The once-glorious Uchiha district had become nothing more than ruins.
Debris and rubble lay scattered everywhere, black smoke rising from the scorched earth.
Bodies were strewn haphazardly, yet the place was eerily silent.
Because after the combined assault from Akatsuki and Root, there were no survivors.
Yet despite such "success," none of the Akatsuki or Root members looked pleased. In fact, their expressions were ugly.
"That guy… he actually escaped…"
Konan gritted her teeth, still staring at the place where the space-time portal had appeared.
If anyone here harbored the most resentment toward Naruto—it was undoubtedly her.
That bastard had stolen her first kiss.
Even Yahiko, whom she once loved, had never held her hand…
"He's strong," Pain said coldly. "If we had fought him seriously here, we might not have come out unscathed."
He glanced at Konan, frowning slightly.
"Konan, you lost your composure again. What happened just now?"
As someone who had known her for years, Pain considered himself familiar with Konan's cold personality.
She was always like an iceberg—beautiful but distant, calm in all situations.
But today, she had lost control—more than once.
Konan blushed and turned her head.
"Nothing. I just hate him, that's all."
She couldn't bring herself to say the truth.
As the third highest in Akatsuki, she had not only been shown mercy by an enemy—but had been shamelessly teased as well...
If word got out, how could she show her face as the White Tiger of Akatsuki?
Pain stared at her, puzzled, but eventually turned away, assuming she was simply being emotional.
Although… she did seem a bit more womanly today...
"Damn it! Damn it!! I can't believe so many Uchiha escaped—even if most were just brats!!"
Danzo's face was twisted with rage, trembling as he snarled.
Even though the Uchiha had been annihilated, he felt no joy.
Because he already understood the consequences.
The surviving children would spread the truth.
Not just within Konoha—but across the entire shinobi world.
The truth of the Uchiha Massacre.
Then, the Leaf would be questioned. No clan would ever trust them again.
Today it was the Uchiha—who would it be tomorrow?
The Hyūga? The Ino-Shika-Chō? The Aburame or Inuzuka?
Fear would infect every clan in Konoha, destabilizing the entire village.
That's why he and Hiruzen had originally agreed to let Itachi take the blame—to make it seem like the Uchiha had killed themselves.
But now… that plan had crumbled.
As Danzo fumed, Pain flew over and said coldly:
"Our mission is complete. As agreed, you must pay us and allow us to take half of the Sharingan."
Danzo's eyes filled with murderous intent.
"After this result, you still dare talk about money and Sharingan?"
His lone visible eye locked onto Pain.
He was already considering whether he should just kill them all here.
At that moment, Root shinobi all turned their cold gazes toward the Akatsuki.
In response, Pain, Konan, and Itachi stood ready, their own expressions equally cold.
The air turned suffocating. The atmosphere was on a knife's edge.
It seemed a single spark would ignite all-out war.
Danzo hesitated. His mind flashed back to their earlier battle.
No… if we fight now, even if we win, Root will suffer heavy casualties. It's not worth it...
With that conclusion, his killing intent faded.
"Fine. You'll get half the payment. But forget the Sharingan. Take your money and leave. I never saw you."
Pain frowned.
The money wasn't the issue—it was the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
He needed them to fulfill "Madara's" orders.
Just then, Animal Path received a signal—Tobi had arrived and relayed new instructions.
So, after accepting the money, Pain left without further demands, taking Konan and Itachi with him.
Once they were gone—
Danzo's fury returned as he looked over the corpses.
Seeing the Uchiha symbol on their clothes, his rage slowly turned into greed.
"Even with the setbacks… the outcome is the same as planned…"
"My precious Three-Tomoe Sharingan…"
"You! Go harvest the eyes—carefully! Don't damage them!"
If the bodies grew cold, the eyes would lose their viability for transplantation and experimentation.
Root operatives moved immediately, delicately extracting Sharingan from corpse after corpse.
...
Outside Konoha.
"'Madara,' didn't you want the Sharingan? Why did you pull us back so quickly?" Pain asked coldly.
Tobi, still wearing his tiger-striped mask, walked forward casually.
"It's fine. We already collected them."
His Mangekyō Sharingan spun as he used Kamui to view his personal dimension.
Inside the cubic Kamui space, dozens of glass containers floated.
Each one was filled with brine.
Suspended in the brine—dozens of Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"So beautiful…"
"These will be my leverage to become Hokage…"
"With enough Sharingan, I can use that forbidden technique as much as I want. Even Hiruzen won't be my match…"
Back in the Uchiha ruins—
Danzo stared hungrily at the remaining blood-red eyes.
Beneath the bandages on his right arm, a pair of Sharingan opened and closed, flashing.
His excitement was reaching its peak.
But just then, a Root ninja brought troubling news:
"Danzo-sama, after counting, it appears that nearly half of the Uchiha were already missing both eyes—all were Three-Tomoe."
The ninja held dozens of jars.
It was a lot, but far less than Danzo had hoped.
Excitement gave way to fury.
"WHO STOLE MY SHARINGAN!?"
The Root ninja answered coldly:
"Reports say a masked man used Shadow Clones to extract the eyes before anyone else arrived."
Danzo's mind raced—he quickly deduced the truth.
"Akat—Akatsuki! A bunch of mercenaries, and they dare steal my eyes!?"
Veins bulged on his forehead from sheer rage.
But he managed to calm himself.
"Akatsuki is full of S-rank rogue nin. Those three we saw today were too dangerous. Hiruzen won't approve of attacking them yet…"
"And besides… Itachi is inside Akatsuki now. He'll bring us intel…"
"In the end… all the Sharingan will be mine…"
Having convinced himself, Danzo finally calmed.
"Understood. Gather the remaining eyes. Get them to Root. Tell the medical team to accelerate the experiments."
"Yes!"
The Root operatives nodded and began carrying the jars toward their underground base.
But just as three of them reached the halfway point—
They froze.
A space-time portal had opened before them.
Leaning lazily on the edge, Naruto waved with a grin:
"Yo. Mind handing those over to me?"
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My Patreon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/zaelum]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]