Three days later, the Konoha Chunin Exams officially began. Sasuke and Naruto, having returned to the village and reported to the Hokage's office, were also preparing to participate.
Uchiha Nagi, however, had no interest in masquerading as a student to take an exam. He had hated exams in his past life. So, he decided to wander around Konoha instead, occasionally stopping for a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen or visiting the Akimichi clan's barbecue restaurant. He was having the time of his life.
That night, Nagi received a message from Kabuto Yakushi. He went to a rooftop to meet him and found Kabuto and Baki already waiting. One was the representative of the Sand Village, the other of the Sound Village.
"Hm? A little mouse?"
Before the meeting could even start, Baki detected a presence. He quickly dashed in that direction and dragged someone out.
It was Hayate Gekko, a jonin who possessed the Transparency Jutsu. Unfortunately, aside from his ability to turn invisible, he was rather weak.
"Dance of the Crescent Moon!" Hayate created three clones that rushed toward Baki, his real body constantly switching between the three fakes in a dizzying display of feints and attacks, making it impossible to tell which was real.
Nagi, watching from behind, rolled his eyes. Flashy, but useless.
Sure enough, Baki completely ignored Hayate's confusing sword dance and simply let the blade strike his body. He had already secretly covered his skin with an Earth Style hardening jutsu. The Dance of the Crescent Moon only managed to break through his earthen armor.
Bleeding, Baki grabbed Hayate's arm with a ferocious grin. "You're not getting away..."
A scream echoed through the night. Hayate lay on the rooftop, killed in a single blow by Baki. Nagi didn't bother to save him. He wasn't a Konoha shinobi anymore. Why should he?
"Lord Orochimaru will be hiding among the candidates to participate in this exam."
"Lord Kazekage will arrive in Konoha before the final round. Four years ago, Konoha caused a plague in the Sand Village. This time, we will repay that debt in full."
Nagi glanced at Baki. The Kazekage's body was probably already cold, and Orochimaru was on his way.
"Fine. You do what you need to do. Don't mind me. When Orochimaru makes his move, I'll show up to help."
Before leaving, Nagi glanced at Hayate Gekko's body on the ground. He seemed to remember that this sickly-looking guy had a very beautiful fiancée...
Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. The man had died because of his own foolishness. Upon discovering the enemy, he should have immediately sent out a distress signal or just run away. He had foolishly chosen to fight alone. Who gave him that kind of courage? Hashirama?
Or perhaps, after so many years of peace, the shinobi of Konoha had lost their vigilance.
The next day, while everyone else was at the first stage of the Chunin Exams, Uchiha Nagi slipped away to the Uchiha clan's graveyard.
After the Uchiha clan was wiped out, the bodies of the entire clan were buried here, at the Naka Shrine outside Konoha Village. This had been the Uchiha's ancestral land for generations.
During the Chunin Exams, all of Konoha's security was focused on the village itself. No one paid much attention to the long-abandoned Naka Shrine outside the walls.
"Come forth, lost souls of the Uchiha clan..." Nagi formed a hand seal, and with a Grand Sand Mausoleum, he brought the coffins up from beneath the earth.
There were over a thousand Uchiha, and Nagi certainly didn't know all of them. In fact, most of them weren't even shinobi, but had lived as ordinary villagers in Konoha. He could only recognize a fraction of them, those who had become ninja.
But it was enough.
He opened the numerous coffins and found, as expected, that their eyes were gone. Basically, aside from the civilians and the Uchiha who hadn't awakened their Sharingan, everyone else, even those with a single tomoe, had had their eyes gouged out. Though the bodies had decomposed, the dark, empty sockets were unmistakable.
Nagi formed another hand seal, took out a cloned White Zetsu body from a storage scroll, and the first person he summoned with the Edo Tensei... was Fugaku Uchiha.
At the same time, he summoned his wife, Mikoto. Although she rarely appeared on missions in Konoha, Nagi knew that Mikoto was also a three-tomoe jonin.
"Long time no see, Lord Patriarch."
