"Green medicine… no instructions at all. Such a plain, unadorned name," Yingyue thought calmly.
"Since the reward is tied to healing, it's most likely some kind of medical item."
He gathered his focus and walked toward the rear of the group, his curiosity about the reward growing.
The mission system had always been like this.
Tasks were issued casually.
Rewards were abstract and vague.
Yingyue briefly glanced at the Mission List, placing his attention on the Main Quest.
Whether main or side quests, once issued, they were stored in textual form within his consciousness.
[Main Quest]: The Night of the Clan's Destruction
[Options]:
Kill the remaining Uchiha.
Successfully escape Konoha Village.
[Reward]: (Plunder) Seize another's Mangekyō Sharingan, absorb its ocular power, and obtain its abilities.
They had already fled Konoha—
Yet the quest was still incomplete.
Yingyue's guess was correct: the system did not yet consider their escape successful.
To complete the main quest, he estimated—
Either the Uchiha renegade squad had to be completely safe,
Or every pursuer had to be eliminated and they had to leave the Land of Fire entirely.
"Captain… Tamo-o's wounds are bleeding heavily again…"
The young Uchiha spoke anxiously, sweat beading on his forehead as he kept glancing back.
Tamo-o lay motionless on his back.
His head, chest, and limbs were wrapped in blood-soaked bandages—like a mummy immersed in crimson.
Unconscious, eyes tightly shut, his breathing was visibly weak.
The Uchiha halted one after another, their gazes filled with worry as memories of Danzō's oppressive high-level Wind Release resurfaced.
Aside from his back, there wasn't a single intact patch of skin on Tamo-o's front—
As though he had been flayed by countless blades.
Concern shone in Uchiha Izumi's clear eyes.
She hated herself for not having studied medical ninjutsu back in Konoha.
They all understood—
No one would help them now.
On this road of escape, there would be no medical ninja.
Tamo-o would most likely die along the way.
Yingyue frowned slightly, focused his mind, and reached out toward empty space.
The action left the others baffled.
Moments later, they stared in shock as two items appeared out of thin air in Yin Yue's hand—
As if he had performed some unfathomable space-time ninjutsu.
"Yingyue really is anything but simple,"
Uchiha Nanbu murmured, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses.
Even Uchiha Mikoto, still under the control of Eight Thousand Spears, showed a hint of surprise.
From his storage space, Yingyue took out a small black porcelain bottle and a yellow paper-wrapped soldier pill, pouring out one pill from each and placing them into Tamo-o's mouth.
The black bottle contained a medical pill capable of forcibly activating chakra within the body.
He handed both medicines to the young Uchiha carrying Tamo-o and instructed him:
"Feed him one pill every hour."
The young man accepted the bottle.
The others sighed in relief—but worry soon returned to their faces.
Yin Yue was forcibly replenishing Tamo-o's chakra to prolong his life.
This crude method was common during the Shinobi Wars.
When medical support was unavailable, feeding critically wounded soldiers soldier pills could keep them alive a little longer by boosting their chakra.
But everything came at a cost.
At most, one week.
If no medical ninjutsu treatment was received, the chakra pathways—pushed beyond their limits—would collapse entirely.
The wounded would die violently.
"He won't die for now. Keep moving," Yin Yue said calmly.
"The pursuers are probably already on the way. If you don't want to die, run faster."
With that, he turned and returned to the front of the group, continuing to lead the escape.
He had done what he could.
Whether Tamo-o lived or died would be up to fate.
"Rest. I'll carry him."
Uchiha Nanbu took the medicines from the exhausted young man and lifted Tamo-o onto his own back.
The young man's back was soaked in blood. He hurriedly bowed in gratitude.
"Thank you, Captain Nanbu."
"Change your clothes and store the bloody ones," Nanbu reminded him.
"Blood leaves tracks."
The young Uchiha nodded, deeply thankful.
He was Tamo-o's subordinate.
He had thought Yingyue would abandon their captain—
After all, this was a flight for survival.
But Yingyue hadn't.
That alone brought him peace of mind.
Even Nanbu, who once had conflicts with Captain Tamo-o, had set aside past grievances.
Though none of them knew where this road of escape would lead—
The atmosphere within the team was quietly, subtly changing.
Outside the Uchiha district.
Crows circled in the night sky, their hoarse cries echoing endlessly, adding an eerie air of death to the cursed land.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado walked side by side toward the Uchiha compound.
ANBU were stationed at every street entrance.
The three wore grim expressions, contemplating how to handle the aftermath of the night.
"Hiruzen, I believe the Uchiha clan's extermination can be blamed on that renegade Uchiha squad,"
Koharu said softly.
Her clouded, aged eyes held no emotion—
In her mind, this was simply how things should be done.
Homura's eyes lit up.
The plan seemed feasible.
Hiruzen felt a strong sense of déjà vu.
This blame-shifting tactic was painfully familiar.
He merely looked at Koharu, saying nothing.
Unhurried, Koharu continued:
"After the Uchiha were wiped out by the renegade squad, Uchiha Itachi did everything he could to stop the massacre—but failed. He will now become Konoha's hero. Hiruzen, with Danzō dead, Konoha desperately needs manpower."
Hiruzen asked coldly,
"And if Itachi refuses to be that hero—do we use Sasuke to bind him?"
Koharu narrowed her eyes, smiling slightly, and nodded.
Hiruzen flicked his sleeve angrily.
"With Itachi's personality, he would never agree to be Konoha's hero in this way. Even using Sasuke as leverage wouldn't work."
Koharu's lips curled upward.
In front of Homura, she leaned close to Hiruzen's ear and whispered a few words.
Hiruzen's brow slowly furrowed.
He fell into deep thought, caught between two difficult choices—
And hesitation took hold.
As dawn approached, within Root's headquarters, a six-man elite Root squad quietly left Konoha.
They were Danzō's trusted confidants.
After learning that Danzō had been killed by the renegade Uchiha squad, they organized themselves to pursue revenge.
At their head—
Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune.
The Uchiha compound.
Civilian corpses lay strewn across the streets, blood pooling in the low ground.
Crows perched along the walls, crimson pupils glowing as they silently observed, waiting for something.
Until—
Itachi arrived.
Whoosh—
The crows suddenly spread their wings and scattered, black feathers drifting down.
After only a few steps, Itachi found his target.
Sasuke sat slumped against a wooden wall, head lowered.
Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
"My foolish—"
Sasuke did not move.
His eyes were closed.
"…Hm?"
Itachi frowned deeply and raised a hand to rub his eyes.
For a moment, his vision blurred, as if misted with water.
When it cleared—
He realized, in shock—
Sasuke was unconscious.
(End of Chapter)