Night of the Clan Massacre (1) Please Subscribe

Bam!

In his fury, Danzo slammed his cane into the floor of the Root base, leaving a small crater. Unless he was truly enraged, he rarely lost control like this in front of his subordinates.

After a while, Danzo finally calmed down and continued, "What was the result?"

"All nine heads were destroyed. However, we found an unfamiliar person’s blood at the scene, and the insects’ poisoned stingers were expelled as well. The target should not have survived."

Aburame Ryoma said this as he considered the Root members’ corpses, which had been tossed together in what was practically an insult. The target must have been successfully assassinated, which was likely why they had been treated this way.

"As long as it succeeded, Root’s lives were not wasted." Danzo nodded and continued coldly, "Yasunori Sakai was largely responsible for Sunagakure’s rise and its annexation of so many small countries. There was also a lobbyist named Sara. Unfortunately, she ran too quickly."

"But Lord Danzo, Yasunori Sakai is now the Kazekage’s Assistant. If he dies in the Land of Fire, could it provoke the Saudi Federation into joining the war? If that happens, Hokage-sama on the front line—"

Aburame Ryoma paused suddenly as he spoke, silently considering a possibility. But when he looked at Danzo through his sunglasses, he found nothing unusual in his expression.

Danzo said calmly, "There will not be much pressure on the front line. The village has already assembled the second reinforcement unit. If not for the Uchiha, they could have departed for the front line long ago. Even if the Saudi Federation joins the war, it will not matter. Is a Rain Country worth deploying the forces of two great ninja villages?"

After thinking it over carefully, Aburame Ryoma felt that Lord Danzo was indeed right. If they were only dealing with the Rain Country, there was no need for two great nations to send troops together. Konoha had also prepared three combat units. Compared to the Third Shinobi World War, these forces were clearly prepared to deal with the ninja villages of the Five Great Nations.

"Yasunori Sakai’s influence was also behind this cooperation with the Rain Country. Killing him is equivalent to cutting off one of the Saudi Federation’s arms. Even if Hiruzen finds out, he will not say anything."

Danzo spoke in an even tone. Aburame Ryoma did not know how to respond after hearing this, so he simply remained silent, standing to the side like a wooden post.

"As for the Uchiha Clan, hmph, their rebellious intentions are obvious. Tell Uchiha Itachi to act quickly. I will have Utatane Koharu notify the Ninja Academy in the name of the Hokage’s Office and keep his younger brother there for a while."

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

Aburame Ryoma acknowledged the order, then withdrew, preparing to reveal a little of what had happened today to Uchiha Itachi.

The Uchiha Clan no longer had any possibility of reconciling with Konoha. If they did not want the stain of rebellion to tarnish the Uchiha Clan’s name, then Itachi had to eliminate the entire Uchiha Clan.

This was Uchiha Itachi’s promise to Danzo. He would bear the infamy of slaughtering his own clan to preserve the Uchiha Clan’s reputation as one that had not rebelled. At the same time, his younger brother Sasuke had to be spared, and no one was allowed to harm him.

This demand had been approved by Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. All they wanted was to prevent civil unrest in the village. As for how the Uchiha Clan died, that was none of their concern. It was best if Uchiha Itachi was willing to act personally; the Anbu and Root only needed to handle the aftermath, while Konoha’s combat strength would be preserved.

To make the Konoha Higher-ups guarantee Sasuke’s safety, Uchiha Itachi had even revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan. And because of what had happened to Shisui, he was extremely wary of Danzo.

Every Mangekyō possessed a unique ability. Compared to Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami, Danzo did not know what Uchiha Itachi’s Eye Technique was. Until he obtained that information, he could only agree to Uchiha Itachi’s demands. Furthermore, according to Root’s investigation, Second Pillar’s talent was ordinary. Although his overall grades at the Ninja Academy ranked first, his actual combat ability was inferior even to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki’s.

He was no threat, merely a somewhat talented Uchiha. Even now, he had not reached Genin-level strength. He was far inferior to prodigies like Itachi and Shisui.

Danzo acted quickly. He went directly to Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, asking them to hold a drill at the Ninja Academy in the name of the Hokage’s Office, ensuring that Sasuke could not return home immediately after school.

Itachi, who was carrying out the mission of monitoring the Uchiha, decided on the time to act after seeing the document.

"Have you decided to make your move?"

Uchiha Obito suddenly appeared behind Uchiha Itachi using Kamui and asked.

Uchiha Itachi did not speak. He simply tossed the Ninja Academy’s event schedule to Uchiha Obito. After reading it, Obito understood the time of the operation.

"I see. It looks like we need to finish them before your younger brother returns to the clan compound. I have no problem on my end. It just depends on whether you are fast enough."

Uchiha Obito spoke lightly. He was to help Uchiha Itachi deal with the Military Police Force, a powerful violent organization even within Konoha, yet he spoke as though the Military Police Force were merely a Ninja Academy that he could wipe out at will.

"There will be no mistakes on my end," Uchiha Itachi said coldly. There were just somewhat more ordinary clan members than expected, but Itachi was an Uchiha who had awakened the Mangekyō. Dealing with ordinary clan members would be easy.

"Is that so? Good."

