After securing the White Zetsu corpse, Shiraishi returned to the location where the Roulan Chamber of Commerce's carriage convoy was stationed.
The remaining Uchiha survivors were currently being systematically ushered onto the merchant vehicles.
"Halt!"
Several masked Anbu operators materialized from the shadows, stepping forward in an attempt to inspect the Roran Chamber of Commerce.
However, Shiraishi—fully maintaining his guise as Lop Nur—offered no words in response. The whirlwind blade in his hand shot outward in a sudden, violent arc, cleanly decapitating two Anbu agents on the spot.
Fresh blood sprayed across the dirt. Such a gruesome, visceral sight caused many of the Uchiha women and children to gasp in terror.
Amidst the panic, only one young boy remained entirely silent, continuing to methodically pack his luggage onto the carriage without breaking stride.
"Are you not afraid?"
Shaking his head, the youth adjusted the heavy bundle on his shoulders, doing his utmost to maintain a calm, detached tone. "I am terrified. But I also know that now is not the time for fear. We must pack our things as quickly as possible and leave this place."
Because the evacuation had been executed without any prior warning, the movements of these displaced women and children were naturally slow and uncoordinated.
Some hadn't even finished gathering their personal belongings. Had Konoha not been plunged into total catastrophic chaos, rendering them completely blind to this peripheral sector, a massive force of Anbu would have long since arrived to lock down the area.
"Are you all by yourself?"
At the mention of his family, the youth's tone grew muted and indifferent. "My mother passed away when I was very young. It has always just been my father and me. Tonight, he chose to stay behind to live or die alongside the clan, so..."
Leaving the sentence unfinished, the boy understood all too well that his father had likely already fallen in battle within the heart of the village. Staring back at the raging inferno consuming Konoha, a trace of profound bewilderment flickered in his eyes.
Once upon a time, he had been just an ordinary child attending the Ninja Academy, harboring innocent dreams of one day becoming the Hokage.
But the sudden, violent upheaval of the Uchiha clan had instantly shattered his sense of reality.
To him, the concept of a "future" had become an extravagant luxury.
"Go to the Land of Wind. Perhaps it will offer you all a brand-new beginning."
Before stepping into the carriage, the boy leaned his head out, questioning quietly, "The Uchiha... legends say we are a cursed, malevolent clan. As shinobi of the Hidden Sand, are you not afraid?"
"Hahaha..."
Shiraishi was genuinely amused by the youth's solemnity. He reached out and gently patted the boy's head. "Whether a soul aligns with malice or righteousness depends entirely on one's personal choices and path in life. How can such things be dictated solely by a family name?"
Shiraishi's answer caused the boy to sink into deep reflection. "Personal choices and paths...?"
"You are a very interesting child. What is your name?"
"Uchiha Kei."
As the carriages began to roll out, safely carrying the surviving Uchiha women and children away, Shiraishi watched Uchiha Kei stare back at him with wide, intense eyes. "Well then, Kei, I shall look forward to the day we meet again in the Sand."
"Mmh!"
For reasons he couldn't quite articulate, Kei felt a profound sense of intrigue regarding this mysterious adult. With eyes gleaming with hidden resolve, he nodded his farewell to Shiraishi.
"The battle over there is growing increasingly violent."
Unohana Retsu materialized silently from the darkness. Gazing up at the ominous crimson sun in the sky as it continuously devoured countless human spirits, a flicker of distaste crossed her eyes.
Yet, she understood perfectly that this was the monumental catastrophe Shiraishi intended to leave behind for Konoha.
"Uchiha Kaede can still hold his ground for a while longer."
"Are you not going to personally intervene?"
"If I step onto that battlefield now, it would be tantamount to triggering a literal World War."
An internal Uchiha rebellion and a direct military intervention by Sunagakure were two entirely different political realities.
As the Hidden Sand had not yet completed its absolute preparations to unify the ninja world, Shiraishi refrained from exposing his hand.
Unohana narrowed her eyes, observing the horizon where the sky had been dyed into an apocalyptic red cloud. "So, you wish for me to make a move?"
"Simply assist Kaede in delaying them for a short duration; that will suffice."
A specialized dimensional rift coordinate began to fluctuate within Shiraishi's palm. Clearly, during Lop Nur's previous visit to Konoha, Shiraishi had already meticulously planted specific space-time ninjutsu markers throughout the interior of the village, ensuring seamless transit for his dimensional gates.
