After class, Uchiha Sasuke was held back for detention. Everyone else filed out as Iruka instructed, heading home early.
Naruto returned to the house his parents had left him.
Yukino, Eriri, and the rest of the transmigrators made their way back to the orphanage. To them, Iruka's announcement was nothing unusual. Just the village running another routine disaster drill.
Only Makoto Nishikado, armed with an omniscient view of the plot, understood what was really happening.
The Night of the Massacre the Reincarnation Game had assigned as their mission objective had finally arrived.
Honestly, all he had to do was follow Yukino and the others back to the orphanage, sleep through the night, and wake up in the real world tomorrow with a clean pass. Mission complete.
But a man who refused to settle for ordinary was never going to let a chance like this slip by.
On the walk back, he spoke up. "I'm going to run a few laps before I head in."
Hikigaya Hachiman and Ichinose Chizuru both glanced over, unsurprised. Two years of watching this maniac train like his life depended on it had cured them of any shock.
Yukinoshita Yukino frowned. For the first time in two and a half years, she addressed him directly.
"You're going to work out at this hour? Do you want the Uchiha Military Police to drag you in?"
Makoto couldn't help but laugh.
Starting tomorrow, the Uchiha Military Police won't even exist. Good luck arresting me.
He turned to Akizuki Airi and said softly, "Go back. I'll be there soon."
Yukino watched him ignore her yet again, spun on her heel, and stormed off. Ungrateful idiot. Have fun rotting in a cell.
The others followed her back toward the orphanage.
Only Airi lingered. She'd grown up alongside Makoto, and something in the air tonight felt wrong. She leaned in close. "Is it dangerous?"
His expression stayed calm, but his voice carried a weight it rarely did.
"If I don't come back, promise me one thing. Don't let Aunt Kayoko say yes to that man."
Airi's composure shattered. She grabbed his sleeve, eyes already glistening. "You can't go!"
That single sentence told her everything. Whatever he was about to do, he might not survive it.
Makoto reached up and brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. "I have to. I refuse to live a life that doesn't mean something."
The tears came faster. "Your life already means something!" Her voice cracked. "You've already done so much!"
It was true. Aunt Kayoko had struggled to raise three children on her own, but Makoto's novels had made them wealthy long ago.
In Airi's eyes, he was already the most remarkable person she knew. There was no reason to gamble his life.
Passersby were starting to stare. Makoto pulled her into the shadow behind a shopfront and lowered his voice. "Trust me."
She met his gaze and recognized something immovable behind it. No argument would change his mind.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. She forced the tears back, barely, and stared up at him through blurred eyes. "Then promise me. Promise you'll come back. Okay?"
He nodded.
Only after extracting every reassurance she could did Airi finally turn away, glancing back with every other step, and disappear down the road toward the orphanage.
For the next several hours, Makoto stayed hidden behind the shop, waiting in silence as the sky darkened.
When a pale, ill-omened moon finally hung overhead, he stepped out of the shadows and formed hand seals.
"Transformation Technique!"
A puff of white smoke, and a familiar figure stood in his place.
Any Leaf shinobi who saw him would have done a double take. Hatake Kakashi.
That was exactly who Makoto had chosen to impersonate: the Copy Ninja, arguably the strongest shinobi Konohagakure had on the books after Sarutobi Hiruzen himself.
You had to hand it to Hiruzen and his council of elders—they were real pieces of work. The Senju founders had left behind an empire.
A few decades under Hiruzen and his council of elders later, the only proper Kage-level fighter left was the old man himself, with Kakashi scraping into second place.
There was one key difference, though.
This "Kakashi" looked like he'd crawled out of hell. Savage wounds criss-crossed his body. His silver hair was matted with grime and blood. Fresh cuts still wept red. Every inch of him screamed barely survived.
The disguised Makoto sprinted toward the Uchiha compound.
By the time he neared the gates, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo were already stationed outside with a small army of ANBU and Root operatives. The two old men huddled together, voices low.
"Hiruzen, same as we agreed. Your ANBU hold the perimeter. Make sure no one escapes." Danzo's tone was ice. "I'll take Root inside to mop up anyone Itachi missed."
Hiruzen's brow furrowed.
This arrangement meant most of the Sharingan would fall into Danzo's hands, and that stung. But the deal had been struck long ago, and Danzo had upheld his end by eliminating Uchiha Shisui.
Backing out now would be beneath him.
Hiruzen gave a reluctant nod.
That was when the bloodied "Kakashi" came barreling toward them, voice ragged with panic.
"Lord Hokage! We have a problem!"
Every head snapped toward him.
"Hatake Kakashi." Danzo's instinct was to reprimand. The plan had never included Kakashi. But the words died when he took in the state of the man in front of him. Drenched in blood, wounds layered over wounds. The aftermath of a fight for his life.
"Kakashi, what happened?" Hiruzen rushed forward. Kakashi was practically family. His student's student.
"Kakashi" doubled over, gasping. "Lord... Lord Hokage. The Uchiha planted a secret squad. They've gone after Naruto. I think they're planning to use the Sharingan to unleash the Nine-Tails sealed inside him!"