"It's you?" Fugaku, having just opened his eyes, was stunned. He incredulously flexed his hands, feeling that his body was different. He immediately realized what had happened. He should be dead.
"I should... be dead. How am I here? Is this... the Edo Tensei?"
Fugaku was knowledgeable. Seeing his cracked, earthen body and feeling the lack of a warm, beating heart, he immediately knew he was no longer among the living.
"Hmm... have your memories of the afterlife been sealed? That was fast. You lost them the moment you were revived." Nagi shook his head. He had once been curious about what the world after death was like and had asked many people revived by the Edo Tensei.
But without exception, upon revival, their memories of the afterlife were immediately sealed. It was like a dream; they knew it was there, but it became increasingly hazy, and they couldn't describe it. Nagi had eventually given up on exploring the world of the dead.
"You revived me with the Edo Tensei. What is your purpose?" Fugaku looked at himself, then at the thousand or so coffins around them, clearly guessing Nagi's ill intentions.
"Do you even need to ask? To get revenge on Konoha, of course. Are you telling me you're still on Konoha's side? Or did you never hate them in the first place?" Nagi sneered.
Fugaku opened his mouth, but no words came out. To say he didn't hate the village would be a lie.
"Heh heh. Edo Tensei. Interesting. I never thought we'd be revived one day. Fugaku, your son killed my family. How are you going to compensate us...?"
Another revived Uchiha. This one had clearly been killed by Itachi. The moment he was revived and saw Fugaku, his eyes turned red with hatred, as if he wanted to eat Fugaku's flesh and drink his blood.
"Mikoto, Patriarch, you raised such a good son..." another person was revived, this one an old man of sixty or seventy, an elder of the Uchiha clan.
"Where's Itachi? Where is Itachi Uchiha?" a sweet-looking girl asked as soon as she was revived. Nagi recognized her. Her name was Izumi Uchiha, the girl who had been blind enough to fall for Itachi.
"Alright, everyone, please be quiet." Nagi formed a seal, taking control of them all. If he didn't, they would have probably started fighting already, and the first ones they would have attacked would have been Fugaku and Mikoto for having such a "good" son.
Dozens of people stood around, their red eyes staring at Fugaku and Mikoto with venomous hatred. If not for Nagi's control, and if they didn't know that the couple was also dead, they probably would have eaten them alive.
"Everyone, I have only prepared about a hundred Edo Tensei sacrifices. The others weren't strong enough, so there was no need to involve them." Nagi glanced at the silent Fugaku and Mikoto.
"Although the Patriarch gave up resistance and watched you all die, he also died with you. In truth, even if he had led the resistance, the outcome likely wouldn't have changed. The odds of one clan defeating an entire village were simply too low."
"I have summoned you all here today for one reason. Although Itachi Uchiha saved his own skin by becoming a spy, the true culprits are Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, and the two advisors. I'm sure you all guessed that Tobirama Senju's disciples have always targeted the Uchiha clan."
"Everyone, it's time for revenge. I will go to the Sarutobi and Shimura clan compounds. Then, you can all be let loose. You can repay them for what they did to you."
Suddenly, someone in the crowd spoke up excitedly. "What did you say? The Uchiha clan was wiped out? How many are left? Was this all Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi's doing?"
Nagi looked over but didn't recognize him. "And you are?" he asked curiously.
The man was silent for a moment before slowly revealing his identity. "My name is Kagami Uchiha. I was a student of the Second Hokage, and a classmate of Hiruzen and Danzo."
"So it's you." Nagi glanced at him. "Regrettably, aside from the Patriarch's two sons, I am the only one left. Your grandson, Shisui Uchiha, is also dead. And his body was never found. Oh, and by the way, the cause of his death was your good classmates, Danzo and Hiruzen."
"Shisui? My descendant? Can you tell me more?" Kagami sighed. His son was still young when he died, and he had never met his grandson, so he wasn't overly grieved.
"It's nothing much. Just that your foolish descendant, Shisui, awakened the Mangekyo and, in his blind faith in the so-called 'Will of Fire,' told the Third Hokage about his ability, Kotoamatsukami. As a result, the Third turned around and conspired with Danzo to ambush him and steal his eyes. Oh, you don't know what Kotoamatsukami is, do you? Let me explain."
