22 Despair

Running towards the clan, Ryo could see flashes of intense light, knowing they were from ninjutsu; he imagined it was probably a Fire Release jutsu, likely the Fireball jutsu. All of this was seen from a distance over the high walls of the Uchiha clan compound. Running faster, it would take him a few seconds to reach the gate where he had entered for the first time to train with Sae.

The screams and jutsu being performed continued, the starless night illuminated by ninjas battling a lost battle already. Ryo leaped onto the wall, beginning to run along it before jumping inside the Uchiha territory. Ryo could already see numerous bodies lying on the ground, some mutilated while others seemed to be dreaming as they lay on the ground without a scratch.

Children, elders, young ones, all were sprawled on the ground. Ryo looked at this scene, biting his lip, continuing to run towards Sae's house. In the distance, he could hear swords slashing and more screams. There were two points from which he could hear the screams, and both were on either side of Sae's house.

"They haven't reached her house! I have a chance!"

He wouldn't have this chance for long, as with each passing second, the screams grew nearer, while the assailants killed all in their path who resisted or didn't resist. One side was particularly more brutal than the other; Ryo imagined it was Obito, as Itachi used more the sword and genjutsu.

Upon reaching Sae's house, he entered through the door and was immediately greeted by a swift blow, narrowly dodged at the last moment. Kenji had struck him, but at the last second had changed the trajectory of the blow, hitting the wall with the kunai in his hand.

"Ryo?! What are you doing here?!" Looking at him, Ryo spoke quickly. "No time, we have to flee! Where's Sae?!" Sensing the desperation in Ryo's voice, Kenji knew they were under attack, but hadn't considered fleeing since the entire clan was there; if everyone were killed, there was no reason for them to escape. But seeing the boy there, the man knew that at least Sae, Ryo wanted to save, and he also wanted to save his student.

Sae was further inside, protected by Kenji at the entrance of the house. Ryo passed by Kenji, running towards Sae, and soon grabbed her hand. "Let's go, Sae, we have no time to lose!" Unlike Kenji, Sae only knew that someone was attacking the village, but didn't know the level of danger. But even so, she immediately followed the path with Ryo, who opened the window of her house and jumped out, with Sae following.

As they did this, they heard an explosion behind them, and Uchiha Kenji was seen being thrown towards the window they had just escaped seconds ago. Inside the house with him, it was possible to see a young boy, with long hair and a neutral expression. "Itachi!" Ryo didn't expect there to be so little time.

His heart began to beat faster; he held Sae's hand tighter as he continued to run without looking back. But he could hear, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A light illuminated the two children on their backs, and then another scream was heard, coming from Kenji, who took his last breaths with a katana pierced through his chest straight into his heart, killing him instantly.

Ryo's chest was heavy too; his blood flowed rapidly through his body. They were already a few meters from the gate; they had to cross it, and then with luck, they could flee into the forest. With his free hand, he made a hand sign while two clones appeared; one clone immediately performed the transformation jutsu, turning into Sae, and they began to run in different directions.

He knew this wouldn't hinder either of the two attackers, but if they even lost a second with it, they would have more possibilities to escape. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Reaching the gate, Ryo felt the danger approaching him and Sae. With a quick movement, he pushed the girl forward with force, shouting, "Go!" With that, he turned his back, holding a kunai in his hand.

Itachi was on top of Ryo in less than the blink of an eye, swinging the katana against Ryo's body, but with instinct, Ryo blocked Itachi's Katana. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed in the air once again; the impact sent Ryo's kunai flying to one side as he flew to the other. Even though he blocked, he felt his arm was about to break with any movement.

"I managed to block one of his strikes; that must have given us at least a few more seconds for Sae to escape." His thoughts were strangely calm, as he flew through the air, then landed on the ground, rolling a few meters back before hitting the closed gate, the impact with the gate had made Ryo hit his head hard against it. He felt his mind spinning now.

Struggling to open his eyes, Ryo blinked a few times, seeing Itachi slowly approaching with the katana in hand. Ryo didn't want to die; it wasn't as if he had given up on his life. Placing his hand on the ground, he began to stand up slowly, surprising Itachi. "I read the files of Sasuke's classmates, but I didn't expect this boy to be so resilient. What a shame." He was about to attack when something appeared on top of the wall. Looking up, the two could see Obito; of course, Ryo knew who he was.

But Ryo's world collapsed when he saw that in Obito's hands was a small girl still struggling, showing she was still alive, a serious voice was heard as she was thrown down from the air, falling between Itachi and Ryo. "He tried to stop you so she could escape, but there will be no survivors tonight." He could feel the weight in Obito's words as he swiftly pulled out a simple senbon, shooting it into the air.

"No!" Ryo ran towards Sae, but his body was already at its limit; he wouldn't reach her in time. With his arm raised towards Sae, he tried with all his might. "I won't make it!" At that moment, Ryo did something; his arm aimed towards Sae in the direction of the needle thrown to kill the girl.

At that moment, Itachi's eyes widened; the needle at high speed had changed its trajectory at the last second as it grazed the side of the former ANBU's face, leaving a small blood streak on Itachi's face as he simply tilted his head to the side at the last second.

"A user of the Magnetic Release kekkei genkai."

Ryo breathed heavily, and as he looked forward, his body no longer moved, even though he tried every way. Even without looking into Itachi's eyes, Ryo was under a genjutsu; it was as if his body were tied up, he couldn't even use his chakra, as if everything was sealed.

Sae was on the ground trying to stand up; she looked at Ryo, opening a smile, a small and genuine smile, one that he had never seen her make before. Seeing that they couldn't save themselves, yet Ryo was there trying everything to save her. "Thank you, you must Li..." Ryo couldn't hear the whole word.

At that moment, Itachi pierced Sae's heart with a downward strike, causing the little girl's body to fall to the ground, her eyes slowly becoming cloudy and unfocused.

"No! Sae! You will pay for this, Ita...!"

As he was about to say Itachi's name, a cut was made across Ryo's body, slicing his chest diagonally from right to left, blood beginning to spray upwards as Ryo fell forward onto the ground, beside Sae's lifeless body, tears streaming down his face.

"We're done here. Let's go." Itachi spoke as he glanced at Ryo one last time, who was still fighting for his life on the cold ground beside the other Uchiha. With that, both Itachi and Obito disappeared from the scene.

[ Hello readers, now that we have reached this part of the story, If you are enjoying reading. I would love the support, But if you cant, it's okay too, help me with constructive comments and opinions The chapters will be released a little earlier on Pat/ eon. Since there are no accumulated chapters. one chapter released here, and two on the other platform per day.. So check it out !. patr / on.com/goldenmasterr - just remove the spaces. ]