Chapter 45:Chapter 45

"Squeak... ah!"

Sasuke cautiously opened the door, but what he saw next made his pupils shrink.

Inside the house, the bodies of his parents, Fugaku and Mikoto, lay in pools of blood.

"Dad! Mom!"

Sasuke cried out in shock, rushing forward.

No matter how much he shouted and shook them, his parents did not respond.

"Ta...tat..."

Suddenly, crisp footsteps echoed in front of Sasuke.

Startled, Sasuke looked up quickly, only to see a figure holding a knife slowly approaching him from the shadows.

For a moment, Sasuke retreated in fear, but soon he realized that the figure was his brother—Uchiha Itachi!

Sasuke quickly asked,

"Brother, didn't you already suppress the rebellion? How could Mom and Dad..."

"What the fu*k happened? Who did this?"

Itachi stared coldly at Sasuke's outburst, then threw a shuriken that passed by Sasuke's side, interrupting his words instantly.

In the next moment, blood stained Sasuke's body.

Sasuke gasped, looking at Itachi in shock. "Brother, why..."

"It seems you already know what happened," Itachi said coldly.

"Yes, I killed our parents and the clan," Itachi admitted, "I did it to test myself."

"Test yourself?" Sasuke raised his voice, looking at Itachi with anger.

"That's right. I killed them and the others because they were obstacles in my path to becoming stronger," Itachi explained coldly. "But you, Sasuke, you are different. You are essential to my plans."

"I activated my Mangekyo Sharingan, and I need your eyes too. When you awaken your own Mangekyo, I'll take them for myself."

"You must hate me, Sasuke. Only then will you awaken the Mangekyo faster, my foolish brother."

With that, Itachi approached Sasuke, grabbed his head, and forced him to look into his eyes, using Tsukuyomi to immerse him in visions of the Uchiha massacre.

After subjecting Sasuke to Tsukuyomi twice in a row, Itachi left Sasuke unconscious on the bed.

He gently stroked Sasuke's head, murmuring, "Don't blame me, Sasuke. This was the only way for you to survive."

Then, Itachi turned and walked out of the house, knowing the Root operatives would take care of Sasuke.

Though Itachi could have taken Sasuke and left, it would have meant severing all ties with Konoha, which he did not want to do.

Outside the house, Obito had been waiting.

"It seems you care a lot for your brother, using Tsukuyomi on him twice in a row," Obito remarked lightly.

Itachi did not answer, instead saying, "I don't know what your plans are, but they're against the entire ninja world."

"You've seen Kaito's strength today. Do you think your plans can succeed?"

"You don't need to worry. Our organization is powerful," Obito replied confidently. "Even though I can't match Kaito without my full strength, our leader has ways to handle him."

"That's good," Itachi nodded.

However, he privately scoffed at Obito's confidence. He was confident he could defeat Kaito. That was hardly convincible!

Unaware of Itachi's thoughts, Obito nodded and said, "Let's go."

"You go first. I need to warn Danzo."

Itachi teleported away.

Seeing this, Obito used his power to disappear instantly.

At that point, various hidden roots emerged, one after another. They had all cleaned the battlefield, gathering Uchiha's eyes and returning them to Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo for the time being.

Looking at Itachi's departing back, Danzo clenched his fists, angriness reflected on his face.

"This Itachi dares to threaten me!"

He recalled the moment when Itachi had threatened him, his strength, and the village's secrets.

The anger he felt was great.

At that moment, several Root operatives appeared in front of Danzo instantly.

Seeing them, Danzo's expression suddenly calmed.

"Have you acquired everything?" Danzo asked.

A Root operative replied respectfully, "We obtained a total of 12 pairs of three-tome Sharingan, 18 pairs of two-tomoe Sharingan, and 25 pairs of single-tomoe Sharingan."

"Good work," Danzo nodded in satisfaction.

While many Uchiha who remained in Konoha were not particularly talented or powerful, it was expected that only these Sharingan would be valuable.

The Root operative continued, "Additionally, the masked man took three pairs of Sharingan."

Danzo responded calmly, "That's acceptable. You may all stand down."

The Root operatives acknowledged and immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear.

Danzo turned and hurried to the Root's secret base, where Hiruzen Sarutobi awaited to analyze the Sharingan.