Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

The night was deep and silent. The sky, blanketed by dense clouds, concealed the moon entirely, its light unable to pierce through.

Around them, the trees stood eerily still, their leaves motionless, like a scene frozen in a painting. The air was windless, yet the heavens carried the foreboding tension of an impending storm.

Ye Zi gazed at the distant lights of Konoha Village. Despite the lack of anger fueling him, he couldn't help but feel a faint, complex emotion stir within as he looked at the village where he had spent over a decade of his life.

"It's about time, isn't it?" White Zetsu turned his head, glancing at Ye Zi's expressionless face.

They had waited there for some time. It was now midnight, and with the moon hidden behind the clouds, the conditions were ideal.

Ye Zi remained silent for a moment longer before nodding slightly. "Let's go."

Before the words fully left his lips, his body sank into the tree branches and vanished, using the Hiding in Surface Technique.

White Zetsu grinned silently and followed suit, also using the Hiding in Surface Technique to stay on Ye Zi's trail.

Since Ye Zi's attack on Konoha a year ago, the village's protective barrier no longer granted special access to the Anbu, a privilege previously extended to Root operatives. All such exceptions had been revoked, and now anyone touching the barrier would immediately alert the detection squad.

Beyond the detection barrier, the village had significantly strengthened its physical defenses. In addition to the Konoha Police Force, another unit patrolled strategic areas, forming a dual-layered security system.

However, these measures couldn't stop Ye Zi and White Zetsu.

Even without using the Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation, the Hiding in Surface Technique allowed them to slip in and out of any major shinobi village unnoticed, provided they exercised sufficient caution.

The Uchiha compound was located on Konoha's northern edge, a fact Ye Zi was well aware of. Entering through the northern perimeter, they bypassed the barrier and guards, silently arriving at the compound's heart.

Unaware of the two deadly intruders, the Uchiha clan slept soundly, most of its members lost in dreams.

The only lights came from the streetlamps lining the roads and the never-extinguished lamps of the Konoha Police Force headquarters, located at the compound's edge. Tasked with maintaining order in the village, the Police Force also served as a protective shield for their clan.

Yet Ye Zi and White Zetsu easily circumvented the Police Force's watchful eyes and infiltrated the compound's core.

"Let's begin… starting with the first one," Ye Zi said coldly.

As a seasoned shinobi who had completed countless assassination missions, Ye Zi was no stranger to killing. In the past, without the aid of techniques like Hiding in Surface or Inorganic Reincarnation, he had achieved a 100% success rate on his missions. Now, with these advanced techniques, the odds of failure were nonexistent.

"Han Uchiha, Apartment 11, Streetside Building."

Ye Zi, already in Sage Mode, moved seamlessly through the ground. After passing two buildings, he emerged inside a room in a single-occupancy apartment.

Inside, a young man named Han Uchiha lay quietly on his bed, deeply asleep. Confident in the safety of his clan's compound, he had no reason to remain alert.

Unbeknownst to him, a reaper's scythe hung poised above his neck.

Shhk!

A flash of the blade, and it was over.

The man in his dreams never awoke. His neck was severed cleanly, and he died soundlessly in his bed.

Even in death, he remained unaware of Ye Zi's presence, it was a testament to Ye Zi's skill and stealth.

"The first one." Ye Zi glanced at the blood pooling on the bed, his thoughts silent but resolute. Not a single unnecessary sound escaped him from the moment he entered to the moment he struck.

His work done, Ye Zi disappeared into the ground once more. A moment later, White Zetsu emerged in the room. Without hesitation, he extracted Han's eyes and stored them in a prepared glass container.

"While I don't mind cleaning up, working with Ye Zi means I can't 'process' the bodies," White Zetsu mused, glancing at the corpse with a tinge of regret. After all, Uchiha bodies had a unique flavor.

With the eyes secured, White Zetsu sank into the ground and followed Ye Zi.

In the silent, windless night, Konoha remained oblivious to the fact that Ye Zi and White Zetsu had infiltrated the Uchiha compound, leaving their first victim in their wake.

The faint, flickering light from a bedside lamp illuminated the room dimly. Blood began to seep from the bed onto the floor below, staining it red.

After eliminating the first target, Ye Zi swiftly moved to the second, still within the same apartment building, just a few steps away.

"Aoba Uchiha, Apartment 17, Streetside Building."

Like a phantom, Ye Zi entered another room. His calm gaze was as chilling as the reaper's.

Another flash of his blade, another life extinguished.

The young man lying on the bed, handsome by most standards, lost his life in his sleep. His neck severed cleanly, blood gushed forth, soaking the bed and slowly dripping onto the floor.

Ye Zi sheathed his blade, the metallic scent of blood thick in the air.

"The second one."

Counting silently, Ye Zi vanished into the ground again. White Zetsu appeared shortly after, collecting Aoba's eyes.

"Fuji Uchiha, Apartment 21, Streetside Building."

Ye Zi arrived quickly at his third target's room. This time, the target was younger, a sixteen-year-old boy. Orphaned during the Third Shinobi War, both his parents had died fighting the Hidden Mist. Despite his youth, Fuji Uchiha had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, marking him as a prodigy within the clan.

With a single, precise strike, Ye Zi severed Fuji's head.

The details of these targets were all committed to Ye Zi's memory. In the streetside apartment alone, there were eleven targets, each possessing three-tomoe Sharingan and living alone, making them easier to assassinate.

In fact, all the targets Ye Zi selected were solitary individuals. Even if the distances between some of the thirty-plus targets were significant, he avoided those who had families. Assassinating clan members with households increased the risk of being discovered and was unnecessary for his purposes.

"The third one."

Ye Zi silently counted as he sank into the ground and vanished once again.

Killing targets in their sleep, devoid of expression or hesitation, was something Ye Zi had done countless times before. It was second nature to him now. Not just Root members, but skilled shinobi such as White Fang, Orochimaru, and many other capable Jōnin had all executed assassination missions. These missions were almost always carried out during the dead of night to minimize complications and mitigate risk.

It was neither about hatred nor grudges, it was simply for the mission.

"Kitsu Uchiha, Apartment 25, Streetside Building."

Ye Zi moved silently toward his fourth target, while White Zetsu dutifully continued his task of collecting the targets' eyes.

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