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Soon, Kagaya and Kisame returned to the former Uchiha clan compound with Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
Itachi was the first to notice Kagaya and Kisame. He looked at Koharu and Homura and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"You're back. Are they dead?"
Kagaya threw Koharu's body to the ground. "One is already dead. The other isn't, but he soon will be."
After speaking, Kagaya looked at Karin. "Karin, is Danzo still alive?"
Karin replied, a hint of fear in her voice, "Kagaya... he... he still has a breath left. He's not dead. But he's about to die. I... I didn't really want him to bite me, so I left him like that. If... if you want him to live, I... I can let him bite me once."
Kagaya sneered coldly. "That's enough. Having a breath left is enough. He doesn't deserve to live any longer."
With that, Kagaya walked over to Danzo, bent down, and brought his mouth close to Danzo's ear. "Danzo, do you know where this is? I won't make it difficult for you. I know it's probably hard for you to even speak now. So, I'll tell you. This is the Uchiha clan compound. The night four years ago, you must have personally led people here. Now, revisiting this place... anything you want to say? Heh."
As he spoke, Kagaya reached out, pulling open Danzo's eyelids—though there was nothing there anymore, though Danzo could no longer see anything. Still, Kagaya turned Danzo's head towards the direction of Koharu and Homura.
"Recognize them? Oh, right, you can't see. Let me tell you then. The main instigators of the Uchiha clan massacre—you, the Third Hokage, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado—not a single one escaped! Rest assured, you'll all be reunited in the afterlife soon. By then, perhaps you can even discuss again how to exterminate the Uchiha clan over there. And then, when I die, when I reach the afterlife... I will kill you all until your souls scatter to the winds!"
Danzo's breathing suddenly became ragged. It seemed he wanted to say something, mustering every ounce of strength.
"Uchiha Kagaya... I... I should have killed you back then!"
The last words seemed to drain the last of Danzo's strength. His already pale face grew even more ashen after uttering that sentence.
Looking at Danzo now, Kagaya couldn't help but laugh. "You look somewhat like I did four years ago now. By the way, do you have a clan? Shimura Danzo... there should be a Shimura clan, right?"
Instantly, Danzo's expression twisted into a vicious mask, as if a final surge of life force had returned. He roared, "You truly deserve death! I should have slaughtered every last Uchiha without leaving a single one!!!"
This sentence was spoken with shocking fluency—likely the last fluent words he would ever speak. Kagaya could feel Danzo's life force rapidly dissipating at an extreme speed after he finished.
Kagaya's laughter grew even more wild and unrestrained. "Today, the Shimura clan... will be wiped out without a single soul remaining!!"
Danzo seemed on the verge of exploding. "You...! You...! You...!"
His life was slipping away. Danzo was dying. Kagaya pulled out a kunai and, at the last possible moment, drove it forcefully through Danzo's neck.
At the very end, Kagaya spoke one final sentence to Danzo. "If you're going to die, it should be by my hand. This place... once nurtured and raised me. Now, it's the place where I kill you. In the future... it will be your burial ground. Go now, and atone before the souls of the Uchiha!"
With that, Kagaya gripped the kunai, thrusting it deeper once more. Danzo, from this point onward, ceased breathing entirely.
Kagaya stared at the dead Danzo before him, his heart a turbulent mix of emotions. The despair and hatred on Danzo's face before his death... how similar it was to his own expression back then. Seeing Danzo like that filled Kagaya with immense satisfaction, yet simultaneously evoked a sympathetic sadness born of shared experience.
Clan extermination—two simple words, yet enough to shatter the will to live of anyone.
The Shimura clan... Kagaya had never heard of it. Presumably, it was very weak, having produced only Danzo as a notable figure. Exterminating such a clan would be easily accomplished.
But...
Exterminate a clan...?
Kagaya stood up, walked over to Homura Mitokado, and without the slightest hesitation, drove the kunai through his neck.
Kisame spoke up, puzzled. "Huh? Mr. Kagaya, aren't you going to say anything to him?"
Kagaya shook his head. "No. The only reason I brought him here alive was to let Danzo feel the pain of having someone important killed beside him—to add another layer of despair at the end of Danzo's life. However, I didn't expect that by the time we arrived, Danzo was already at death's door. There was no time to inflict that final despair upon him. Now, this elder has no further value. Naturally, he must be killed."
Itachi looked at Kagaya. After hesitating for a long time, he finally asked, "What will you do next? Exterminate the Shimura clan?"
Kagaya smiled. "Who knows. Karin, Haku, let's go. The invasion of Konoha ends here. Itachi, Kisame, we part ways here."
Itachi pressed anxiously, "Then what about you? Are you really going to exterminate the Shimura clan?"
This time, Kagaya didn't answer Itachi. Taking Karin and Haku with him, he vanished from the spot.
Itachi lowered his head and sighed. A moment later, Itachi and Kisame also departed.
The former Uchiha clan compound was left with only three corpses.
In the Forest of Death, Jiraiya discovered the Third Hokage's body. He fell silent, unsure what expression to wear.
Regarding the Nine-Tails and One-Tail, after suffering significant casualties, Konoha finally managed to reseal both tailed beasts. After all, the Nine-Tails had only manifested three tails this time, far from the scale of the original Nine-Tails incident. As for the One-Tail, even in full rampage, its power wasn't insurmountable.
On this day, the vast village of Konoha gained countless new shinobi corpses.
On this day, Kagaya's status rose from an A-rank missing-nin to an S-rank missing-nin, placing him among the top names on that list.
In the dozens of days that followed, the entire shinobi world was shaken. Orochimaru and Uchiha Kagaya had joined forces! Former Konoha shinobi had turned against the village, crippling Konoha severely!
The Professor, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, had died by Orochimaru's hand.
Everyone thought that was shocking enough. But what followed was even more explosive.
The Darkness of the Shinobi World, Shimura Danzo, had died by Uchiha Kagaya's hand!
Konoha Elder, Koharu Utatane, had died by Uchiha Kagaya's hand!
Konoha Elder, Homura Mitokado, had died by Uchiha Kagaya's hand!
From the Hokage Office to the Forest of Death, along the entire path, nearly a hundred Konoha shinobi had died by Uchiha Kagaya's hand!
For a time, the name Uchiha Kagaya dominated the spotlight across the entire shinobi world.
Every shinobi in the world now knew the name of this twelve-year-old youth.