In the dense bamboo forest just beyond the Uchiha compound, a secluded house stood—once a place of quiet contemplation. But today, that silence was broken.
A sinister chill had swept through its halls. In one room, five Uchiha shinobi now lay lifeless—killed instantly, their Sharingan eyes wide open in disbelief.
Standing among them, cloaked in black and with crimson eyes glowing like embers, was Uchiha Kai.
One more Uchiha dangled helplessly in his grip, paralyzed by chakra pressure alone.
The other clan members hesitated, unnerved. Kai's presence was suffocating. He moved with the grace of a dancer and the lethality of a trained killer—like a butterfly in battle, striking before his wings could even be seen.
"Is that all the 'Elder' has to offer?" Kai sneered, glancing at the frozen onlookers.
Without waiting, he reached to the table, lifting a porcelain teacup. His grip tightened around the captured ninja's head.
"Then allow me to offer thanks… for the gift."
With clinical precision, Kai drove his fingers into the shinobi's eye socket. A scream echoed through the house.
"Agh—!"
Blood dripped steadily into the teacup as Kai extracted the first Sharingan.
Silence reigned. Not one Uchiha dared to move.
"These eyes…" Kai muttered, dropping the first into the cup and moving for the second, "...are the keys to rewriting fate itself."
With a final twist, he took the second eye and dropped the limp body. His Mangekyō Sharingan spun slowly, gleaming.
"Izanagi," Kai said, holding the teacup. "A forbidden art of the Uchiha. You elders know it well—an illusion so complete, even reality can be fooled. And I intend to make full use of it."
"You monster…" snarled Uchiha Shiden, one of the older clan advisors. His Sharingan flared.
"Monster? No," Kai replied, stepping over a corpse. "You all turned against me first. Don't forget—this bloodbath was your choice. I'm merely the answer."
And with that, he moved.
In a blur of chakra and afterimages, Kai tore through the remaining guards. His Susanoo, half-formed and skeletal, erupted behind him—crushing walls, weapons, and warriors alike.
"Kill him!" one shinobi shouted.
"For the Elder!" cried another.
But Kai's speed was terrifying. Even armed, the clan shinobi couldn't lay a finger on him. Their weapons were deflected. Their strikes anticipated.
One ninja with a blade found it ripped from his hands. In the next breath, his chest was sliced open.
With that sword, Kai moved faster. Cleaner. Deadlier.
"Tch… Even with numbers, you fall like leaves," he muttered, slicing down the last of them.
Blood soaked the floor. The walls. The snow drifting in from the broken roof.
From across the room, Shiden glared, hands already forming seals.
"You think this ends here, Kai? The clan's full might is a step away. You can't take on two-thirds of the elite!"
"Then let's test your theory."
Kai raised his blade. "You should've waited for Fugaku. This wasn't your war to start. But now it'll be your funeral."
He moved again—but this time, a cold sensation pricked at his senses. Instinct screamed.
A dark figure appeared behind him—masked, cloaked in black, blade poised to strike.
Kai's Susanoo arm snapped into place, deflecting the ambush with a resonant clang of metal on chakra.
"Tch… A hidden assassin? Coward."
Kai skidded back, hands flashing through seals.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
A roaring stream of fire erupted forward, twisting around his skeletal Susanoo frame. The assassin dodged narrowly, slipping through smoke and debris.
But Kai wasn't finished. The house exploded in flames as the jutsu ignited everything in its path.
"Everyone, evacuate!" shouted Shiden. The other elders leapt out windows and back doors.
The inferno engulfed the house. Smoke rose like a pillar into the snowy sky. Back in the Uchiha district, civilians looked on in confusion and dread.
"That's… the Elder's estate," one murmured.
Kai emerged from the flames, his cloak scorched but his body unharmed. Snowflakes landed softly around him, evaporating on contact.
His eyes caught the body of the weapon-bearer—one of the fallen guards.
Quietly, Kai stooped and retrieved the ninja's tool pouch, hooking it to his side. From it, he drew a familiar sword—the one Kakashi had entrusted to him.
Its blade glinted in the firelight, warm with chakra resonance.
"It's been a while," Kai murmured. "Feels like you missed me."
Blue chakra crackled faintly along the edge. He smiled faintly.
"When this is all over… maybe I'll give you a name."
His gaze shifted to the assassin across the courtyard. Another blade. Another test.
Kai raised his own weapon, taking a measured stance.
"Come then," he said. "Let's see whose steel cuts deeper."