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The Uchiha clan’s massacre.
The Uchiha Clan’s Downfall (うちは一族の滅亡, Uchiha Ichizoku no Botsuraku), also called the Uchiha Incident (うちは事件, Uchiha no Jiken),[1] was the near-complete massacre of the Uchiha clan, perpetrated by Itachi Uchiha and — unbeknownst to most — a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha.
Background[]
Following the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox’s Attack, Konohagakure’s leadership began to suspect that the Uchiha were behind the attack due to the Sharingan’s ability to control the beast. From that point onwards, the Uchiha were placed under close surveillance — something Tobi claims was accomplished by forcing all Uchiha to live in one section of the village.[2] This mistrust and isolation from the rest of the village created feelings of ill-will amongst the Uchiha, and ultimately rekindled the hatred harbored towards the Senju-influenced government. As such, the Uchiha — led by Fugaku Uchiha — began planning a coup d’état to overthrow the Konoha leadership.
In preparation for the coup, the Uchiha started inserting its members within Konoha’s command structure to act as spies. Itachi was placed in the Anbu, the direct arm of the Hokage; however, Itachi did not agree with the Uchiha’s plans, believing the coup would only escalate into another Shinobi World War. As such, he turned double-agent, providing Konoha with information on the Uchiha’s plans.[3] The Third Hokage, who did not agree with the treatment of the Uchiha following the Nine-Tailed Fox incident, tried to find a peaceful resolution with the clan.[4] Danzō Shimura, however, did not believe negotiations would solve anything and felt eliminating all the Uchiha would cause the least bloodshed.
The Uchiha noticed Itachi’s strange behavior and tasked Shisui Uchiha with keeping an eye on him. Shisui, a close friend of Itachi, shared his opposition to the coup. When peace talks started to break down, Shisui attempted to use his Mangekyō Sharingan’s Kotoamatsukami to force the Uchiha’s leaders to change their minds. Danzō felt this was a waste of Kotoamatsukami’s rare usage, as it could only be used once every ten years and took Shisui’s right eye for himself before Shisui had a chance to use it. Having failed and fearful that Danzō would take his other eye, too, Shisui entrusted his left eye to Itachi before committing suicide.[5] After finding his body, the Uchiha believed Shisui, whom they had sent to spy on Itachi, had been murdered by Itachi and that he had staged Shisui’s suicide[6] and, as such, no longer trusted him.[7]
Although he still wanted to find a nonviolent solution, Shisui’s death convinced Itachi that events could no longer be stopped. He became outwardly critical of the clan’s actions and hostile towards individual members. Danzō, aware of Itachi’s conflicted feelings, explained the two possible outcomes: the Uchiha could be allowed to attempt their coup, an act that would ultimately lead to the entire clan’s extermination, including Itachi and his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha; alternatively, Itachi could assassinate all the Uchiha before the coup took place, and in exchange would be allowed to spare Sasuke’s life.[8] Itachi opted to save his brother.
Before carrying out the massacre, Itachi found Tobi sneaking around the village. Believing he was the real Madara Uchiha bent on destroying Konoha, Itachi offered to take revenge against the Uchiha for betraying him decades earlier and join the Akatsuki if Tobi left both the village alone. Tobi agreed since he previously failed to capture Naruto earlier because of Fourth Hokage’s Contract Seal and Toshirō Shunsoku, the boy’s new father.
Attack[]

Itachi starts massacring the Uchiha clan.
In a single night, Itachi slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan alone. He began by slaughtering the military portion of the Uchiha clan by directly attacking the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters, enabling Tobi to steal every Sharingan for himself from the corpses of dead Uchiha Itachi killed. Afterward, Itachi massacred the civilian portion of the clan without much resistance. He expected Fugaku to be the greatest enemy and entered his home with great caution. To his complete surprise, both his parents were willing to accept death rather than fight their son. Both respected his decision to side with the village over the clan and asked only that he look after Sasuke. He tearfully killed them just before Sasuke returned home from the Academy.[9]
Although his actions were necessary, Itachi could not forgive himself for killing his own family and believed he had to be punished. Sasuke, a child and thus ignorant of the Uchiha’s conspiracies, was the only person qualified to pass the judgement on Itachi he felt he deserved. As such, Itachi attacked Sasuke when he entered their house, desperate to make Sasuke believe he had killed their clan without provocation and for selfish pursuits of power. He used Tsukuyomi to torment Sasuke with images of their clan’s murder and claimed Sasuke was too weak to even bother killing. Itachi encouraged Sasuke to embrace hatred and vengeance to get stronger and to come after and kill him to avenge their family.
