Overnight, Hyuga Gakuya sprinted through the night, carrying the unconscious Izumi on his back. He didn't dare stop until they reached the border between the two nations. Along the way, Izumi woke up several times, only to be knocked out again just as quickly.
By the crackling campfire, Uchiha Izumi slowly came to. The first thing she said after regaining consciousness was,
"Please don't knock me out again. I won't scream."
"I didn't even plan on it this time," Gakuya replied with a shrug, handing her a freshly roasted skewer of meat. "Here, eat something. Once you're done, I'll tell you the truth."
Izumi accepted the skewer warily, nibbling at it as if it might explode in her hands. Outwardly, she looked calm. Inwardly, though, her thoughts were in chaos.
The man sitting across from her had saved her life last night. She remembered that much. He even wore a Konoha forehead protector… so why were they in the middle of nowhere instead of the village?
"Want another?" Gakuya asked, already holding out a second skewer with a friendly smile. He was being unusually considerate—after all, she was the key to awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, and he needed to take good care of her.
"I'm fine," Izumi said softly. "Can you tell me what happened now?"
Gakuya let out a long sigh and tilted his head back, eyes gazing up at the sky like a war-weary sage.
"Konoha has issued an extermination order against the Uchiha. The executioner… was Uchiha Itachi. As of yesterday, the clan has been wiped out."
Izumi's eyes went wide—just as Gakuya expected. She opened her mouth to protest, but then faltered. She knew the Uchiha had clashed with the village leadership for years. Could what he said actually be true?
Seeing her shock, Gakuya felt a flicker of satisfaction. The more emotional turmoil she experienced, the better.
"Don't be too surprised just yet. Let me explain everything properly. This story starts a long time ago…"
"Konoha Year One. Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama…"
Gakuya launched into the tale of Konoha's founding, carefully building tension and emotion like a master storyteller. His goal was clear: stir Izumi's heart until it triggered her Mangekyō Sharingan.
Of course, he conveniently left out a few important details—like the fact that Madara never actually died.
Like a bard by the fire, Gakuya recounted the growing tensions from the very beginning: the founding of Konoha, the death of Shisui, and finally, the massacre carried out by Itachi. He emphasized the village's betrayal and how, as a condition, Itachi spared only one—Uchiha Sasuke—to carry on the clan's bloodline.
Throughout the story, he wove in genjutsu illusions to immerse her in every moment. He wanted her to feel it all.
As Izumi listened, her emotions shifted visibly across her face—pride, sorrow, grief, helplessness, loneliness, rage. The performance was flawless. But still… not a trace of the Mangekyō.
Two whole hours. And not even a flicker of activation?
Gakuya stared directly into Izumi's eyes as he finished, refusing to look away. She squirmed under the intensity of his gaze.
"Is… is there something on my face?"
"No," he said with a frustrated sigh, slumping to the ground. "Just the realization that I wasted two hours of my life for absolutely nothing."
Sigh… So this was what a true Itachi fangirl looked like. In the original story, she literally died thinking of Uchiha Itachi. In fanfiction? She lived out a fantasy life with him inside Tsukuyomi. Of course she'd understand and forgive everything he did…
The thought stirred something dark in Gakuya. Maybe he should just kill her here?
...Nah. What could a three-tomoe Sharingan even do? He wasn't impressed. Might as well keep her around as a subordinate for now.
"What's your take on Itachi's decision?" he asked, curious what she really thought. He'd read countless interpretations in his past life—but this time, he wanted to hear it from her.
She sighed. "Even someone like Itachi couldn't let go of the Uchiha's pride. If the clan had defected to any of the other five great nations, they would've been welcomed with open arms. There was no need to die fighting Konoha."
Gakuya nodded. "Yeah. That kind of pride runs deep in the Uchiha. But… you sure you're okay talking about your own clan like that?"
Izumi blushed. "Just… some thoughts after hearing your story."
"Right. Anyway… thanks for saving me. Can I leave now?"
"Leave? I just risked my life saving you from Madara, and you want to walk away?"
