[1 hour remaining until the Night of the Massacre]
A full moon hung high in the night sky.
Its pale light spread like silver across the buildings and streets of Konoha, the Hidden Leaf Village of the Land of Fire.
Uchiha Clan Compound.
Military Police Prison.
On the rooftop, blood flowed like a river.
The corpses of Uchiha Military Police members lay scattered everywhere. Blood seeped from their eye sockets—every single one of them had lost their Sharingan.
At the center of the pile of bodies stood a young man wearing the uniform of the Uchiha Military Police.
He had short black hair, handsome features, and a straight, upright posture. A ninja blade was gripped tightly in his hand.
[Side Quest: Evolve the Sharingan]
[Requirement: Absorb the ocular power of 50 pairs of Sharingan]
[Quest Completed]
[Reward: Eight Thousand Spears — Mangekyō]
Uchiha Yingyue breathed heavily.
Suddenly, the three tomoe in his eyes began to spin, transforming into three sharp, blade-like patterns—his Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened.
Ocular power surged violently within his brain.
Like a waterfall flowing backward, it forcefully flooded every neural pathway, filling them completely.
His eyes were bloodshot. He breathed through both mouth and nose.
In just over ten seconds, he adapted to this destructive, violent mental power.
His entire aura turned sinister.
An explanation of the ability surfaced automatically in his mind.
Eight Thousand Spears
"The chakra of the Mangekyō can, through eye contact regardless of distance—or through physical touch—plant a mark on others. Through this mark, one may freely control another person's mind and chakra."
A smile rose at the corner of Yingyue's mouth.
He crouched down.
Carefully, he placed the large number of Sharingan he had collected into a cylindrical container filled with preservation fluid.
Scarlet eyeballs were packed tightly together, staring in all directions through the glass—like some indescribable, eldritch object.
He sealed the container into a storage scroll.
After transmigrating to Konoha for a week, with the help of [System Tasks], he had finally obtained proof of power in the ninja world—the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Though its exact capabilities still needed testing, he now possessed the qualification to defect from Konoha.
At that moment—
There was still one living person left in the corner.
Uchiha Inabi leaned against the wall, covered in blood. With his remaining three-tomoe left eye wide open, he stared at the scene before him and trembled as he shouted:
"Uchiha Yingyue! As one of the captains of the Military Police, you slaughtered your own clan just to awaken the Mangekyō! You will never have a good ending!!"
Yingyue tucked the scroll into his clothes, estimated the time, walked over, and squatted in front of Inabi.
"The Uchiha patrol units will arrive here in about one minute.
We still have time to talk.
Inabi.
You reported me for contacting an S-rank missing-nin.
Then you had me arrested and imprisoned.
You took over all my duties in the Military Police…
And finally came here to provoke me.
That must have felt pretty good, right?"
Inabi lowered his head in silence, his entire body trembling.
He had come to the prison tonight intending to use the clan's torture devices on Yingyue—who appeared gentle and refined on the surface, yet secretly colluded with rogue ninjas.
As long as Yingyue wasn't tortured to death, Clan Head Fugaku wouldn't interfere.
But the moment Yingyue saw him, he completely snapped—awakening his three-tomoe Sharingan and slaughtering his way out of the prison.
One man. One blade.
Every guard stationed at the prison was killed.
Like a mad demon.
Yingyue's strength far exceeded Inabi's imagination.
"You're wrong," Yingyue said calmly.
"I didn't kill them to awaken the Mangekyō.
Under normal circumstances, even killing them wouldn't have awakened it."
He paused, then smiled.
"Oh, right.
You only intercepted my letters to rogue ninjas because I deliberately left openings for you."
Inabi's pupils shrank.
As he replayed everything in his mind and connected the details, realization dawned—and his face turned ashen.
"The guards stationed in the prison tonight were all your subordinates.
And the three patrol squads about to arrive—
Their captains are Izumi, Nanpū, and Tamayū.
I arranged this duty rotation before I was imprisoned."
Yingyue slowly stood up.
"I know your personality well.