The color drained from the faces of the two old bastards, as well as the ANBU and Root operatives surrounding them.
One of the ANBU spoke up, disbelief sharp in his voice. "That can't be right, Kakashi-senpai. We've been watching the Uchiha for months. The entire clan is accounted for inside the compound."
"Kakashi-senpai" was perfectly natural. Kakashi had once led an ANBU squad.
"I know how it sounds, but it's real!" Makoto's performance was flawless. His own expression mirrored the ANBU's shock. "They must have been preparing for tonight for a long time."
He turned to Hiruzen, urgency cracking through every word. "Lord Hokage, please go save Naruto immediately! There are too many of them. I barely escaped with my life. You need everyone here as reinforcements. If the Nine-Tails is released, the consequences will be catastrophic!"
"Damn them! Those wretched Uchiha!" Danzo spat.
Hiruzen's face hardened into something Makoto had never seen on the old man. He raised his voice. "Everyone, with me. We're going to save Naruto!"
The memory of the Nine-Tails rampage eight years ago still haunted this village. If Minato hadn't turned the tide that night, Konoha might not exist today. The thought of it happening again...
The same ANBU who'd spoken before cut in. "But Lord Hokage, what if Uchiha survivors escape while we're gone?"
Hiruzen hesitated.
"Kakashi" stepped forward immediately. "Leave this to me, Lord Hokage. I'm wounded, but I can still hold this entrance. Go reinforce Naruto's position. That's where you're needed."
Hiruzen considered it for half a second, then nodded. He knew what Kakashi was capable of. Even injured, guarding a single chokepoint was well within his ability.
"Then I'm counting on you, Kakashi."
He raised his arm. "Everyone, move out!"
In a blur of motion, Hiruzen, Danzo, and their entire force launched themselves toward Naruto's home at full speed.
Makoto waited until the last trace of chakra vanished into the distance.
Then the "Kakashi" disguise split into a grin.
He turned and tore into the Uchiha compound.
The compound sat at the village's edge. Naruto's house was dead center. The round trip alone would eat up an enormous amount of time, but even so, he couldn't waste a single second.
The Transformation Technique was laughably easy to see through. Forget the Sharingan or the Byakugan. Any halfway competent sensor-type ninja could have unraveled the disguise in an instant.
That was exactly why Makoto had never given them the chance.
He'd burst onto the scene already mid-crisis, flooding them with a lie so urgent it hijacked every brain in the vicinity. No one had the mental bandwidth left to probe his chakra signature.
It was an enormous gamble. He'd had no way of knowing whether a sensor ninja in Hiruzen's entourage might reflexively scan him on arrival.
But luck had been on his side, and the bluff had landed.
"AAAAAGH!"
He'd barely entered the compound when a child's agonized scream ripped through the night from somewhere deeper inside.
Makoto recognized the voice instantly. Sasuke.
So the kid had already run into his dear older brother.
A plan crystallized in the time it took to blink.
He ignored the bodies littering the streets and sprinted toward the clan head's residence, where Uchiha Fugaku would be.
When he arrived, Sasuke lay crumpled on the road outside, unconscious.
And there was Itachi, standing over his little brother, weeping crocodile tears.
The appearance of "Kakashi" jolted him. "Kakashi? Why are you here?"
Understandable shock. In his and Danzo's plan, Kakashi had absolutely no role in tonight's classified operation
Makoto pulled the same trick a second time, plastering a look of sheer desperation across his face. "We have a situation! A masked man claiming to be Uchiha Madara is going after Naruto! He says he's going to release the Nine-Tails and destroy the village!"
Itachi's pupils contracted. He whispered to himself, "That's impossible... He gave me his word."
He knew exactly who "Kakashi" was describing. The self-proclaimed leader of the Akatsuki, "Uchiha Madara." Itachi had been planning to join the organization after leaving the village. The decision to massacre his own clan had been negotiated with this very man.
So why would he break his promise and attack the village now, of all nights?
Before Itachi could untangle his thoughts, "Kakashi" pressed harder. "Itachi, hurry over and back them up! We need your strength! Leave your brother to me. I'll get him to the hospital."
Itachi's mind was reeling. He didn't have time to think it through. He nodded. "I'll leave it to you."
And then he, too, vanished into the night, racing toward Naruto's home.
Watching Itachi's silhouette disappear, the "Kakashi" mask could no longer contain what was underneath. Pure, unbridled elation erupted across Makoto's face.
He didn't spare a glance at Sasuke.
He charged inside.
In a spreading pool of blood lay Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto.
Makoto wasted no words. His left hand produced a test tube from inside his jacket, already filled with organ preservation fluid. His right hand reached without hesitation for Fugaku's eyes.
He pried them free and sealed them in the tube.
And then, for the first time in two years, the Reincarnation Game's notification chimed inside his skull.
[Player Makoto Nishikado has obtained item: Mangekyou Sharingan (Uchiha Fugaku)]
He let out an unhinged, triumphant laugh—a maniacal cackle that would have made Light Yagami proud.
All according to plan.
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Every 50 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter