For some reason, Fugaku felt restless tonight.
He sat at the dinner table, eyes drifting over his younger son Sasuke, who was busy shoveling food into his mouth without much grace. He then glanced at his wife Mikoto, who was calmly eating in her usual slow, deliberate manner. Finally, his gaze landed on the empty seat beside Sasuke.
Mikoto immediately picked up on her husband's unease. She followed his gaze to the empty chair and, after a brief pause, took a quiet sip of water before speaking.
"You already know, don't you? Ever since Itachi learned about the prophecy from Chizumi and publicly declared that one day he'd follow through with it… it's been impossible for him to return to the Uchiha compound like nothing happened—let alone sit at this table and have dinner with us."
"That was his choice. And didn't you say afterward, no matter how dark the path he chose, you'd still be proud of him? Because he showed conviction—and you respected that."
"But now, in this moment, you're starting to miss him again. Fugaku… this world—especially the shinobi world—doesn't let anyone have everything."
"Even Chizumi had to make a sacrifice. For the sake of his 'Absolute Justice,' he turned the blade on his only blood relative. He cut off every last tie."
Fugaku took a deep breath and finally pulled his gaze from the empty chair to look at his wife.
"Every time Itachi comes up… you always bring up Chizumi," he said, expression tight. "If someone overheard you, they'd probably think you were closer to him than to your own son. Hell, maybe even closer to him than to me."
Mikoto frowned slightly.
Before she could respond, Fugaku continued on his own. "I just have a really bad feeling. Like something's going to happen tonight… and I think it's going to involve Itachi. Maybe even the whole Uchiha clan."
Mikoto blinked, momentarily stunned.
Sasuke, sitting nearby, had also slowed his eating. His ears perked up, silently listening in.
"But… didn't Chizumi already kill Uchiha Setsuna?"
Mikoto answered calmly, "After that, the radicals in the clan completely collapsed. They've been quiet ever since. No big moves, no aggressive rhetoric, nothing extreme."
"With that faction gone, Itachi shouldn't have any reason to target the clan. A calmer Uchiha poses no threat to Konoha."
She added, "It just doesn't make sense for him to act now, when the clan's not even hostile."
She still couldn't bring herself to believe that her son had crossed into outright madness. As extreme as he'd become, he was still her child—her blood.
"I don't know," Fugaku murmured, exhaling heavily. "The Hokage knows about the prophecy too. I doubt he wants the Uchiha to be destroyed—otherwise, he wouldn't keep trying to use us. We're still a weapon in his eyes."
"So he'll probably try to talk some sense into Itachi. Itachi might ignore us, but he still listens to the Hokage… or at least, I hope he does."
Even Fugaku didn't sound confident in that.
Because really… was Itachi even someone you could call normal anymore?
…
"Itachi Uchiha," Chizumi's cold voice cut through the night, "your mind is twisted beyond repair. You've gone so far off the deep end, even hardened criminals don't think the way you do."
"Those monsters, as evil as they are, still think like humans. But you? There's nothing sane left in your head. I gave you so many chances. I tolerated you more times than I should have."
"But every time, you spat in the face of that mercy. You threw away every opportunity to do what's right. You've convinced yourself that your warped ideology is the only truth."
Chizumi took slow, deliberate steps toward Itachi. With every word, the air around them grew hotter—so hot the landscape began to blur. A faint whiff of sulfur filled the air. Buds on nearby trees wilted and browned, and even dry leaves on the ground began to smolder, as if catching fire out of nowhere.
The heat stung Itachi's skin. His breath caught in his lungs—it burned just to inhale.
"Looks like, in your mind, Absolute Justice has become such a threat to Konoha that you'd rather erase it completely," Chizumi said, stopping just short of ten meters away, his gaze locking onto Itachi's.
"Because it is," Itachi replied, inhaling the stinging air. His usual confidence was giving way to a cautious tension. He took a quiet half-step back, subtly increasing the distance between them, in case Chizumi moved first.
Then he spoke again. "Chizumi, you have no idea how much damage you've caused. Every time you raised your blade, every ninja you killed… piece by piece, you've been cutting Konoha's strength away."
"The village is a shadow of what it used to be. We're not even a third of what we were in our prime. And that's because of your so-called absolute justice. Don't tell me you think none of this is your fault."
"That's a load of crap!" Izumi snapped.
She stepped forward, gripping her blade tightly. "The people Chizumi‑senpai killed weren't people—they were termites chewing through Konoha from the inside!"
