Mastermind of the Akatsuki

After several days and nights of travel, the elders, women, and children of the Uchiha clan finally left the Land of Fire. Upon seeing the starkly different geography, the Uchiha were filled with mixed emotions. They were relieved to have escaped the pursuit of Konoha's ninjas but deeply worried about their future.

Ever since they had heard about the radical faction within the clan planning a coup, they had been concerned about what lay ahead.

If Clan Leader Fugaku and the other high-ranking members had succeeded in the coup, they would have automatically become part of the Hokage family's ninjas, enjoying a higher status in the village and being able to boast about their lineage. However, beyond that, they would have gained little.

The Senju clan, which had once been the Hokage family, had suffered a similar fate. Within just twenty years, the glory of the Hokage family drained away, and many of the Senju ninjas either died on the battlefield during the ninja world wars or abandoned their family name to become commoners.

Today, when people spoke of the Senju, they only remembered the late First and Second Hokage and the princess of the slugs.

If Fugaku's coup had failed, even those who hadn't actively participated in the rebellion would have been branded as traitors, ostracized and despised by the people of Konoha.

However, this life was not too bad for the Uchiha. Due to their association with the Police Force, their reputation had always been poor. Another accusation wouldn't matter much as long as they could survive.

These were the thoughts of the Uchiha clansmen a few days ago, but reality turned out to be even more brutal than they had imagined.

They never expected that the very Itachi Uchiha, who had often aligned with the Hokage's office and opposed the radical faction during clan meetings, would turn on his own powerless clan and raise his kunai against them.

Had it not been for a young boy saving them, they would have all perished that night.

As they sat to rest, the Uchiha turned their gaze toward the graceful young boy standing in the center of their group. His appearance was strikingly handsome, even surpassing the average good looks of their own clan.

This boy had led them out of Konoha, helping them escape the slaughter at the hands of Itachi Uchiha.

While they were grateful for his help, they couldn't help but wonder where he was taking them. As traitors to Konoha, which place would dare take them in?

Among the crowd, Izumi Uchiha had a complex look in her eyes as she watched Byakuya.

It had been Byakuya who had saved her when she was attacked by the masked man. However, he had later used genjutsu to knock her unconscious and had begun the journey of escape.

Throughout the journey, she had been desperate to ask Byakuya his name and where they were going, but each time, Byakuya had only given her a brief glance, using his Sharingan and treating her like a fool before ignoring her questions completely.

In conversations with the others, she had learned shocking news.

The Itachi Uchiha, the very ninja she had admired since her days in the Ninja Academy, had mercilessly massacred his powerless clan, including her own mother who had raised her with great effort.

Had it not been for Byakuya's extraordinary medical ninjutsu, she doubted any of them would have survived.

How could Itachi do such a thing? Itachi had always been a genius, someone who even as a child had shown the mindset of a Hokage. When faced with provocations from older kids at the Ninja Academy, he had always appeared indifferent.

Even during the Chūnin Exams, he had shown exceptional abilities.

Why would such an outstanding ninja turn against his own clan? Even if the radical faction had failed in their coup, the village's high-ranking officials would never have targeted such powerless members of the clan, right?

Izumi could not understand it, and the mental strain made her chakra begin to flow in an unusual way.

Unintentionally, her Sharingan activated, and her eyes began to undergo a transformation, seemingly heading toward the path of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

However, just as this transformation began, the intense mental strain caused her to faint, and the evolution halted, leaving her with plain black eyes once more.

Sensing the chakra changes around her, Byakuya briefly glanced toward Izumi.

He had noticed her earlier transformation and had thought she might awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

However, whether due to her physical condition or the insufficient stimulus, the evolution had barely begun before it ended. He had been somewhat hopeful, wondering if Itachi's little admirer might unlock something new with her Mangekyō.

Instead, it had all come to an abrupt halt.

Pulling his thoughts back from the distractions, Byakuya walked over to Izumi, who had fainted, and gently laid her on the grass, covering her with a blanket.

After finishing this, Byakuya approached the Uchiha clan members and spoke up, "Everyone, we are about to reach the borders of the Land of Rain. There are a few important things I need to inform you of, and also to talk to you about the plans that Byakuya-sama and Shisui-sama have for the Uchiha clan."

"Shisui-sama? Byakuya-sama?"

The Uchiha clan members were a little confused. They recognized these two names, but they also wore puzzled expressions on their faces.

Wasn't Shisui missing a few months ago? How could he suddenly appear and arrange their future?

As for Byakuya, wasn't he a high-ranking member of the Amegakure? Why would he interfere with Uchiha matters?

Could it be that Shisui's disappearance wasn't the result of Konoha's high-ranking officials, but that he had left the village and contacted Byakuya from Amegakure during this time, secretly preparing a second plan for the Uchiha clan?

Byakuya cleared his throat, signaling for the crowd to remain calm before he spoke again: "I understand that you all have many questions. Please allow me to explain one thing at a time..."

After speaking for a few minutes, Byakuya clarified the information they had been lacking over the past few months.

A few months ago, Shisui was ambushed by Danzo. After sustaining serious injuries, he managed to escape from Konoha.

During this month, Shisui had been contemplating ways to save the Uchiha clan. In his moment of despair, he encountered Byakuya from Amegakure.

Byakuya, a ninja from the Uzumaki clan, upon learning of the Uchiha's plight, worked together with Shisui to devise a plan to relocate the Uchiha clan.

However, even Shisui and Byakuya never expected that Itachi would act so ruthlessly.

After much effort, Shisui and Byakuya had finally managed to lead the Uchiha clan out of the Land of Fire, and now, they were about to face a crucial decision.

The choice was whether to retain the Uchiha name and live as rogue ninjas in the ninja world, or to abandon their name and integrate into Amegakure as ordinary ninjas. In Amegakure, no discrimination would be shown to foreign ninjas, and everyone would be treated equally.

The reason for abandoning the Uchiha name was to avoid trouble from Konoha.

After a brief period of contemplation, all the Uchiha members made their choice. They turned their gazes to Byakuya and began signing their names on the agreement.

Byakuya looked at the names on the document as the sound of system notifications rang in his ears.