The next day, Hatake Kusuo was on his usual walk to the Konoha training grounds. The streets were bustling with people as always, but this time, the atmosphere was different. People were gathered in groups, discussing something in hushed, urgent tones.
"Is it really true?"
"Did you hear? The Uchiha clan was wiped out last night! Only the clan head's youngest son survived. How pitiful!"
"I heard that too. They say the one who did it was also the clan head's son, that genius, Uchiha Itachi!"
"How tragic!"
"Who would have thought that the most powerful clan in Konoha could be annihilated in a single night?"
"Who knows? But speaking of which, why would Uchiha Itachi do something like that? Massacring his own clansmen and even killing his own parents with his own hands... it's just too cruel."
Listening to the chatter of the pedestrians, Kusuo walked on in silence, clutching his sword. He knew that from this day forward, Uchiha Itachi would be branded as a Konoha missing-nin and would live his life on the run.
At the Ninja Academy, the students of Class One noticed that two people were absent. One was this year's top student, Hatake Kusuo. The other was the one whose fame and strength were second only to his, Uchiha Sasuke.
Everyone saw their absence, and in their hearts, they more or less knew. A terrifying event had occurred in Konoha last night. The once-greatest clan of Konoha, a clan renowned throughout the ninja world since the Warring States Period, the Uchiha with their Sharingan, had been annihilated.
The sole survivor was their classmate, Uchiha Sasuke.
The news of the Uchiha's destruction fermented quickly. Not just throughout Konoha, but even other villages learned of the event. The spies they had planted in the Leaf transmitted the information back to their own villages at the first opportunity.
Konoha's leadership moved swiftly to tighten the village's defenses. They knew the inside story. But to the other villages, especially the other four Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha without the Uchiha clan had lost nearly half its combat strength. It was not unthinkable that some ambitious leader might try to start a war, taking advantage of Konoha's weakness to extort them.
After some time, under the Third Hokage's arrangement, Sasuke returned to school. However, the arrogant look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a deep silence. He became a person of few words. His goal had also silently shifted from defeating Kusuo to a new conviction: to kill his brother, Uchiha Itachi, with his own hands and avenge his parents.
...
"Konoha Announcement!"
"The missing-nin Uchiha Itachi has betrayed the village and his clan, committing the treacherous act of cruelly murdering his family and slaughtering his people. From this day forward, he is designated an S-rank missing-nin!"
"Whether from Konoha or any other village, anyone who captures Uchiha Itachi can bring his head to Konoha Village to claim a bounty!"
Konoha had finally made its official announcement. The matter was now settled in the public eye. Uchiha Itachi: murderer of his kin, traitor to his village. Designated an S-rank missing-nin. This news sent shockwaves through the entire ninja world.
The uninformed public spat on his wanted poster, and young boys fantasized about one day capturing Uchiha Itachi and becoming the great hero of the village. What they didn't know was that a man who could single-handedly slaughter the entire Uchiha clan was not someone they could ever hope to match.
...
"Well? Do you want to look at this village any longer?"
Wearing a straw hat that concealed his entire face, Uchiha Itachi stood on a high cliff, looking down at the village where he grew up. Behind him was Obito, also wearing his spiral mask.
"It's nothing. Let's go," Itachi said faintly without turning back, then turned and left the spot.
"Hehe." No one could see the face hidden beneath Obito's mask. He let out a cold laugh, cast one last icy glance at Konoha, and then his entire body slowly twisted and vanished into space.
...
Below the cliff, Hatake Kusuo was training hard. He seemed to sense something and glanced up questioningly, but saw nothing.
"Kusuo!"
"Hinata? Is that you?" Kusuo knew who the voice belonged to without even turning around. Hinata's voice was very distinctive. It carried a gentleness and a hint of timidity, yet when she called his name, it was also tinged with a little bit of joy. It was a complex mix of emotions that only he was privileged enough to enjoy.
"What brings you here today? Don't you have class?" Kusuo put down his sword and wiped the sweat from his face with a towel.
Hinata clutched a bento box in front of her with both hands, her cheeks a little hot as she said in a small voice, "I saw today that... it seemed you didn't send your shadow clone to class. I was worried you'd be hungry after you finished training, so I took the liberty of running over to bring you a bento. You... you're not mad, are you?"
So she had come just to bring him food. Kusuo immediately understood.
He gently pinched Hinata's small cheek with his hand. "You're being so kind. I don't have time to thank you enough, so how could I possibly be mad?"
Being teased by his hand, Hinata's face turned crimson, and her breathing became much more rapid.
"K-Kusuo... don't do that." By the end of her sentence, her voice was almost inaudible.
Seeing this, Kusuo smiled dotingly and ruffled her hair, then pulled her in, letting her rest on his shoulder.
Hinata's entire body temperature soared, her face burning as if she had a fever. Her ability to react was gone. It was almost enough to make her faint. After her mind went completely blank, her entire body finally went limp and powerless.
"Er..."
She fainted just from that?
I guess I was a little too hasty.
Picking up the bento Hinata had brought and hoisting her onto his back, Kusuo began to walk step by step towards the Hyuga compound.
The journey was incredibly quiet. Only the moonlight and the dim streetlights illuminated their shadows, stretching them longer and longer.
Throughout the walk, Hinata lay quietly on his back. She might have been awake, or she might not have been. But with a tacit understanding, the two of them continued on their way.
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