Cold rain hit the eaves, a monotonous and irritating sound.
Uchiha Itachi held the still-unconscious Sasuke, and as one with the night, he slipped into a secluded mansion on the edge of the Uchiha compound. The living room was eerily silent, with only faint snoring coming from the master bedroom.
Itachi's movements were light as he placed Sasuke on the cold floor. Looking at the boy's face, which still held a hint of terror in the dim light, a complex, unreadable expression flickered deep within his crimson eyes. But it was quickly suppressed, replaced by a cold, unwavering resolve.
Sasuke… Itachi whispered silently. Forgive me. This is the only way to protect you, and the only way to make you strong…
He slowly raised a hand, extending a finger toward Sasuke's closed eyelids. The crimson Mangekyo Sharingan slowly rotated in his eyes, and a cold doujutsu began to condense. He had to construct a Tsukuyomi genjutsu before Sasuke fully woke up.
It would be an endlessly looping illusion filled with hatred and loathing—a gift to help Sasuke grow quickly and survive in this cruel world.
However, just as his fingertip was about to touch Sasuke, a sudden, startled question came from the master bedroom.
"Who's there?!"
Itachi's head snapped up. Uchiha Inabi, who had appeared in front of him, saw only a flash of black, followed by a sharp pain in his throat.
Pfft!
The blade in Itachi's hand sliced open his throat. The crimson blood splattered across his face, making the Sharingan in his eyes look even more sinister.
"You…"
Inside the house, Inabi's wife sat up in terror. Before she could scream, a kunai shot from Itachi's hand, piercing her throat like a venomous snake.
Thud!
Behind him, Uchiha Inabi clutched his slashed throat. His wide eyes filled with disbelieving shock and terror as his body collapsed bonelessly onto the floor.
"There should be one more child…"
Uchiha Itachi's face was utterly calm as he walked toward the stairs. Killing such an incurable extremist didn't affect him in the slightest. With no Shisui to stop him, he wouldn't show any mercy to the children of the extremists who had been raised with their ideology. Before he left Konoha, he had to completely eliminate all factors that could possibly affect Sasuke.
But as if hearing what he said, the collapsed Inabi struggled, reaching out a hand to grab Itachi's leg.
Itachi's crimson, indifferent Sharingan lowered.
Thud.
The blade in his hand this time ruthlessly pierced Inabi's heart.
His eyes dulled, and his outstretched hand fell to the side, completely losing all signs of life.
But just as Uchiha Itachi was about to continue to the second floor to eliminate the last obstacle, perform Tsukuyomi on Sasuke, and return to Shisui, a piercing shriek ripped through the air without warning from the other side of the wall.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound was as dense as a thousand arrows being fired at once, and an intense chill instantly enveloped Uchiha Itachi.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Itachi turned toward the direction of the sound. His reaction was so fast that he didn't even have time to form all the hand signs; he completed them with just one hand.
Whoosh!
A scorching, massive fireball erupted from his mouth.
The Mangekyo Sharingan's enhanced dynamic vision allowed him to instantly capture countless sharp, feather-like blades wrapped in wind-style chakra. They pierced through the thick wall and wooden structure, colliding with his scorching flames.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted, and the violent flames instantly ignited the wooden structure. Countless burning fragments flew in all directions. However, the feathers, imbued with Wind-Style chakra, easily tore through the fire barrier. While some were incinerated or knocked off course, more of them pierced through the sea of fire, carrying the residual heat of the flames, and rained down on Uchiha Itachi.
Pfft! Pfft!
The sickening sound of a sharp blade entering flesh instantly rang out. Uchiha Itachi's body, along with the wall behind him, was instantly pierced by several scorching, sharp feathers. His body was pinned in place like a broken doll, and blood gushed from countless puncture wounds like a fountain.
Bang!
With a soft sound, the pinned Uchiha Itachi turned into a flock of black crows that scattered in all directions.
"Caw! Caw!"
The crows made a harsh cry as they flew away from the burning flames. It was the Crow Clone Jutsu.
The next moment, they quickly reformed into Uchiha Itachi's silhouette a few meters outside the house. He frowned, his face a little pale. There was a bone-deep wound on his left shoulder where a feather had grazed him. Blood flowed down his clothes, quickly staining them red in the rain.
But he paid no attention to this. He just abruptly raised his head, his crimson Mangekyo Sharingan locking onto the figure in the air.
In the glow of the burning fire against the night sky, a figure floated silently. A wide raincloak fluttered in the night wind and rain, and behind him was a pair of large wings that glowed with a soft light. The cold, pure Byakugan eyes beneath the mask looked down at Uchiha Itachi.
It was Hyuga Kawa!
