Upon hearing Jiraiya's words, Itachi Uchiha froze on the spot.
Meanwhile, Fugaku Uchiha, who was watching the live stream with the Third Hokage, also had a selfish thought. Although Itachi had committed an unforgivable mistake, he was still his son, and he wanted to try to save him, at least to prevent him from reaching a point of no return.
"Third Hokage, could you do me a small favor?" Fugaku asked. Hiruzen Sarutobi
glanced at Fugaku, who then exchanged a look with Shisui Uchiha, and a communication slug buzzed to his ear.
"Please persuade that child for me; he listens to you the most," Fugaku said.
"Eh," Hiruzen sighed, nodded, and the communication slug flew to his ear.
On the front lines of the battlefield, the Aburame clan, upon receiving the order, released their individual communication insects. These insects, gathered together, acted as a megaphone.
Soon, the Third Hokage's voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Stop, Itachi."
"Third Hokage?" Itachi looked up, staring blankly at the communication insect megaphone.
"Stop, Itachi, it's over," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
"Why? Third Hokage?" Itachi roared, almost in despair.
Only a heavy sigh from Hiruzen Sarutobi answered him.
After a long silence, Itachi lowered his hands, his ninja sword falling to the ground.
At that moment, under the gaze of everyone present, Itachi felt as if a thorn was in his back.
Everything that had happened that night, except for the battle between Uchiha Touhuan and the masked man, had finally come to a close.
Kakashi, his left eye still bleeding, waved away the medical ninjas who came forward to treat him. After simply wrapping gauze around his head a few times, he said, "Let's finish things here quickly, then go support Tokage."
Several members of the Uchiha clan's security team stepped forward and handcuffed Itachi's companions, including the Fifteenth Hokage and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. No one resisted.
When it was Itachi's turn, Shisui, who had just fainted from exhausting his eye power, struggled to his feet. He pushed away those who were tending to him and stumbled to Itachi's side.
"Itachi, that masked man has nothing to do with you, right?" Shisui said weakly.
"I don't know him..." Itachi stared blankly at Shisui for a moment before speaking.
"Okay, I believe you." Shisui patted Itachi's shoulder before turning to look at everyone behind him.
"Everyone, Itachi was likely manipulated in this matter." Uchiha Shisui, forcing himself to remain weak, bowed deeply to everyone. "After everything is investigated thoroughly, please give him another chance, okay? This is my only request."
The crowd exchanged glances, no one speaking. Only Kakashi gave Shisui a deep look before speaking, reminding him, "Shisui, don't create trouble for yourself. No one but Touhuan can make this decision."
"Kakashi-senpai, I will plead guilty to the clan head. Please don't imprison Itachi on charges of colluding with external forces for now, okay? Please!"
At this moment, several middle-aged members of the Uchiha clan, who had practically watched Itachi grow up, also spoke up: "Itachi may be a little foolish, but he shouldn't betray the village."
"Yes, we can't just accept whatever that imposter pretending to be Madara says."
Seeing this, the others present also chose to give the Uchiha face and remained silent.
Itachi Uchiha looked incredulously at the clansmen who were now speaking up for him under immense pressure.
"What are you looking at?" The middle-aged Jonin's expression changed, and he angrily rebuked Itachi, "Whether you betrayed the village or not is another matter, but you can't escape the charge of betraying the clan tonight! After this is over, you must apologize to everyone at the clan's shrine!"
Although his tone was unfriendly, almost everyone present could hear the protective intent he was showing towards Itachi.
"Hey, watch your words." At this moment, a member of the Inuzuka clan next to the man nudged the older Jonin with his shoulder.
"Itachi, let's go. After you've explained everything, apologize to the clan slowly. I'll go with you," Shisui Uchiha said.
"Haha..." Itachi Uchiha slowly lowered his head, then suddenly burst into laughter.
Itachi Uchiha was overwhelmed with emotion. The Will of Fire, which he had believed in all his life, was not on his side. The Third Hokage, whom he had always admired and trusted, had abandoned him at the last moment. And in the end, the only ones willing to stand up for him were his clansmen, whom he had previously despised for their lack of character.
At this moment, Itachi felt like a complete joke.
"Itachi?" Shisui noticed something was wrong with Itachi and reached out to ask.
"Hahahahahaha!" Itachi suddenly threw his head back and laughed, mocking everything he had done in the past.
Blood tears welled up in Itachi's eyes, and a huge surge of ocular power rippled outwards, forcing everyone around him back.
"What is this?" Shisui, who had experienced something similar, was forced back by the chaotic ocular power and chakra fluctuations and stared at the scene in disbelief. "Has he awakened his Sharingan?"