"Danzo? He was experimenting on bloodline ninjas and war orphans for his sick research. Shinnosuke? He ran secret labs where he tortured people in the name of 'doing what's best for the village.' Asuma? He colluded with outsiders to assassinate Konoha shinobi! That's loyalty to the village?!"
"There are countless more like them. And in your eyes, those monsters are the victims of 'Absolute Justice'?"
"To you, justice is evil."
"I've never heard anything so ridiculous. You know what? Chizumi‑senpai was right—your brain really is messed up!"
To Izumi, Chizumi wasn't a destroyer—he was a purifier. A reformer. And Itachi… Itachi was the one who couldn't see clearly.
Itachi shot her a glance. "Izumi, you've been completely brainwashed. Konoha doesn't need extremism. What we need is the true Will of Fire."
He looked away slightly, avoiding Chizumi's eyes—likely wary of genjutsu—and muttered, "If you're going to kill me, then I guess I don't have a choice…"
He didn't even finish the sentence.
His Sharingan instantly caught movement.
Chizumi had already closed the distance. In a flash, he'd unsheathed his blade and was bringing it down directly toward Itachi's head.
Itachi leaned back hard—just in time. The blade slashed clean through his Anbu mask, slicing it in half and revealing his young but serious face.
He retaliated with a flurry of shuriken as he backstepped and sheathed his own sword. Slapping his hands together, he completed six seals in less than a second.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"
Dozens of flaming shuriken shot through the air, wrapped in flames like miniature comets.
They pierced Chizumi's body and burst through the other side—only to stop midair, liquefy, and drop to the ground as molten iron.
Itachi, now on the riverbank, wasn't surprised. He already knew: fire and steel meant nothing to Chizumi.
"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"
Behind him, streams of water thicker than barrels burst from the river, shooting toward Chizumi from multiple angles.
Itachi wasn't just a fire-style specialist—he knew water techniques too, even if he wasn't as good at them.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!" came a voice behind Chizumi. A shadow clone had silently circled around him and unleashed a massive, roaring water dragon.
"I've run dozens of combat simulations against you," Itachi said calmly. "When magma meets water, it cools instantly and turns into volcanic rock. I've seen how you dodge or block water attacks—meaning, water is one of your weaknesses!"
BOOM!
The water and dragon collided with Chizumi's position. A loud hiss echoed.
Got him.
No… something felt wrong.
Itachi's expression didn't lighten—in fact, it tensed.
Chizumi wouldn't go down that easily.
Suddenly, a cloud of white-hot steam exploded outward like a shockwave. Itachi's face burned as the heat hit him.
He immediately retreated and dropped into the river to avoid being cooked alive.
When he surfaced, soaked and gasping, Chizumi stood on the bank above him—still cloaked in flowing magma.
"Didn't you ever read?" Chizumi said with a smirk. "Yeah, lava cools fast when it hits water. But it also causes violent steam explosions—water instantly vaporizes and expands up to two thousand times. That kind of blast can steam a man alive."
Itachi could see the lava on Chizumi's arm starting to swell and surge again.
"Great Eruption!"
Itachi's pupils shrank to pinpoints as a massive magma fist came crashing down.
He slapped his hands together—"Crow Clone Jutsu!"
His body exploded into a cloud of crows, scattering in every direction. The fist smashed into the river, sending up a towering column of water and ripping through the riverbed itself.
It was like the river had been split in two.
…
On the other side of the village, Sarutobi Hiruzen was walking back toward the Sarutobi compound when the massive blast rang out in the distance. At first, he thought it might've come from outside the village—but the direction was wrong.
He squinted toward the sound, frowning. "Wait… that came from inside Konoha?"
"What the hell's going on now?!"
Just then, one of his Anbu bodyguards dropped down from a nearby rooftop, his voice grim.
"Hokage-sama. High probability it's related to Uchiha Chizumi again. I saw flashes consistent with Lava Release in that direction."
"Chizumi…?"
Hiruzen paused, a terrible possibility creeping into his mind. "Could it be… that the Akatsuki members who fought him outside the village last time—did they come back, this time inside the village?!"
Unlikely, but not impossible.
After all, if they were willing to recruit Orochimaru, that organization had no fear of consequences.
"Gather every Anbu in the village. Alert all the jōnin. Have them head toward the blast site—now!"
His voice was sharp and decisive.
