At this moment, Itachi was already gravely wounded.
He leaned against a massive boulder, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. One eye was closed, and a thin line of blood slowly slid down from its corner…
All around was a scene of utter devastation.
The trees had been set ablaze, the rocky hillside was stained black with soot, and the sky above was choked with dark clouds. Raiton (Lightning Release) chakra was brewing within them…
Shigeo halted his steps and stood off to the side, quietly watching this battle unfold.
He already knew how it would end. Since Itachi had chosen this path, Shigeo would respect that choice. After so many years, Itachi had undoubtedly already thought everything through.
Time slipped away, bit by bit.
The two brothers continued to clash. Explosions and Katon (Fire Release) techniques rose again and again like monstrous dragons, and towering flames burned everything they touched.
Sasuke had entered his cursed seal state, the markings on his face twisted and ferocious.
Itachi unleashed Amaterasu, and the black flames swept toward Sasuke's cursed seal wings. Sasuke was forced to release the form and revert to normal, then he counterattacked with Raiton: Kirin (Lightning Release: Kirin), bringing it crashing down on Itachi!
The earth trembled.
The ground was shattered wherever the lightning struck. Itachi leapt again and again to evade, yet his battered body still took severe damage. When he rose once more, Susanoo's first form took shape around him, followed swiftly by its second form…
Sasuke had maintained the cursed seal state for far too long.
Now he collapsed to the ground in agony. The brothers had already fought for the better part of the day, and at this very moment, both their spirits and their chakra were nearly exhausted.
Sasuke looked up at his brother, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
He grabbed his left shoulder, his entire body trembling. The backlash from the cursed seal was ravaging him from within.
Suddenly, he let out a hoarse roar.
Several large white snakes burst out from his shoulder and lunged straight at Itachi on the other side.
A hydra of white snakes surged toward Susanoo.
Susanoo's Yata no Kagami (Yata Mirror) blocked the assault, while the Totsuka no Tsurugi (Totsuka Blade) cleaved up and down. In an instant, eight of the serpent heads were severed. The last head opened its jaws wide, and Orochimaru's slimy body slithered out from within.
He was clearly planning to use Sasuke's body to resurrect himself once more!
Seeing this, Shigeo frowned slightly.
Why did Orochimaru always have to revive himself with this kind of disgusting method? Was there really no less revolting way?
While Shigeo was inwardly complaining, Itachi drove the Totsuka no Tsurugi (Totsuka Blade) straight into Orochimaru, sealing him away. At the same time, he forcibly drew the cursed seal out of Sasuke's body.
The curse mark fell to the ground and transformed into a white snake.
Just as it prepared to slither away and escape, Amaterasu's black flames roared forth and engulfed it, burning it to ash.
By now, Itachi could no longer hold out.
Blood flowed continuously from his eye. His body swayed unsteadily as he began to walk toward Sasuke…
From beginning to end, he had never once used the restorative serum Shigeo had given him.
If he had used it, his body wouldn't have deteriorated to this extent.
Shigeo let out a faint sigh.
The fingers he had unconsciously extended toward the battlefield slowly curled back into a fist. It seemed that some things could only be left until the very end.
Sasuke panted heavily, his gaze locked on the figure of Itachi in front of him.
A trace of fear flickered in his eyes.
That outstretched hand…
Was his brother going to gouge out his eyes?
Sasuke flung out a string of explosive tags, but even that wasn't enough to stop Itachi's advance.
He drew the Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Kusanagi Sword) and launched one last desperate attack, only to be blasted away by Itachi's Katon (Fire Release) and sent crashing into the rock wall.
Sasuke's body slumped against the stone cliff.
Itachi staggered toward him, one unsteady step at a time, until he finally stopped right in front of Sasuke.
He raised his hand, a faint curve at the edge of his lips.
Just as Sasuke tried to dodge, that blood-stained hand descended and gently tapped him on the forehead.
Itachi's voice was low and hoarse, his words barely above a murmur.
