There were shinobi whose power brought life and prosperity to the world. They were like gods, the givers of life. Uchiha Yue was their complete opposite—an incarnate disaster, a living weapon created for total destruction. Unleashed, he would wipe any country from the face of the earth.
But that wasn't the main point. The main thing was that Yue refused to cooperate. Perhaps the clan's destruction had broken him, and his monstrous power had spiraled out of control. How else could he explain his sparing of Konoha's surviving inhabitants?
However, there was another, far more terrifying possibility: the monster simply didn't care. Its goal was to destroy all existence, and the shinobi world along with it. Which meant the fate of one village in the face of global catastrophe was of no consequence.
For the sake of the world, for the survival of civilization, they had to unite. Concentrate all forces and destroy this monster, the demon named Uchiha Yue, at any cost.
When Nagato and his men presented the evidence, the shinobi, who had previously dismissed it as a bad joke, became wary. And although much of the reports seemed conjecture, three facts were undeniable: Uchiha Yue was real, the dead zone where Konoha once stood was real, and the fact that Konohagakure nearly ceased to exist.
But how terrifying is this zone, really? Could a ninjutsu that infinitely absorbs chakra and any other energy really exist in the world? Any sane shinobi would consider it impossible.
But what if it were true? What if Uchiha Yue was capable of endlessly absorbing energy, growing, and ultimately consuming the entire world?
Driven by fear, mercenaries and ronin, who took jobs on the underground exchanges, were the first to reach the Dead Zone. They were convinced: it was enormous and expanding. The old Konoha no longer existed. To dispel any remaining doubts, the most desperate dared to enter. As they had been warned, they didn't go far—as soon as they felt their life force draining from their bodies, they fled in panic.
Then they tried a cruel experiment: tying ordinary people, non-chakra users, and small animals with ropes, they herded them into the Zone. The result horrified them: both people and animals, after only a few moments in the Zone, fell to the ground like withered mummies.
Now there was no longer any doubt. This Zone was sucking out not only chakra, but life itself. And it was growing. A monster. A true monster.
There was no place for such a thing in the world of the living. An ability comparable to a global cataclysm is worthy only of ancient myths! The horror lay not in the ability to absorb energy itself, but in its scale. A technique that covers entire countries and affects all living things is no longer ninjutsu. It is an elemental force.
No one knew how to combat it. There were only two options: kill Uchiha Yue or hope that he would stop on his own. But who could guarantee that this all-consuming filth had a limit? No one dared take risks, relying on chance. The rumormongers were right: even if the zone stopped expanding, Yue would still remain a monstrous threat to the entire world. Just one stroll through any country's territory, and that country would be doomed.
The prophecy of the end of the world, which until recently seemed like the ravings of a madman, had taken on flesh and blood. And if nothing was done, all that remained was to meekly await the end. But who would agree to that?
Soon, news from the underground exchanges began to spread like an avalanche across the shinobi world.
"Nii-san, why are you..."
New Konoha. Uchiha Sasuke stood on the outskirts of the village. His gaze was fixed on the spot where his house once stood, and his fists clenched involuntarily.
He still remembered that night. The image that unfolded before him seemed unreal, unimaginable. His beloved older brother... he had done this.
Everyone in the village said the Uchiha clan had fallen at the hands of Danzo Shimura. But Sasuke knew the truth. He had seen it all with his own eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. To anyone.
He also didn't understand something else: why did the villagers, having lived through such horror, seem to ignore him? No one asked questions, no one gave him sidelong glances. As if he didn't exist.
The reason was Uchiha Yue. The Uchiha clan had officially been exterminated. Sasuke and Yue were its last two representatives. And the elders simply didn't dare touch the younger one. They couldn't understand why Yue had remained frozen, leaving the new Konoha alone. Could it really be Sasuke? Was there still some kind of connection between the brothers?
They clung to this hope, not knowing they were sorely mistaken.
If Yue had known about their suspicions, he would have only laughed. Sasuke? He'd long since erased his younger brother from his memory and his life. He hadn't stopped for him. He was simply gathering his strength to destroy the entire world. And when the world collapsed, Konoha would fall too.
Because of this fear and ignorance, everyone continued to consider Danzo the sole culprit of the tragedy. Had they asked Sasuke, he would have revealed that another traitor stood behind Danzo—his own brother, Uchiha Itachi.
Without those two, without their insane plan, none of this would have happened. And Uchiha Yue would have remained an ordinary genin, without even awakening a simple Sharingan, let alone a Mangekyo.
He wouldn't have become the harbinger of the apocalypse.
"What is this...?" Naruto's voice came from behind Sasuke.
Inside the blond...