Gakuya's eyes flared red as his Sharingan morphed into the Mangekyō form, the three tomoe twisting into a more intricate pattern.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan?!" Izumi gasped, covering her mouth in shock. She never imagined a non-Uchiha could awaken the clan's most powerful eye.
"Jōka," Gakuya murmured, activating the unique ability of his left eye.
A pulse of power surged out.
Izumi's eyes lost their light. When she opened them again, pieces of her past had been wiped clean.
Gakuya didn't dare alter too much. He didn't rewrite her entire life—just erased any memory of Uchiha Itachi and implanted the idea that she had willingly chosen to follow him in gratitude.
He couldn't risk her remembering Itachi. She might betray him the moment she got the chance.
"Gakuya-sama," Izumi said calmly. "Where are we headed next?"
"Takigakure."
Gakuya already had a plan in mind. To perfect his Sage Body, his ideal targets were the Uzumaki mother and daughter—Karin and her mother.
Unfortunately, the last living Kaguya heir, Kimimaro, was currently on the run with Orochimaru after leaving the Akatsuki.
For now, Gakuya would have to focus on developing his Sage Body through other bloodlines.
Without another word, he took out the scroll he'd stolen from the Hyuga clan's hidden vault and began reading.
It detailed the origins of the Hyuga bloodline and mentioned an offshoot clan that lived on the moon, still possessing the Byakugan. Somewhere in the ninja world, it said, there was a nameless lake—one that hid a portal connecting Earth to the moon.
Sadly, the scroll didn't give the lake's exact location.
But Gakuya wasn't discouraged. He remembered the golden Tenseigan wielded by the Ōtsutsuki on the moon. That power… that was his new goal.
At the end of the scroll, there was a record of nearly every Byakugan technique ever developed by the Hyuga clan—many of which had been lost over time due to the decline in Byakugan purity.
Among them, Gakuya discovered a taijutsu technique called Heavenly Void Strike. What caught his attention wasn't just its power—it was the fact that it had roots in Otsutsuki-style taijutsu. This was the same kind of technique Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had once wielded during her final battle.
(T/N: It's probably worse version of the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack)
The developer listed for the jutsu was Hyuga Tennin, a legendary shinobi from the Warring States Period, a contemporary of titans like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. Tennin was said to have possessed the purest Byakugan in the Hyuga clan's history.
Still, even Tennin wasn't the original creator of the technique. At most, he had inherited and simplified it—stripping it down just enough to make it usable for others.
...
Dozens of days later, the news of the simultaneous destruction of both the Hyuga and Uchiha clans spread like wildfire across the shinobi world.
Ōnoki, upon reading the intel, burst into unrestrained laughter.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen really has gone senile," he scoffed. "Two entire bloodline clans... countless shinobi... wiped out, just like that."
Ōnoki, ever the opportunist, immediately sensed a shift in the balance of power. Konoha had taken a massive blow—one disaster after another. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, felt the same. In his eyes, this was the weakest Konoha had been in more than a decade.
As for the Fourth Raikage, A, though bound by the Peace and Mutual Cooperation Treaty, he too was itching to act. A warmonger at heart, he couldn't strike Konoha directly—but he'd bide his time and wait for an opening to strike at another great nation.
At the same time, Uchiha Obito, who was secretly manipulating Yagura from behind the scenes, saw an opening as well. With the Five Great Nations turning against each other, it would be the perfect time to hunt down the Tailed Beasts without interference.
Kirigakure, under the grip of its brutal "Bloody Mist" era, began ramping up its military preparations. They were eager to show the world just how vicious and relentless their village could be.
Back in Konoha, all Hiruzen Sarutobi could do was stare up at the sky with a weary sigh.
"Jiraiya… Tsunade… you have to come back… please."
Konoha truly stood on the edge of ruin. Years of war had left it broken and vulnerable.
And just like that, the entire shinobi world was once again on a knife's edge. Tension flooded every border. The Fourth Great Ninja War could break out at any moment.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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