A spring night's breeze rustled through the dense forests of the Land of Fire, the shadows of the trees dancing and whispering.
A massive waterfall roared, its mist hanging in the air, refracting the moonlight into scattered, silvery shards under the hazy sky.
A petite figure landed soundlessly on a large rock before the waterfall. Behind her followed several Ninja with restrained auras, the unified five-pointed star on their forehead protectors marking their identity… elites of the Star Ninja.
The girl at the lead was Hikari.
Her dark Uchiha Clan's attire fluttered in the wind, her long black hair tied back. Her cold gaze swept the surroundings, scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotating in the darkness, vigilant against any possible ambush.
From behind the waterfall, shadows writhed, and several figures emerged like phantoms.
They wore identical, voluminous black cloaks, their faces covered by expressionless fox masks, as if merged with the night itself.
Only their deep, abyssal presence hinted at the formidable power hidden beneath.
"We've been expecting you," One of the fox-masked figures spoke, his voice muffled and distorted by the mask, "Please approach everyone. Do not resist the Chakra pull."
Hikari gave a slight nod… she knew these were Menma's shadow clones. She then gestured to the Star Ninja behind her.
Though slightly curious, the Star Ninja were disciplined and immediately moved closer as instructed.
The fox-masked figures each placed a hand on someone's shoulder. In the next moment, space twisted, accompanied by an extremely slight sense of vertigo, and the group vanished from in front of the waterfall.
Almost instantly, the surroundings had completely changed.
Lush forests replaced the roaring waterfall. In the distance, a towering, majestic wall cast a giant shadow under the moonlight, like a crouching behemoth guarding the entire Konoha Village.
They were now inside Konoha's protective barrier.
Several figures stood silently ahead, gazing at that high wall.
Two of them appeared slightly illusory, with faint paper scraps drifting around them, carrying an eerie quality that was neither living nor dead.
Minato and Kushina, brought back to the world through the Impure World Reincarnation, looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar village and wall with complex eyes filled with nostalgia and sorrow.
Minato's hand subconsciously lifted slightly, as if wanting to touch something, before slowly lowering again.
Kushina clenched her fists tightly, her red hair moving as if in a windless breeze, her eyes shimmering with a mix of agitation and grief.
"To think... we could see Konoha again one day..." Kushina's voice held a barely perceptible tremor, "But this wall... it seems higher than when we left."
"For defense, but also like..." Minato continued gently, but his gaze sharply scanned the structure of the barrier and the wall, "...a kind of isolation. Much has changed."
Standing beside them was Shisui.
He wore dark, form-fitting attire suitable for movement, the three tomoes in his eyes grave as he stared intently in a direction beyond the high wall.
That was the location of the Uchiha Clan's compound.
Memories flooded his heart… the clan's fate, his clansmen's resentment, his own 'death', the suspicion of the higher-ups...
His fists clenched, knuckles turning white.
Although his newly transplanted eyes had not yet reached the level of his former Mangekyo, his concern and worry for his clansmen had not diminished in the slightest.
At that moment, a fox-masked shadow clone approached silently, breaking the brief silence.
He gestured with his head towards the area beyond the high wall, his voice calm and even, "Beyond this wall lies the residential district of the Uchiha Clan."
Hikari took a deep breath of the cool air to calm herself further.
She knew the critical moment of the plan was approaching.
She turned to face the three squads led by Star Jonin behind her, her eyes becoming sharp and determined. She lowered her voice and issued the order: "According to the predetermined plan, all squads disperse and find optimal hiding positions. Without my command, absolutely do not expose yourselves! Be ready for combat at all times!"
"Yes!" came the low, unified response.
The order given, the well-trained Star Ninja immediately melted into the surrounding forest shadows like drops of water into the ocean, completely lying in wait for the signal that was destined to be stained with blood.
The forest returned to a surface tranquility, with only moonlight filtering through the branches and leaves, casting dappled spots of light.
…
Meanwhile, inside Konoha Village.
The Ninja Academy's nighttime training ground was brightly lit, students conducting evacuation drills under the supervision of their teachers.
Among the crowd, Menma's performance was average, perfectly blending in, showing no abnormalities.
However, the real Menma had already used a visual blind spot to switch places with a shadow clone.
His main body instantly sensed the distant Flying Thunder God's marks, his Chakra fluctuating slightly as his figure vanished from the Academy.
The next moment, he appeared within the Hyuga Clan's compound.
In the room of the branch family's head, Neji sat cross-legged on the tatami. Though only eight years old, his face carried a composure beyond his years.
His gaze occasionally drifted to the faint, almost invisible mark on the back of his hand, his small hands clasped tightly together in nervousness.
