The internal conflict within the Uchiha compound was nearing its end. The Uchiha estate was littered with corpses, and standing on the field besides Itachi, Shisui, and Fugaku, were only Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Inabi.
"Fugaku, have you abandoned the honor of the Uchiha? Are you worthy of your father's legacy doing this?"
Uchiha Setsuna glared fiercely at Fugaku, refusing to surrender even at this point. He had inherited Uchiha Madara's will; surrender and defeat were not options.
"Right and wrong are not for you to judge, but for the future Uchiha to judge!"
Fugaku's serious face was stained with blood, but his Sharingan eyes burned even redder.
"Father was wrong, and I was wrong. But my son reminded me not to repeat our mistakes. Today, let us end this."
Uchiha Setsuna laughed wildly, pointing at the corpses strewn everywhere. "You think this will stop the rebellion? This will only delay it. This pent-up anger will eventually be passed on to their descendants, who will avenge them."
Fugaku's expression remained unchanged. He said softly, "Senior Setsuna, please look more closely. Those dead are all lonely old men like you. Those with families were mostly controlled by genjutsu. I will hand them over to the Hokage to handle."
"The Uchiha civil unrest needs an explanation."
Uchiha Setsuna's face changed. He angrily retorted, "Do you think this will work? This will only make the clan live forever under the shadow of the Hokage, unable to hold their heads high!"
"Whether they can hold their heads high is not for you to decide, but for them to decide."
Fugaku glanced at Itachi and the others, then looked towards the Uchiha clan members who were emerging, drawn by the commotion. Some wore expressions of shock and surprise, while others showed relief and a sense of near-death escape.
The Uchiha clan was not devoid of conservatives, but they were too few in number to have any real say.
"Without me, Uchiha Setsuna, what are they? Just living a subservient life in Konoha, better to..."
*Slash!*
A cold glint flashed, and a streak of crimson appeared in the darkness. A head rolled to the ground with a thud.
Shisui casually sheathed his katana, his voice cold from beneath his mask. "So much useless talk. You'd be better off dead first!"
"Senior Setsuna!" Seeing his last pillar of support fall, Uchiha Inabi's fear could no longer be contained. He quickly knelt before Fugaku and begged for mercy.
"Clan Head, I repent. It was all Uchiha Setsuna who misled us. Please spare me. I have also contributed to the clan."
Fugaku took off his robe and threw it on the ground, then walked towards the exit.
"I am also a sinner. How can I have the right to spare you? Everything will be decided by the Hokage."
The bright, clear moonlight pierced through the dark clouds, shining down as if dawn had broken. Itachi watched his father's retreating back and softly said to Shisui, "If we had acted sooner, could we have killed fewer people?"
Shisui was startled, then shook his head. "Until the last moment, could you have brought yourself to do it? There's always a sliver of hope in one's heart, hoping for a miracle."
"Don't let your guard down. What needs to be done next is not easy either. For the clan to integrate into the village, we still need... Huh? What's wrong, Itachi?"
Itachi tugged at Shisui, his tone unusually thoughtful. "If... if we were to also... Forget it. This is something I, as the older brother, must bear. Sasuke only needs to grow up happily."
At this moment, Shisui also sensed Sasuke outside the clan compound, but seeing the tenderness on Itachi's face...
Shisui inexplicably felt a pang of jealousy. "Itachi, that's not right! In the ninja world, without strength, how can there be stable living? You can't protect Sasuke all the time, can you?"
Itachi frowned. He felt Shisui was right, but he also couldn't bear it. Sasuke was his dearest brother, after all!
"Itachi, if you can't do it, let me! This is an excellent opportunity right now!"
Itachi's eyes lit up. Yes, if this chance was missed, there would never be another!
Sasuke, I'm sorry, it's all my fault as your brother!
"Let me do it. It just so happens I'll be leaving the village for a long time."
Shisui chuckled and signaled an ANBU from the darkness to escort the Uchiha clan members away. After all, the scene that was about to unfold was not suitable for many to witness.
The dark clouds in the sky considerately hid the full moon, revealing only slivers of its glow, adding to the somber and chilling atmosphere.
Fugaku shivered inexplicably. Had he grown weak from not fighting for too long?
The barrier covering the Uchiha had been lifted. As Fugaku stepped out of the compound, he saw a boy walking with a swagger, carrying a small schoolbag. Upon seeing him, the boy's face immediately broke into a happy smile.
"Father, are you here to pick me up?" Sasuke hadn't expected his father to come to the clan compound entrance to meet him. Could it be that his father already knew he had gotten perfect scores in his theoretical and practical exams yesterday?
Sasuke had originally planned to tell his brother and father at dinner, so they could both praise him!
Heh heh, what a surprise!
Seeing Sasuke running towards him joyfully, Fugaku could only walk towards him. What was this kid thinking?
Suddenly, a figure in a blood-stained black robe appeared behind Fugaku. Fugaku was about to counterattack, but his ears twitched, and he refrained from resisting.
*Thud!*
A blade accurately pierced his heart. Blood trickled from Fugaku's lips. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't say anything.
But the shape of his lips was read by Sasuke: Run!
Witnessing his father fall before his eyes, Sasuke's gaze first turned blank, then filled with terror, and finally rage. A pair of crimson eyes suddenly appeared in his pupils.
"Father! How dare you... What! Brother?"
Upon seeing the man holding the blood-red katana behind him was Itachi, the Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes trembled uncontrollably, and his face was full of disbelief.
"Impossible, how could this be? How could my brother do such a thing!"
"Who are you?!" Sasuke roared at Itachi.
Itachi, expressionless, sheathed his katana and walked up to Sasuke, looking down. "My foolish little brother, can't you even recognize my voice?"
Sasuke trembled and took two steps back, collapsing to the ground with a thud, his eyes filled with fear.
What's happening? Why are my legs so weak? This person before me absolutely cannot be my brother. My brother wouldn't do this to me, nor would he do such a thing!
Itachi extended his blood-stained hand and grabbed Sasuke by his collar, his own crimson eyes staring directly into Sasuke's.
"You've awakened the Sharingan? But you're still too weak, far too weak compared to me."
The Sharingan in Itachi's eyes slowly revolved, gradually transforming into a shuriken shape, and he said coldly, "A weakling like you is not worthy of dying by my hand. I'll let you experience pain firsthand."
"No!"
The genjutsu cast by the Mangekyo Sharingan was something Sasuke could not resist. He repeatedly experienced his father and clan members dying at Itachi's hands, blood flooding the entire Uchiha compound, while he could only watch, unable to even cry out.
After a long while, Fugaku, lying on the ground, secretly kicked Itachi, signaling him to stop, not to completely break Sasuke!
*Bang!*
Sasuke was thrown to the ground, his eyes vacant, drool trickling from his lips, looking completely broken.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
"You are not worth killing."
Itachi recalled what Shisui had told him, and it fit the situation perfectly!
"My foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, then hate me, resent me, and live on in misery. Then, when you come before me with the same eyes as mine, your existence will have meaning."
"Damn it!"
Sasuke was completely enraged. His family killed, his clan annihilated, and it was all done by his most beloved brother. The intense emotional shock caused Sasuke's blood to surge, his face turning red, and the Sharingan in his eyes seemed to grow even more demonic.
Then... a trickle of blood flowed from his nose, and Sasuke completely fainted.
"..."
Itachi looked at the unconscious Sasuke and remained silent for a good while.
Is that all?