"Hiruzen, you—"
Seeing Danzo slam the door and storm out in fury, Mitokado Homura hesitated for a moment, calling out, seemingly wanting to press the issue further.
"Enough. This matter is to be put on hold for now. The priority is to assess the casualties and damages, and restore the Hokage Building immediately. I'll leave this to you, Homura."
Without giving Homura a chance to continue, Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted, issuing a firm command. His gaze then drifted through the broken window toward the distant Uchiha district, his eyes narrowing as a heavy silence settled around him.
Thus, the confrontation in the Hokage Office was temporarily suspended. Meanwhile, near the Uchiha district, specifically in the secluded chambers beneath the Naka Shrine where the Uchiha stone tablet lay hidden, the space twisted silently—and from it emerged Uchiha Obito, still donning the mask of 'Madara.'
Not far from where he appeared, another shadow was already waiting—Uchiha Itachi, the heir of the clan, stood still like a statue, his red Sharingan eyes burning coldly in the darkness.
"Itachi, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me."
Obito's tone held admiration, as if their last brutal encounter hadn't occurred. The tension of betrayal seemed absent, replaced by mutual understanding.
"Madara, someone disguised as you launched an assault on the Hokage Building," Itachi said calmly, unfazed by the flattery. His words cut directly to the heart of the matter.
"Oh? So they're playing games with both of us now…"
Obito's tone darkened, and though his words were composed, an unmistakable wave of murderous intent emanated from him. The grudge from his ruined plan during the attack had not cooled—it had only simmered.
"Do what you came to do, Madara."
Feeling the pressure but not the hostility from Obito's killing intent, Itachi's gaze sharpened. He didn't wait for a reply. With one fluid motion, he turned and began walking toward the clan's main residential zone.
In his hand appeared a gleaming blade, and the three tomoe of his Sharingan spun with solemn determination. The night's predetermined purge had officially begun.
"Heh… Cold-blooded and decisive. So this is the night of the massacre, is it? Then show yourself… who are you really?"
Obito sneered beneath his mask as he watched Itachi vanish into the darkness, then melted once more into his Kamui space, vanishing without a sound.
There was no need to play detective anymore. With everything pointing to the Uchiha, and with Hiruzen's political hesitation likely to cause internal disarray, now was the best time to act. Whether this mysterious Uchiha—who had disrupted his plans before—was ready or not, he would be forced into the open.
Even Itachi and Obito both understood: now that this unknown Mangekyō wielder had revealed himself, he was no longer a phantom. The moment he intervened in clan affairs, he could be traced, cornered, and eliminated.
…
Elsewhere, in a quiet room saturated with a strange illusory energy, Uchiha Yue opened his eyes and released his spiritual connection to the sealed scroll he had just been analyzing—the forbidden contents of the Scroll of Seals. His illusion world was still operating in the background, but his attention had been violently pulled back to reality.
"So, they've already made their move… Itachi and Obito reached consensus through the Tsukuyomi realm," Yue muttered. His eyes shifted toward the Hokage Building, recalling the tense argument between Sarutobi and Danzo—something he had eavesdropped on through the parasitic spores embedded in the room.
The layers of scheming and counter-scheming had all become clear to him now. The truth was unmistakable—Hiruzen, through inaction, had tacitly allowed the massacre to proceed.
"Unexpected, but not unprepared for. Since we've reached this crossroads, let's see whose path breaks first."
"Let's find out whether Itachi and Obito's alliance can actually force me to go all out."
Though the Uchiha Massacre had started earlier than in the original timeline, Yue had long been ready. With his Illusory World fully developed, and his strength no longer hidden, there was no fear in him—only anticipation.
A sharp glint passed through his eyes, and in an instant, his figure dissolved into the wind, vanishing from the room like a ghost.
However, even though Uchiha Yue acted immediately and used his spore network to pinpoint the coordinates near Naka Shrine, he was still a step behind. When he arrived, what greeted him was the scent of blood and the echo of slaughter.
Dozens of clan members had already been killed. Screams pierced the night as Sharingan eyes glimmered in fear and rage. Nearby Uchiha tried to fight back, launching Fire Style jutsus and casting Genjutsu, but against Itachi and Obito, it was futile.
Those brave defenders were moments from falling when—
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A powerful voice, still tinged with youth, rang out across the battlefield. From above, a blazing fireball—massive and hot enough to rival those of elite Jōnin—exploded between the attackers and their prey.
Uchiha Itachi was forced to leap back, his eyes briefly narrowing. All eyes turned to the source of the technique.
Uchiha Yue stood atop a roof, eyes alight with Three Tomoe Sharingan, his small figure shrouded in chakra and killing intent far beyond his years.
"Itachi! As the heir of our clan, you dare to murder your own kin? Have you completely lost your soul?!"
His voice roared through the night, sharp and accusing, backed by a spiritual pressure that distorted the air around him.
"You… you're Uchiha Yue?"
Itachi's eyes locked onto the figure. Despite his composed nature, surprise flickered across his face.
He had heard of Yue—the prodigy who awakened the Sharingan young, but whose progress had reportedly plateaued. Rumors had placed him at Genin level, maybe Chūnin at best. But the chakra pressure now radiating from him was far beyond anything Itachi had expected.
And that Fireball… no ordinary jutsu. The size, precision, and sheer heat output—it wasn't something any ordinary ten-year-old could manage.
Even he, with Mangekyō unlocked at eleven, had never possessed such overwhelming aura at Yue's age.
This encounter would be unlike any other.