The Other Side of the Cliff
Tsunade watched the Hyuga clan retreating across the opposite cliff and cast a sidelong glance at Orochimaru.
With a curious smirk, she teased,
"Aren't you going to chase them?"
Jiraiya was also intrigued.
Like Tsunade, he suspected that since Orochimaru was collaborating with Uchiha Yu, he was probably tasked with handling Konoha's forces outside the main battlefield.
Yet now, even as Hiashi Hyuga led the retreat, Orochimaru didn't move. This left both Sannin puzzled.
"Sigh…"
A hint of resolve flickered in Jiraiya's eyes. He let out a quiet sigh and made up his mind—he could ignore the cannon fodder at the base of the cliff.
But if Yu targeted the Hyuga clan head, Jiraiya couldn't just stand by.
The Hyuga were a cornerstone of Konoha.
He couldn't bear to watch Hiashi die in such a meaningless battle.
If Orochimaru made a move to stop Hiashi, Jiraiya would step in to stop Orochimaru.
Even Shizune glanced at Orochimaru with a look of curiosity.
"Hehehe…" Orochimaru chuckled softly, then calmly scanned his old friends and replied in his usual unhurried tone:
"That's Yu-kun's concern. I have more important things to do."
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune all furrowed their brows, unsure of what Orochimaru was planning.
"Huuh—"
Jiraiya exhaled in relief—glad he wouldn't have to face Orochimaru. But that relief quickly gave way to a headache, as it meant he might have to deal with Yu instead.
On the Main Battlefield
Relying on his Mangekyō, Uchiha Yu borrowed chakra from countless other shinobi. Using only his eyesight as a medium, he branded the mark onto ten thousand of them.
After doing so, his eyes throbbed with pain—his own chakra had already been depleted during the initial wave of control.
To brand ten thousand ninja—even with sufficient chakra—repeatedly using his Mangekyō placed an immense strain on his eyes.
Fortunately, he had a painkiller.
Yu flipped his wrist, pulled a green bottle from his storage space, popped the cork with a soft pop, and downed it in one gulp.
The cool sensation slid down his throat.
The medicine took effect.
The soreness and exhaustion in his eyes vanished in an instant.
His physical and mental state—
—returned to their peak.
His strength even saw a slight increase.
The Yasakani were far stronger than Yu had anticipated. The more enemies he faced, the stronger it became—so long as his body could withstand the backlash from overusing the Mangekyō.
If, someday, he could brand every shinobi in the world with the Yasakani and his body could keep up…
Yu imagined himself standing alone at the peak of the heavens.
He reined in his thoughts.
Yu intended to keep every Hyuga shinobi sent here trapped in the Valley of Judgment. No one would be able to stop him.
Just then—
Yu sensed the emotional instability among the Uchiha connected to him through the Yasakani.
Their emotions surged—rage, agitation—as if something had suddenly set them aflame.
Turning to look, Yu's eyes lit up. He had just been wondering who would dare try to stop him from acting against the Hyuga.
Now, someone stepped forward of their own accord.
In Front of the Distorted Forest Formed by Wood Release—
Uchiha Itachi emerged from behind the vines, his face cold and unreadable, appearing behind the weakened Uchiha ranks.
The icy rain fell on his face, mixing with the lines of old tear stains.
He wore a Konoha forehead protector, donned in ANBU's gray and white armor—just like on the night of the massacre.
"Uchiha Itachi!!!"
The wounded Uchiha, supporting one another, widened their eyes in disbelief and rage. They forced themselves up from the ground, clutching their blades, and roared with fury.
"Itachi…"
Uchiha Izumi clutched her agonizing chest and stared at the figure emerging from behind the trees.
"..."
Mikoto's pupils trembled violently. She bit her lip, pressing her hands into the muddy puddle as she struggled to rise.
Since the start of their escape, this was the one scene she had most dreaded. And yet here it was—playing out before her eyes.
Her eyes welled up—rain and tears blending.
These days spent fleeing alongside her clansmen had made her realize how insane Fugaku's and Itachi's decisions truly were.
The Uchiha clan—
—was not made up solely of traitors. There were kind-hearted souls, those who simply wanted to live.
Those who had never plotted rebellion, who had committed no crimes, should not have had their lives judged by a single individual wielding both authority and power.
