Chapter 56 (Fifty-Five Chapters)
The snow that had accumulated on the roof slid slowly down the sloping curve, making a soft rustling sound.
A young woman, dressed in a black high-necked robe, sat quietly under the wooden eaves in front of the dumpling shop.
She held a tricolor dumpling in her hand, took a bite, and savored it.
In front of her, a person stood against the light, wearing a straw hat and a robe of the same style as hers, with a black background and auspicious cloud patterns.
"Is it over?" the young woman's clear voice rang out.
Itachi looked down at her through the white tassels hanging from his straw hat. Her appearance seemed to have remained unchanged since she was sixteen or seventeen. Her beautiful and delicate features bore a resemblance to her mother and Sasuke, and her figure was more slender and delicate than that of an ordinary woman. Her eyes... seemed to have changed somewhat; those obsidian eyes that used to always carry weariness and were immersed in sadness now looked lighter and brighter.
It was her, yet it seemed like she wasn't the same person she used to be.
Itachi remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded slightly.
The hatred, struggle, and mutual slaughter that he had anticipated vanished the moment she slightly raised her eyes to look at him.
In her eyes was a coldness he couldn't decipher, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Hmm," Itachi replied briefly.
Itachi Uchiha originally thought that Madara had taken her body that day.
He only wanted to obtain the Sharingan, never expecting that she was still alive.
However, the life or death of Uchiha Yuki is no longer of any significance to him at this point.
Lin Xue stood up, gently patted the snow off her knees, and placed the coins on the tray with the remaining two strings of dumplings.
"Let's go then, meet up with Kakuzu. The next mission is..."
The words stopped abruptly, and the two Sharingan eyes met.
Itachi Uchiha discovered that his Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu was ineffective against the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Lin Xue is not yet able to fully control the Mangekyou Sharingan, so she mostly uses the three-tomoe Sharingan in battle.
However, for her, the three-tomoe Sharingan was enough.
Her Sharingan possesses the ability to be immune to mental genjutsu, and this is a passive skill.
As the snowflakes slowly fell, she and Itachi Uchiha simultaneously retracted their Sharingan.
The intricate patterns in the weasel's scarlet eyes faded, turning into three black tomoe, and finally returning to pure black pupils.
Her voice was icy cold, as if she were talking to a complete stranger.
"I have no intention of settling scores with you over the past. Don't keep testing me."
"My patience has its limits. If this happens again, I will kill you."
"Uchiha Itachi, this is the final warning."
Uchiha Itachi... things from the past...
Itachi frowned slightly, and his expression under the straw hat was unreadable, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.
Lin Xue had heard Bai Jue mention Uchiha Itachi before, but she didn't have any particular feelings towards him.
After all, in her view, the real Uchiha Yuki could never forgive Uchiha Itachi; but for her, none of this really concerned her.
Itachi's tone was flat and even: "I'm sorry."
Although it was an apology, there was not a trace of remorse.
Lin Xue walked one in front of him and the other behind him, and Itachi only noticed when he was behind.
She was already taller than the woman she used to call her "aunt".
-
Soon, due to Kakuzu's indiscriminate attacks during the mission, his third partner was unfortunately killed by him.
This time, their mission is to recruit Kakuzu's new teammate—Hidan, an S-rank rogue ninja from the Land of Hot Water Ninja Village, a murderer with an immortal body.
The Kingdom of Hot Springs is located on a small island, which is dotted with volcanoes and hot springs, and its tourism industry is extremely developed.
After the war between the five major powers ended, this place appeared particularly peaceful compared to other countries.
The three of them traveled together on their journey to find Hidan.
"Eh eh eh—"
With that shout, a man wielding a huge red scythe, wearing a punk leather jacket, and sporting slicked-back hair walked out. He called out to Xue and the others, "Hey beautiful ladies over there, wanna join the Evil God Cult?"
Yuki stopped in her tracks. Standing beside her were Itachi and Kakuzu.
"Who are you? You're all wearing the same clothes, are you a band?" Hidan pointed at them and asked with a face full of curiosity.
"No, no, is it a rap group? Like rappers?" he guessed to himself.
As he spoke, Hidan pointed his scythe at Kakuzu, who was standing on the far left, and teased, "Is this gloomy-faced guy the bassist?"
"Then the beautiful woman in the middle is the lead singer and keyboardist."
"No, no, isn't the guy on the right the lead singer and rapper?"
Before Yuki could say anything, Hidan charged forward excitedly, brandishing his scythe.
Seeing this, Lin Xue and Itachi quickly retreated to the trees, quietly waiting for the battle between Kakuzu and Hidan to end. Just as Hidan used his evil magic to steal one of Kakuzu's hearts through his immortality and prepared to continue the fight, Itachi summoned a flock of crows to separate them. Xue also leaped down from the tree, landing steadily beside Itachi.