Suddenly, the air stirred almost imperceptibly. A figure clad in a black robe, wearing a white, three-eyed fox mask, appeared in the room without warning.
"Shura-sama!" Neji immediately stood up, his voice suppressing excitement.
Menma didn't speak, merely nodding to him. His right eye instantly changed, the black pupil replaced by a swirling pattern.
Mangekyo Dojutsu: Ame-no-Minakanushi!
As his Ocular Power flowed, he reached out a finger and gently passed it over the green cross mark, the Caged Bird, on Neji's forehead.
Neji's body shuddered violently. He felt a cool, powerful force seep into his forehead. The Cursed Seal that had bound him, pained him, and reminded him of his branch family fate since he was three years old was being ruthlessly erased and annihilated by this force!
The process was brief yet incredibly clear, like a heavy shackle suddenly snapping.
A few seconds later, Menma withdrew his hand.
The Mangekyo in his right eye slowly faded, returning to normal.
Neji eagerly channeled his chakra, activating his Byakugan.
The previously insurmountable barrier of the cursed seal was gone!
His Byakugan's field of view instantly expanded to a full 360 degrees, without any blind spots!
An unprecedented sense of freedom washed over his mind and body. Immense joy and excitement made his eyes instantly moist, his body trembling slightly from the intense emotional fluctuation.
He took several deep breaths, barely suppressing the sob that threatened to escape.
"How does it feel?" Menma asked calmly.
"...Unprecedentedly good." Neji suppressed the excitement and joy in his heart, looking up with determined eyes at the person who had granted him new life and freedom, "Thank you, Shura-sama!"
"Follow." Menma was terse.
Neji quickly wiped the moisture from the corner of his eye and followed the figure without hesitation.
The two moved silently, one after the other, through the corridors and arrived outside Hizashi's study.
Menma knocked rhythmically on the door a few times.
When Hizashi opened the door and saw Shura standing outside, and behind him, his son with a clean forehead, his pupils contracted sharply, and his body jolted.
He instantly understood that the long-awaited moment had finally arrived.
Inside the dimly lit study, Hizashi's gaze first fell on Neji's forehead.
It was smooth and clean. The Caged Bird, symbolizing the branch family's fate and shame, had disappeared!
Shock like a tidal wave assaulted Hizashi's mind. He opened his mouth but was momentarily speechless.
His eyes were filled with disbelief and a tumult of emotions.
He instantly realized that if he had not chosen to believe this mysterious Shura, had not agreed to cooperate with him, then perhaps tonight, it would be his son Neji who needed to risk defecting.
A powerful mix of retrospective fear and relief intertwined within him.
"Shura-sama, this..." Hizashi's voice was hoarse.
Menma interrupted him, his tone calm to the point of cold: "Tonight, Konoha's higher-ups will carry out a massacre of the Uchiha Clan."
The words struck Hizashi and Neji like a thunderclap.
The faces of father and son changed dramatically.
Menma continued, "My forces have assembled outside the village. Once the massacre begins, we will assault Konoha to rescue as many Uchiha survivors as possible. Simultaneously, a squad will come to extract you Hyuga Clan's branch family's members… the 'birds' willing to leave."
The information was immense. Hizashi needed to process it with great effort.
'Uchiha Clan's massacre?'
'Star Ninja assault?'
'Rescue and extraction?'
It was all too shocking.
But looking at the mysterious Shura before him, at his son's clean forehead, he had no more doubts. Hizashi took a deep breath, a look of resolve flashing across his face.
He suddenly dropped to his knees, performing the highest form of respect towards Menma.
He took out a scroll from his bosom, presenting it respectfully with both hands, "Shura-sama, this is a list of branch family's members I have screened after long observation and probing. They all hold deep resentment towards the main family and even Konoha's higher-ups, they are reliable candidates. I contacted them under the pretext of my own intent to rebel. So far, the news hasn't leaked."
Menma did not take the list, simply saying indifferently, "Since you chose them, I trust your judgment. Keep the list yourself."
His words stirred a warm current in Hizashi's heart… the weight of absolute trust.
Then, Menma took out a strangely shaped wrist device, like a metal watch, but its surface had complex seals and a small Chakra conduction port.
"Wear it. Activate it with Chakra." Menma handed the wrist device to Hizashi, "It can release a [Cage Seal], temporarily blocking the connection between the Caged Bird and the main family, buying you time to escape."
Hizashi's hands trembled as he received the heavy scientific ninja tool.
This was not just a tool… it was the key to hope, the path to freedom for him and the branch family's members who followed him.
"When a massive explosion is heard from the direction of the Konoha's Military Police Force, that will be the signal for the operation to begin." Menma gave his final instruction.
