"Your problem!"
"It's your problem! Why didn't you go up and block that engagement?"
"Why didn't you go?"
Listening to the noisy, deliberately lowered voices of blame around him, Masahiko smiled slightly.
An excellent matchmaking mechanism always draws in more hype.
Clearly.
The vast majority of people were not very satisfied with their teammates, including Ino and Choji, who were separated from Shikamaru.
Without Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were like a body separated from its brain; each had their own ideas and couldn't coordinate at all.
A sparring match became the trigger for the collapse of many friendships.
Unknowingly, the two classes fought from after two o'clock until nightfall.
Masahiko stood up and temporarily left the scene under the pretext of "going to the bathroom."
A moment later, he returned from the bathroom looking unchanged, but at the other end of the Ninja Academy, in an equipment Room very far from the playground.
He changed into the black robe and mask he had prepared in advance.
Then, using Transformation Jutsu to replace his current appearance and making full preparations, Masahiko used Body Flicker to disappear into the night.
The playground was still brightly lit.
Sasuke hadn't taken the field yet, waiting for the most anticipated match, but under the night sky at the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters in the outskirts, a figure crouched on a utility pole, overlooking the entire force.
His hand was gripped on the hilt of the sword behind his back.
"Itachi, since you've made your decision, don't hesitate."
Beside him, a cold, ruthless voice urged him to act.
Itachi took a deep breath and asked, "You promised me, you won't go back on your word, right?"
"Of course."
From under the mask came a light chuckle, "Besides, you are the person I trust the most; your treatment will certainly be different from the others.
"
"Fine, then—let's hit the Security Division together. We can't let a single person escape. After that, we'll deal with the rest of the clan members with awakened eyes."
"Many of them are gathered together right now. You just need to ensure no one escapes; I'll handle the rest."
"Good."
Itachi replied, his eyes' tomoe spinning and transforming into a special triangular pattern.
The next moment, he disappeared from the spot.
Inside the office of the Konoha Military Police Force.
Uchiha Inabi looked worried: "Lord Yashiro, now that Shisui has defected and Itachi might not be of one mind with us, can we really win?"
"We can win."
Uchiha Yashiro answered, "Our clan's ocular jutsu possesses infinite potential. The more critical the moment, the more power can erupt."
He scanned the crowd.
"As long as we work together, Konoha will surely be ours!"
"Have no doubt, we are walking on the right path. Victory belongs to the Uchiha!"
Uchiha Yashiro spoke with great passion.
Listening to Yashiro's words, everyone's restless hearts gradually calmed down, and they seemed to gain the confidence to resist.
Just then—
Crash!
The sound of a window breaking came from the side.
"Who?!"
Yashiro's nerves were taut.
Ever since Shisui "died," everyone dared not gather at the Naka Shrine anymore, which was why they chose to meet at the Konoha Military Police Force to boost morale.
His first reaction was that Konoha had made its move!
But in the next second, when he saw the newcomer's appearance, he was momentarily stunned.
"Itachi? You—"
The special tomoe pattern in Itachi's eyes spun rapidly at this moment, and the powerful ocular jutsu directly pulled Uchiha Yashiro into an illusionary world.
Ocular Jutsu: Tsukuyomi!
Swish!
Blades swung, and blood splattered.
One person fell to the ground.
"Itachi has betrayed the family, quickly, signal—"
Before he could finish, the space around them suddenly distorted.
The next second, three giant shuriken flew out of the space, spinning around like pinwheels.
Buzz!
Accompanied by a piercing hum, the three Fuma Shuriken were distorted by the space, making them unpredictable as they whipped up a crimson storm of slaughter.
The bodies of four or five people were instantly sliced in two, making it impossible to tell for a moment which parts belonged to whom.
Screams rose and fell, only to be distorted by spatial power and pulled into another dimension along with the corpses.
In the blink of an eye—
This was no longer a Room, but a vast, eerie alternate dimension.
Before them stood only a masked man.
Uchiha Yashiro recovered from Tsukuyomi; the mental agony made it difficult for him to focus or move for a time.
However, the moment he looked up and saw the man before him, Uchiha Yashiro's face turned pale.
He was dazed.
"You—why—you, aren't you—"
He was momentarily confused.
Once, the man before him had egged him on to seize power and said he would help them take back the power that belonged to the Uchiha.
But now, why was the other party using weapons to slaughter them?
"That's right, I said I would help the Uchiha take back their own power, but unfortunately, you don't represent the Uchiha."
"Madara" sneered in response, "Only I can represent the Uchiha!"
He gave a light chuckle as the blade slashed through Yashiro's throat, his eye visible outside the mask filled with cold pleasure.
The slaughter outside had already begun.
Flames, screams, and wailing.
The entire Security Division was filled with chaos and killing; not a single person could escape from here.
Occasionally, one would manage to break free, only to be immediately surrounded and killed by members of the Root Organization.
"Sir."
"Take them away, seal up the bodies, and don't let a single person escape the Security Division."
"Yes!"
The Konoha Military Police Force had become a death trap!
Although not everyone had been killed yet, those inside could no longer escape.
In the river beside the Konoha Military Police Force and the Uchiha Clan Compound, the Black-Robed Man poked his head out and then quietly sank back down.
As expected.
The massacre of the Uchiha Clan—
Has begun.
He pondered for a moment and did not interfere with the battle inside the Security Division.
Inside the Security Division were the elites of the Uchiha Clan; Itachi and Uchiha Obito seemed to be there, and the probability of an accident occurring if he rashly interfered was extremely high.
He didn't want to be exposed for the time being.
Masahiko headed toward the Uchiha Clan Compound through the waterways.
After traveling a distance through the waterways—
Suddenly, a wave of Chakra fluctuations came from the water ahead.
Others are here too?
Masahiko sensed those subtle fluctuations and changes through the water flow, and then—
Masahiko's hands maintained a special hand seal, and the refined Chakra pushed out a water screen around him, forming a streamlined fish-like shape.
A burst of Chakra.
The four people ahead had already sensed it, but the three in the lead were too late to act.
They only saw a dark shadow moving against the current—
"So fast!"
They had only been shocked for a moment when they felt a sharp pain in their chests.
Fortunately, the opponent hadn't hit their hearts directly.
But in the next second, a strange power began splitting and scattering within their bodies, like needles piercing their internal organs and becoming lodged inside them.
They hurriedly used Ninjutsu to stir the water.
However.
In the chaotic water flow, the opponent moved freely, completely unaffected by the turbulent current.
The sole survivor wanted to use a Ninjutsu to signal a warning, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the opponent's blade strike toward his neck like a flash of light.
He was filled with terror, his expression dazed—
"No!"
It was genjutsu!
He immediately released the genjutsu, only to see that there was indeed a blade before him.
This time it was real!
The blade slashed through his heart, leaving his entire body without strength.
The next moment, a rope was tied around their waists, linking the four of them together and finally extending to a large boulder at the bottom of the river.
The water churned and blood dyed the river, but there were no streetlights nearby; under the cover of night, no one could notice this smear of crimson in the river water.
The underwater assassination ended in a single encounter.
Masahiko stabbed each of the other three once more and took their ninja tool pouches before continuing to swim upstream toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Dozens of seconds later, crows cawed in flocks above, turning back to fly toward the distant outskirts.