A chill swept through the hearts of everyone watching the heavenly screen.
Inside the Hokage Office, Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who seemed completely despondent and as if he had aged decades; there was no longer anger in their eyes, only endless sorrow and... a hint of disgust.
In the Ninja Academy, Sakura and her classmates all covered their mouths in horror.
They watched Sasuke, who was leaning against the wall, slowly sliding down to sit on the ground, burying his face deep in his knees, his shoulders trembling violently yet unable to make a sound.
Naruto felt his beliefs take a massive hit, whispering, "How could this be? No, Grandpa Third wouldn't..."
The truth revealed by the Masked Man swept through the entire Ninja World, bringing a near-suffocating silence.
Every Village has its own darkness: sacrificing subordinates for missions, starting wars for profit, purging dissidents for stability... everyone understood these things implicitly.
But... for Konoha to package a political purge as being 'for the Village,' forcing a thirteen-year-old child to personally slaughter his entire clan and kin.
Then to meticulously design a script of fratricide lasting years, all to cultivate a 'clean' new blood who is grateful to the Village, while simultaneously maintaining its own 'righteous' image... such extreme darkness and coldness, using humanity, ethics, and emotions as chess pieces, made even the most experienced Ninjas feel a wave of physical discomfort and a chill in their hearts.
It was truly... an eye-opener.
Inside the Hokage Office.
A deathly silence.
Tsunade and Jiraiya didn't look at Hiruzen Sarutobi again, nor did they issue any interrogations.
What use were questions?
To accuse him of hypocrisy?
To accuse him of coldness?
At this point, such words were laughably pale.
To ask him to change now?
Could the Uchiha Clan be resurrected?
Could the sins borne by Uchiha Itachi be washed away?
Could Sasuke's shattered life be restarted?
And... a cold voice deep within them said: it can't be changed.
The roots of the great tree that was Konoha had long since rotted and turned black amidst countless such 'necessary evils.'
Hiruzen Sarutobi was merely a part of this rotten system, perhaps even a beneficiary and its protector.
To ask him to change this system?
It was nothing short of a fool's dream.
This realization brought a sense of helplessness and despair deeper than anger.
They simply stood there quietly, an invisible yet unbridgeable chasm now drawn between them and the teacher they once respected.
Akatsuki Organization base.
The atmosphere became extremely eerie.
The members who had previously looked at Uchiha Itachi with wariness, greed, or scrutiny now looked at him with a single, unified emotion—the detachment and vigilance one has when looking at a madman.
Even Zetsu's half-black, half-white face wore an extremely strange expression.
Killing the whole clan for the Village? And meticulously arranging for his brother to kill him?
This could no longer be described as paranoia or coldness; it was a morbid, utterly distorted way of thinking!
As expected, Konoha was right: the Uchiha are all lunatics!
Uchiha Itachi clearly felt the silent rejection and isolation around him.
He continued to stand in silence, indifferent to the outside world, yet his fingers hidden beneath his sleeves curled slightly, nails digging into his palms.
He didn't care about the world's opinion; he had chosen this path long ago.
But when that 'sacrifice' and 'love' were presented in such a naked, unsightly manner, and he was scrutinized by everyone as if he were a monster or a madman, a trace of bewilderment—one he himself was unwilling to admit—quietly spread.
Uchiha Sasuke stood alone by the cold river.
The heavenly screen's image focused on his violently trembling back.
Silent tears had long since burst through the floodgates, flowing freely as they mixed with the rain.
He was no longer that cold avenger, but more like a child completely crushed by the cruel truth, left with nowhere to turn.
He had never known... that the brother he hated to the bone, the demon who had personally brought hell to him... actually bore such a heavy and painful shackle in his heart.
"Itachi... deserved it..." Sasuke choked out, squeezing the words through his teeth as if trying to convince himself.
That person chose this path, bore the consequences, and was already dead.
But—
The Uchiha Clan's grudge has not yet been avenged!
The true enemies are those hiding beneath Konoha's radiant image, those who orchestrated everything, drove his brother to become a devil, and discarded his clan like mere pawns... the Konoha Leadership!
A killing intent more intense and pure than ever before, mixed with the immense rage of being deceived and toyed with, and a twisted obsession to seek justice for his brother and his clan, erupted from his heart like lava!
"Konoha..."
Sasuke whispered the name, his voice hoarse yet filled with monstrous hatred.
The next moment, he suddenly looked up!
His eyes, originally blurred by tears and pain, saw their pupils suddenly contract as the pitch-black Tomoe spun frantically, deformed, and fused!
A cold and massive Ocular Power descended with a boom!
Mangekyo Sharingan—Activate!
Eerie patterns bloomed in his eyes, flowers of power nurtured by pain and hatred!
At the same time, three figures appeared silently behind him like ghosts: Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo—Team Eagle Squad!
Sasuke didn't look back; on his tear-stained face, there was now only killing intent and determination.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it spread clearly:
"Team Eagle Squad, our next objective—"
"Destroy Konoha!"
With tears still wet on his face, Sasuke spoke these words filled with extreme killing intent.
The perspective of the heavenly screen began to slowly rise, and the figures of Sasuke and Team Eagle Squad behind him gradually shrank in the frame, becoming blurred, and finally disappearing completely into the pervasive rain, mist, and the rising night... Then... just as countless people across the Ninja World held their breath, their hearts racing, desperately wanting to know how Sasuke would carry out his revenge and how Konoha would respond... the heavenly screen, without any warning, completely vanished.
The sky returned to its original color, as if the storm of images that had just swept through the Ninja World was merely a collective hallucination.
???
It took several full seconds before countless question marks emerged from every corner of the Ninja World like a tide!
"What?! That's it?!"
"It was just getting to the most critical part!!"
"Sasuke is going to destroy Konoha?! And then what?!"
"heavenly screen, come back out! Finish what you were saying!!"
"Ending it here, who are you trying to kill with suspense?!"
"Last time you revealed half and we didn't get the World-ending conclusion, and now you're doing it again? You won't get far acting like this."
Countless people went crazy, roaring, and thumping their chests... this feeling of a story being cut off at its climax was more painful than being stabbed!