Even with the mask, Uchiha Itachi instantly recognized the figure by the wings and Byakugan. His expression became grim. This meant that the Anbu and Root ninja had all arrived, and his plan to continue eliminating the "remnants" of the extremists was now impossible.
"Uchiha Itachi."
As his mind filled with dread and anxiety, Hyuga Kawa's voice, calm yet incredibly clear, reached his ears.
Hyuga Kawa's Byakugan slowly swept over the two bodies lying in pools of blood, still warm. He then looked at the blood dripping from Itachi's clothes and the ninja blade in his hand. Finally, his eyes settled on the lingering gloom and malevolence on Itachi's face.
"Tell me, how much of your clan's blood have you spilled with your hands?"
His gaze was like a physical blow, piercing Itachi's soul. He asked in a cold voice, "How many more people do you need to kill to be satisfied?"
"…"
Uchiha Itachi did not answer, only furrowing his brow slightly.
"Can't argue? Or do you wish to resist with silence?"
Hyuga Kawa's voice suddenly rose, carrying a cold killing intent. He continued, "The Third Hokage and I have already cleared out the White Zetsu that infiltrated the Anbu."
"I also know that it was you, Uchiha Itachi, who conspired with those White Zetsu and brought the enemy in! And it was you who single-handedly planned and carried out the massacre against your own people!"
"And what about this 'Uchiha Madara'? Where is he?"
"...What?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi, who had been trying to gauge how much the village's higher-ups knew, imperceptibly stiffened. He had witnessed Hyuga Kawa's terrifying genjutsu ability, so he could naturally guess how Hyuga Kawa and the Third Hokage found and eliminated the White Zetsu. They simply gathered all the Anbu together and put them in a collective illusion. In the illusion, they could test who was a White Zetsu. As the genjutsu user, Hyuga Kawa could get any information he wanted from them.
But judging from Hyuga Kawa's words, the village only knew about the actions of him, Madara, and the White Zetsu in this incident. They didn't know about Shisui's existence?
And…
Didn't the village interrogate the White Zetsu and find out that the people I killed were Uchiha extremists, and that I did it for the 'greater good' and to maintain Konoha's future peace?
A thought arose in Uchiha Itachi's mind, and he felt his throat go dry.
What a joke.
If none of the village's higher-ups knew his true purpose, didn't that mean that besides Madara, Zetsu, and Shisui, everyone else in the ninja world would truly see him as a butcher?
Didn't that mean that in everyone's eyes, he, Uchiha Itachi, was a complete and utter traitor who conspired with outsiders and massacred his own clan? A butcher?
Looking at Uchiha Itachi's slightly trembling pupils below, a smile formed on Hyuga Kawa's masked face.
"Itachi, you'll have to bear the infamy of slaughtering your own clan."
"Isn't that what you wanted?"
As the only person who could enter the genjutsu, what Hyuga Kawa had learned from the White Zetsu was just a matter of his own words.
Uchiha Shisui still had a reason to stay in Konoha. Hyuga Kawa needed him to guide Sasuke, the reincarnation of Indra, so he couldn't force him to defect like Uchiha Itachi. Of course, Hyuga Kawa only wanted Uchiha Shisui to stay alive in Konoha. As for whether he stayed in a state of "pain worse than death," that would depend on what the ghosts of the Uchiha clan could do.
But Uchiha Itachi had no more value in staying in Konoha. Since Itachi wanted to be this so-called criminal who bore the darkness, he should do it completely. He shouldn't think about being whitewashed through someone else's words like in the original story.
A so-called unsung hero who bears the darkness and the greater good. Dying silently as a butcher, with everyone cheering at your death, is the most fitting end for you.
With that thought, Hyuga Kawa raised his hand.
"By order of the Third Hokage!"
His voice became deep, cutting through the rain and echoing in the night. "Uchiha Itachi! For conspiring with outsiders, bringing the enemy in, and massacring your own clansmen, your crimes are unforgivable!"
"The evidence is conclusive, and your guilt is undeniable!"
"Now, I order all Konoha subordinates to apprehend him at once!"
"Regardless of whether he lives or dies!"
The last four words made Itachi's heart tremble. The moment Hyuga Kawa's voice fell, several figures appeared from all directions, from rooftops, treetops, and shadows.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
They were clearly Anbu ninja, Itachi's former comrades, but now they wore cold masks and pointed their weapons at him. What made Itachi's heart stop was the look in their eyes behind the mask holes. The undisguised disgust, contempt, and cold killing intent were like they were looking at a piece of filthy trash.
The next moment, someone took the first step, as if igniting a powder keg. Dozens of Anbu ninja charged at the isolated Uchiha Itachi in the center of the courtyard.