After agreeing on the time to act, Uchiha Obito left using Kamui. Once Uchiha Itachi bore the infamy of massacring his clan, Obito could bring him into Akatsuki. Awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan at thirteen, Uchiha Itachi’s strength had already reached the standard of an official Akatsuki member.

With Uchiha Itachi added, the official members would soon be complete, and the Moon Eye Plan could begin.

As for those reforms involving the Saudi Federation, Uchiha Obito had never cared much about them. The more the real world was changed, the more suffering it would bring. Only the Moon Eye Plan could fulfill everyone’s desires and eliminate all war.

Otherwise, it would be like now: the Rain Country wanted to develop, only to draw the attention of Iwa-nin and Konoha. Desires in reality could never be satisfied. That was something that would never change.

Uchiha Clan Compound

After returning, Uchiha Tekka went to gather information. When he learned that Uchiha Itachi had briefly appeared at the Military Police Force, he went with several others to find Uchiha Fugaku.

They wanted Uchiha Fugaku to give them an explanation. If they were going to carry out a coup d’état, Uchiha Itachi had to be detained first.

The six of them had left Konoha through the Uchiha Clan’s Secret Passage, only to be tracked by Root afterward. After deciding on the coup d’état, the Military Police Force’s patrols had become much tighter. Konoha Anbu and Root could only monitor the Uchiha Clan from outside; they had no idea what was happening within the clan compound.

If Root could discover when they left and where the Secret Passage exit was, then what was the point of the Uchiha Clan carrying out a coup d’état? Faced with such a powerful Root, they might as well surrender and await death.

Someone had leaked the information, and it had to be someone within the clan!

When they thought of Uchiha Itachi, who normally did not even attend clan meetings yet had suddenly appeared at the Military Police Force, the identity of the leak became obvious.

Uchiha Yashiro could not accept this either. After clashing with Itachi over Shisui last time, he had refrained from retaliating even after being punched, out of respect for Itachi as the clan head’s son.

But Uchiha Itachi’s actions now were threatening the lives of his clansmen.

Colluding with Root to attack his own people, along with the many suspicious aspects surrounding Shisui’s death—if they did not interrogate him under torture, then they should at least detain and imprison him, only releasing him for investigation after they made their move.

"Why have you all come together? Did something happen?"

When Uchiha Fugaku saw Yashiro, Tekka, and the others arrive at his home together, he could not help but feel surprised. The expressions on all six clansmen’s faces were off, giving Uchiha Fugaku a bad feeling.

"There is something we need to discuss with the clan head."

Uchiha Yashiro spoke. Fugaku then brought them inside, but before Mikoto could serve the tea, Uchiha Yashiro said to Uchiha Fugaku with a grave expression, "Clan Head, please detain Uchiha Itachi. At the very least, do not release him before the coup d’état!"

Uchiha Fugaku’s eyes shifted slightly at those words. Then he sighed and said, "Is this because of Shisui, Yashiro? Itachi is Anbu."

"It wasn’t entirely because of Shisui, Clan Head. In fact, we planned to settle the ordinary clan members before the coup d’état."

Uchiha Yashiro took out the agreement signed with the Saudi Federation from his robes and explained the entire course of events.

After hearing him out, Uchiha Fugaku’s face showed surprise and confusion. Such a major matter, yet he, the clan head, had known nothing about it. They had only come to report to him after the agreement had already been signed.

"You all…"

"Clan Head, this was my decision. If there is a coup d’état, the safety of the ordinary clan members cannot be guaranteed. It would be better to send them somewhere safe under the pretext of expelling them from the clan. Even if the coup d’état fails, the Uchiha bloodline can still be preserved."

Uchiha Tekka spoke in a cold voice, but his words seemed to carry no hope at all for the coup d’état’s success.

"Tekka, with our clan’s strength, as long as we use the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails—"

Before Uchiha Fugaku could finish, Uchiha Tekka interrupted, "Clan Head, I remember that Itachi never agreed to lead the clan in seizing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Are we supposed to charge into the Ninja Academy in broad daylight?"

The Ninja Academy did not only have the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; it also had members of every other Ninja Clan. If the Uchiha did that, they would definitely drag the other Ninja Clans into it as well.

By then, their enemies would not just be the Anbu and Root, but every Ninja Clan in Konoha. If each Ninja Clan sent twenty people to deal with the Uchiha, they would gain several hundred more enemies.

Uchiha Inabi tried to persuade him from the side. "Clan Head, settling the clan members is also a good thing. Tekka may have been a little impulsive in not telling you, but we think there is nothing wrong with this."

It wasn’t just Tekka. None of the six of you told me about this.

Uchiha Fugaku slowly closed his eyes. He suddenly felt that he had been a complete failure as clan head. Had even his most trusted subordinates begun to lose faith in him?

Before Fugaku could think any further, Uchiha Tekka continued, "Clan Head, this matter is already settled. Root has learned of it through spies within the clan. The most important thing now is to bring Uchiha Itachi under control. Otherwise, the entire Uchiha Clan will be endangered!"

Crash! Crash!

Just as Uchiha Tekka finished speaking, the sound of teacups shattering suddenly came from outside, accompanied by a woman’s muffled groan.

Everyone in the room knew that the noise had been made by the clan head’s wife.

But then came the sound of a door opening, followed by Uchiha Mikoto’s slightly panicked voice.

"Itachi, you’re back?"