Chapter 44: The Night Of Endless Cycles Of Clan Extermination
“Stop!!!” Izumi’s sharp cry pierced the night, the kunai flying from her hand.
But it was ultimately a step too late. Young Itachi’s short sword slashed across the child’s throat, the bloodied blade flicking upward, precisely blocking the incoming kunai.
Clang—
In the sharp sound of metal colliding, the blade obscured half of Young Itachi’s face, only his left eye’s scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan rotating in the shadows.
“It’s Izumi…” Young Itachi’s voice was low, his gaze fixed on Izumi devoid of any warmth.
“Itachi! What are you doing!” Izumi rushed inside the house, looking at the family lying in a pool of blood, and the young child dead under Itachi’s blade, her voice trembling as she questioned him.
Itachi slowly stepped out from the shadows, under the moonlight, his body in combat uniform obviously taller than Izumi by quite a bit.
“I just wanted to test my own capacity.” Itachi Uchiha held the short sword in his hand, the cold gleam of the blade reflecting his indifferent expression.
At this moment, Izumi felt that the Itachi Uchiha before her was very unfamiliar.
She couldn’t believe that the once so gentle Itachi would do such a cruel thing to his own clansmen!
Facing Itachi, who exuded overwhelming oppression and killing intent, Izumi was already trembling all over, not daring to move.
Although she had awakened the Sharingan at five years old, after graduation she had always been a genin, without much real combat experience.
“Tsukuyomi!” Itachi Uchiha’s Mangekyo suddenly rotated, and Izumi’s consciousness instantly plunged into the illusion technique.
In the illusion world, Izumi and Itachi fell in love under the cherry blossom tree, as adults they clasped fingers tightly at their wedding, Itachi’s flustered look when the baby cried, Itachi’s stern look when the child was rebellious.
Until their twilight years, gray-haired they cuddled on the corridor watching the bright moon together.
Just like that, Izumi spent a false lifetime in the illusion technique.
“How pitiful.” While Izumi was immersed in the illusion world and unable to extricate herself, a cold voice laced with mockery suddenly rang out.
Izumi in the illusion world abruptly woke up.
A man in a black robe wearing a fox mask was quietly sitting beside Izumi, looking up at the moon.
“Who!” Izumi reflexively leaped up, like a startled little wildcat.
The mysterious person slightly turned his head, a playful gaze peering from behind the mask’s hole toward Izumi: “Do you still want to remain immersed in the Mangekyo illusion technique? Clearly your eyes might be able to stop all this.”
“No! This is an illusion technique!” Izumi finally reacted; this was not the real world at all.
“Your reaction is too slow.” Menma was also somewhat puzzled.
Among the known Uchiha who awakened their eyes, Izumi was absolutely the youngest age to do so.
Izumi, only five years old, witnessed her father’s death on the Night of the Nine-Tails, awakening the Sharingan amid grief and sorrow; even Itachi was envious.
Itachi Uchiha awakened at eight, Sasuke Uchiha at seven, Shisui at seven, Obito and Madara both around twelve.
Awakening early or late has no necessary connection to strength or talent; for example, Obito and Madara awakened relatively late, at twelve.
But Izumi was able to awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan at twelve in peacetime, sufficient to show that among the Uchiha Clan in this period, her talent was second only to Itachi and Shisui.
Yet after awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan early and moving back to the Uchiha Compound with her mother, whether due to lack of attention or Izumi herself not wanting to promote, she remained an ordinary genin even with three-tomoe.
When Menma was planning the layout for the night of the Uchiha Clan’s slaughter, he also thought of Izumi Uchiha, this rather special Uchiha clansman with the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Clearly having awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, yet still a genin, taking daily missions like helping the Daimyo’s wife care for pets, or helping nobles and officials of the Land of Fire move.
It was unknown what stimulation she had experienced, or when she had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Menma was merely curious: such a gentle Uchiha woman who valued emotion highly—what kind of emotional fluctuations and reactions would she have upon seeing the Uchiha Clan slaughtered.
