After speaking, Itachi formed seals one-handed at blinding speed—seven in the span of a heartbeat—and slapped his palm to his own shoulder.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!
Poof!
White smoke dispersed, and a black crow perched upon Itachi's shoulder.
A peculiar chakra ripple emanated from the bird—and more striking still, one of its eyes was a Mangekyō Sharingan (Kaleidoscope Sharingan).
This was Itachi's final trump card, originally prepared for Sasuke.
But at this moment, the only thing that could still save the Leaf was this Mangekyō Sharingan—or rather, the technique hidden within it.
At the crow's appearance, Yuto's face—until now utterly composed—finally showed a flicker of reaction.
Even Yuto could not take lightly Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods; mind-control genjutsu), the genjutsu long hailed in this world as the strongest.
Even with his demi-human bloodline and the power to reset upon death, Yuto could not be certain whether a mind rewritten in death would truly revert afterward.
He respected the technique—but there was no panic in his eyes.
The black crow took form, and Itachi immediately lifted the restrictions on the jutsu.
Just as Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods; mind-control genjutsu) was about to activate, a slightly apologetic voice sounded by Itachi's ear.
"Sorry, Itachi."
Kisame spoke softly—then reached out, clamped the crow's neck, and gave a ruthless twist.
With a crack, the crow's neck snapped; Kisame wrenched the head free.
Itachi froze. The heat of his aura, like a dying flare, collapsed at once, and he toppled onto his back.
"I suspected as much… seems I bet wrong after all."
The haze over his mind ebbed. Blood slipped from the corner of his mouth as he spoke in a broken whisper.
The instant he learned who Yuto truly was, he had already stopped trusting Kisame.
But in that condition, Itachi had neither strength nor chakra to take countermeasures. All he could do was gamble—
Gamble that Kisame still stood with Akatsuki—yes, with Akatsuki, not with him.
From beginning to end, Kisame's presence had been Akatsuki's precaution against Itachi.
It appeared he had lost that gamble—and Akatsuki had lost as well.
If Kisame returned to the Mist, all of Akatsuki's intelligence might be compromised.
But that was no longer the concern of a dying man.
Lying there, blood-soaked, Itachi raised his fading eyes to the sky that had become a blur. Sasuke's figure rose in his mind unbidden.
"We don't know who we really are until the moment before we die. When death arrives, you finally understand yourself… so that's the meaning of death?"
"I'm sorry… Sasuke. I never did set the example an ani should. The rest of the road… you'll have to walk it alone."
His heavy eyelids sank closed at last, and his breath ebbed away.
Kisame looked deeply at Itachi's corpse and murmured, "Free at last?"
He then strode to Yuto, delicately pried the eye from the black crow's head—the one imbued with Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods; mind-control genjutsu)—and presented it with respectful hands.
"Yuto-sama, the item you wanted."
Yuto showed no surprise at Kisame's words.
He drew from his robes a small vial of prepared saline and carefully immersed Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan (Kaleidoscope Sharingan) within.
Anything that could threaten him was safest in his own custody.
Had Itachi not actively summoned the crow, Yuto would have had no way to obtain Shisui's eye from him.
"Thank you, Kisame."
Yuto looked up at him with a faint smile.
"All for Yuto-sama!" Kisame bared his teeth in a grin, his tone full of respect and fervor.
Ranmaru, watching this, rubbed his own head in confusion—he didn't quite grasp what had just happened.
After a moment, he remembered the note Yuto had once asked him to deliver; perhaps that was the key.
"If we're on the same side, why did we have to fight?"
Ranmaru eyed Kisame, puzzled and a little peevish.
"Because at that time, I hadn't confirmed whether Yuto-sama was truly Yuto-sama."
Kisame glanced at Ranmaru and stated it plainly.
Had Itachi still been alive to hear that exchange, his face would surely have shown surprise.
For it meant Kisame had fully acknowledged Ranmaru's strength.
Ranmaru didn't know that—he only felt that this shark-faced senpai, while scary-looking, wasn't as bad as he seemed.
Yuto paid their conversation no mind. Instead, he stepped to Itachi's lifeless form.
His gaze flicked to where Itachi's eyes had been, and a hint of unexpected amusement crossed his face.
He had assumed Itachi would destroy both eyes before death. Apparently, he hadn't.
The two Mangekyō Sharingan (Kaleidoscope Sharingan) remained intact.
To the end, Itachi had been thinking of Sasuke.
In their current state, even if transplanted, they would be useless to anyone else—
One eye was completely blind; the other was nearly ruined.
Their only remaining purpose was to advance Sasuke's eyes to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan (Eternal Kaleidoscope Sharingan).
That was surely why Itachi had left them intact: of value to Sasuke alone, and to no one else.
Seeing Yuto's motion, Ranmaru and Kisame hurried over.
"What is it, Yuto-sama?"
Kisame looked at him, puzzled.
"Nothing. Just dealing with a certain eavesdropper."
Yuto's eyes lowered to the ring on Itachi's hand.
Silence hung for a beat.
Whoosh!
From the ring engraved with the character "朱" (vermilion), a white spore suddenly shot forth from within.
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