Naruto: This Uchiha is too innocent.

【Ding!】

[Host detected has been rescued Kurenai Yuhi]

[Task Completed]

[Acquired Eye Technique: Amaterasu]

The system's mechanical voice rang in his mind, and a change appeared on Uchiha Sora's stiff face as he fled—an emotion called sorrow.

The mission is complete, which means that Kurenai Yuhi has fully returned to the village... carrying the body of Kaze Uzuki.

Amaterasu is indeed powerful, but the price he paid for it was his brother, who was like family to him. The cost and the reward were disproportionate. In the original story, Sasuke obtained the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and the power of Amaterasu at the cost of his brother's life. Can the ultimate fire release that can burn everything to ashes burn away that sorrow?

tick-

Warm liquid trickled down his eyeliner, and Uchiha Sora reached out to wipe it away.

"It's blood..." he murmured, and the moment he looked up, his one-tomoe Sharingan was replaced by a pair of straight Mangekyou Sharingan, which vanished in a flash.

He had clearly completed his revenge, yet he felt no joy, only an endless emptiness. Yes, what good was revenge? Could it bring Uzuki Kaze back? No, he didn't have the Rinnegan and couldn't use Rinne Rebirth. He wasn't Chiyo either, and he couldn't use Reincarnation. Despite having many ninjutsu for resurrection, he didn't know a single one.

However, his sadness quickly vanished, replaced by a sense of vigilance. He sensed a familiar presence rapidly approaching him.

"Maki..." he said softly.

Back then, when he was being hunted down by Maki, he chose to gamble his life on Kaze's life to escape. Although he won the gamble, unsurprisingly, that incident became a thorn in his side, and he still feels guilty about his choice to this day.

Maki was very strong, especially with his troublesome invisible wind blades, which forced him to retreat step by step, leaving him covered in wounds and struggling to breathe. He never expected to encounter Maki again.

Without hesitation, he turned and ran. This was Sand Village territory, and it was not advisable to stay for long. If he fought with Maki, it would easily attract the attention of other Jonin, and then he would have no chance of escaping. He killed a seriously injured Jonin, but that did not mean he could kill a Jonin in his prime.

The wind leaves its mark...

Soon, Maki arrived at the "crime scene." Looking at the mess, the severed shuriken, the tent with the skylight open, the soil mixed with dark blood, and... the corpse lying in a pool of blood, his face darkened. He didn't even need to check for breath to know that Pakula was dead, because the corpse in front of him was too gruesome. To exaggerate, it was hacked to pieces, with not a single part of its body intact.

"Tsk, what grudge could have led to such a tragic end for such a beautiful woman?" Maki sighed with regret, feeling a deep sense of sorrow at the sight of such a lovely woman's untimely death.

"Someone come here," he said calmly.

The next moment, a figure emerged trembling from a corner. "M-Sir, what are your orders?"

Maki looked at the genin with a half-smile. "If I'm not mistaken, you witnessed Pakura's death, didn't you?"

"Yes, yes."

"Why are you hiding on the sidelines instead of offering help?"

"I, I, I..." The man stammered for a long time, unable to speak, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Maki gave him a cold glance. He knew perfectly well what these small fry were thinking; they were simply afraid to help because they were afraid of dying. But being afraid of death was human nature, and it wasn't his business, so he didn't delve into it. "Tell me, what did the killer look like?"

The genin quickly said, "The culprit is a Konoha ANBU member, only about 1.5 meters tall, and wears a cold-faced fox mask." He thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up, "Oh right, he has red eyes."

Maki seemed thoughtful. A height of 1.5 meters meant that the person was either a child, had a physical defect, or had used some kind of special ninjutsu. It wasn't very useful for reference. The key points were the fox mask and the red eyes.

Each member of the Anbu wears a unique mask. The cold-faced fox mask is very distinctive, and most people can recognize it if they encounter it. As for the red eyes... Maki lowered his eyelids. There are quite a few families with red eyes in Konoha, so he can only eliminate them in order.

He picked up a twig and began drawing circles on the ground. Soon, a lifelike three-tomoe Sharingan eye was drawn. "Is this it?"

The ninja took one look, his eyes lit up, then hesitated, "It seems a little different."

There are some differences, but also some similarities, right? Maki handed him the branch. "Where are the differences? Change them."

The genin nodded, picked up a branch, and wiped away two of the three tomoe. "This is what it looks like," he said honestly.

Maki looked closely, somewhat taken aback. "Are you sure?"

"That must be it. I just happened to make eye contact with him at that moment."

Maki remained silent. A single-handed killing of a Jonin with a one-tomoe Sharingan? Was this a joke? As a fellow ninja from Sunagakure, he knew even better the terror of Pakura's bloodline limit, which was why he found it utterly absurd that such a powerful bloodline limit could be killed by a one-tomoe Uchiha.

Maki's silence made the ninja tremble with fear. He thought he had done something to displease his master, so he buryed his head in his neck like an ostrich.

Maki glanced at him, waved his hand, and said, "Alright, that's all for you." The genin felt relieved and fled in panic.

The night wind was really cold tonight, giving Maki a headache. Pakura's death wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that Chiyo left Kikyo Mountain overnight for some unknown reason, without even leaving a reason. Now, only four of the six Jonin remained, while Konoha's reinforcements continued to arrive. Things... were getting complicated.

……

Konoha Village

Kurenai and the others returned to the village with the body in Uzuki Kaze's body.

They had barely returned to the village when they attracted the attention of the ninjas stationed there, who immediately landed in front of them.

Kurenai's eyes lit up, and she raised her hand as if to say something, but she brushed past the group. The ninjas gathered around Asuma, anxiously greeting him.

"Asuma, how did you get hurt so badly?!"

"I'll call the medical ninjas to treat you right away. But that's too slow, I'll just carry you there on my back."

Seeing the ninjas' attention focused entirely on the injured Asuma, while ignoring the dead, Kurenai Yuhi felt a chill run down her spine.

"You...you didn't see the dead bodies here?" She was furious, her face flushed red.

One of the ninjas turned to look at her, glanced at the corpse, and nodded, saying, "I see. This is the Anbu, right? It's normal for Anbu members to die, but Asuma is the Third Hokage's favorite son. What if something happens to him?"

Kurenai Yuhi's eyes widened. "Anbu deaths are normal, so you don't care? What kind of logic is that? Why did they die? For Konoha! How can you not care!"

Asma also fell silent, his expression growing increasingly grave, and he said in a cold voice:

"Bury the dead first."