.
But many focused only upon his threat.
Fear was easier than accepting responsibility.
Danzō rose from his seat.
"Find him."
A Root shinobi knelt before him.
"Sasuke was last observed near the viewing area. He disappeared shortly before Fugaku's presentation concluded."
"Search the Uchiha district. Capture him alive."
Danzō's hand tightened around his cane.
"The Sharingan must not be damaged."
At the central viewing area, Kakashi turned sharply.
He searched the crowd.
Sasuke was gone.
"Sakura, when did you last see him?"
Sakura looked around desperately.
"He was here! He was standing beside me before the List showed his parents. I—I thought he only moved farther back."
Naruto stared at Sasuke's furious messages.
He remembered standing alone outside the academy.
He remembered villagers whispering when they thought he could not hear them.
He remembered returning every night to an empty home.
Sasuke had suffered that same loneliness.
But now the entire world had shown him exactly who had created it.
Naruto clenched his fists.
"Sasuke, you idiot," he whispered. "What are you doing?"
Hiruzen issued orders to the Anbu.
"Locate Sasuke immediately. He is to be brought before me alive and unharmed."
Kakashi looked at him.
"Lord Third, if Danzō's forces reach him first—"
"They will not."
Hiruzen's voice carried the authority of the Hokage, but worry filled his eyes.
Danzō had already begun moving.
The Worldwide Chat flashed again.
[Danzō Shimura: Uchiha Sasuke, you have openly declared yourself an enemy of Konoha.]
[Danzō Shimura: Surrender immediately.]
[Danzō Shimura: Resistance will only confirm that the Uchiha clan was always a threat to the village.]
Sasuke read the message from within the hidden vault.
His hatred deepened.
Danzō had helped massacre his clan, yet he still dared to use Sasuke's anger as proof that the victims had deserved their fate.
Tobirama's response appeared next.
[Senju Tobirama: This is precisely the danger presented by the Uchiha's Curse of Hatred.]
[Senju Tobirama: The boy has allowed his emotions to overwhelm his reason.]
[Uchiha Madara: You helped create the conditions that destroyed his clan, and now you condemn him for hating those responsible.]
[Uchiha Madara: How convenient.]
Hashirama intervened.
[Senju Hashirama: Sasuke, do not act rashly.]
[Senju Hashirama: What happened to the Uchiha was wrong, but revenge will not restore your family.]
[Senju Hashirama: Think carefully before choosing a path you cannot abandon.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: My family was slaughtered by the village you created.]
Hashirama froze.
[Uchiha Sasuke: Do not tell me to remain loyal to the people who allowed it.]
Several clan heads inside Konoha remained silent.
Hiashi Hyūga watched the chaos with a grave expression.
Shikaku Nara understood immediately that the situation had become a political disaster.
The entire world had witnessed Konoha's role in the Uchiha Massacre.
If the village seized Sasuke now, it would appear that Konoha was silencing its final victim.
If they allowed him to flee after openly threatening the Hokage and elders, Konoha would appear weak.
Danzō's actions had placed the village in a situation where every available response carried consequences.
Sasuke's next message surprised everyone.
The rage remained, but the words were no longer directed toward Konoha.
They were directed toward someone else.
[Uchiha Sasuke: Lord Uchiha Ryu…please.]
Inside the Empire of Hope, Ryu raised an eyebrow.
The Uchiha around him stopped speaking.
[Uchiha Sasuke: I want to come to your city.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I do not want to remain in this rotten village.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I want to live among my clan.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I want to be with people who carry Uchiha blood.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: Please rescue me from Konoha!]
The fury in Konoha intensified.
"He wants to defect!"
"He is a Konoha shinobi!"
"That other Uchiha is encouraging him!"
"The city must not be allowed to take our Sharingan!"
Sakura stared at Sasuke's plea.
"Sasuke…"
She wanted to ask him to remain.
She wanted to tell him that Team Seven cared about him.
But after everything the God List had revealed, the words felt painfully inadequate.
How could she ask him to stay in the village that had authorised the death of his entire family?
Naruto's face tightened.
Part of him wanted to drag Sasuke back and force him to abandon revenge.
Another part understood why Sasuke wanted to leave.
If Naruto discovered that Konoha's leadership had deliberately ordered the murder of everyone sharing his blood, would he calmly accept it?
He did not know.
Within the Empire of Hope, several resurrected Uchiha looked toward Ryu.
The boy was one of them.
The final survivor of Konoha's Uchiha clan was trapped inside the same village that had destroyed his people.