You would only make a move if everyone inside and outside the prison were your people."
As they spoke on the rooftop, under the moonlit night, nine dark figures leapt across the rooftops and rapidly closed in.
"Then what is all this for?!"
Inabi roared with all his strength.
He was stalling.
Waiting for reinforcements.
Yingyue glanced at the nine approaching figures, then looked back at Inabi. He patted his shoulder gently—like a final farewell to an old friend.
"To survive in the ninja world.
Don't worry.
I don't like owing debts.
From this moment on—
I am Uchiha.
As long as I live, the Uchiha will continue with dignity in this world."
With that, Yingyue sheathed his blade, walked to the edge of the rooftop, spread his arms, and fell backward.
His final words echoed:
"Inabi—
Open your remaining three-tomoe wide.
Watch carefully what happens next to the Uchiha clan!"
Mid-fall, Yingyue flipped in the air, landed steadily in a crouch, then used the Body Flicker Technique to dash through the streets toward the forest at the edge of the village.
"After killing so many clan members, he still claims it's for the Uchiha…"
Inabi murmured weakly.
"You won't escape. Clan Head Fugaku—and Itachi—won't let you go."
Shua—!
Nine Uchiha Military Police members landed beside him.
Men and women alike froze as they took in the scene.
Bodies littered the rooftop, stairways, and streets near the prison.
Blood filled the air.
Most had died from a single clean strike to a vital point—efficient, merciless.
It was the first time they had ever seen the Uchiha suffer such devastating losses in combat.
Inabi stared at the approaching patrol captains, his heart sinking completely.
Just as Yingyue said.
Uchiha Izumi.
Uchiha Nanpū.
Uchiha Tamayū.
"What… what happened here?"
Izumi's face was pale.
She stood frozen, on the verge of collapse. She had waist-length hair, beautiful eyes, and a tear mole beneath her right eye—now filled with fear and disbelief.
"Yingyue did this,"
Inabi said weakly.
Izumi trembled.
Her mind flashed to the gentle, refined captain who had guided her growth, always smiling warmly.
"Impossible… Captain Yingyue would never kill his own clan!"
Tamayū's veins bulged as he grabbed Inabi by the collar, drew his blade, and pressed it against Inabi's neck.
"Explain yourself!"
Despite his baby-faced appearance, when enraged, Tamayū looked like a ferocious beast.
Inabi stared back coldly.
After a brief silence—
"Even if Captain Yingyue killed them,"
Tamayū said firmly,
"then he must have been helping them find release!"
"Heh…
No wonder you're the lunatic Yingyue dragged out of the psychiatric ward.
If he killed your parents, would you defend him too?"
Tamayū's eyes burned.
"Captain Yingyue doesn't like killing people!"
Inabi: "???"
He forgot—Tamayū's parents were already dead.
Everyone froze.
At that moment, a figure wearing glasses rushed forward and shoved Tamayū aside—it was Uchiha Nanpū.
"Enough!!"
Nanpū shouted, then looked at Inabi.
"Which direction did Uchiha Yingyue escape?"
Inabi raised his hand and pointed toward the forest at the village's edge.
"Chase him!!"
Nanpū's expression turned icy.
But before he could move, Tamayū—clearly worried—had already taken two teammates and vanished toward the forest.
No matter what had happened, as tonight's patrol, they were obligated to pursue the culprit.
Izumi and Nanpū exchanged a glance and followed with their teams.
None of them understood Yingyue's true objective.
Confusion, doubt, and rage filled their hearts as nine figures leapt beneath the moonlight into the forest.
Rustle—
Birds scattered in alarm.
As they moved through the trees, sudden danger prickled their skin.
They halted, faces grim, weapons drawn.
Moonlight filtered through the leaves.
A familiar upright figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
He raised his head.
Blade-shaped Mangekyō patterns spun in his eyes.
"Everyone, long time no see.
Catching up can wait.
For now—
Please help me test the abilities of my Mangekyō."
Uchiha Yingyue smiled as his Mangekyō rotated.
"Eight Thousand Spears—!!"
(End of Chapter)