Just as she was about to say something, Itachi took a step closer to Hidan and shielded her behind him.
"Xiao is a ruthless killing group."
"For example, assassination and war."
"Join Xiao."
Itachi spoke with a cold expression and a completely flat tone.
Upon hearing this, Hidan frowned, but without hesitation, he chose to join.
As is customary, he drew a long horizontal line down the middle of his headband, then put on his Akatsuki robe, officially forming a partnership with Kakuzu.
"Hey, little sister, aren't you coming with us?" Hidan, carrying a scythe, stopped Yuki, who was about to leave.
Xue explained, "The organization usually operates in pairs."
Hidan pointed to Itachi standing next to her: "You're in a group with him? Then I'll switch partners with him."
Itachi remained silent, while Yuki shook her head: "He's in a group with someone else, and I don't have a partner. You were recruited specifically for Kakuzu."
"Let's go, Hidan." At that moment, Kakuzu stood in the distance.
"Alright, alright, bye-bye then." Hidan responded to Kakuzu, followed behind him, leaving behind a waving goodbye figure.
-
Several searches yielded no results. Meanwhile, news arrived from the border of the Land of Hot Water that Uchiha Yuki and Uchiha Itachi were on the move.
Upon learning of this situation, Kakashi and Tenzo were so thoroughly humiliated by the Third Hokage and Shikaku Nara that they could barely lift their heads.
"Tenzo, why didn't you report Uchiha Yuki's whereabouts to Konoha immediately after receiving news?" Shikaku pounded on his desk, his tone tinged with frustration. They had initially assumed Uchiha Yuki had perished on the night of the massacre, her body never even found. Recording her information in the rogue ninja handbook was merely a facade to appease Danzo. Now, with this intelligence, Konoha had completely lost its initiative. He had vaguely guessed what had happened back then. However, a child like Uchiha Yuki would never commit the act of murdering her own clansman.
"I've always been in charge of carrying out the mission to capture the rogue ninja Uchiha Yuki," Kakashi said, taking the blame upon himself. Indeed, it was his carelessness that allowed Uchiha Yuki, whom he had already captured, to escape from his grasp.
Tenzo recalled Uchiha Yuki's actions, so different from her usual self, and was about to say something. But seeing Kakashi's silence, he quietly shut his mouth.
The Third Hokage sat to one side, smoking a hookah, the smoke slowly swirling in the office.
After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "There won't be a next time, Kakashi."
The main issue here is Kakashi. Usually calm and collected, he seems to lose his composure when dealing with matters related to Uchiha Yuki.
Afterwards, Tenzo followed Kakashi out of the Hokage Building.
"Thank you, Tenzo." Kakashi raised his hand and placed it on Tenzo's shoulder.
"Senior, do you still think Senior Xue is the same Senior Xue as before?" Tenzo couldn't help but ask.
Kakashi paused, and after a brief silence, he said, "No matter what, I will bring her back to Konoha."
Even if it's a corpse, I will... bring her back.
-
"Have you heard? Uchiha Yuki is still alive."
"Yes, she seems to be operating within the Akatsuki organization alongside Itachi Uchiha."
"But isn't she supposed to have a very good reputation?"
"Who knows? It just seems so strange. How could Itachi Uchiha, a mere thirteen-year-old boy, possibly wipe out the entire Uchiha clan all by himself?"
"In that case, it is indeed true."
...
......
...
Sasuke, who happened to pass by the Hokage Building and overheard the ninjas talking amongst themselves, clenched his fist.
He returned to his empty home, the Uchiha clan's territory, which he rarely visited anymore. Now he lived in an apartment building very close to the Ninja Academy.
Sasuke's gaze fell on the group photo of the five people on the bedside table. In the photo, there was his gentle mother, his strict father, and his beautiful aunt, but Itachi's face was disfigured by razor blades. Surrounded by the four of them, smiling brightly, he now looked utterly ridiculous.
"Why, why, why?"
"Uchiha Yuki, are you also siding with Itachi?"
The handsome, dark-haired boy, due to intense emotional turmoil, began to breathe rapidly and shallowly, and a scarlet Sharingan with a single tomoe slowly appeared in his eyes.
He angrily smashed the picture frame on the ground and slumped weakly against the edge of the bed.
Glass shattered on the ground, and Sasuke slammed his fist into the photograph again, glass shards embedding themselves in his hand, drawing blood.
But he felt no pain at all, because his heart was aching more and more with each breath.
Why, why, why?
One by one, they all want to leave him.
In the end, that group photo turned into a pile of shredded paper, completely discarded, and reduced to a meaningless waste paper.
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