The Uchiha clan massacre, originally meant to prevent the Uchiha clan's rebellion, did not occur for various reasons.
The river of fate had already begun to diverge.
Even so, the coup d'état the Uchiha were preparing would not have caused much of a ripple. Konoha was ready. The Uchiha had no hope of resisting the full might of the village. After the baptism of war, this diverted stream of fate would still have flowed back into its original course.
The outcome would not change simply because the method did.
What truly drove fate into an unpredictable abyss was the reappearance of the will that had altered the river once already. It delivered news of the Uchiha's impending rebellion to the clan head, Fugaku, in the form of a single note.
If the Uchiha had been able to launch a surprise strike and cut down Hiruzen, Danzo, and the rest of Konoha's top brass, their coup might have succeeded.
But now they faced Konoha's full, prepared strength—a battle they could never win.
The duty of a clan is to endure, not to commit suicide.
Especially on this night, when Itachi had yet to appear.
Uchiha Fugaku no longer needed to bear the responsibilities of a father. He only needed to fully perform his role as head of the Uchiha clan.
Thus, releasing the Nine-Tails became his only choice.
Under the invisible hand manipulating both sides, the fates of the Uchiha and Konoha were drifting toward a storm-tossed, treacherous future.
Compared to the timeline where the Uchiha alone bore the pain, they were now about to spread that pain to everyone in Konoha.
…
"You've crossed the line, Neiki. Step aside," Itachi said.
"I refuse."
Neiki smiled pleasantly under the terrifying glare of the Sharingan. "The fate of the Uchiha clan should be decided by the Uchiha themselves."
"I am going to decide the fate of the Uchiha clan," Itachi replied coldly.
He was not the coward Fugaku had called him. Neiki had simply intercepted him on his way to seek support.
Neiki shook his head. "You're not deciding the Uchiha clan's fate. You're just carrying out Konoha's orders."
The evening wind rustled the branches overhead.
Their gazes collided in midair.
One pair of eyes was the misty Byakugan.
The other was the three-tomoe Sharingan.
"I always thought you were Danzo's man," Itachi said, slowly drawing the standard long sword from his back. "You've done so many terrible things, it seemed obvious."
"It's not strange everyone thinks that," Neiki said, short blade sliding free of its sheath. "He's the best umbrella for all of Konoha's darkness."
Itachi frowned slightly, thinking. "So who do you represent?"
"I represent myself."
Neiki curled a finger at him. "Come. It's been a month since our last fight. Let me see how much you've improved."
Clang!
Short blades met with a sharp ring.
The two figures blurred and flashed between the trees at high speed, their shapes hard to discern. Only the sparks thrown off by their clashing weapons betrayed how deadly the battle was.
Konoha's Twin Prodigies.
Rivals and friends since childhood, intimately familiar with each other's styles. Every move was anticipated, every angle contested. The close-quarters battle was fierce and evenly matched.
Before long, Itachi realised something.
"You fought someone else before you blocked my path?"
"No," Neiki said casually. "I've been waiting here for you. I just split my chakra earlier."
In pure close combat, the Byakugan's dynamic vision outstripped the Sharingan's, and Neiki's swordsmanship was sharper than Itachi's. Even after spending half his chakra, he wouldn't fall behind in a melee.
"You're overconfident."
"I can still handle you easily," Neiki boasted.
After a flurry of strikes, Itachi sprang back and flicked three kunai at him. Neiki swept his short blade and knocked them aside in a single motion.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A blazing fireball roared toward Neiki, lighting up the night. Neiki drew his sword back.
"Water Sword Technique: Flowing Water Slash!"
Blue chakra flowed around the blade. One clean arc sliced straight through the fireball.
Steam exploded outward, shrouding the area—but the sudden fog didn't hinder either of them.
A flash of white light dropped from above, stabbing down toward Neiki.
He lifted his blade horizontally to parry, and the intense close-quarters exchange reignited inside the steam.
"Even if you stop me, they'll still fail tomorrow!" Itachi said, locking blades with him. "All that will happen is Konoha's internal discord will be exposed, giving other villages the chance to invade."
"You're underestimating your clan's initiative," Neiki chuckled.
Exposing internal strife, baiting other nations into war?
No.
That price was far too low.
It wasn't the chaos Neiki wanted.
"You told the Uchiha clan about Konoha's preparations?!" Itachi's eyes widened. For a moment he almost lost his grip on his sword.
His gaze hardened.
The tomoe in his eyes spun and morphed into a shuriken-shaped pattern.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Tsukuyomi."
The world shifted.
A blood-red sky.
A black-and-white wasteland.
Endless crosses stood in the darkness, each one binding a copy of Neiki. Neiki looked up at Itachi and shook his head.
"You know that technique doesn't work on me."
Itachi thrust a long needle into his chest—yet Neiki did not react.
"…Illusion Substitute."
Neiki's raw genjutsu ability was inferior to Itachi's, but his talent for developing new techniques was unparalleled. Illusion Substitute was his answer to genjutsu like Tsukuyomi.
A B-rank genjutsu designed specifically to help him endure mental damage from other illusions, it was an extremely rare defensive jutsu—but incredibly practical.
Its inspiration came from the basic Substitution Jutsu. The principle was simple: gather the user's scattered mental energy over time and condense it into a single "substitute," which would take the brunt of any mental damage in place of the true self at critical moments.
He had created this jutsu for one reason: to avoid being instantly defeated by Tsukuyomi.
As one half of Konoha's Twin Prodigies, he couldn't fail to withstand at least one of Itachi's signature moves, right?
"How many substitutes do you have?" Itachi asked, drawing a deep breath.
"How many times can you use Tsukuyomi?" Neiki shot back.
Crafting a single substitute took about a week of collecting scattered mental energy, and each one could only endure the damage from one genjutsu.
But for Neiki, that was enough.
Whether or not Itachi could bear the strain of casting Tsukuyomi multiple times, Neiki would be on guard after losing even one substitute. He wouldn't fall for the same illusion twice.
Itachi stopped stabbing pointlessly and asked instead:
"What do you hope to accomplish by stopping me?"
"You already said it."
Neiki smiled, bound to the cross, lips red and teeth white.
"I want Konoha in chaos."
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