As Itachi left, Sasuke made an immediate attempt to follow Itachi’s instructions; awakening his Sharingan for the first time, Sasuke pursued Itachi and attacked him, managing to knock off his forehead protector. Itachi wept from Sasuke’s action but continued on after collecting his forehead protector. Sasuke passed out from the traumas of the night and would not remember this moment of retaliation nor reawaken his Sharingan for many years.[10]
Aftermath[]
Only three Uchiha remained after the Uchiha massacre: Itachi, Sasuke, and Tobi, though most of the world, Sasuke included, did not know of Tobi’s involvement in the massacre or survival. Itachi reported the mission’s success to the Third Hokage, Danzō, Homura, and Kohaku. Regretting the news and with nothing left to be done about losing such a powerful clan that was a good portion of Konoha’s strength, the Third promised to perpetuate the cover story that Itachi had acted alone and without cause so that nobody would learn of the Uchiha’s plans, so that Konoha would not be tarnished for its involvement. Most important to Itachi, the Third vowed to keep Sasuke safe from Danzō.[11] Itachi then left the village, fulfilling his promise to join Akatsuki to reinforce his image as a criminal. In actuality, he monitored Akatsuki from the inside to keep Konoha informed of its actions and preventing the organization from moving against the village[12] via messages sent by his crows to Jiraiya, the leader of Konoha’s extensive spy network. Itachi also threatened to reveal all of Konoha’s confidential information to foreign forces should Danzō bring harm to Sasuke.
True to Itachi’s intentions, the Uchiha’s massacre had an immense impact on Sasuke. Sasuke’s sole motivation over the following years was to become strong enough to kill Itachi, first by training as a shinobi of Konoha and later, after being dissatisfied by his slow growth in Konoha, by defecting to Orochimaru. Under Orochimaru, Sasuke gained enough power to finally pose a threat to Itachi, culminating in Itachi’s death when they finally met in battle. Sasuke enjoyed a brief moment of believing he had avenged his family at last but was shortly afterwards approached by Tobi and informed of the truth behind Itachi’s actions.[13] After realizing that Itachi only ever acted in the interests of his village, Sasuke decided to destroy Konoha for what they did to his brother;[14] however, after reconciling with a reincarnated Itachi, Sasuke decided that this would be contradictory to what Itachi sacrificed his life for and that he would instead protect the village.
Trivia[]
- In the manga, Tobi stated Fugaku organized and planned the coup d’état. In the anime, however, it was stated that he did not plan it, but as the head of the Uchiha clan, he had no choice but to go along with their decision; however, he opted for an option that would satisfy the Uchiha clan and lead to the least bloodshed. To this end, he asked Itachi to help him take over the seat of Hokage by force as well as kept his Mangekyō Sharingan hidden.[15]
- In the novel Book of Dark Night, Yashiro Uchiha was the one who fed information he received from the masked man to Fugaku to encourage him to proceed with the coup, as Yashiro himself was unwilling to take any responsibilities.
- In the anime, it is shown that an unknown Anbu was also aware of the coup d'état. This was an error in the adaptation because at the time of the incident, only six people were aware of the truth – Tobi, Itachi, Hiruzen, Danzō, Koharu, and Homura.[16]
- Furthermore, in a flashback-focused episode, it was shown that Kakashi, Tenzō, and the rest of Team Ro, were told only minor details of the Uchiha’s coup d’état, as they were merely told about a possible civil war, but without receiving the full details, which contradicts the statement that the Uchiha’s growing resentment and mistrust towards Konoha was only known by the elders, Tobi, and Itachi.[17]
References[]
- ↑ Naruto chapter 474, page 12
- ↑ Naruto chapter 399, page 16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 400, pages 1-8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 399, page 16
- ↑ Naruto chapter 590, pages 5-6
- ↑ Naruto chapter 222, pages 2-10
- ↑ Naruto chapter 223, pages 5-15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 590, pages 8-10
- ↑ Naruto chapter 590, page 13
- ↑ Naruto chapter 403, pages 10-14
- ↑ Naruto chapter 400, pages 13-15
- ↑ Naruto chapter 401, page 6
- ↑ Naruto chapters 399-401
- ↑ Naruto chapter 401, page 17
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 455
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 135
- ↑ Naruto: Shippūden episode 359