Ryu examined Sasuke's messages for several seconds.
Then he replied.
[Uchiha Ryu: Uchiha Sasuke.]
[Uchiha Ryu: You certainly possess courage.]
[Uchiha Ryu: Declaring vengeance against Konoha's leadership while you remain somewhere inside Konoha is either extraordinarily brave or extraordinarily reckless.]
Sasuke waited.
[Uchiha Ryu: But I like it.]
Madara's smile widened.
[Uchiha Madara: Hah! The boy possesses more courage than his father.]
Fugaku flinched but did not argue.
Ryu continued.
[Uchiha Ryu: However, I cannot decide whether you may enter the Empire of Hope.]
[Uchiha Ryu: That authority belongs only to His Majesty.]
Sasuke did not hesitate.
He had already severed his loyalty to Konoha within his heart.
If there was even the smallest chance of escaping, he would seize it.
[Uchiha Sasuke: Lord Kai, please rescue me from Konoha!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: Please allow me to enter your empire!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I will obey your laws.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I will prove myself.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I only ask that you take me away from this village and allow me to live among my clan!]
The entire world waited.
Kai had never spoken within the Worldwide Chat.
His name had appeared in the God List's revelations.
The world knew that he ruled the Empire of Hope.
They knew that he had lived for more than eight hundred years.
They knew that powerful figures such as Ryu served him.
Yet not once had the mysterious emperor personally addressed the shinobi world.
Danzō refused to wait for an answer.
[Danzō Shimura: Uchiha Sasuke, you are a shinobi of Konohagakure.]
[Danzō Shimura: You do not possess the authority to abandon the village whenever you desire.]
[Danzō Shimura: Your body, your loyalty and your Sharingan belong to Konoha.]
Silence followed.
Even many Konoha shinobi were disturbed by the statement.
Sasuke's Sharingan belonged to Konoha?
After the village had authorised the extermination of the Uchiha clan?
Ryu's expression grew cold.
[Uchiha Ryu: His Sharingan belongs to him.]
[Uchiha Ryu: Uchiha blood is not the property of your village.]
[Uchiha Madara: Danzō has finally spoken honestly.]
[Uchiha Madara: The village murdered the clan and now claims ownership of the final survivor's eyes.]
Danzō ignored them.
Root shinobi entered the abandoned Uchiha district.
Anbu arrived moments later.
Both groups searched homes, alleys and underground tunnels.
One squad entered the Naka Shrine.
They discovered the main chamber beneath it, but the deeper entrance remained invisible.
A Hyūga shinobi activated his Byakugan.
"There is interference beneath the shrine. Ancient seals are disrupting my vision."
A sensor pressed his hand against the floor.
"I cannot detect Sasuke's chakra."
The Root commander frowned.
"He must be here."
"Then he has concealed himself beyond our ability to sense him."
Far beneath their feet, Sasuke remained motionless.
His chakra was compressed into the deepest part of his body.
His three-tomoe Sharingan watched the Worldwide Chat.
He revealed neither his location nor his plan.
In the Pure Land, Fugaku finally understood the danger his son faced.
Sasuke was trapped inside Konoha.
He had threatened Danzō, Tobirama and Hiruzen before the entire world.
Even if Hiruzen wished to protect him, Danzō would never tolerate such a threat.
Root could capture him.
They could remove his eyes.
They could kill him and claim he had attacked first.
Panic overwhelmed Fugaku.
The Heart of Resolution had entered his soul, but it could not change what had already happened.
He could not stand between Sasuke and Root.
He could not protect his son.
He could only attempt to force Sasuke to withdraw his declaration.
[Uchiha Fugaku: SASUKE!]
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
[Uchiha Fugaku: YOU BRAT! APOLOGISE TO THE HOKAGE IMMEDIATELY!]
Mikoto turned toward her husband in shock.
"Fugaku!"
"He is surrounded by enemies!" Fugaku shouted. "If he continues provoking them, they will kill him!"
His harsh words came from terror.
But Sasuke could not hear his voice.
He could not see the fear upon his father's face.
He saw only the command.
His father had remained silent while the clan approached destruction.
He had surrendered before Itachi.
Yet now, when Sasuke finally rebelled against those responsible, Fugaku suddenly discovered his authority as a father and clan head.
Sasuke's hatred exploded.
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU…]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU…YOU…YOU…YOU!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: DAMN YOU!]
The three tomoe in his eyes spun violently.
