"Have you heard?"
"The Uchiha clan… has been wiped out!"
"What? Is that… really true?"
"I never liked those arrogant guys much, but the Uchiha were Konoha's undisputed top clan. How could they suddenly disappear?"
"They say it was done by the clan leader's son—Uchiha Itachi!"
"He didn't even spare his own parents. That guy is a monster!"
"I remember he's only thirteen, right? Did he really do all that alone?"
"That's way too unbelievable!"
"They say he's a true prodigy. He awakened the Sharingan at eight, and by thirteen he had already become a captain in the ANBU!"
The next morning,
Konoha was shaken to its core.
News that Uchiha Itachi had exterminated the Uchiha clan spread throughout the village,
then rapidly across the entire ninja world.
Countless people were stunned.
It was almost impossible to believe.
Yet somehow,
Itachi's resume was suddenly made public:
Graduated from the Ninja Academy at 7Awakened the Sharingan at 8Passed the Chūnin Exams alone at 10Joined the ANBU at 11Became an ANBU squad captain at 13
The sheer brilliance of his record left people speechless.
The Third Hokage, enraged,
personally visited the Konoha Hospital to see the only surviving Uchiha—
Uchiha Sasuke, who was still unconscious.
Afterward,
he immediately returned to the Hokage Tower and convened an emergency Jōnin meeting.
During the meeting,
he officially declared Uchiha Itachi an S-rank missing-nin of Konoha.
A nationwide manhunt was issued.
Dead or alive.
However,
no matter how the announcement was framed,
the Uchiha had been Konoha's number one clan.
Their conflicts with the village leadership, led by the Third Hokage,
had grown increasingly obvious over the years.
Almost anyone with eyes could see it.
For such a powerful clan to suddenly be annihilated—
there was no way the other clans would believe the higher-ups had nothing to do with it.
Even clans that usually supported the Third Hokage—
such as the Hyūga, Aburame, and even the Ino–Shika–Chō alliance—
felt a chill run down their spines.
The ruthlessness of the village leadership
had both intimidated them
and filled them with fear.
A sense of "today it's them, tomorrow it could be us" spread quietly.
After all,
the Uchiha were one of Konoha's founding clans alongside the Senju.
They had been glorious and powerful for generations,
earning immense achievements in every war.
And now—
they were simply gone.
If such a clan could vanish overnight,
who could guarantee the others would not meet the same fate?
To calm the unrest among the clans,
Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi announced another measure.
The Konoha Police Force, once exclusively controlled by the Uchiha,
would be reorganized.
Outstanding ninja from various clans would now be selected
to form a new police force responsible for maintaining village order.
In other words,
the benefits that once belonged solely to the Uchiha
would now be distributed among the other clans.
This was meant to stabilize the village.
Of course,
the ones who would receive the largest share of power
were still the Hokage-aligned families—
the Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado, and Utatane clans.
Inside Konoha Hospital.
Upon hearing the news of the Uchiha clan's destruction,
Shizune was stunned.
Remembering what the Third Hokage had said to Tsunade a few days earlier,
she looked nervously toward her teacher,
whose expression had darkened.
"Lady Tsunade…"
After traveling the ninja world with Tsunade for so long,
Shizune's perspective was far broader than that of ordinary villagers.
There was no way one thirteen-year-old Itachi could wipe out an entire clan
before the village had time to respond or send reinforcements.
Moreover—
when leaving the hospital the previous night,
Ren had already sensed something.
The Uchiha district had been surrounded by a large number of ninja.
At that time,
the massacre had clearly not yet happened.
Otherwise,
Ren would have sensed a massive disappearance of chakra signatures.
"The entire clan… wiped out."
Ren pretended to be shocked.
He murmured softly,
"Power struggles are truly terrifying…"
His reaction appeared completely genuine,
as though he knew nothing about it.
"Hmph…"
Tsunade clenched her fists.
Her face turned grim.
"Those people are becoming more and more reckless."
Originally,
she had assumed that whatever happened last night
would at most involve the Hokage leadership using force
to suppress radical Uchiha members who were plotting rebellion.
But she never imagined
that the entire Uchiha clan would be slaughtered.
Only Uchiha Sasuke remained alive.
Although Tsunade had never liked the Uchiha's arrogance,
she did not hate the ordinary members of the clan.
After all,
they were still part of the village.
Tsunade was no naive idealist.
She understood well that the ninja world was brutal.
But she also remembered clearly
the ideals of her grandfather,
the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama—
the very purpose for which Konoha had been created.
This…
was not it.
She even believed that if her second grandfather,
Tobirama Senju, were still alive—
even with his famously harsh stance toward the Uchiha—
he would never have allowed such a thing.
And Tsunade knew another truth.
While the Uchiha certainly bore some responsibility for the conflict,
the larger problem lay with the village leadership,
whose constant suppression had pushed the proud clan to the breaking point.
"These matters aren't for you two to worry about."
Tsunade said coldly to her disciples.
"Just focus on your work."
Her disgust toward Konoha's leadership had only grown stronger.
Without saying more,
she brought Shizune and Ren
to check on the sole survivor.
Inside the hospital room,
Uchiha Sasuke lay unconscious.
Tsunade placed her hand on his head.
A soft green glow emanated from her palm.
After examining him,
she spoke calmly:
"This kid's mind suffered a severe shock."
"But it's nothing too serious."
"He should wake up soon."
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