"Konoha's years of suppression and marginalization of the Uchiha gave rise to the clan leadership's intent to rebel.
You probably don't know that yet—you're not high-ranking enough to attend the secret meetings at the Naka Shrine.
But it's true.
The relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha…
has hit rock bottom.
To preserve the peace of the village, Itachi willingly took on the role of executioner for the Konoha elders and turned his blade on our clan."
Inzuki spoke patiently.
The others stood in stunned silence, their hearts sinking into despair.
A mist clouded Izumi's eyes as warm tears streamed down her cheeks. Her voice trembled as she choked out:
"…Then what about you?"
In her memory, Inzuki had always been gentle, responsible, and calm. He smiled often and treated others kindly.
She remembered the mission just after graduating from the academy. She'd been gravely injured—but Inzuki didn't abandon her. He carried her all the way back to the village on his back.
Inzuki responded in a quiet, even voice:
"I'm not as noble as the Uchiha Itachi you all put your hopes in.
I don't need lofty ideals like for the clan, for the greater good, or for Konoha to justify drawing my blade.
I don't care about the peace of the shinobi world.
Those who fall by my sword tonight—will die.
The only difference is whether they die early…
or a bit later.
All I want… is to survive."
He paused, then added:
"But since I've borrowed their lives to get this far, I'll repay the Uchiha in my own way.
I don't like owing anyone.
That's why… you're all still standing here."
Meanwhile, deep within the Uchiha district, Itachi's blade continued its merciless harvest of lives.
The shrieks of the dying grew louder and more desperate, blanketing all of Konoha in a suffocating gloom.
"Hahaha!" Uchiha Tamayo suddenly burst into laughter, his voice booming.
"I knew it! Big Brother Inzuki wasn't murdering our clan—he was freeing them from this living hell!"
He referred to Inzuki formally as "Captain" in public, but in private, always called him "Big Brother."
The others turned to Tamayo with odd looks. His outburst shattered the solemn tension.
But Tamayo was… unstable. Everyone knew that.
He was erratic, emotionally volatile. The only reason he'd even been allowed on missions was thanks to his awakened three-tomoe Sharingan—and Inzuki personally vouching for him.
Inzuki glanced at Tamayo and gently released the Yasaka Spear imprint from his Mangekyō.
Tamayo had lost his parents in the Third Great Shinobi War and had suffered mental trauma from a young age. The clan had written him off and confined him to Konoha Hospital's psychiatric ward.
It was the original Inzuki—the kind-hearted version—who rescued him and raised him.
Tamayo's loyalty to him was absolute.
Now free, Tamayo beamed with joy and quickly stepped behind Inzuki, standing in his usual place as subordinate and bodyguard.
"Captain Inzuki! Let us go—I'll stop that bastard myself!" shouted Nanami, eyes bloodshot.
He was trembling from rage and grief—his aging parents still lived in the heart of the Uchiha district, and Itachi was rapidly closing in.
His teammates pleaded too. Most had family in the area being butchered.
Inzuki stared toward the district again, as if waiting for something.
"You can't stop him," he said quietly. "Neither can I."
Then one of the guards, clinging to a fragile hope, mumbled:
"The Uchiha only had… intentions to rebel. Nothing had actually happened yet. The Konoha elders… they wouldn't ignore all the blood we've shed for the village… right?"
"We still have Clan Head Fugaku."
"Fugaku-sama wouldn't allow Itachi to act like this, would he?"
Even as they spoke, they didn't believe their own words.
Inzuki stood and pointed toward the forest surrounding the Uchiha district.
"Root is mobilizing in that direction. Tell me… why do you think they're holding back?
This massacre has gone on for five minutes.
Why hasn't the Hokage's personal ANBU lifted a finger?
Where are the other clans?
Where is Fugaku?
Can't they hear the screams?"
He clenched his fists slightly.
"They won't move… not until Itachi's blade stops, and the cries of the Uchiha fall silent.
Your Clan Head Fugaku? He's part of it too."
The ones who'd spoken fell completely silent.
These guards, removed from the massacre itself, stood like helpless outsiders, witnessing everything from afar.
Inzuki was right.
This was no battle. This was a one-sided massacre tacitly approved by the village's top brass.
No one would come to save the Uchiha tonight.
What crushed them most wasn't just the killing—
It was that their own clan leader… did nothing.
"Big Brother, let's run!"
Tamayo proposed suddenly.
If they couldn't win—then escape! Become rogues! Wait for the right time to strike back!
The others turned to look at him again—this time, seriously.
He might be unhinged, but he was right.
None of them would be spared.
Not by Itachi.
Not by Konoha.
Even if they lived, Danzō would make sure they died "accidentally."
The atmosphere was already screaming genocide.
If they didn't die now, Root would "help them die" later.
"Captain Inzuki, you all should escape," Nanami said bitterly. "My family's still in the district… I can't leave them behind and live on alone."
Nanami was honest.
His parents had died on missions long ago. He'd been raised by his grandparents.
He couldn't abandon them now.
Inzuki was about to reply when his system flared with a new prompt:
[Side Quest: Rescue]
[Condition: Rescue a target within the Uchiha district.]
[Reward: 100 cubic meters of storage space.]
Inzuki's brow furrowed slightly.
Rescue?
He didn't have the power—or the desire.
But… the system didn't specify how many. As long as he rescued someone from within the Uchiha district, the reward counted. The nine behind him didn't qualify—they were acquired before the quest.
And 100 cubic meters of storage would be far more convenient than any scroll.
He already had someone in mind.
Someone worth saving.
Before, he hadn't had the strength.
But now?
He did.
Just moments ago, the shadow clone he had sent to the Uchiha district had—by sheer luck—triggered this mission. Though the task wasn't complete yet, it was in motion.
This surprise was meant for Itachi.
And as a backup plan—for survival.
Suddenly, a subtle disturbance rippled through the forest at the district's edge.
Inzuki's eyes lit up. It was time.
He rose from the cliff and scanned the eight guards before him.
Despair was written all over their faces.
"I can't save your families from Itachi. But I can give you something else: revenge."
"After tonight…
Your grandparents, your parents, your siblings—they will sleep forever beneath the soil of this land that betrayed them.
But you… will be reborn.
So that one day, you can crush Konoha."
With that, Inzuki activated Yasaka Spear and transformed all eight into members of Root using the Transformation Technique.
Tamayo, watching from the side, followed suit, taking on the same appearance as his brother figure.
He might be crazy—but he wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what was about to happen.
Inzuki led the nine of them, weaving through the night and shadow, bypassing the district, blending in with the Root squads gathering at the edges.
"This is the end—but also the beginning."
He deactivated the Mangekyō, but under Yasaka Spear, he still controlled their minds and chakra as if each was an extra limb.
Now came the final move before his defection.
The move that would determine whether he truly escaped Konoha.
Inzuki's target—
Shimura Danzō.
But he had only about fifteen minutes.
Once Itachi finished the massacre, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the ANBU would intervene.
If they were still in Konoha by then, all ten of them would die.
Inzuki was willing to take the risk.
If he could kill Danzō—great.
If not, he would at least steal something vital.
This… was the final act before he fled the village.
---
Authors Note: The protagonist is decisive and ruthless, not self-pitying. Relationships will be broken if needed—whatever makes the story exciting.
When I say defection, I mean it.
No hesitation. No dragging things out.