A faint, incredulous smile crossed his face. He knew his earlier suggestion was a fantasy—everyone had been killed, the Hokage was dead, and that monster had committed an irreparable atrocity; it wasn't something that could be undone with a few words. Still…
"No—maybe you should try," a Hyuga shinobi without the Caged Bird mark on his forehead said, stepping forward and looking at the clan elder who had proposed the idea.
"Elder!" others urged. "You go—after all, it was your suggestion."
The elder only looked at him coldly and ordered, "Go."
"Me?" the Hyuga stammered, pointing at himself in disbelief. Persuade that monster? Really?
"Of course you—go now!" the elder repeated, unconcerned for the branch member's life. For the Hyuga, the Caged Bird protected the main line and gave them expendable branch members to bear blame, die, and do menial tasks. If sacrificing a branch member would save a main-line ninja, they had no qualms.
Choked with embarrassment, the selected Hyuga clenched his teeth and left.
He soon reached an area so cold that snow was falling. "It's freezing—his power is terrifying. Just being near it drains my heat, chakra, and strength. This is a monster," he muttered. The moon hung obscured in the sky; a vague, ribboned silhouette loomed above. The cold zone spread rapidly; panic prickled his skin. At this rate, the whole village could be swallowed.
He turned and sprinted back to warn the village, grateful he had not ventured too deep into the moon's influence. As the messenger, he accelerated Konoha's evacuation.
"How could this happen? The Uchiha—Nii-san…" Sasuke watched the darkened sky in stunned disbelief. Everything from that day overturned his understanding; the brother he had once admired had acted against the clan. The Uchiha were annihilated, and Sasuke's grief left him numb. For Uchiha Yue, Sasuke felt no hatred—after all, Yue had killed the man Sasuke had called brother and thus avenged the clan.
"Run—leave everything! Evacuate Konoha now!" shouted shinobi, driving civilians to flee. Meanwhile, Konoha's barrier team rushed to the edge of the moon's field and deployed a barrier to slow its spread and buy time.
At first the barrier stalled the cold, but then their faces changed: chakra was being siphoned from them like water. In moments, their reserves drained and the barrier dissolved. Exhausted, they collapsed, shrouded in cold and darkness as the last of their energy leaked away.
"We can't stop it—this monster is invincible!" the barrier team warned, and the panic spread. Under frantic urging, Konoha's civilians evacuated in a matter of minutes.
"Run—run all you want. You won't escape long. Your fate is sealed! Resist me if you dare!" Uchiha Yue sneered from the sky as he watched ants flee beneath him. He raised his hand and felt the turbulent energy swelling within.
"How can this be? Who is he? How does he know my identity?" Obito roared, grim-faced. He severed a White Zetsu's arm and gripped it, shouting, "Obito, what happened? Did you exterminate the Uchiha? What's wrong with your hand?" A black figure surged from the ground in front of him as the scene escalated.