Bathed in the radiant glow of the crimson sun, Konoha Village resembled an absolute living purgatory.
Countless innocent civilians found themselves trapped within the spreading blazes, completely paralyzed. Stepping out from the Uchiha compound, Itachi observed the apocalyptic scenery, a profound agony twisting his features.
He could clearly perceive that the accumulated resentment and Sharingan ocular power of his fallen clansmen were continuously funneling into the skyward sun, generating a massive, wide-scale radiation genjutsu structured similarly to the Tsukuyomi.
That ominous sun must be destroyed. With that singular thought, and to avoid unnecessary complications, Itachi swiftly donned an Anbu mask. Manifesting his Susanoo, he launched himself like a rocket toward the elevated position of the crimson sun.
Equipped with the Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror, Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo possessed more than enough raw tactical capacity to contest this threat.
Suddenly, a violent spike of danger registered in Itachi's consciousness. A lethal, blinding arc of sword intent cleaved through the air, heading straight for him.
Executing a high-speed Body Flicker to evade the trajectory, his Susanoo simultaneously retaliated with a crushing punch.
Yet, his opponent stood completely unbothered amidst the sea of fire. Black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her face was concealed beneath a specialized mask.
"Who are you?"
She wore no headband, and the chakra circulation within her physical vessel was exceptionally suppressed. Even though Itachi himself couldn't actively detect a direct threat, he remained hyper-vigilant. His instincts told him something was deeply wrong.
Ignoring Itachi entirely, Unohana Retsu's Zanpakuto flashed with terrifying velocity. Amidst a brilliant burst of light, a thrust carrying a tyrannical storm of slashing intent pierced outward, actually ripping a massive laceration clean through the armored shell of the Susanoo.
"Tsk, tsk. What a terrifyingly precise slash."
Obito materialized from the shifting shadows, his tone laced with a hint of lingering trepidation. Unohana's initial strike had actually been targeted at the space where Obito was concealed.
Though he had successfully bypassed the damage by utilizing his intangibility, he could still vividly feel the sheer intensity of that chilling killing intent.
As one of Shiraishi's hidden trump cards, Unohana Retsu had never been registered within the intelligence networks of the various shinobi villages.
Therefore, even if a thorough investigation were launched after tonight, it would be an absolute mathematical impossibility to trace her origins.
This was precisely why Shiraishi had boldly deployed her to intercept both Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito simultaneously.
With the blade firmly anchored in Unohana's grip, the high-frequency vibration generated by her descending strikes left brilliant streaks of light in the air, resembling bolts of lightning cutting through the absolute darkness.
The deeper the shadows grew around them, the more majestic and overwhelming her swordsmanship appeared.
The frantic three-way clash instantly drew the attention of Konoha's observing shinobi.
However, with one being a completely unknown master swordsman and the other two donning masks—one suspected to be an Uchiha, the other of entirely unknown identity—the chaotic skirmish left the observing forces completely disoriented, unable to discern who was ally and who was enemy.
"Uchiha Kaede... even if it costs me this old life, I will put an absolute end to your conspiracy!"
Atop the crimson sun, the Third Hokage panted heavily. The extreme ambient temperature was relentlessly eroding the meager remnants of his physical vitality.
Facing the grotesque entity that was Uchiha Kaede, whose body was now studded with countless blinking Sharingan, the Third Hokage finally resolved himself to deploy his ultimate trump card.
Minato... I am sorry, but it looks like I must follow in your footsteps.
But all of this... is for the sake of Konoha!
"No matter what it is you intend to pull, you have to be able to keep pace with my speed first!"
Kaede vanished, reappearing directly behind the Third Hokage in a flash.
Yet, the exact millisecond his dual flaming katanas descended to cleave him apart, the entire surrounding reality was abruptly plunged into an absolute, pitch-black void.
His five senses were instantly and violently suppressed.
Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!
This was a specialized illusionary art originally engineered by the Second Hokage himself. The moment the Third Hokage unleashed it, and just as Kaede prepared to forcefully unravel the genjutsu, the Third Hokage's hands shot forward through the dark, locking around Kaede's wrists with a vice-like, unbreakable grip.
"I have you now..."
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