Then he turned to another group of guards. "The rest of you, come with me. Prepare for external threats too—just in case."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
…
The thunderclap from Chizumi's "Great Eruption" shattered the silence over the Uchiha compound. Even the small soup bowl on the dinner table jumped, splashing broth onto the cloth.
Fugaku jolted to his feet, knocking his chair over with a loud screech.
Sasuke froze mid-bite, eyes wide.
That same suffocating premonition hit Fugaku like a hammer. With his face darkening, he stepped out onto the front porch, yanked the door open, and in one smooth motion, leapt to the roof.
What he saw froze his blood.
In the distance, under the shroud of night, a blindingly bright, searing light was pulsating—expanding, contracting, and flickering like a massive molten heart.
It painted half the sky in blazing orange and yellow, and even from here, the wave of heat was undeniable. A pressure wave shimmered across the air like the breath of some ancient beast.
Lava Release.
It was Chizumi.
That ominous feeling...
…it was real.
"Chizumi… and Itachi. Dammit—it's happening."
Fugaku's voice was hoarse and low, laced with a tremor he hadn't even noticed.
Every ounce of dread, every flicker of fear for his eldest son—it all converged on that swirling glow of molten destruction in the distance.
Deep inside, a voice whispered to him: This isn't just about Chizumi. This involves Itachi too.
And what's happening now… might be the one thing he never wanted to face.
"Fugaku!" Mikoto came running out of the house, just in time to see her husband disappear into the night.
All she caught was his fading voice in the wind:
"It's Chizumi's Lava Release! I think the one fighting him… is Itachi! Stay with Sasuke. Don't let him come out. Don't let him find out what's happening."
"...!!"
Just then, Sasuke stepped out behind her.
"Mother? What's going on?"
Mikoto quickly composed herself and gave him a gentle smile. "Something came up with the police force. Your father had to go take care of it."
She lied—smoothly, but it still burned.
"I can help," Sasuke said earnestly, his young face filled with determination. "I've learned a lot from Chizumi-sensei and Izumi-senpai. I can support Father."
Mikoto ruffled his hair gently. "It's nothing serious. Your father will be back soon."
I hope so… she thought, the last words buried silently in her heart.
…
The explosion rocked all of Konoha.
At a distant inn, the windows buzzed and shook.
Tsunade jolted awake from a light nap, the fierce orange-red glow cutting across her golden hair and furrowed brow.
"Lava Release?" she muttered. "What now? Did that brat bag another villain?"
She climbed to her feet, frowning deeply. "This place is starting to feel like Tanzaku Town. What's Old Man even doing as Hokage? Why are all these rogue criminals flocking to Konoha like flies to a corpse?"
That destructive chakra—wild, familiar—sent a jolt of realization through her.
"Shizune! Go check what that brat's gotten himself into now!"
She didn't wait. In a flash, she kicked open the window and launched herself into the night toward the eruption's glow.
"Tsunade-sama! Wait for me!" Shizune shouted, grabbing Tonton instinctively and chasing after her at full speed.
…
Elsewhere in the village, atop Hokage Rock—
Jiraiya was still sitting cross-legged, having just finished a long spiritual conversation with Fukasaku and Shima.
Shima's voice still echoed in his ears:
"That Hyūga boy… Neji. Tremendous talent. Tragic fate. But I don't sense the light of the Child of Prophecy in him. He may be a loyal ally, but he's not the one."
"He does have potential though," she added. "If you're up for it, you could take him as a student."
Jiraiya scratched his messy white hair, sighing. "Well… looks like I've been chasing the wrong lead. Besides, taking him in would just mean snatching him from the Hyūga clan."
"There are still other candidates. Like that Uchiha girl who's always following Chizumi around…"
He was just about to bring up Izumi when—
A giant pillar of molten fire tore through the night sky in the distance.
Immediately, Jiraiya's eyes locked onto it.
"Whoa… what the hell is that?!"
Fukasaku squinted through his aging eyes from Jiraiya's shoulder. "Jiraiya, is the village holding some kind of fireworks festival tonight?"
"Fireworks?! That's not fireworks—that's Lava Release! Chizumi's at it again—and he's not playing around!"
A sinking feeling hit him.
If Chizumi was using Lava Release like that inside the village, then whoever he was fighting had to be insanely strong.
Jiraiya's mind ran through the possibilities—and one chilling thought stopped him cold.
No way… don't tell me Chizumi's fighting the Hokage?!
The idea alone scared even him.
…
In the middle of the battle, Itachi's crows scattered in all directions—but most were burned into ash by the residual magma.