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU WERE A COWARD THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU SAW OUR CLAN'S DEATH AND DID NOTHING!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU ALLOWED ITACHI AND THAT MASKED MAN TO SLAUGHTER EVERYONE!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU LEFT ME ALONE!]
Fugaku stared at the words.
Each one cut more deeply than any blade.
[Uchiha Sasuke: AND NOW YOU FINALLY SHOW YOUR COURAGE AGAINST ME?!]
[Uchiha Fugaku: Sasuke, I am trying to keep you alive!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE TO PROTECT ME!]
Then Sasuke made the declaration that shattered the final remains of his family.
[Uchiha Sasuke: FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD, I, UCHIHA SASUKE, SEVER ALL TIES WITH UCHIHA FUGAKU!]
The Worldwide Chat stopped.
[Uchiha Sasuke: I WILL NEVER AGAIN ACKNOWLEDGE YOU AS MY FATHER!]
Mikoto covered her mouth.
Fugaku's eyes widened.
[Uchiha Sasuke: NOR WILL I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BEAST ITACHI AS MY BROTHER!]
Itachi's expression finally broke.
For years, he had endured Sasuke's hatred by telling himself that his younger brother still lived.
He had murdered their parents and clan so Sasuke could survive.
He had made Sasuke hate him so the boy would grow stronger.
Everything had supposedly been done for Sasuke.
Now Sasuke had rejected him completely.
[Uchiha Itachi: Sasuke—]
[Uchiha Sasuke: DO NOT SPEAK TO ME!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU TORTURED ME WITH THE DEATHS OF OUR PARENTS FOR THREE DAYS!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU FORCED ME TO WATCH YOU MURDER OUR CLAN AGAIN AND AGAIN!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU ARE ONLY THE MONSTER WHO SLAUGHTERED MY FAMILY!]
Itachi lowered his head.
He had no defence.
Mikoto desperately entered the conversation.
[Uchiha Mikoto: Sasuke, please do not say this.]
[Uchiha Mikoto: Your father was frightened for your safety.]
[Uchiha Mikoto: We love you.]
Tears ran down Sasuke's face.
[Uchiha Sasuke: IF YOU LOVED ME, YOU SHOULD HAVE FOUGHT!]
Mikoto fell silent.
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU SHOULD HAVE WARNED THE CLAN!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED THE CHILDREN!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE SAT THERE AND WAITED TO DIE!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: YOU LEFT ME IN THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO ORDERED YOUR DEATHS!]
Fugaku closed his eyes.
The God List had already passed judgment upon him.
But no judgment could hurt as much as hearing his remaining son renounce him.
Sasuke delivered his final declaration.
[Uchiha Sasuke: I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I WILL KILL DANZŌ AND EVERY PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MASSACRE.]
[Uchiha Sasuke: I WILL DO IT NO MATTER WHAT IT COSTS ME!]
Konoha descended further into chaos.
Civilians shouted for Sasuke's arrest.
Shinobi searched the Uchiha district.
Sakura pleaded for someone to find him before Root did.
Naruto stared at the heavens, unable to decide whether he wanted to strike Sasuke or protect him.
Kakashi rushed toward the Naka Shrine.
Hiruzen attempted to control the Anbu and prevent Danzō from acting independently.
Tobirama condemned the Uchiha's hatred.
Hashirama urged restraint.
Madara praised Sasuke's courage.
Fugaku and Mikoto desperately feared for their son.
Itachi faced the collapse of every justification he had used to endure his crimes.
Ryu waited for the decision of his emperor.
And within a palace belonging to a civilization hidden from the shinobi world, Kai watched everything.
He had observed Sasuke leaving the crowd.
He had watched the boy awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan.
He had watched him suppress his chakra, enter the deepest vault beneath the Naka Shrine and challenge Konoha before the entire world.
For the first time since the God List appeared, Kai decided to speak.
A new name appeared in the Worldwide Chat.
The name was surrounded by a brilliant golden radiance unlike that of every other participant.
Across the Five Great Nations, people stopped breathing.
Hashirama stared.
Tobirama became silent.
Madara leaned forward.
Hiruzen froze.
Danzō's face darkened.
Ryu bowed his head.
Sasuke stared at the message through tear-filled Sharingan eyes.
[Kai: Hahahaha…]
The world waited.
[Kai: Hmm…boy…]
A final message appeared.
[Kai: Uchiha Sasuke.]
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Author's Note
Thank you everyone for reading and supporting my stories! ❤️
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🔥 Naruto: The God List Exposed My City
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