"Benefits, huh…?" Facing Itachi's sharp questioning, Menma's voice carried an elusive, unhurried tone, "…Who knows? Perhaps it was long-planned, or maybe just a whim."
This ambiguous, almost playful attitude made Itachi feel more uneasy and angry than a direct denial.
"However, the biggest reason is probably still 'displeasure,' right?"
The night wind blew, rustling a few blood-stained fallen leaves.
"Merely because of disappointment in a few individuals, to drag hundreds of innocent lives, completely unrelated to it, into the Netherworld…" Menma's voice was filled with undisguised mockery.
"And self-righteously believe that this is the only 'correct' choice, a necessary sacrifice…"
"Absolutely sickeningly arrogant, Uchiha Itachi."
"Are you going to accuse me of this?!" Itachi's voice rose slightly with agitation, "But the one who 'destroyed' the Uchiha Clan, that was you, wasn't it, [Jin]! We had an agreement!"
When she heard Menma say "innocent lives," her heart was filled with confusion and even a sense of absurdity. She had seen with her own eyes—the "corpses" lying everywhere in the clan territory, the pervasive, heavy smell of blood, all proving that the clan massacre had been completed.
She even suspected Menma was deliberately deceiving her, but the results she "saw" were beyond doubt.
Itachi didn't know that those realistic deaths were merely indistinguishable biological fakes.
However, at this moment, Itachi no longer had the mind to continue this endless debate and entanglement with Menma.
No time left…
In her estimation, Satsuki was already close to where their parents had fallen unconscious!
If Satsuki discovered their parents weren't dead… if the hatred wasn't deep enough… without awakening the Sharingan…
Then wouldn't all the sacrifices, all the sins, lose their meaning?!
Panic gripped her heart; she absolutely could not let the plan fail at the last moment!
"My request is simple. You are not allowed to lay a hand on the Uchiha Clan Leader and his wife."
Itachi's pupils trembled slightly, but before she could digest this instruction, Menma's next sentence struck her like lightning.
"Also, that child… her name is Satsuki, right?" When this name was mentioned, the voice from beneath the mask seemed to have an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible change, "She was unilaterally dragged into this cruel plan by you… you are not allowed to do anything 'extra' to her anymore."
If it was just confusion before, now, Itachi's heart was instantly filled with surprise and doubt, even a hint of absurdity.
The leader of [Jin]… caring about Satsuki?! How did he know Satsuki? And why would he specifically protect her?
His purpose… what exactly is it?!
This completely exceeded her expectations and all her calculations. The leader of a mysterious organization, one who instilled terror throughout the Ninja World with his formidable power and whose intentions were unknown, was actually showing an attitude of almost… protection towards her younger sister?
"That Mangekyo Sharingan Ninjutsu, it's called [Tsukuyomi], isn't it?"
A plain declarative sentence, yet it almost froze Itachi's blood.
"What?! How do you know?!" She gasped in surprise; she had never told outsiders its name or effects.
"That's not something you need to worry about." Menma interrupted her, "Besides not touching Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto, I'll say it again, you are not allowed to use that [Tsukuyomi] Ninjutsu on Satsuki…"
He paused slightly, and the surrounding air solidified and cooled with his next words.
"…I am a very, very stubborn person when I decide to do something."
A chilling killing intent spread like a tangible presence, tightly coiling around Itachi, making her gasp for breath.
"If you dare to do either of these two things…" Menma's voice deepened, "Next time, that Ninjutsu… won't merely land in the uninhabited wilderness outside Konoha."
Cold sweat instantly trickled down Itachi's forehead, mixing with her blood tears.
[Great Spiraling Ring of Yu]
That terrifying Ninjutsu, capable of turning the earth into nothingness with a single strike, possessing the power to destroy all of Konoha! This threat was too heavy for her to bear.
"Uchiha Itachi," Menma concluded, "My demands, surely they don't make you feel… that it's worth dragging all of Konoha to its grave with you, do they?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Itachi's vision blurred, and Menma's figure vanished silently like a ghost from where he stood.
Leaving Uchiha Itachi standing alone in the cold moonlight and the smell of blood on her face.
She clenched her fists tightly, causing sharp pain. However, all the anger, unwillingness, and struggle ultimately dissolved into powerless exhaustion. Her fists slowly unclenched, falling limply to her sides.
