After Uchiha Fugaku's death, Danzō immediately arrived at his corpse.
What met his eyes was only a gruesomely mangled body—there was no trace of the Mangekyō Sharingan he had coveted so deeply.
"Uchiha Fugaku must have entrusted his Mangekyō Sharingan to Uchiha Itachi. Hiruzen, the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan… I hardly need to explain it to you, do I?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was extremely grim. Fugaku's Susanoo had delivered an overwhelming shock to him—let alone the fact that it could even control a tailed beast.
"All remaining combat-capable ANBU and jōnin—pursue Uchiha Itachi immediately! If he resists, kill on sight!"
At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen was radiating intense killing intent.
Elsewhere, Itachi had already led the surviving members of the Uchiha clan out of Konoha and was advancing toward the borders of the Land of Fire.
"Uchiha Itachi! This is as far as you go!"
Kakashi, leading a group of jōnin, caught up to Itachi and blocked his path, while ANBU sealed off the road behind them.
Facing his former comrades, Itachi felt a turmoil of emotions.
"Think clearly, Itachi. It's not too late to turn back—come back with me," Kakashi urged, speaking as Itachi's former ANBU captain.
"Turn back?" Itachi replied. "The fact that you're here means my other clansmen have already all been slaughtered. Tell me—how can we possibly turn back now?"
His three-tomoe Sharingan spun as his cold, crimson gaze locked onto Kakashi.
"The people here only want a place to live without oppression, a place where they can live in peace. We have no intention of opposing Konoha. Even so, you still won't let us go. If we return to the village, can you guarantee that my clan won't continue to be oppressed?"
Might Guy shouted from beside Kakashi, "The Hokage will definitely handle this properly! Leaving the village now means you're becoming rogue ninja!"
"That's just your assumption," Itachi replied calmly.
"If the Third Hokage had truly intended to resolve things, it would never have escalated to this point. From beginning to end, Konoha never saw us as comrades of the same village."
"Since we were never walking the same path to begin with, how can leaving Konoha be called betrayal?"
He swept his gaze over the Konoha ninja surrounding him and said coldly,
"Our ideals are fundamentally different. There's no benefit in further discussion."
Seeing Itachi prepare to fight, the ANBU behind him immediately began forming hand seals, ready to strike first.
Suddenly, countless small spiders appeared on the ground, crawling rapidly over the Konoha ninja.
A voice rang out from above.
"Art is an explosion! Katsu!"
The tiny spiders swelled and detonated one after another. Though each explosion was small, their sheer number made up for it, instantly blasting several unprepared ninja out of combat.
Three figures descended from the sky—Deidara, wearing a mask; Karin; and Yōsuke, all masked.
Itachi was about to call out to his master, Yōsuke, but seeing that all three were masked—clearly intending to conceal their identities—he forced himself to hold back.
Before the mission, since it was a covert operation, Yōsuke had assigned them code names.
Yōsuke's codename was Ken (Heaven).
Deidara's codename was Shin (Shock).
Karin's codename was Taku (Blessing).
Deidara looked arrogantly at the Konoha ninja and said to Yōsuke,
"Ken, these are all enemies, right? Then I won't hold back!"
Ignoring Deidara's eagerness, Yōsuke addressed the Konoha ninja directly:
"We are here to accept Uchiha Itachi and his clan. If you choose to stop us, then we will regard you as enemies."
Kakashi frowned deeply and accused Itachi,
"Uchiha Itachi, I never thought you'd collude with outsiders from other villages. So you really have betrayed Konoha!"
Behind Kakashi, Asuma felt a strange sense of familiarity when he looked at the masked Yōsuke.
Itachi's expression remained unchanged as he replied calmly,
"I already told you—we were never comrades. There's no such thing as betrayal."
All the Konoha ninja prepared for battle.
Yōsuke sighed helplessly and shook his head.
"So you've still chosen to stand in our way. Shin."
Deidara excitedly plunged both hands into his ninja pouch, chewing and molding clay. Several small clay birds emerged from the mouths in his palms.
"Experience my art! Go—Exploding Clay: Mini Birds!"
The clay birds flapped their wings automatically and sped toward the Konoha ninja.
Remembering the earlier spider explosions, the Konoha ninja hastily activated defensive techniques.
When the birds exploded, a massive cloud of dust filled the battlefield, completely obscuring everyone's vision.
Suddenly, dozens of ANBU burst through the dust, launching swift and ferocious attacks at Deidara.
Deidara created a massive clay bird, leapt onto it, and soared into the sky, continuously dropping clay bombs onto the ninja pursuing him.
Maniacal laughter and relentless explosions echoed across the area.
Yōsuke's forehead twitched with bulging veins.
"…Forget it. No need to get angry. I'll just let him have his fun."
With the ANBU drawn away by Deidara, only Konoha's jōnin remained.
Itachi looked at Kakashi and the jōnin blocking his path and said to Yōsuke,
"Mas—Ken. Leave these ninja to me. I want to make a clean break—with them, and with Konoha."
Yōsuke did not refuse.
"Very well. You won't need to worry about anything else. I'll protect your clan."
Yōsuke stood guard beside the surviving Uchiha, while Karin began using medical ninjutsu to treat the injured.
Itachi drew the sword at his waist with his right hand and rapidly formed seals with his left.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Ball!"
A massive fireball erupted from his mouth and surged toward Kakashi and the other jōnin. Upon reaching a certain distance, the flames suddenly expanded, triggering a large-scale explosion.
From the air, Deidara shouted excitedly,
"As expected of you, Uchiha Itachi! I acknowledge your art!"
Kakashi and the jōnin leapt high, narrowly escaping the blast radius.
But Itachi's figure appeared behind them an instant earlier.
"Sun Breathing—Seventh Form: Slanting Sunset!"
His blade became wrapped in sun-like, blazing flames as he unleashed a horizontal slash while inverted in midair. The fiery arc was vast, nearly engulfing all the Konoha ninja.
"Eight Gates—Sixth Gate: Gate of View! Open!"
Might Guy erupted with green steam as the Sixth Gate opened.
"Morning Peacock!"
Guy unleashed a barrage of ultra-high-speed punches, igniting the air through friction. The resulting shockwaves and flames struck Itachi's attack, forcibly breaking the Slanting Sunset sword form.