Chapter 943

The strange uncle, rejected, paid no mind; he put away the candy and pulled out a pair of glasses, placing them on his nose, then opened a book hanging at his waist.

"Good girls must be rewarded—don't you like candy? It's fine, I can think of something else, hmm?"

"No, no need! Just stop drawing all over everything! I—I'm past curfew! My brother will come get me soon if I don't get home!"

Whether it was an illusion or not, Sanae felt the air around her growing foggy, and even the moon overhead seemed to grow stranger. She could even sense a chill within the mist, and a peculiar, slimy texture.

"How can you expect no return? How can you be so pure and naive?" The strange uncle calling himself Bluebeard's expression twisted; his deep voice murmured as the book in his hands flipped faster, purple-black light flickering across the pages—murky, dark purple, suffocatingly oppressive.

"How can anyone give selflessly! It's all lies! All of it! Let me shatter the lies of false gods and save you lambs, deceived and unaware!"

He's truly insane!

Sanae ignored the screaming Bluebeard behind her and sprinted with all her strength toward her front door—just around the next corner was the entrance to Zudi Sect; if she explained the situation to the guard, she'd never again encounter this lunatic after school.

"What on earth happened?!" Standing at the entrance to Zudi Sect, Sanae was even more terrified than before—she had never imagined she'd see such a scene.

The gate of Zudi Sect stood wide open; the guards who should have been there were scattered everywhere in front of it.

Yes, scattered—this sight was so horrifying that Sanae instinctively forced herself to ignore the carnage on the ground.

Her legs gave out; she leaned against the doorframe, but her hand touched a thick splatter of blood.

How could this be?

Staggering into the interior of Zudi Sect, Sanae saw not a single living person.

She had advanced less than fifty meters when the urge to turn and flee overwhelmed her—but before she could turn, that pervert's voice came again from behind.

"Oh? So you're one of this family's children? Come, play with my Sea Demon pet!"

Bluebeard's tone was eerie; Sanae understood now—Zudi Sect's destruction was surely tied to him!

From the shadows all around, grotesque monsters he called "Sea Demons" kept leaping out.

"Brother, help me!" As the monsters closed in, cornered and desperate, Sanae shut her eyes and pulled out her kunai, stabbing wildly at the writhing tentacles.

A tremendous force seized her wrist—the sensation of tentacles wrapping around her finally made her scream in terror; she couldn't bear to imagine what would happen if she were dragged into the monster's mouth.

"Amaterasu!"

Black, unextinguishable flames engulfed every Sea Demon, miraculously sparing Sanae—Uchiha Itachi had found her at the last moment!

"Brother… brother!"

"It's alright, Sanae, you're safe now!" Holding his sobbing sister tightly, Uchiha Itachi's eyes—already drained of power—reverted to the Mangekyō Sharingan; he stared at the figure approaching amid the Sea Demon tentacles—he would give this man a profound lesson.

In another courtyard, Mikoto Uchiha was supporting Fugaku Uchiha as he retreated; she hadn't expected that in just a brief instant, Fugaku had been utterly defeated in a battle of ocular power—both possessed Mangekyō Sharingan, yet the gap was so vast?

There was no choice. Seeing Fugaku unconscious and the countless dead of the Uchiha clan around her, Mikoto knew she had to use every last card—she summoned the sealed portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra within her, entering Tailed Beast Sage Mode.

Xiao Hei let out a faint sigh, severing his connection with the shadow ahead; what happened next no longer required her to manipulate it with painstaking effort.

"Xiao Hei, come here—I have questions for you." In the Hyūga family courtyard, a wooden bridge spanned a small artificial pond, where Kaguya stood upon it, holding a dish of fish food, occasionally sprinkling bits for the koi gathered below.

Called by her mother, Xiao Hei involuntarily shrank back; instinct told her she had done something wrong—her mother was likely about to reprimand her.

"You didn't tell Young Yuanzi?"

Of course not. Xiao Hei bit her lip, silent, lowering her head to avoid meeting Kaguya's gaze—even if, in her own mind, this decision was right.

Unlike her mother, who had only her, Kassan was surrounded by too many "outsiders," some of whom stood directly or indirectly against them; thus, for many matters concerning her mother, Xiao Hei treated secrecy as the utmost priority.