"Eyes of the Gods!"
"Two pairs of divine eyes have emerged in the Uchiha!"
"Let's seize Konoha tonight in one fell swoop!"
Hearing Itachi Uchiha's voice and seeing the towering shadow of his Susanoo, the Uchiha clan members at the gathering erupted in excitement, crowding toward him.
But as they drew closer, they saw the lifeless body of Fugaku Uchiha lying beneath Itachi's feet.
"The clan leader?"
Shock spread like a contagion across the faces of the Uchiha.
"You've seen it yourselves—this is the curse of the Mangekyo!" Itachi declared, making no effort to hide the secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan, revealing the higher level of their eyes to everyone.
The overwhelming power of his Eternal Mangekyo pressed down on the three-tomoe Sharingan users, forcing their heads to bow under its weight.
"So what? We can gain power!" shouted Uchiha Shin, a fanatic, pushing through the crowd to step forward.
"Shut up!" Itachi snapped. "Look around you! Do you want your children and families to end up like this?"
"To become rabid dogs?"
Itachi grabbed Shin by the collar, his Eternal Mangekyo weaving an illusion into Shin's mind.
In that illusion, Shin watched his loved ones—his son, his grandson—slaughter each other for the sake of a single eye.
In the end, he saw his young grandson, Mangekyo blazing, kneeling in a pool of blood, licking it with his tongue before looking up at Shin with a twisted smile.
"Urgh!" Shin's face drained of color, his limbs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, cold sweat mixing with the rain.
"Then what are we supposed to do? There's no place for us here anymore!" an Uchiha jonin wailed, roaring at Itachi through sobs.
"Leave," Itachi said with a soft sigh.
"Why should we? Konoha was founded by the Uchiha!" another defiant Uchiha ninja shouted, but many others fell silent.
"Because our women and children still need Konoha's protection," Itachi shot back, his face expressionless, silencing the protester.
"Our departure will give them a better life."
"Those who are willing to leave, follow me."
With that, Itachi tore off his Konoha forehead protector, tossed it to the ground, and headed toward the village's barrier exit.
Some Uchiha gritted their teeth and followed, while others slumped to the ground, lost and broken.
"Itachi… so it's come to this," Sakura murmured, her emerald eyes watching Itachi lead his clan away, her blade lowered.
Wiping the rain from her face, Sakura sat down at the entrance to the Uchiha compound, waiting for an expected guest.
Sure enough, Danzo Shimura soon arrived, leading his Root ninjas.
What greeted him was the Uchiha police headquarters reduced to a massive crater and a group of ninja who had lost all will to fight.
Danzo's eyes gleamed at the sight of so many Sharingan within his grasp. Clenching his teeth, he barked, "All of you, move in! Suppress the Uchiha rebellion!"
"Stop it! Can't you see they've already given up?" Sakura panted heavily, leaning against the gate. With a swing of her hand, she unleashed a slash of sword light.
Clang!
A blue crescent of energy tore through the rain, creating a sharp, whining gust and carving a massive trench in the ground as a dividing line.
The Root ninjas who had started to advance retreated behind the line, warily eyeing the battered, seemingly frail girl.
"Sakura Haruno! Are you betraying Konoha?!" Danzo bellowed, stepping forward to confront her, his cane in hand.
"Oh, please, did I hear that right? You're claiming to represent Konoha now? Have you been named Hokage or something?" Sakura retorted, her delicate face brimming with mischief, her green eyes sparkling with mockery.
Such a cute girl, yet her words stabbed straight into Danzo's pride, leaving the Hokage's advisor visibly humiliated.
"You…" Danzo's face darkened, his hand reaching for his bandaged arm.
Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted behind him.
Everyone turned to see a colossal Susanoo smashing a gaping hole in the village's barrier with a single kick.
Dozens of Uchiha figures leaped through the breach, escaping into the night.
Cold sweat poured down Danzo's face. Memories of a man in red armor, commanding a hundred-meter-tall blue giant that had once intimidated the Shimura clan, surfaced from the depths of his mind.
"Hahaha! Even as he leaves, Itachi's still leaving a little intimidation behind, huh?" Sakura laughed, clutching her stomach.
After a good chuckle, she wiped the tears from her eyes and gave Danzo a casual glance.
"Still want to go after the Uchiha? Who knows, maybe one day another ninja village will mysteriously gain a new branch of Uchiha blood."
"And when you're facing those Sharingan on the battlefield, you might want to think twice about what you do today, 'Assistant' Hokage."
Danzo's regret and frustration grew thicker with every mocking word from Sakura.
Back then, he'd been just one step too slow—one step—and he'd missed his chance at becoming Hokage.
If he'd become Hokage, this girl wouldn't dare speak to him like this.
And now, because of Hiruzen's hesitation, the Uchiha—this unstable force—had produced a second Madara Uchiha, letting the perfect chance to wipe them out slip away.
Teacher! You chose the wrong person! I was the one meant to be Hokage!
"No, from the moment you fell one step behind, you were never fit to be Hokage!" Sakura taunted, her Observation Haki picking up on Danzo's regret.
"Kagura Mind's Eye?" Danzo's expression shifted, trying to suppress his emotions.
But the more he tried, the more his resentment seemed to grow, spreading like wildfire.
"Someone like you, drowning in darkness, could never understand the unmatched power of a soul yearning for light," Sakura said.
"Light? You mean the Uchiha? That cursed clan, born with cursed power?" Danzo seized on her words, attacking frantically as if grasping at straws.
Sakura looked at the man pretending to be calm but already unraveling, and shook her head.
"The Uchiha's power isn't a curse. Water it with heart and you'll reap roses. Water it with hatred, and you'll get thorns."
"Danzo Shimura, someone like you will never understand that."
"So go ahead—drown in your darkness with your Root and your pipe dreams."
Regaining some strength, Sakura stood up, ready to leave.
"You dare insult Root and Lord Danzo? You'll pay!" a Root ninja shouted, loyalty driving him to draw a kunai and charge at Sakura.
Facing the high-speed attack, Sakura turned calmly, looking at him.
Swish! Clang!
Dozens of black iron pans were hurled out, flattening the Root ninja to the ground. Uncle Uchiha Yakitori, leading a group of civilian Uchiha, had arrived!
The Uchiha clan's civilians and women stepped forward, standing united, ready to defend their home from those who sought to destroy it.
Sakura stood among them, raising her hand and tracing a small circle in the air toward Danzo.
It was as if she were saying…
See this? This is the power you'll never have.