When the first ray of morning light fell over the clan grounds, Uchiha Katsu was already standing in the position of clan head.
He looked down at the clan members below, some frightened, some silent, and some fanatical. There was no unnecessary emotion in his blood-red Sharingan.
From this moment on, he officially became the head of the Uchiha clan.
After becoming clan head, Uchiha Katsu barely paused before immediately beginning to fulfill the role he had to complete in this historical timeline.
He knew very clearly... His destined battle with Senju Mio was a fixed point.
Severing their bond was also a plot point that had to be completed.
It was just that Uchiha Katsu had now completely realized one thing: the Senju Mio of the present was not the Senju Mio from his previous life.
Her memories had been erased, her experiences reset, and even those traces deep in her soul of everything they had once gone through together had completely disappeared.
So, he decided to sever their bond.
There was no hesitation and no unnecessary emotional fluctuation.
However, before actually making his move, Uchiha Katsu still left himself a way out in his heart.
Because of that faint softness deep inside him that he could not explain, he decided...
In his destined battle with Senju Mio, he would deliberately lose.
Then fake his death.
And completely exit the stage of history.
This would allow him to complete the plot point Arisu had requested while also quietly removing himself from this predetermined path.
Uchiha Katsu stood by the window of the clan head's office, watching the distant sky gradually brighten. His blood-red Sharingan remained calm and still.
He would do everything that had to be done.
Only this time, he would use his own way to play this destined drama to the ending he wanted.
———
[Several Days Later]
The battlefield was chosen in a barren wilderness far from the territories of both clans.
The land and sky stretched vast and empty, while the wind and sand let out a low howl.
Senju Mio stood in the middle of the open ground, already gripping the long blade she was most accustomed to using.
She looked at the familiar figure opposite her, her heart feeling as though an invisible hand had seized it tightly.
"Katsu... what exactly are you doing?"
Her voice trembled noticeably, yet she tried to maintain the last bit of her reason.
Just a few days ago, they had still been sitting side by side beside the small river at the edge of the clan grounds. She had leaned against his shoulder, listening to him, unusually, quietly talk about some trivial things.
At that time, although Uchiha Katsu would occasionally reveal a trace of loneliness she could not understand, at least... he was her lover.
But now...
Uchiha Katsu stood opposite her, his Sharingan fully activated, his blood-red pupils devoid of any warmth.
"Mio, from today onward, everything between us should end."
Katsu's voice was calm to the point of cruelty.
"End?"
Senju Mio suddenly raised her head, and her eyes instantly reddened.
"You say it ends, so it ends? Didn't we agree that we would... You suddenly attacked and tried to kill me?! Uchiha Katsu, what exactly do you take me for?!"
Her voice echoed across the empty wilderness, filled with grievance, anger, and deep confusion.
Uchiha Katsu did not answer.
He simply raised his hand and formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation."
A scorching wall of fire instantly swept over, swallowing Senju Mio whole in the next instant.
Senju Mio gritted her teeth and turned sideways. A flash of blade light appeared as she forcibly split open a corner of the wall of fire, her figure already shooting out like lightning.
She did not know Wood Release, but the Senju clan's physical techniques and swordsmanship were still fierce.
The blade went straight for Uchiha Katsu's throat, but at the last moment, he precisely blocked it.
The sharp sound of metal striking metal exploded between the two.
"Why..."
"We were clearly doing fine... Why did you suddenly try to kill me?!"
Senju Mio gritted her teeth, her blade pressed firmly against his.
Uchiha Katsu's Sharingan rotated slightly, a trace of extremely faint complex emotion flashing through it before quickly being suppressed.
He did not explain.
Because an explanation itself was already unnecessary.
The battle instantly grew intense.
Uchiha Katsu unleashed Fire Release attack after attack, combined with the Sharingan's predictions, almost forcing Senju Mio into a desperate situation.
Yet every time an attack could truly have been fatal, he would slightly change its angle at the last moment, allowing her to barely but timely dodge it.
Senju Mio, however, grew increasingly chilled as the fight continued.
She could feel it. The person opposite her was serious.
But she could feel even more strongly that, to some extent... he seemed to be holding back.
This only made her angrier.
"What exactly do you take me for?! A toy?!"
She shouted angrily, her chakra surging as the momentum of her blade suddenly became more vicious.
The blade light continued without end, forcing Uchiha Katsu to retreat again and again.
Seeing the trust and pain in her eyes completely shattered, the trace of softness remaining in Uchiha Katsu's heart, which had already been almost nonexistent, was finally suppressed completely.
He suddenly withdrew his attack and stood where he was, allowing Senju Mio's blade to pierce his chest.
Blood instantly gushed out.
Senju Mio froze completely.
She looked at the blade in her hand, then at the blood spreading across Uchiha Katsu's chest, her mind going completely blank.
"You... you did it on purpose..."
The corners of Uchiha Katsu's mouth lifted slightly, revealing an extremely faint smile that was almost one of relief.
He reached out and gently grasped the hand she was holding the blade with. His voice already carried blood, yet it was unusually clear.
"Mio... it's over."
Then his body fell backward, his chakra aura rapidly dissipating as if he had completely lost his life.
Senju Mio fell to her knees, looking at the body that was gradually growing cold. Tears finally began to fall in large drops despite her efforts to hold them back.
She could not understand it no matter what.
They had clearly still been fine just a few days ago.
He had clearly said that he would not leave.
'Why... did it suddenly become like this?'
The wind of the wilderness swept past, stirring up the dust and traces of blood on the ground.
Uchiha Katsu's "corpse" lay there quietly.
But the real him had already used Izanagi to quietly transfer his existence at the moment he faked his death.
He stood in the shadows in the distance, took one last look at the figure kneeling on the ground and crying, then turned and disappeared into the wind and sand.
From this moment on, Uchiha Katsu officially exited the stage of history.
In a secluded valley far from the battlefield, Uchiha Katsu changed out of his bloodstained Uchiha clan clothes.
He put on an ordinary set of dark-colored traveler's clothes and switched off his Sharingan.
From the outside, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary passing traveler.
Then, without looking back, he headed north through the shinobi world.
Along the way, he did not use any conspicuous ninjutsu. He simply relied on his exceptional physical skills and senses to avoid all possible pursuit.
———
[Several Days Later]
An unremarkable small town on the northern border.
Night grew deeper, and the inn was filled with noisy voices.
Uchiha Katsu pushed open the door and walked in, asking for a seat by the window and casually ordering some food and drinks.
He sat alone in the corner, holding a wine cup in his hand, but he did not drink quickly.
Outside the window was the dry, cold night wind unique to the north. Inside the inn were the noise and warmth of ordinary people's lives.
No one recognized him, and no one knew that this seemingly somewhat lonely traveler had just personally ended all of his own roles in history.
Uchiha Katsu lowered his head and took a sip of wine, his gaze calmly fixed on the night outside the window.
From now on, the name Uchiha Katsu should be completely buried in the earth.
Suddenly, Uchiha Katsu caught sight of a figure. It was a woman disguised as a man.
———
Yumeko was drinking at this moment when she suddenly saw a man dressed unusually walking over.
'Looks like someone from the Uchiha clan...', Yumeko thought to herself.