"Operation Codename… [Out of the Cage]."
With that, his figure slowly melted into the shadows like a ghost, completely disappearing from the study as if he had never been there.
Only Hizashi and his son remained in the study.
Hizashi gripped the scientific ninja tool tightly, feeling its cool touch and the power contained within.
He looked at his son. A fire burned in Neji's eyes that had never been there before… no longer the dejection of resignation, but filled with a light of longing for freedom and determination.
"Father," Neji spoke proactively, his voice young but exceptionally firm, "Please let me be responsible for the rearguard and interception mission for this operation. I want to truly fight for myself, and for everyone who has gained their freedom!"
Hizashi looked at his son, at his clean forehead and those Byakugan filled with firm belief, his heart overwhelmed with emotion.
"Good! But remember, surviving is the most important thing!" He nodded heavily, then raised his hand and wiped off the Caged Bird's mark on his own forehead.
"Father! You?!" Neji stared in shock as his father's green Cursed Seal was smeared away like paint.
Late at night, in a remote training hall within the Hyuga Clan's branch family's compound.
An oil lamp cast a dim, yellow glow, barely illuminating the over twenty figures gathered there.
They whispered among themselves, faces filled with confusion and some unease.
'Why had Hizashi-sama suddenly summoned us so late at night?'
Their strengths varied… there were Jonin in their prime, experienced Chunin and Genin, even a few retired Kunoichi, now housewives.
But they all shared one common trait: in their eyes, hidden to varying depths, was a haze that could not be dispelled… a mark engraved with shame and pain, an unspoken hatred for the main family and the fate of the caged bird.
They, and their marked children, fifty-seven people in total, were the 'birds' Hizashi had painstakingly selected over years from nearly a thousand branch family's members, those most likely and most desperate to break free from the cage.
The door to the training hall opened, and Hizashi and Neji walked in.
The faint, flickering firelight illuminated their faces.
Instantly, all whispering ceased.
All eyes froze, locked onto Hizashi and Neji's foreheads.
There, the green cross Caged Bird mark that should have been present… was gone!
Shock, doubt, disbelief… finally transformed into a bold, thrilling conjecture that made their hearts pound wildly, erupting in everyone's minds!
Hizashi's gaze swept over each excited and incredulous face. He slowly raised his hand, revealing the strange scientific ninja tool on his wrist.
"Hyuga Tetsu." He called the first name. A robust Jonin stepped forward.
Hizashi channeled Chakra. The seals on the wrist device lit up, and a soft beam of light shot out, enveloping Tetsu's forehead.
The Caged Bird Cursed Seal that had plagued him for half his life flickered rapidly several times before seeming to be covered by an invisible film, completely vanishing!
Tetsu frantically touched his own forehead, feeling the vanished sense of restraint. Immense ecstasy assaulted him… his eyes instantly welled with tears.
He opened his mouth, but was too excited to make a sound. He could only kneel heavily and kowtow to Hizashi.
"Hyuga Natsu."
"Hyuga Tokuma."
Name after name was called. One by one, branch family's members stepped forward to receive the miraculous 'sealing'.
Under the dim yellow light, people suppressed sobs, some trembling all over from excessive excitement.
For the first time, the light of hope shone so tangibly into their desperate lives.
When the last clansman's Cursed Seal was temporarily sealed, the training hall was filled with a silent, intensely suppressed, yet incredibly fervent emotion.
Everyone looked at Hizashi, their eyes filled with endless gratitude and a determination on the verge of bursting forth.
Someone finally couldn't hold back, lowering their voice, asking with a sob and immense hatred, "Hizashi-sama! Is it time? Are we going to... Lead us! To fight our way back to the main family?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately drew suppressed agreement from many. Long-repressed hatred seemed to have found an outlet.
Hizashi, however, slowly shook his head, his voice low but clear, reaching everyone's ears, "No. Our goal is not revenge, but freedom."
His white eyes swept over the crowd, "Tonight, Konoha's higher-ups will issue the order to massacre the Uchiha clan."
The news was like another heavy bomb, stunning the impassioned crowd into a daze, plunging them into greater shock and disbelief.
'The Uchiha?'
'The most powerful, proudest Ninja Clan in Konoha, and even the entire Ninja World?'
'Will be massacred?'
"This... how is this possible?"
"The higher-ups... they actually..."
"Did the Third Hokage order it?!"
Hizashi raised his hand, quelling the commotion, "The Uchiha's disaster will be our opportunity."
"Amidst the village's chaos, while the higher-ups' attention is diverted, it will be our best chance to escape the 'cage'! Remember our operation codename… [Out of the Cage]! It's not for slaughter, but to break free from this damned fate, to gain true freedom!"