Nagi then explained the ability of Shisui's ultimate genjutsu.
"That kid was so naively adorable. He actually believed in the so-called Will of Fire, only to have his eyes gouged out by the very purveyor of that Will of Fire..."
Nagi looked at Kagami, whose face was a kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions, a truly spectacular sight.
"You were Tobirama Senju's student. I'll let you out later so you can have a reunion with Tobirama and the Third Hokage. If you have any questions then, you can ask them yourself."
Nagi smiled, then recalled the resurrected Edo Tensei bodies one by one. It wasn't convenient to have so many dead people hanging around. He would release them again during the final battle.
"By the way, Lord Patriarch, is there anything you'd like to say to me?" Nagi asked, looking at the ever-silent Fugaku.
Fugaku didn't answer, but Mikoto beside him spoke first. "I want to ask... about Sasuke. How is Sasuke?"
Nagi looked at the pitiful mother and decided to answer her. "Sasuke is fine. After Itachi traded the Uchiha clan's lives, Hiruzen and Danzo haven't killed him yet. Of course, he's no threat to Konoha right now. If Itachi dies, he probably won't be far behind."
Nagi was speaking the truth. Later, Danzo would send Sai to try to kill Sasuke, but he would fail. In reality, if Sasuke hadn't defected, he wouldn't have lived long in Konoha. They only tolerated his existence because he was weak and young. Once he grew a little older, they would have surely eliminated him to prevent future trouble.
As for Itachi, he knew many of the Anbu's secrets, but so what? Threatening Konoha with secrets from years ago was useless. Even before he died, Danzo had sent Sai to silence him.
"Sob... is that so... my poor Sasuke..."
Nagi couldn't stand to see a woman cry, so he simply recalled Mikoto. He recalled all the other Uchiha as well, leaving only Fugaku.
"So, Lord Patriarch, I'd like an answer now. Are you going to help me deal with Konoha, or are you going to continue to stand with Hiruzen Sarutobi? If you stand with Konoha, out of respect for the jutsu you gave me that night, I can choose not to summon you."
Fugaku was silent for a long time, then looked up at the sky with a desolate expression. "I no longer owe Konoha anything. When the Uchiha clan was destroyed, it was Konoha that owed the Uchiha. And now, the only ones I owe... are my own clansmen."
"Excellent." Nagi had the answer he wanted. He formed a hand seal and recalled Fugaku. Fugaku's meaning was clear. He had failed the Uchiha. If his clansmen wanted revenge, he would help them, because that was what he owed them.
And so, an Edo Tensei Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan was now his.
After finishing his work, Nagi sent the coffins back underground. He hadn't revived everyone because the others weren't strong enough. He had mostly summoned Uchiha with three or two-tomoe Sharingan. He hadn't even bothered with the one-tomoe users. Genin-level shinobi were too weak and would be useless, a waste of his White Zetsu clones.
"Hoo... now, all that's left is to wait for Orochimaru... hm?!" Nagi suddenly turned his head to the side. Someone was there.
Kurenai Yuhi felt that she was having the worst luck today. During the Chunin Exams, she should have been at the examination hall waiting for her students. But then there was a casualty in the village—Hayate Gekko was dead—and she had been sent out on patrol.
As a special jonin who specialized in genjutsu, her spiritual senses were more sensitive and powerful than most. For some reason, while patrolling near the Naka Shrine, her mind had unconsciously drifted to the Uchiha man who had stolen her first kiss.
And then, somehow, she had ended up here. She discovered that the coffins in the Uchiha graveyard had been unearthed, and then that man had used some white bodies as sacrifices to perform the Edo Tensei on a whole host of long-dead Uchiha.
Knowing how sharp his senses were, Kurenai didn't even dare to look directly at him, for fear of being discovered. But as she tried to flee, she was found anyway.
"Hm? It's you, Kurenai..."
A figure suddenly appeared, blocking her path, having flown there from who knows where.