"Sasuke… I'm sorry. This is the last time."
With that, everything came to an end.
A searing pain tore through Sasuke's eyes.
He stared at Itachi lying on the ground, his mind utterly blank. The scene before him overlapped with the distant memory of his childhood—Itachi tapping his forehead with one finger.
In his heart, a faint doubt quietly took root.
But that doubt only flickered for a brief instant… and then vanished.
He did not dwell on it.
He turned his head to glance at Shigeo, then began to walk down the mountain with unsteady steps.
"You don't want to know about Itachi's past?"
"Why he annihilated the clan?"
"Why you alone survived?"
"Why he had to die here today? You don't want to know any of it?"
"No!" Sasuke shouted back at him, his voice raw.
He turned to glare at Shigeo. "You're his friend. I won't believe a word you say. You'll only try to wash his sins away. I don't believe anything any of you say!"
"He killed my father and mother. No matter how 'sufficient' his reasons are, they will never clear him of that crime!"
Sasuke's voice broke into a hysterical roar.
While he was arguing with Shigeo, it was as if he was also desperately trying to convince himself.
Shigeo said nothing.
He simply let out another quiet sigh. At this moment, no matter what he tried to say, Sasuke would not believe him.
Sasuke left.
Later, he would encounter Obito, receive transplanted Sharingan, and awaken the Eien Mangekyou Sharingan (Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan).
It was also from Obito's mouth that Sasuke finally learned the full truth about Itachi.
After a brief struggle in his heart, Sasuke came to understand that he had wronged his brother.
Itachi had been falsely accused. For the sake of Konoha, he had been used, manipulated.
And the one who had used him—Danzo—had already died at Shigeo's hands.
Why was it that the man who killed their enemy and knew all the secrets was Shigeo…
Yet he, Itachi's own younger brother, had been kept in the dark?
Thinking of this, Sasuke made up his mind.
He chose to join Obito and launch the Fourth Great Ninja War, standing in outright opposition to Shigeo and to Konoha.
But before that, he had a personal score to settle.
Sasuke led Team Taka southward, intending to find Shigeo and settle accounts first.
Halfway there, he heard that Shigeo was at the Allied Shinobi Forces Headquarters in the Land of Iron, so he turned around and headed north instead.
With the war imminent, Shigeo was busier than ever.
Just yesterday, he had used Inkonrei (Soul-Summoning Bell) and Jussou Ten'in (Tenfold Celestial Transmission) to wrest Itachi back from the hands of the Shinigami (Death God), and transplanted a new pair of Sharingan for him.
The procedure did not take very long.
Having gone through death and returned, Itachi was a completely different person when he awoke.
In the past, he had looked down on everything, detached and without desire.
But now, having died once and been reborn, he carried a new fervor, a fierce sense of resolve.
"From now on," Itachi declared, rubbing at his eyes with a face full of anger and determination,
"to me, black is black and white is white. If anyone dares use their black to stain my white, I'll fight them to the death!"
Shigeo watched him, then burst out laughing.
He swung a fist and lightly punched him. "That's more like it. To hell with all that weighing and compromising. You have to live for yourself!"
Itachi laughed as well, then turned back to work alongside him.
Although the shinobi from the other villages still held deep grudges against him, with the great war about to break out, they no longer had the time to reopen old accounts.
And even if they wanted to, as long as Shigeo was here, it was doubtful they could win anyway.
All Shigeo had to say was, "He was my undercover agent inside Akatsuki," and every argument died in their throats.
The Allied Shinobi Forces had already completed their mobilization.
The Staff Division, Intelligence Division, Reconnaissance Division, and Surprise Attack Division were all at their posts, carrying out their assigned duties.
At the front lines, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Divisions had all finished their preparations and could launch an assault at any time.
The samurai of the Land of Iron were cooperating with their operations as well, ready to ride out whenever the order was given.
The eve of the great war had truly arrived.
(End of Chapter)
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