Chizumi's eyes locked onto a spot where a few crows reformed into a human shape—Itachi's clone. His three-tomoe Sharingan rotated into Mangekyō in a blink.
"Tsukuyomi!"
It was the first time Itachi had ever used his Mangekyō's ultimate genjutsu against someone from the village.
But the Chizumi in front of him melted into liquid sludge on the spot.
"Clone… Lava clone…?"
He predicted I'd use Mangekyō and created a clone ahead of time? Wait—he knows I have the Mangekyō?!
Itachi's mind spun. If Chizumi knew all this…
Did he also know his left eye was Tsukuyomi?
His right eye was Amaterasu?
…Did he even know about the Mangekyō he got from Shisui?
Worry set in—but the killing intent didn't fade.
His Mangekyō gleamed with a deadly glint as he took a sharp breath and charged forward.
Kunai with explosive tags whistled through the air.
His hands blurred—seals flew.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Fireballs rained down like a storm, hidden behind thick clouds of steam, cutting off Chizumi's chance to dodge.
But then, a calm voice rang out from the haze:
"…Pointless resistance."
Chizumi didn't even flinch. His arm transformed into flowing lava, expanding and twisting into a massive molten beast—like a magma hound with sharp, jagged fangs.
It lunged.
The kunai melted instantly. Even the explosion tags fizzled into molten puddles.
BOOM! BOOM!
The detonations tore holes through the molten beast's body—but not a single scratch landed on Chizumi.
Itachi's eyes narrowed, his throat dry.
This was the real Chizumi.
And the power gap was overwhelming.
So Tsukuyomi won't work… Itachi's thoughts sharpened. Then—Amaterasu!
He focused all his chakra, all his rage, into his right eye.
The Mangekyō spun.
"Amaterasu!"
Suddenly, an abyss of black flame exploded into existence—darkness that even light couldn't escape.
The inferno roared in silence, swallowing Chizumi's surroundings in its eternal blaze.
Itachi, panting, pale as a ghost, felt blood run from his eyes.
He coughed violently—red staining his palm.
Still, he stared through the haze.
"Did it work…?"
And then he froze.
The steam cleared. Standing in the center of the blaze was Chizumi—completely untouched.
A massive, red skeletal frame surrounded him—Susanoo.
The black flames burned… not on him, but on those huge crimson bones.
"…Susanoo," Itachi whispered.
"Uchiha Itachi," Chizumi's voice cut through the air, unshaken, as if the last few minutes had cost him nothing. "When I meet someone stupid, I try to knock some sense into them. If that doesn't work—I take off an arm. Still nothing? I cut off their limbs one by one. Sooner or later, they wake up."
Itachi hesitated.
Was Chizumi… still trying to spare him?
"But when someone is stupid and evil—and they cross justice's line—I don't bother with lessons."
As he spoke, Chizumi's Susanoo expanded—massive crimson bones spiraling upward, a skeletal arm lifting a titanic weapon.
A giant chakra-forged blade.
Itachi's breath caught in his throat.
This is… the gap?
He'd always thought that, as a Mangekyō wielder himself, the difference between them wouldn't be this huge. But now—
Now I understand…
"But don't underestimate my resolve," Itachi growled, blood dripping from his eyes. "Don't underestimate my will to protect Konoha!"
His own Susanoo rose—crimson and skeletal like Chizumi's.
"Susanoo!"
He bit down hard. The skeleton gained muscle, veins of chakra wrapping around it as a huge red sword appeared in its hands.
"…Hahh…"
"…Huff…"
This was his limit. The second form of Susanoo—he'd never used it before. At twelve years old, he didn't know how long he could hold it. Maybe thirty seconds. Maybe ten.
Maybe less.
I have to finish this fast…
And then his eyes lifted.
And kept lifting.
Standing before him—Chizumi's Susanoo, in full armor, towered like a crimson volcano. At least three or four times larger than his own.
A god.
"Face the truth, Itachi," Chizumi's voice echoed. "Even among Mangekyō Sharingan… there's a hierarchy."
The giant lava-forged blade came crashing down.
Even the sword alone was bigger than Itachi's entire Susanoo.
BOOM!
Itachi's full-powered Susanoo split straight down the middle—like it was made of paper.
His final vision—
Chizumi's towering red giant, descending like divine judgment.
"…So this is…"
"…how it ends…"
His voice faded into nothing as the blade fell.
His body was vaporized on impact.
No blood. No corpse. No reanimation possible.
Uchiha Itachi—dead.
~~~
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