"Now, go immediately and gather your families here. When the signal sounds, follow those who will extract us, leave this prison, and go to a new world without the Caged Bird!"
Outside the Uchiha Clan's compound, atop a tall utility pole.
A slender figure stood silently, his black, medium-length hair, the red and white fan emblem embroidered on his back.
Itachi's face was expressionless, only his eyes churning with pain and resolve beyond ordinary comprehension.
He slowly took out an animal mask representing Anbu and, moving somewhat stiffly, placed it over his face, hiding features that were still young yet already burdened with a heavy destiny.
The air around him began to warp unnaturally, like rippling water.
A figure wearing a one-eyed, tiger-striped spiral mask and a black robe appeared silently, mysterious and eerie.
"Ready?" The masked man's voice was low. Itachi didn't look at him, only giving an almost imperceptible nod.
In the next moment, his figure vanished instantly from the utility pole, using the Body Flicker Technique to descend towards the Uchiha Clan's compound below, merging into the shadows of death.
The tiger-masked Obito let out a barely audible chuckle, filled with a cold anticipation.
A strange, venus flytrap-like creature emerged slowly from the ground at his feet. The white Zetsu half spoke with a laugh: "Hee hee… the show is finally about to start! How exciting!"
"Go," Obito ordered indifferently, his gaze fixed on the silent compound below as if appreciating a play about to unfold, "You are responsible for collecting the Sharingan. But remember to leave some for our 'partner'. Don't make him desperate and turn on us for getting nothing."
"Got it~" White Zetsu replied cheekily, his body slowly sinking into the ground.
Obito then turned his gaze towards the particularly conspicuous building at the edge of the compound… the Konoha's Military Police Force headquarters.
Tonight, almost all of the Uchiha's Jonin was gathered there, discussing the 'rebellion' plan that was doomed to fail.
He slowly drew the long sword from his back, the cold blade gleaming with a cold light under the moonlight. He then deftly fastened a chain to both wrists.
He intended to use his Mangekyo Sharingan's intangibility ability, combined with the chain and long sword, to efficiently 'clean up' those gathered Uchiha elites.
Within the compound, Uchiha Izumi was walking home alone.
"Strange, it's so quiet..." For some reason, since nightfall, she had felt restless, as if something extremely terrible was about to happen.
The air seemed to carry a faint, nauseating, sweet, metallic smell.
She abruptly stopped, her face turning pale.
'This smell... it's the smell of blood!'
In an instant, boundless fear gripped her!
For a moment, she thought she had fallen once again into the infinite, looping, hopeless 'Night of the Massacre' Genjutsu constructed for her by the mysterious masked man.
She looked up sharply at the sky. Clouds partially obscured the moon, the moonlight cold and normal.
It wasn't the eerie blood moon from the Genjutsu!
This was the insignificant yet crucial marker she had finally found after experiencing countless deaths in that cruel Genjutsu World to distinguish reality from illusion.
'Reality… this meant…' Terror like ice water poured over her, chilling her to the bone.
She remembered the masked man's cold words, that so-called 'script for the night of the massacre'.
Without a moment's hesitation, Izumi instantly activated her Three-Tomoe Sharingan, scarlet color replacing her black pupils.
She drew a kunai from her tool pouch and, fighting back intense fear, ran desperately towards the increasingly strong smell of blood!
She dashed through familiar streets, turned a corner…
The scene before her struck her like a thunderbolt, freezing her in place, her blood seeming to freeze solid!
What her Sharingan showed was a street dyed red with blood.
Familiar neighbors, children she had played with, kind elderly people…
Now all were cold, twisted corpses, lying in pools of blood, their eyes wide open in death.
The thick stench of death was almost suffocating.
And amidst this mountain of corpses and sea of blood stood a figure she knew all too well. He wore Anbu's attire but was not wearing his mask.
Black short hair, a handsome profile stained with glaringly bright blood, his expression cold as eternal ice.
The sword in his hand was slowly being withdrawn from the neck of a familiar middle-aged woman… Uchiha Uruchi. Warm blood spurted out, a few drops even splattering onto his pale, expressionless face.
'Uchiha Itachi!'
Izumi's pupils contracted to their limits. Immense shock and a sense of betrayal instantly overwhelmed her, making it hard to breathe.
"Itachi?" She managed to utter, her voice soft like a whimper, filled with disbelieving despair.
The sound was particularly piercing in the deathly silent street.
Even after experiencing the Night of the Massacre Genjutsu thousands of times, when the Genjutsu became reality, seeing her clansmen fall in pools of blood, Izumi still found it hard to believe that the Itachi she trusted, the one she admired, could do such a thing!