"Uchiha Itachi?"
Kimimaro pushed himself up by leaning against a towering tree, eyeing the ANBU-clad figure at the forest's edge.
He sensed danger.
In the intel gathered by his lord, he had seen records of this man before.
Nonō narrowed her eyes, craning her neck to get a better look. In her field of vision, a black silhouette like a tree stump was closing in from the forest edge.
She didn't understand.
After all, none of the Uchiha had shown this level of fury—not even when facing ten thousand enemy shinobi.
Splat—
Rain splashed as Itachi's cold gaze swept over the Uchiha ranks, pausing briefly on Izumi and Mikoto.
Then, he looked past the forest…
…and locked eyes with Uchiha Yu, who stood atop the slope, slowly making his way back, black blade in hand.
The two were separated by great distance.
But their gazes met—
—calm and unwavering.
Clang—
Itachi's pitch-black eyes suddenly spun into the pattern of a Mangekyō—three intersecting blades. Then, he drew his katana from behind him, its cold gleam flashing through the torrential rain.
This was a contingency plan Itachi had set up after the Night of the Massacre, when he discovered that Yu had led people in defecting.
This wasn't his real body—
—it was a shadow clone.
Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to intercept Yu and the others before they arrived. Still, his appearance now could at least buy the Hyuga clan a bit of time to retreat.
"Stop… Itachi!!"
Mikoto stumbled forward, placing herself between the furious Uchiha and the incoming Itachi, her voice pleading.
Her gaze was filled with sorrow. She held a kunai in her hand and stood before the rest of the Uchiha.
"Give it up, Lady Mikoto. If he were the kind to stop, none of this tragedy would've happened,"
sighed Uchiha Minami.
Izumi stared hard at Itachi. She, too, wanted to know—now that she and his mother had fled the village, would he still attack them and the other surviving clan members?
This time, she didn't dare assume an answer based on her feelings. She chose to wait in silence.
Within the group, Tamao cowered in the back. His babyish face was pale and weak, silent. But in his hand, he gripped a kunai tightly, his dark eyes locked on Itachi's lower body.
Some in the Uchiha group thought this was out of character for Tamao. Normally, he'd be the first to curse Itachi out.
"Captain Tamao…"
"Shh."
Tamao signaled the clanmate calling him to keep quiet. He whispered cautiously:
"You're all probably gonna get killed by this bastard anyway.
Big bro can't make it back in time.
But don't worry.
When he starts slicing through you all,
I'll chuck a kunai right at his crotch from the front.
Think of it as payback from all of us!"
"…?"
The Uchiha next to him suddenly couldn't keep their rage going.
In such a serious moment, how could he deliver such an absurd plan with a straight face?
At the edge of the forest—
Itachi cast a sidelong glance at Mikoto. His eyes flickered with complex emotions before he let out a long sigh and spoke in a low voice: "Mother… you shouldn't be alive."
With that, he stepped forward, blade in hand, walking slowly toward Mikoto and the Uchiha that Yu had saved.
The clan members now were weaker than ever.
Itachi had chosen this moment precisely because Yu had stepped away, and the survivors were defenseless.
"Itachi!!"
Mikoto's expression turned pale with horror. She turned the tip of her kunai toward her own stomach and locked eyes with her eldest son.
Her voice trembled with grief:
"Itachi… We were wrong. Please… stop.
I'm willing to die.
But let them live!"
The Uchiha around her, who had kept their distance and indifference through their journey, now looked at their clan leader's wife with mixed feelings—sorrow creeping into their hearts.
Itachi halted. He stared at Mikoto coldly, like she was a stranger, silently waiting for her decision.
Whether or not Mikoto chose to end her life—
—it didn't matter to him.
He had no intention of sparing these Uchiha—Izumi included.
By the original plan—
—none of them should be alive.
Uchiha Yu thought that by capturing Izumi and controlling their mother, he could force Itachi to let the Uchiha defectors go…
But Itachi believed Yu had grossly underestimated his resolve.
Up on the slope—
Yu approached the wild, twisted forest formed by Wood Release. A prompt suddenly popped into his mind:
> [Side Quest]: Intervention
[Choice]:
1. Stop Uchiha Mikoto from committing suicide.
[Reward]: Pink Medicine
°°°
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