Other than himself,
there were no living people left around him.
Standing within Susanoo, Uchiha Hatoha stared blankly at his surroundings. Within the field of vision granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan, he could no longer see a single humanoid chakra outline. As far as the eye could reach… there was only endless devastation. Even the birds, insects, and snakes had either perished in the collateral damage of the battle just now or fled far away.
"…Tsuruha."
Facing this boundless ruin,
Hatoha felt not even the slightest trace of satisfaction from revenge.
Instead, an immeasurable loneliness and despair surged toward him like a tidal wave, drowning him completely in endless darkness.
He softly called out his younger brother's name. The white substance that tightly wrapped around his head, leaving only his eyes exposed, unfurled like a blooming lotus, revealing a deathly pale face filled with grief and desolation. Large, scalding tears rolled down his cheeks.
Piercing, heart-rending sobs echoed beneath the clear sky.
"…Hatoha, are you… alright?"
When Hatoha's crying gradually subsided, Asu spoke cautiously.
"…" No answer.
Uchiha Hatoha's eyes were hollow, like those of a living corpse.
Susanoo itself stood there as well, rigid and unmoving, like a wooden post.
"Hey, Hatoha, are you really okay?"
Asu asked again, stubbornly.
Seeing that Hatoha still did not respond, Asu paused for two seconds, then suddenly said,
"I say, Hatoha, you're not planning to just let this end here, are you? You only killed the ones who directly murdered your brother, but besides them, there are plenty of indirect culprits still alive and well!!!"
"ASU!!! SHUT UP!!!"
Hatoha roared.
In his once-empty eyes erupted fury as fierce as molten magma.
"I'm only worried about you."
Asu was not afraid of Hatoha's anger. What it truly feared was him sinking into complete despair, showing no reaction at all. If that happened, there would be no way to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Seeing that Hatoha had finally reacted, Asu continued indignantly,
"And I'm not wrong! By your human logic, that Kiri ninja was nothing more than a pawn, a disposable expendable. The ones who truly killed your brother are the people pulling the strings behind those pawns! And Konoha too. They couldn't even protect a child. No wonder Madara-sama wants to change this world… your human world really is beyond rotten!!"
Hearing Asu's incessant muttering,
the enraged Uchiha Hatoha had already reached out, intending to tear this annoying thing off his body. But halfway through, his movement stopped. As Asu kept talking… his raised hand slowly fell back down.
"A rotten world…?"
Hatoha murmured.
He lifted his gaze toward the distance.
What he saw was a boundless blue sky and an endless emerald sea of trees. This scenery… was actually quite beautiful.
But the moment he thought of those who had killed Tsuruha still living carefree lives in this seemingly beautiful world, savage killing intent surged up within him. The beauty before his eyes suddenly became unbearably grotesque.
He spoke slowly,
"Yes… that's right. This world… is rotten to the core."
Before this,
he had always thought that the old man who called himself Uchiha Madara was completely mad.
But now,
when he recalled those weathered eyes, he felt a profound resonance. They were eyes that had fallen into absolute despair toward this rotten world. And it was precisely because of that despair that words like "creating a new world where no one feels pain and everyone can be happy" were spoken.
"…I don't care about a new world where everyone feels happiness."
Hatoha suddenly said.
Asu, still wrapped around him, instantly tensed up.
This… was this pushing too hard? Had Hatoha fallen into total despair? How was this supposed to be explained to Black Zetsu?
Just as Asu's thoughts began to spiral,
Hatoha continued,
"Even if I don't care about a world where everyone feels happiness… I will also absolutely not allow this old world, soaked in despair, to continue existing!!!"
Asu froze.
What was this?
Was Uchiha Hatoha still usable in this state?
Could he still carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan?
However,
Uchiha Hatoha gave Asu no time to think further. At that moment, Susanoo dissolved like ice melting away.
He landed lightly on the ground, like a cat.
Then,
he walked toward the place where that Kiri ninja had self-detonated.
The Kumo ninja spy planted in Kirigakure had likely used hundreds of explosive tags, blowing both himself and Tsuruha into nothingness. There were no remains at all. On the ground… only a small amount of scattered ash remained.
"Tsuruha."
Hatoha looked down at the dispersed ashes and spoke softly.
"When you reach the land of the dead, go find Father and Mother. They're waiting for us there. When you see them… help your useless older brother apologize. I broke my promise. I couldn't protect you. And… wait for me. Wait until I… destroy this despair-filled world. Then I'll come find you, Father, and Mother."
Tears fell once more, pattering into the ashes.
Hatoha stood there for a long time.
Then—
"Asu, let's go back."
He wiped away his tears, turned his back on the ashes, and said,
"Take me to see Uchiha Madara."
"…O–okay!"
Asu answered in a fluster.
Immediately after,
they retraced the path they had come from.
————
"…Purple-black Susanoo. Black Zetsu. Uchiha Madara. Truly… impressive."
Only after Hatoha's figure had moved far away and completely vanished,
Under the cloudless sky, a lone figure soaring through the air at last revealed itself, shedding its invisibility.
It was none other than Kyoichi.
"What a pity my chakra's almost gone… otherwise, I really would've liked to follow them and see where that old undead Madara is hiding now."
Kyoichi muttered to himself, sighing with regret.
"But forget it… greed is a deadly sin. Today's gains are already more than enough. I should report this information to the main body as soon as possible."
As his words fell,
Kyoichi's figure shattered like a sunlit mirage and vanished.
No trace was left behind.
Not even Black Zetsu noticed that, in the empty sky, another observer had been watching all along.