"Those are some good eyes," 'Madara' (Obito) remarked, his gaze condescending as he looked down at a member of the Uchiha Clan. He waved a hand casually, effortlessly deflecting the opponent's attack.
Before him stood a beautiful woman in a purple kimono, wrist guards cinched on each hand. Her long, jet-black hair framed a face marked by a beauty spot just below her right eye. She gasped for breath, kunai clutched tight, her beautiful eyes blazing with fury as she glared at her enemy.
This was Izumi Uchiha, a genius of the clan. She'd awakened her Three-Tomoe Sharingan at thirteen, a rare feat for an Uchiha Kekkei Genkai user.
Bodies of several Uchiha lay scattered around her.
Among them was her mother, Hazuki.
The tomoe in Izumi's eyes spun fast. She usually disliked relying on her Sharingan, but facing the enemy who'd just murdered her mother, she couldn't hold back now.
But the gap in power between them was simply too vast.
"It's useless," 'Madara' said, dismissively. "You can't possibly defeat me."
The genjutsu the Three-Tomoe Sharingan prided itself on was meaningless to him. Its copying and observation abilities? Even less worth mentioning.
'Madara' easily knocked Izumi down with just a single finger.
It was a widely accepted fact in the ninja world: an Uchiha with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan had strength comparable to a Jonin. Gaining the Sharingan brought a qualitative shift in power. Most Uchiha fought relying entirely on their eyes, it was their greatest tool for rapid growth. More tomoe meant more power.
Except for a few rare individuals, the vast majority poured all their training into mastering that single pair of eyes. A person's energy is limited, focusing so much on the Sharingan naturally meant other foundational training suffered. This had become the Uchiha's defining fighting style. Perhaps it was true for many Kekkei Genkai clans. Why bother with repetitive, boring basic training when you had a built-in cheat code?
But this system held a fatal flaw: over-reliance on the Kekkei Genkai, on the Sharingan's power. Without that advantage, an Uchiha's strength became fragile.
And in situations with extreme level suppression, lower-tier eyes were utterly useless against higher ones. Three-Tomoe could perfectly suppress Two-Tomoe, Two-Tomoe easily suppressed One-Tomoe.
But before the Mangekyo... One-Tomoe, Two-Tomoe, Three-Tomoe - it made no difference. If a Chunin could easily overcome a one Genin, and a Jonin's could easily overcome ten Chunin, then the Mangekyo's user can overcome a hundred the Three-Tomoe. It's why the saying went, 'Below the Mangekyo, all are ants.'
Just like now. Facing the Mangekyo of 'Madara' and Itachi, these so-called 'Three-Tomoe elites' were little more than easy targets, no matter their numbers. An absolute counter.
The natural enemy of the Sharingan wasn't some other jutsu or kekkei genkai, it was the Sharingan itself. These Uchiha elites might have been strong if placed individually in the wider ninja world, but here, they were made by the Sharingan and ultimately broken by it.
Wounded, Izumi bit her lip hard, a trickle of blood running down her chin. She glared fiercely at her enemy, who loomed like some dark entity.
She knew she was no match for the invader, but she couldn't possibly retreat. Behind her was the Uchiha Clan's shelter, filled with children, from ten years old, to just a few, to infants not yet a year old.
The young children were huddled together, peering through the gap in the shelter's iron door, their eyes filled with panic and fear.
Izumi had never hated herself more than in this moment. If only she had trained harder, maybe she could have landed a blow, even just injured him.
'Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!'
The giant fireball passed right through the masked man, unobstructed, as if he didn't exist. In the same instant, Masked Man appeared before Izumi like a ghost, his hand closing around her neck.
Suffocation seized her, twisting Izumi's features into a mask of pain. Still, she held his gaze with her Three-Tomoe Sharingan, staring intensely at the masked man, trying to burn his image into her memory.
"Itachi... Itachi won't let you get away with this," Izumi choked out, forcing the words through clenched teeth.
"Itachi?" The name made her enemy pause, and the pressure on her neck eased slightly.
Seizing the chance, Izumi immediately counterattacked, pulling the short sword from her waist and slashing at 'Madara'. His body became intangible again, the blade passing right through him, the attack hitting nothing but air. But this gave Izumi the opening she needed. She used a Body Flicker, flashing to the side, buying herself a moment to breathe.
"Are you talking about... Itachi Uchiha?" 'Madara' didn't seem to care at all. In his eyes, killing Izumi was a trivial matter he could handle whenever he pleased. He looked at her with renewed interest. "So," he said, "your hope is Itachi?"
"You know Itachi?" Izumi asked with difficulty. She gently rubbed the spot on her neck where he'd choked her, the five-finger marks clearly visible.
'Hold on,' Izumi thought desperately. 'Just a little longer. Reinforcements have to arrive soon. All I can do is buy time.'
"He'll be here soon," she insisted. "He's a genius of the Uchiha. No matter how strong you are, you're no match for him!"
'Madara' let out a low chuckle that quickly swelled into booming laughter. "Hahahaha! You said... Itachi? Hahaha!" It sounded like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.
He repeated the name, "Itachi... Itachi..." Then, as if a new thought struck him, he tilted his head, focusing on Izumi. A cruel smile twisted his lips beneath the mask. "Pitiful girl," he said, his voice low. "Do you know... it was Itachi you spoke of who brought me here? He wants to destroy everything in this compound. To destroy the Uchiha Clan! Itachi... he's the one behind all this." He chuckled again, a dry, cruel sound. "And you... you think he's going to save you? The great genius of the Uchiha? That's rich. Absolutely hilarious. Consider yourself congratulated. You actually made me laugh."
At her enemy's words, Izumi's expression flickered, faltering for just a moment. But then her eyes hardened, becoming resolute again. "Impossible. You're lying to me."
Izumi had grown up with Itachi. She believed she knew better than anyone what kind of person he was.
Itachi was such a gentle, kind person, he would never betray his clan and his comrades.
She believed it with every fiber of her being. She wouldn't let this masked monster twist the truth.
"Lying?" 'Madara' snorted, his eyes narrowing behind the mask as he studied Izumi. "Let me guess... you and Itachi are... quite close, aren't you?"
Closer than 'quite close'. She was Itachi's childhood sweetheart, his lover. Masked Man's gaze seemed to pierce right through her, guessing everything.
"Ah," he murmured, a new note of cruelty in his voice. "No wonder he left you for me to deal with. He went to the other side while I handle this. It's because of you." He wants me to kill you. "Doesn't want to dirty his own hands with his precious lover, does he? I don't know if I should call that merciful... or just plain cruel." He paused, then his voice shifted, almost conversational, but chilling. "Wouldn't you agree, Itachi?"
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