Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Morning After the Nightmare
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The next morning.
Konoha was still bathed in gentle sunlight and breezes, the Uchiha clan grounds immersed in soft morning light.
Uchiha Izumi jolted awake from her sleep, fine beads of sweat glistening on her forehead.
She had spent far too long in that genjutsu world—too long—leading to a night filled with nightmares. Each time she woke, she dreaded that she was still trapped in it, forced to relive the agony of her clan's extermination.
This torment had plagued her the entire night.
As she washed up, the girl in the mirror had faint shadows under her eyes, her teardrop beauty mark lending an extra touch of fragile allure.
In the living room, a prepared serving of miso soup and onigiri sat on the table, held down by a note.
Izumi's fingertips brushed over the note, a warm current flooding her heart and scattering much of the previous night's clan massacre nightmare.
After finishing breakfast, Izumi donned her ninja headband, checked her equipment, and headed out to her team's rendezvous point, ready to join her teammates and instructor for a mission.
Within the Uchiha clan grounds, all was peaceful and serene. Some of the elders staying behind greeted Izumi warmly.
Yet this tranquility made her grip her ninja tool pouch tightly.
'So, what exactly is that mysterious person up to?'
After leaving the clan grounds, Izumi couldn't help recalling the ordeals she had endured in the "Infinite Loop Night of Extermination."
As a member of the Uchiha clan, Izumi naturally knew genjutsu and had received training from clan elders on Sharingan usage.
But the genjutsu she had learned primarily affected an individual's senses—for instance, the Hell Viewing Technique, which merely forced the victim to witness their deepest terrors.
The genjutsu deployed by last night's mysterious figure, however, felt like an utterly real world.
Izumi had "died" multiple times without spotting a single flaw in that genjutsu realm, stubbornly convinced she remained trapped within it.
The entire genjutsu world seemed confined to the Uchiha clan grounds and the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters. Venturing beyond that boundary triggered ambushes by masked Konoha ninja.
Izumi had heard of those masked ninja before—they belonged to the Hokage's Anbu.
But why would Anbu seal off the Uchiha clan grounds?
"Ohayo, Izumi." A clear voice interrupted her thoughts.
Izumi looked up to see Uchiha Shisui—dressed in a black high-collar short-sleeved shirt and black pants, brown armor on his right shoulder—greeting her with a gentle smile.
"Good morning, Shisui-nii." When Izumi and her mother had first moved back to the clan grounds, everything had felt so foreign, and Shisui had helped her out.
Shisui's kindness extended to everyone; he had treated the newcomer Izumi like a little sister.
"You look like you didn't get much sleep?" Shisui walked alongside her, his keen observation picking up on her pallor.
"No... it's just..." Izumi didn't know how to explain.
She recalled the "Night of Extermination": witnessing Clan Leader Fugaku and his wife slain by Itachi in the clan grounds, and Uncle Yashiro, Uncle Ironfire, and the others murdered by the mysterious masked man at the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters.
But on closer reflection, Shisui seemed to be the only one whose shadow she hadn't glimpsed.
"If you're feeling worn out, take a proper break." Shisui assumed it was because Izumi, fresh from graduating as a genin, was struggling to adapt to the rigors of ninja missions.
Izumi opened her mouth, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to speak.
Could she really tell Shisui that in the genjutsu world, Itachi and a mysterious figure had slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan?
And that outside the clan grounds, Konoha's Anbu were blockading information and hunting down any surviving Uchiha?
"Yeah, I'll get myself together!" Izumi forced a smile in response to Shisui.
"Don't push yourself too hard." Shisui came to a stop—he had reached the Konoha Military Police Force.