——————
The cold night wind scraped across Satsuki's cheek, carrying a nauseatingly heavy scent of blood. She clutched Naruto's hand tightly, almost instinctively dragging him as she sprinted forward.
The surrounding scene flashed by like fragments of a nightmare—familiar streets, familiar clan crests, but with "clan members" lying everywhere, necks slit, eye sockets empty.
Don't look… can't look…
She forced herself to avert her gaze, staring only ahead—towards home. Only there remained the last glimmer of faint hope.
Finally, having almost exhausted all her strength, her lungs burning with pain, two familiar figures appeared at the edge of her vision, prostrate on the ground—
The dark Uchiha Clan uniform, her mother's scattered black hair, her father's broad but now lifeless back…
"…Is that…?! "
Satsuki's footsteps abruptly halted; the sudden stop from her intense run made her dizzy.
Her breathing instantly became incredibly rapid, each inhale accompanied by an uncontrollable tremble, and the hand clutching Naruto's tightened like an iron vice.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, trickling down her pale cheeks and dripping onto the cold stone ground.
Fear, once again, like the coldest tide, instantly engulfed her.
She stood there, her legs heavy as lead, unable to move forward an inch. She was afraid, afraid to go over and personally confirm the outcome she simply couldn't bear.
Move… move now!
She screamed wildly in her heart, commanding her disobedient body. But the extreme fear made her whole body tremble uncontrollably, every cell screaming in resistance, resisting facing the potentially utterly devastating reality that might come.
She was afraid.
Afraid of seeing her parents like the fallen clan members on the way here… cold, devoid of all signs of life, never to respond to her again.
"Dad… Mom…"
Suddenly, an unusually cold gust of wind swept through the silent street without warning, making Satsuki instinctively close her eyes.
When she trembled and opened her eyes again, her pupils began to shake.
Not far ahead, a figure stood silently, perfectly blocking the fallen bodies of her parents.
Satsuki's heart instantly leaped to her throat, beating so violently it almost shattered her ribs. It was the murderer! This figure… was very likely the culprit who created this hell!
Her body reacted before her thoughts, her legs uncontrollably stumbling back two steps.
However, the next moment, an instinct she hadn't even noticed herself drove her—to use her still tender and small body to fiercely shield Naruto behind her.
The figure moved.
Slowly, step by step, it emerged from the thick shadow. The cold moonlight gradually illuminated the newcomer's face.
First to catch Satsuki's eye was the familiar attire, then the long black hair falling over the shoulders, and finally…
It was the face she knew so well, a face that even brought a sense of security at this moment—her older sister, Uchiha Itachi.
"Sis… Sister…?"
Satsuki almost whimpered the address; her highly tensed nerves snapped like a suddenly broken bowstring, her heart abruptly eased, and a colossal wave of grievance and panic surged like a broken dam, almost making her collapse.
She frantically sought answers, so much so that she completely ignored the gentle or stern black eyes she usually saw, which were now filled with a blood-freezing coldness she had never witnessed before.
"Sister!… Dad and Mom… and everyone… what exactly happened…?"
Her question abruptly ceased.
"Watch out!"
Naruto's startled cry rang in her ears! Almost at the same time, a huge force roughly knocked her to the side!
Swoosh—!
A cold flash of light whistled past, almost grazing her ear.
With a dull thud, the two fell heavily onto the cold, hard ground. Satsuki looked up blankly, just in time to see Naruto propped above her, a strand of golden hair sliced off, slowly drifting down.
And on his cheek, near his ear, a thin line of blood clearly appeared, crimson blood beads quickly seeping out, converging into a dazzling stream of blood that slid down his taut jawline.
"…Huh?"
Satsuki's mind went blank, her pupils unfocused as she stared at the fresh red wound on Naruto's face, unable to comprehend what it was. That warm, red color, representing harm and betrayal, was like a cold key, suddenly prying open her senses, which had been closed off by fear.
She stiffly, inch by inch, turned her head, her gaze passing over Naruto's shoulder, once again falling upon the figure she called her sister.
In the moonlight, Uchiha Itachi still stood quietly, her gaze devoid of any fluctuation, as calm as a bottomless cold pool, with no trace of past warmth, only an extreme coldness, as if looking at a dead object.