Thinking of dumplings suddenly reminded him of the moment when Uchiha Izumi had offered to treat him to some.
Then, from his memories of his previous life, he vaguely recalled the scene where Uchiha Obito killed Izumi during the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
Even though, because of his interference, the original story had already gone completely off the rails... and he wasn't even sure whether tonight really was the Night of the Massacre, or if Obito would even show up—
But just to be safe, he figured it was better to go bring Izumi over now.
He didn't want this decent girl to die because he'd gotten careless.
Swoosh!
Rukawa's figure vanished from the rooftop.
He quickly headed in the direction of Izumi's house.
...
Uchiha District.
Izumi's residence.
"Mom, I'm heading out for a bit."
At the entryway, Izumi—already wearing her shoes—called out into the house.
"It's so late, where are you going?"
A middle-aged woman walked out and asked curiously.
"I made some dango. I wanted to thank Little Rukawa properly—he helped me out a lot today."
Izumi held up a small food box, smiling sweetly.
"Sigh, alright—but come back soon. Tensions between the clan and the village are getting worse lately. Be careful!"
Her mother warned her, though she didn't stop her from going.
"It's fine, Mom. I'm just in the neighborhood, and I'm a ninja too—there's no danger!"
Izumi then darted out the door, dango box in hand.
"Ay~ she's grown up, but still doesn't let me relax…"
Her mother shook her head helplessly.
...
It's been so long since I last saw Itachi-kun...
I wonder what mission he was on—he still hasn't returned.
I really hope he's at Rukawa's place when I get there...
On the way, the starry-eyed girl's heart was filled with anticipation.
As she rounded a corner, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure standing under a streetlamp in the distance.
That's…?!
Her heart began to race. Her pace quickened.
As she drew closer, she saw clearly—it was him, the one she'd been thinking of.
"Itachi-kun, it's you! You're finally back from your mission!"
Izumi joyfully called out, unable to hide the happiness on her face.
"You must be exhausted. Look! I just made your favorite—three-color dango! Please try some!"
She handed the box of snacks to him with a bright smile.
Originally, she'd made them for Rukawa…
But now, she'd completely forgotten about that.
As he looked at the smiling girl in front of him, Itachi's heart was filled with pain.
Because this girl… was about to die by his own hand.
But for the peace of the village, he had to endure that pain.
He forced his heart to go cold, to go numb.
His face remained expressionless the whole time.
"Huh? What's wrong, Itachi-kun? You seem off today… was your mission too tough?"
Izumi noticed something odd. Concern appeared on her face.
She leaned in closer to examine his expression.
Under the dim streetlight, she saw a flicker of pain on his brow.
"Itachi-kun, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
More concern crept into her voice. She reached out her delicate hand, trying to gently touch his face for comfort.
But before she could touch him, she saw a pair of scarlet eyes—
And then her world went dark.
"Forgive me, Izumi…"
Itachi caught her hand, then gently embraced the unconscious girl, his face filled with bitterness.
He didn't want to kill her. But for peace… he had no choice.
He planned to use genjutsu to create a beautiful dream, letting her pass away within that illusion.
It was all he could do for her.
But just as he began the process, a voice spoke quietly behind him:
"Tsk tsk… Coldhearted, aren't you?"
"You can feel it, can't you? This girl… she really likes you. And yet you're going to kill her?"
Who—?!
Someone's behind me… and I didn't even sense them?!
Itachi's instincts flared—he instantly used the Body Flicker Technique, retreating with Izumi in his arms.
Swoosh!
He reappeared ten meters away.
Now at a safer distance, he turned to see the one who'd spoken.
"…You?! Rukawa? What are you doing here?"
Seeing the face of the newcomer, Itachi was surprised.
"Oh? You recognized me that easily? Guess these sunglasses really don't hide my identity at all."
Rukawa adjusted the sunglasses on his nose and sighed in disappointment.
He had thought maybe they could disguise him a bit. Guess not.
'But if Itachi's here in the clan district... then my guess was right.'
'That old geezer Sarutobi really did get mad enough to launch the Uchiha assault tonight!'
Rukawa narrowed his eyes as he looked at Itachi, silently applauding himself for his own foresight.
And just then, his system chimed in with a string of alerts.
[Ding… Clan Massacre Event Activated. Generating Task List…]
[Ding… Task 1: Slap Uchiha Itachi across the face. Reward: +2 Sign-In Chances]
[Ding… Task 2: Slap Shimura Danzo across the face. Reward: +3 Sign-In Chances]
[Ding… Task 3: Slap Sarutobi Hiruzen across the face. Reward: +4 Sign-In Chances]
Seeing the sudden lineup of tasks, Rukawa started furiously roasting the system in his head.
"You call yourself a 'Divine-Level System'—you might as well rename yourself the 'Slap-in-the-Face System'!"
"All your quests are just to smack people across the face!"
Even last time, with Hiashi from the Hyuga clan, it was the same thing.
And now, this time again—all slaps!
And the sign-in rewards are just… odd! Why not round it up to 10 chances, huh?! You trying to trigger my OCD?!
He counted:
2 + 3 + 4 = 9 sign-in chances if he completes all three tasks.
Why not just give him 10? What kind of petty system is this?!
He was convinced the system was screwing with him on purpose…
But of course, he had no evidence.