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"Haori, are we just going to watch?"
Mirai looked up at Haori, but the darkness made it hard for her to see his expression.
"A long time ago, I told you, what side are we on?"
Mirai blurted out without thinking, "We're 'Lawful Neutral.'"
"Cough, Lawful Neutral is our basic stance, but… it's okay to be chaotic sometimes." Haori said. Just passively witnessing certain events didn't seem to deviate from his so-called neutrality. He was simply staying out of things that didn't concern him.
"Evil Chaotic?"
"..." Haori was speechless. Mirai's understanding was wrong. How could she classify him as evil? So, he quickly corrected her, "Neutral Chaotic."
This verbal struggle seemed very pale and powerless in the face of the events about to unfold. But Mirai still asked the question she didn't understand:
"Why would the Third Hokage allow this to happen?"
In Mirai's impression, the Third Hokage was a kind old man. But could an event like exterminating a clan happen without the Hokage's approval? Why would he do that?
"Mirai…" Haori reached out and stroked the girl's head, his voice strangely ambiguous. "You have to understand, the darkness under the light… that's what makes a shadow."
"The image of the Third Hokage you have in mind isn't wrong. He won't be twisted. But many times, the decisions a person has to make have nothing to do with their personal wishes. Everyone has times when they 'have to' do something."
"So, the Third Hokage had to destroy the Uchiha clan?"
"Yes."
Haori said very affirmatively. The actions the Uchiha clan was about to take forced the Hokage to agree with Danzo's actions. To minimize the potential damage the Uchiha clan could cause to Konoha, the village had to strike before the Uchiha clan rebelled.
This action was a purge carried out by the village from a position of "justice."
The place where Haori and Mirai were, although a bit far from the Uchiha clan's residential area, was perfect for overlooking the scenery.
Although there were lights below, there were actually more shadows. But even in this darkness, the faint cries and screams coming from below made it seem even more like a ghost town.
Mirai pressed herself tightly against Haori's body. This gave her a sense of safe comfort. Her face was a bit pale, and Haori could feel the girl's body trembling constantly.
But since Haori had brought her to see this scene, she wouldn't avoid it. Even if she was terrified, she wouldn't.
Her subconscious resistance made her want to talk constantly to force herself to think, thus slightly diverting her attention.
"Why would that ninja accept such an order? Isn't he an Uchiha ninja?"
"This… is a matter of 'choice.' His logic is only known to himself. Others can't tell. I can't guess either. But this kind of action, for Itachi, is undoubtedly absolutely 'reasonable.'"
Itachi Uchiha had still walked down his original path. And Danzo's entire Root was acting in concert with him. Otherwise, it would have been extremely difficult for Itachi to exterminate the entire Uchiha clan on his own.
"Are we just going to watch?"
Mirai asked again.
If it were just ninjas dying, it wouldn't be that cruel. Ninjas killing and being killed were commonplace. But the problem was that the Uchiha below weren't all ninjas. There were ordinary people and women and children.
So, even Haori was silent. But in the end, he still said:
"Everything has cause and effect. The Uchiha clan's fate was ultimately sown by themselves. There is no right or wrong in this kind of thing, only victory or defeat. This time, the village won. So, you feel sorry for the Uchiha clan. That's a habitual empathy for the weak. But if the Uchiha clan had won, then the outcome for many of the remaining Konoha people would have been no different… In the end, that's what ninjas are."
"As for me… I have no reason to act. I have my own goals. Even if I stand by and watch people die, even if I hurt others, even if I take lives, I won't betray my own will…"
"After all, Haori is also a ninja."
"It's not to make up for regrets. It's just to get what I want. I follow my own will. As for everything else, it's not within my consideration."
If he had put all his power on the line, he might have been able to tip the scales of victory. But why would he do that? In the end, Konoha and the Uchiha clan couldn't coexist. If he had to choose between the two, then Haori was also on Konoha's side. This was a fundamental issue of stance.
Protect the Uchiha clan?
Haori would protect the Uchiha clan. After this was done.
As for whether Mirai could understand what he said, Haori didn't know. He hoped this child could understand him…
And when he finished speaking, Mirai's trembling stopped.
For Mirai, it didn't really matter whether she understood Haori's words. No matter what, she was going to follow Haori. It wasn't because she only had Haori, but because she only needed to follow Haori.
The sounds below were getting quieter, but the strong smell of blood in the air was a bit pungent.
Mirai kept frowning, but she forced herself to accept it. Because she understood that all ninjas had to be familiar with this smell, all ninjas had to adapt to this smell, all ninjas… had to be able to create this smell.
"It's almost over down there. Now it's my turn to act. Mirai, wait here for me for a bit."
But although Haori said this, Mirai didn't let go… She looked a bit pitiful.
Okay, it really wasn't appropriate to leave a girl in this place at this time.
"Understood…"
"A shadow clone will be enough for what comes next…"
Haori said as he was about to form hand seals. Hearing her say this, Mirai finally released one of his hands.
Haori created a shadow clone, then stuffed a scroll into his clone's hand. The clone glanced at the scroll, nodded, and rushed towards the Uchiha clan's residential area below.
As for Haori's real body, he chose to stay here with the slightly frightened little girl, because this was more important.
The clone easily infiltrated the Uchiha clan's residential area. The barrier that Root had set up was nothing to him.
The smell of blood was so strong it was hard to breathe. Here, the scent of living people had completely disappeared. Or, there were still Root ninjas collecting Sharingan, but they would soon have to leave.
Haori's clone took out the scroll.
He very steadily unrolled the scroll, then threw it forcefully into the air. Then, his hands quickly formed hand seals.
He wasn't trying to seal anything. He was trying to release something.
After the scroll was unsealed, black flames began to burn in the pitch-black night sky…
This was Haori's Fire Sealing Scroll from before. Inside, it contained… Itachi Uchiha's Amaterasu, the "Fire Fan," the Uchiha clan's strongest Fire Release.
The ultimate flames that burn everything, tonight, they could truly burn everything.
Then, Haori used a second jutsu: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
Amaterasu was ultimately Fire Release. Wind and fire multiply. A large-scale Wind Release gave birth to ultimate flames. Amaterasu could even burn the Wind Release itself. Using it in this situation, it was an unsolvable jutsu.
The black flames fell like rain, pouring down on every corner of the Uchiha clan's residential area.
The Uchiha clan's jutsu, ultimately used to completely destroy the Uchiha clan.
The Uchiha clan's jutsu, ultimately used to protect the Uchiha clan one last time… Haori had protected all the Sharingan, hadn't he?
Summer of Konoha's 54th year. Haori was twenty-one years old. Uzumaki Mirai's sixth birthday was coming up. The strongest clan, the Uchiha clan, was destroyed by the young, talented ninja, Itachi Uchiha, burned by the inextinguishable Amaterasu.
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