…and What's That Got to Do With Me?**
Koharu Utatane stiffened, eyes widening.
She had just opened her mouth, about to speak that impossible name—
But Evan's lips curved under the mask.
His fist clenched.
Before the watching Konoha shinobi could even gasp,
the colossal black iron-sand hand crushed Koharu Utatane into a cloud of blood.
She died instantly.
A Konoha elder who had lived for decades—
and who, in another timeline, would survive all the way to the Seventh Hokage's era—
vanished in a single heartbeat, reduced to red mist.
"Elder!"
The Konoha shinobi screamed, eyes bloodshot, faces twisted with rage and horror.
And Evan only laughed.
"We're not done."
He stretched out a hand.
A strange vortex spiraled into existence in his palm—
and then an invisible force devoured something from the blood-fog.
The soul.
His Soul-Nurturing Art could strengthen the soul… so naturally, it could devour them as well.
After all, Evan knew something very clearly:
In the Naruto world, the dead do not stay dead.
They can be resurrected.
They can speak.
They can expose secrets.
Only by reducing a person to powder—
by scattering bones and shattering the soul—
could one truly silence them forever.
The surrounding Sand shinobi watched with their scalps numb.
Moments ago, though forced to follow Evan, they still harbored thoughts of someday overthrowing this oppression…
But now?
Who dared entertain such a thought?
This man wasn't a human.
He was a man-eating demon.
Pakura and Jun, who knew his true identity, were speechless.
Completely stunned.
Was this still Evan?
Konoha's elder—
a senior, a leader, a pillar of the village—
and he killed her as casually as flicking away lint.
What kind of monster was he?
"Follow me! Flatten the Hokage Building!"
Evan's cold roar echoed as he tossed aside the ball of crushed flesh.
His body rose, wrapped in a tidal wave of black sand iron,
and he hurled himself toward the Hokage Building.
BOOM—!!!
The explosion shook the village.
Half the Hokage Building collapsed instantly.
"Kill—! Kill them all!"
"Slaughter these Konoha dogs!"
"You Sand scum! You're dead!"
"Kill them! Avenge the Elder!"
Sand and Leaf shinobi clashed violently,
blood spraying across shattered walls.
—
Evan entered the interior of the building.
He moved with purpose—swift, direct.
One Konoha shinobi after another barred his path, but each one fell within seconds.
Not even a complete corpse remained.
He was a one-man catastrophe.
He knew every hallway, every turn.
Soon, he reached his target.
Before him stood a massive scroll.
Evan's masked face twisted into mockery.
Konoha's Scroll of Seals.
It contained countless forbidden techniques:
Multi-Shadow Clone, Edo Tensei, Flying Thunder God, Eight Gates…
And Konoha wanted to add his sword techniques to it?
Evan snorted.
"They think they're worthy?"
Shriiip—!
Iron sand surged over the scroll.
All the layered sealing techniques shattered like paper.
And then—
RIP—
The scroll created during Hashirama's era—
made to seal away the troublesome forbidden jutsu of his younger brother—
was shredded into dust.
Evan narrowed his eyes, murmuring:
"Now… where is my dear Elder Homura Mitokado?"
Minato had told him plainly:
These two old fossils were the ones who coveted his swordsmanship.
So who else was there to blame but Minato himself?
Leaving the ruined chamber, Evan flashed through the broken halls and re-entered the battlefield.
The slaughter was still raging.
Puff!
Puff!
Puff!
Iron sand split into countless black tendrils, skewering several Konoha shinobi mid-charge.
Evan landed beside Pakura.
"That's enough. Woman, you need to go."
"Huh?"
Pakura stared at him.
"What about them?"
She pointed at the Sand shinobi still fighting desperately.
Evan looked at her the way one might look at a particularly stupid animal.
He didn't bother answering.
Pakura clenched her teeth.
Of course she understood.
Once Konoha stabilized, once the Third and Fourth Hokage arrived, once the Uchiha Police Force mobilized—
They would never escape.
This masked monster… never planned to take all of them alive.
She glared fiercely at him.
"You better keep living—so I can kill you myself."
"Heh."
Evan didn't respond.
"Jun!" Pakura grabbed her disciple. "We're leaving!"
The two fled into the night.
Evan casually killed several Konoha shinobi who tried to pursue them.
A twisted smile curled under his mask.
If Pakura doesn't escape… who will take the blame?
Konoha had released Pakura, and she—
burning with hatred—
led Sand shinobi to attack the Hokage Building, murdered Koharu, and caused massive casualties.
And Evan?
What did that have to do with Evan?
This entire disaster—
Pakura would carry it.
Sunagakure would carry it.
Now, all that remained was to see—
Did Hiruzen Sarutobi have the guts to ignite another war?
Because battlefield slaughter was the fastest way for Evan to level up.
Killing people gave experience far more directly than collecting Hatred Points.
"Now then… where is the Mitokado clan located?"
Evan turned, locked onto a direction, and sprinted into the night—
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