“Since that’s the case, then continue.” Menma slowly stood up, leaving those words behind before his figure faded, vanishing just like that from the illusion world.
Izumi Uchiha suddenly felt the sky spin and earth darken; the courtyard before her eyes and the blood-scented scene changed once more.
She was still sitting by the Naka River, the river water flowing, a flock of wild geese flying across the sky.
It was still early, the dango in her hand still retaining some warmth.
“That sneaky guy…” Izumi hurriedly stood up; of course she didn’t believe Itachi would commit to slaughtering his clansmen. Her first reaction was to report this to the Konoha Military Police Force.
Eating the string of dango in her hand, Izumi hurriedly ran toward the Konoha Military Police Force building.
‘Although I don’t know what that guy really wants to do, it must be something detrimental to the Uchiha Clan!’ Izumi thought anxiously.
Yet she didn’t notice that the sky was growing darker.
When Izumi arrived in front of the Konoha Military Police Force building, the sky had completely darkened, but the inside of the Konoha Military Police Force building was pitch black, not a single lamp lit.
“Strange, where are Uncle Yashiro and Uncle Tekka?” Izumi panted slightly, just about to enter the Konoha Military Police Force building when she smelled a scent of blood again.
This sudden change made Izumi react instinctively once more; just as she drew a kunai, a low voice rang out from the main door of the Military Police Force building.
“These eyes are truly beautiful.” A mysterious man wearing a tiger mask over one eye was slowly stepping out from the door.
‘Different from the previous mysterious person…’ Izumi had no time to think, shooting the kunai from her hand while pulling out two shuriken, hurling them at the Tiger Masked Man.
Whoosh whoosh—
Clang clang—
But the kunai and shuriken passed straight through the Tiger Masked Man’s body, embedding directly into the pillar.
“How is that possible!” Izumi’s face showed shock, and the masked man also slightly raised his head.
Their gazes met; Izumi vaguely saw a Sharingan in the single eye of the tiger mask!
Izumi knew she was no match, turning to flee.
An iron chain shot out at extreme speed, binding up the fleeing Izumi.
‘Itachi! Save me!’ When facing death, the first person Izumi thought of was still Itachi.
The short sword pierced Izumi’s body; Izumi felt her life slipping away, until everything before her eyes went completely black.
Quack! Quack! Quack!
A flock of ducks’ calls jolted Izumi awake.
The scene before her eyes returned once more to the Naka Riverbank.
Having experienced ‘death’ once, Izumi was drenched in cold sweat, gasping for air in big mouthfuls.
“Illusion technique? Still an illusion technique?” Izumi trembled all over, hurriedly activating her Sharingan while mobilizing the chakra in her body, finding everything normal, no interference with her chakra detected.
“Multiple illusion techniques? Who exactly!” Izumi looked around; there were no other traces on this stretch of river embankment.
“Those two mysterious people? Both targeting the Uchiha?” Izumi set aside the dango in her hand, her mind recalling the two mask-wearing mysterious people she had encountered in the illusion technique.
And the scene of Itachi slaughtering the Uchiha clan’s elderly and weak.
“Damn it!” Izumi stood up, wanting to go to the Konoha Military Police Force, but afraid it was still the illusion world; just as she took a step, her legs trembled uncontrollably.
Thus, Izumi turned and ran toward the village center.
“Hokage-sama… Only Hokage-sama can…” Izumi placed her last hope on the Third Hokage.
As she ran, the sky darkened again.
Two masked ninja suddenly appeared before Izumi.
“I want to see…” Before Izumi could finish speaking, two blades of cold light flashed; the ninja’s samurai swords brutally stabbed into her abdomen.
Izumi’s face full of shock, she collapsed in pain, her scattered black hair dyed red with blood.
The last voice she vaguely heard was—
“Orders from above! Absolutely cannot let any Uchiha escape!”
Please keep reading! Please add to favorites! Please vote recommendations! Please monthly tickets! New book data is very important! Especially keep reading! Please everyone try to swipe to the last page! Kneeling thanks to all reader bosses!
