Sasuke forcibly suppressed that forbidden thought, took a step forward, and walked out of the shadows step by step until he stood before the two side-by-side tombstones.
'Uchiha Fugaku'
'Uchiha Mikoto'
He quietly looked at the two names. Moonlight spilled onto his profile, stretching his small figure very, very long.
Sasuke slowly crouched down, reached out his hand, and gently brushed the dust off the tombstones with his fingertips, his movements uncharacteristically tender.
"Father, Mother... what should I do?"
Sasuke's voice was very soft, as if speaking to the tombstones, yet also as if questioning his own heart.
"Should I disregard everything to find that man, plunge my blade into his chest, and use his blood to pay tribute to the dead Uchiha?"
"Or should I stay in this hypocritical village like I am now, slowly uncovering those so-called truths that have been buried?"
His hand unconsciously gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, trying to use its cold touch to calm himself slightly.
The sword at his waist seemed to respond to him, inexplicably vibrating before falling directly in front of his parents' tombstones.
Not Takemikazuchi, but that Asauchi that had appeared out of thin air before.
'Is this sword calling to me?'
'Or, what does it want to tell me?'
He was silent for a moment before finally reaching out and gripping the cold Asauchi in his hand once more.
'Since I didn't know why, I might as well ask it directly.'
Sasuke sat down cross-legged, placed the Zanpakuto across his knees, and slowly closed his eyes.
Zanpakuto Meditation.
His consciousness is like falling into the deep sea.
When his consciousness coalesced again, everything before Sasuke's eyes was exactly the same as the inexplicable scene that had appeared last time.
Blood-stained streets, collapsed buildings, and the lingering scent of blood in the air.
The sky still held that ominous blood moon.
But this time, Sasuke's heart was calm.
He didn't draw his blade warily like last time, he just stood quietly in place, waiting.
Sure enough, at the end of the street, that slender figure appeared again.
It was still his seven-year-old self, wearing that blue short-sleeved shirt with the Uchiha's fan emblem, walking out of the darkness step by step.
The dark hole in the chest looked particularly glaring under the blood moon.
"You've come again." A cold, emotionless voice sounded.
Sasuke looked up and saw that 'him'.
"Did you call me here?" Sasuke's voice was equally cold as he gripped Takemikazuchi's hilt in a reverse hold.
'Last time, it was this thing before me that had expelled me from my own Inner World.'
"Me?"
The 'Sasuke' with the hole in his chest let out a derisive laugh, the sound particularly grating in the dead silence of the street, "I'm not that bored. It's you yourself, feeling lost, subconsciously seeking answers, which is why you came here."
He slowly approached, each step landing on Sasuke's taut nerves.
"You are not me. You are just a monster residing within my body." Sasuke coldly corrected.
"Is that so?"
Hollow Sasuke stopped and tilted his head, his pitch-black eyes carrying a trace of mockery, "Then tell me, Uchiha Sasuke, whose confusion is this in your heart right now?"
He spread his arms wide as if embracing this blood-stained world.
"You ask, should you seek revenge, or should you seek the truth?"
The Hollow Sasuke's lips curled into a mocking smile, "What a ridiculous question. The truth? Revenge? Those are just pretty excuses weaklings use to justify their killing."
"What you want has always been only one thing."
"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted sharply.
"See, you're afraid again."
The smile on the Hollow Sasuke's face widened, "You're afraid to admit that your innermost, most true desire is exactly the same as mine."
"That is…"
His figure blurred instantly, and in the next second, he appeared before Sasuke like a ghost, leaning close to his ear, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"To destroy everything."
"Whether it's that man or this hypocritical village, slash to pieces and erase everything that causes you pain, everything you hate!"
"That is you. That is me. That is our Uchiha Sasuke's most primitive impulse."
Sasuke's pupils contracted violently. He stumbled back a step, the Takemikazuchi in his hand half-drawn in an instant, a sharp flash of lightning flickering briefly.
"I am not you!"
"Of course you're not me."
Hollow Sasuke retreated to his original spot with ease, completely ignoring Sasuke's hostility, "You're too weak. Too weak to even face your own heart, too weak to need to find all sorts of reasons for your actions."
He raised his hand, pointing first at himself, then at Sasuke.
"I am your hatred, the past you cannot face."
"I am your blade."
The moment the words fell, Sasuke felt his entire Inner World begin to shake violently. The blood-stained street beneath his feet started to crumble, and the red moon in the sky began to shatter.
"Come back when you've figured it out, my King."
Hollow Sasuke's voice echoed through the collapsing world.
"Next time, if you still bring this boring confusion with you..."
"I won't let you leave so easily."
With this final threat, an irresistible feeling of tearing swallowed Sasuke's consciousness.
…
"Ha…!"
Sasuke's eyes snapped open, his breathing ragged, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
However, what met his eyes wasn't the cold cemetery of Konoha.
It was a familiar ceiling, the air faintly scented with tea.
"This is..."
He sat up abruptly, looking around.
He was lying on the tatami in the guest room where he had rested before, a thin quilt covering him.
Both Takemikazuchi and that Asauchi were hanging quietly by the wall.
"Damn it!"
Sasuke cursed under his breath, punching the tatami beside him hard.
'Back in this world again.'
Just then, the wooden door to the room slid open gently.
Urahara, holding a tea tray, peeked half his body in. Seeing Sasuke sitting up on the bed, a sly grin immediately spread across his face.
"Ara ara, Sasuke-kun, you're awake. Did you sleep well? I thought you'd be out for another day or two."
He strolled into the room, placed the tea tray on the low table, and poured two cups of tea for himself.
Sasuke's gaze shifted from the two swords on the wall. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the irritation within, "How long was I unconscious?"
"Not too long, not too short, exactly one day." Urahara replied cheerfully, pushing a cup of hot tea toward Sasuke, "Counting from when you and Kurosaki-san were carried back yesterday afternoon."
'One day...'
A/N: When traveling to another world, time in the original world stops. Here, 'one day' refers to Sasuke being unconscious from the time he returned from Konoha until he woke up. There is no concept of differing time flow rates.
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