"Awakened? Wasn't this kid already at the three-tomoe Sharingan? Could it be... the Mangekyō Sharingan?" A Jonin Uchiha who stepped forward to support Shisui hurriedly asked.
Kakashi also became serious, ready for battle, and touched his left eye, which was wrapped in gauze. After the intense pain, his left eye had undergone some unexpected changes.
[If anything changes, this is the only option left.]
"Prepare for battle!" Everyone present became serious. They had just witnessed the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Some wanted to rush forward to interrupt this process, but the special chakra storm, centered on Itachi Uchiha and infused with a massive amount of ocular power, blocked them all. At
this moment, Itachi Uchiha laughed wildly, the three tomoe in his eyes spinning rapidly, quickly transforming into the pattern of three-bladed shuriken.
Everyone present was on high alert. However, after Itachi Uchiha completed his awakening, the terrifying chakra storm did not stop; instead, it intensified with Itachi's maniacal laughter.
"No, stop! Itachi!" Shisui cried out in anguish. Through this terrifying chakra storm, Shisui clearly saw Itachi's hair turning white bit by bit. Itachi's life force was draining away with the chakra storm!
Soon, the chakra storm subsided, and Uchiha Itachi, his hair white and face withered, collapsed to the ground.
"Heh...heh heh." Even after falling, Itachi's laughter didn't stop, but it was tinged with a sob.
"Itachi!" Shisui rushed forward upon seeing this.
"Shisui..." Itachi struggled to lift his head, the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes slowly fading. "I'm sorry."
At this moment, a medical ninja approached, briefly examined Itachi's condition, and shook his head helplessly.
At this moment, Itachi was devoid of life, his meridians severed; even Tsunade couldn't save him.
"Why?" Shisui gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face, and asked.
Meanwhile, a commotion arose not far away.
"Second Prince! You can't go that way! Stop!"
Tonight, Uchiha Sasuke was inexplicably uneasy. First, his good friend, who had been staying at his house yesterday, was taken away by a strange white-haired man named Chuuya, and today he hadn't even come to school.
Then, after school in the afternoon, he was locked at home by his mother, and the atmosphere within the clan compound was very tense.
Furthermore, the later it got, the stronger Sasuke's unease became.
Finally, he couldn't resist sneaking out of the house. Although he was quickly discovered by the security personnel maintaining order within the clan compound, Sasuke had already mastered the Lightning Release: Kirin Technique he learned from Uchiha Touhuan. The few genin-level civilians recognized Sasuke and didn't dare to go too far, so they let him escape.
"Sasuke?" Those on the battlefield turned sharply upon hearing the commotion and immediately saw Sasuke running towards them.
A jonin from the Uchiha clan, seeing this, quickly apprehended the boy.
"What are you doing here, brat!" The Uchiha Jonin turned to the approaching security personnel and yelled, "Hurry up and take the Second Young Master back!"
However, at that moment, Uchiha Sasuke glimpsed the person in the center through a gap in the crowd. Although Uchiha Itachi's appearance had drastically changed, Sasuke easily recognized his brother.
"Brother?" Uchiha Sasuke stared at the scene in disbelief.
"Sasuke?" Uchiha Itachi also heard the commotion and looked up at Shisui. "Is Sasuke here?"
Shisui glanced at Sasuke with tears in his eyes before nodding to Uchiha Itachi.
"May I let him come over?" Uchiha Itachi said reluctantly.
Shisui nodded and gave a signal to the person holding Sasuke. The person released his grip.
"Brother?" Uchiha Sasuke ran quickly towards the center of the crowd. Seeing his brother's appearance, tears welled up in Sasuke's eyes as well.
"Brother! What happened? Why is this happening?" Sasuke cried, his voice trembling. He couldn't understand why his brother, who had only been living away from home for a short time, was in such a state when they met again.
"Sasuke, brother did something wrong. Brother deserves this punishment," Itachi said, forcing a smile as he looked at his beloved younger brother.
"Shisui," Itachi turned to Shisui, "Can you give my eyes to Sasuke?"
"Okay," Shisui nodded.
"I don't want brother's eyes! I only want brother!" Sasuke cried out.
"Don't cry, Sasuke. What you told me before was all right. You have a good teacher. You should listen to your teacher and not end up like me." Itachi raised two fingers and touched Sasuke's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke, this is the last time." After saying this, Itachi gently touched Sasuke's forehead before his hand fell limply to his side.
"Brother!"
Sasuke's heart-wrenching cries echoed across the Uchiha clan's territory.
A flash of red light passed through Sasuke's eyes, and when he regained his senses, the two tomoe were already quietly swirling within them.
sorry for late..~_~
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(End of Chapter)