Danzō's return to power was the worst possible news for the Uchiha. For foreign spies, though, it was even worse.
Against the clan, Danzō would move in the open, monitoring every step, blocking every move. In the shadows, he would arrange for "accidents", enemy assassins striking down Uchiha prodigies, one by one, until nothing promising remained.
Against foreign spies, however, he was the embodiment of terror. They all knew why the old dog was called the Darkness of the Shinobi.
This time, Konoha was truly cleansing itself. This was no game by three upstart captains, it was Danzō, in earnest. Suspects were dragged away daily.
Yet even now, he held his hand back. Not a single ninja clan was touched.
Cruel, yes. Cunning, yes. But a fool? Never. He was only out to reassert his presence, not bite his own kin. Bite the clan, and people would call him rabid and throw him back into his kennel.
No, Uchiha would be settled later. For now, he would slaughter the fat pigs fattened by years of corruption.
There is an old saying: when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.
Elder Koharu had just finished a lesson with Kushina Uzumaki. Teaching her was exhausting, but the girl was decent at heart. Loud and brash, like Tsunade in her youth, but not nearly as disrespectful to her elders.
Perhaps being an orphan made her more sensitive to how others viewed her.
Koharu dismissed her, reminded her of a few points, and then headed home under ANBU escort. Halfway there she remembered her child wanted dango, so she turned down the market street to buy some skewers herself.
That hesitation nearly cost her everything. Assassins struck without warning. She bolted instinctively into the crowd for cover.
The ANBU guards scrambled, unprepared for such a strike. The killers showed no mercy, hurling shuriken laced with explosive tags directly into the civilians.
Explosions ripped through the street. Smoke, bodies, blood. Koharu turned, ready to fight to the death, but a Root operative suddenly emerged and dragged her away to safety.
Another Root, seeing the elder secured, abandoned the scene.
The battle was over in seconds. When Uchiha patrols arrived, the attackers were already dead.
What they saw instead were corpses scattered across the street, children and parents screaming. Signal flares rose. The village locked down under full alert.
When Renji arrived, he froze. Among the bloodied bodies, a familiar figure knelt, shaking, clutching a limp, broken form. Twin-swords Uchiha Kirito.
Renji's chest clenched. He dared not move closer, because to look would make his fear real. The crowd thickened, families weeping around the wounded, around the dead.
And then it broke. His Sharingan spun wildly, deepening until three tomoe solidified. His tears blurred his vision, his fists trembled.
He wanted to see his sister's face one last time. Instead he saw only mangled flesh.
Hatred flooded him, drowning everything else. He wanted to kill them all. Everyone who had a hand in this.
Konoha's casualties were staggering: 47 dead, 121 wounded. Seventeen of the dead were children. They had been eating dango when the explosions hit.
The Third Hokage, under public fury, ordered ruthless purges. Better to kill the wrong suspect than let one spy slip.
The Uchiha lost three: two children and one woman. That woman had shielded the little ones with her own body, but she could not stop the shuriken packed with tags.
When the clan learned the truth, rage swept like fire. So this was the elder of the village?
This cowardly hag, diving into civilians for cover and leaving others to die for her. And she still dared call herself a shinobi.
The Hokage's faction scrambled to whitewash. They claimed Koharu had been blasted into the crowd. Danzō even jailed those who spread "false rumors."
But who were they fooling? Any shinobi knew the truth: assassins didn't throw their prey into a crowd. This was shameful.
Unable to hold the pressure, Koharu resigned from her position as advisor, claiming guilt over the civilians lost in the attack. Only then did the anger ease slightly.
At the clan cemetery, Renji stood before his sister's stone, silent. Retsu tried to comfort him. "Your sister was always so cheerful. She wouldn't want to see her big brother like this."
Yan shot Retsu a glare. This was comfort? More like salt in a wound.
Renji finally leaned forward, kissed the cold edge of the stone, then turned to his comrades.
"I have to go home. Meet me at the training ground tomorrow. I have something to say."
The two nodded. They knew he needed time with family.
When he entered his house, only his father was there. His mother had gone to stay with his aunt. Ming was there too, keeping close in case his uncle did something rash.
"Do something rash." Those words alone made Renji's Sharingan flare.
"Do something rash, like what? Cutting down that old witch? If Uncle's going, take me with him!"
His father blinked, stunned.
"Don't talk like that. The root of this whole mess lies with you. If you hadn't stirred things up with your spy hunts, if the Guard hadn't made the Hokage look bad, he never would have brought Danzō back to balance the scales. And Danzō's madness provoked the spies, which led to this. We're all one village. We need to stand united against the outside, not tear each other apart."
Renji's hands shook. He no longer wanted to hear another word. "Who did you meet just now?"
His father sighed. "No one. I only ran into Elder Homura while buying sake. We talked briefly."
Renji nearly laughed out loud. So soft, so naïve. Believe anything they say. By that logic, police should stop arresting criminals.
His sister had died because an old coward dove into a crowd to save herself. And his father still defended them. No wonder his mother had left in anger.
If he stayed here another second, he would explode.
"I'll go bring Mother back. Auntie's place will be crowded anyway." He grabbed a jug of sake and headed for the door.
"Drink less, Father," he said without looking back. "It rots your brain."
.
.
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The tale of the Uchiha does not end with these words. Beyond this point lies the Legendary Hall, where the storm rages fiercer, and the shadows reveal truths not yet told. For those who dare to walk ahead of fate, the sealed scrolls await your hand.
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