"Let's go, Sasuke."
"Madara, I have something to say to you later."
Once Sasuke and Naruto finished their talk, the masked man reached out and rested his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, preparing to lead him away.
Beneath his whirlpool mask, his Mangekyō Sharingan flared to life. The space in front of him began to spiral and distort, intending to pull Sasuke and the others into his pocket dimension.
Just as the spatial transition was about to occur, the masked man suddenly felt a massive force slam into his chest. The crisp sound of snapping bones rang out in quick succession.
"What!?"
His whole body was sent flying backward like a bent shrimp, crashing into the rock wall behind him.
Boom!
A web-like pattern of cracks appeared on the riverbank's cliff as the masked man's body slammed into it.
Feeling a sharp pain in his chest, he looked down. Even through his clothing, he could see that half of his chest had collapsed.
"Who's there!?"
"Madara was hit!"
Neither Sasuke and the several White Zetsu beside him, nor Naruto and the Konoha ninja, had seen a thing. They only saw Madara suddenly fly backward as if he had been struck by a powerful blow.
Everyone was startled, immediately raising their guard and scanning their surroundings.
But no matter how they tried to sense their environment, they couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary, as if the mysterious attacker didn't exist at all.
Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan spun to life, using his blurred vision to observe the area.
Having been standing right next to Madara, he felt the impact most clearly. Madara had been sent flying in an instant; someone had definitely attacked.
Yet even as he thought back, despite being so close, he hadn't seen a single shadow.
A White Zetsu rushed over to the masked man's position, a look of anxiety on his pale face.
"Madara, are you alright?"
"Go."
The masked man didn't hesitate. He grabbed the White Zetsu's wrist and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan's ability.
The same swirling spatial distortion appeared before them, enveloping their forms and sucking them into the pocket dimension.
On the river's surface, the remaining White Zetsu shrugged at Sasuke.
"It looks like we've been abandoned, Sasuke."
"Fighting Konoha ninja right now is extremely disadvantageous. We should leave too."
As they spoke, the bodies of the White Zetsu slowly sank into the water.
Sasuke looked toward Naruto, who was standing guard ahead, and prepared to say something. Suddenly, his vision went black, his consciousness grew heavy, and he fell into total darkness.
'Damn it, who the hell is...'
In the final instant before losing consciousness, he thought he saw a glimpse of his father's figure.
"Sasuke!"
Seeing Sasuke lose consciousness and fall toward the water, Naruto grew desperate and tried to rush forward, only to find that Sasuke's body had vanished.
Only the ripples on the water's surface remained to prove that what had just happened wasn't an illusion.
"Sasuke!"
"Naruto, watch out!"
"Don't act rashly. That hidden attacker hasn't left yet."
Might Guy and Yamato immediately restrained Naruto's impulsive move, shielding him while staying alert.
In a perspective invisible to the rest, Fugaku had already slung his unconscious youngest son over his shoulder. Remaining hidden, he stepped onto the stone bridge.
Shisui and Setsuna also climbed up from below.
Seeing Naruto's anxious display on the river, Shisui let out a soft sigh.
"The Fourth's son certainly has deep feelings for Sasuke."
Hearing Shisui's sentiment, Fugaku's expression shifted instantly.
Deep feelings were one thing, but that definitely didn't look like mere friendship!
Fugaku suppressed his expression as Elder Setsuna brought over the young girl from the Uzumaki clan.
Setsuna had already knocked her out. The wound in her chest where Sasuke had pierced her had stopped bleeding.
Setsuna was full of praise.
"As expected of the Uzumaki clan. Their life force is truly tenacious; she still has such vitality despite an injury to her internal organs."
He glanced at Sasuke on Fugaku's shoulder with a mischievous look.
"This little girl's feelings are quite obvious. She definitely likes Sasuke."
"If she becomes Sasuke's wife in the future, the Uzumaki bloodline would be an excellent choice."
Fugaku nodded in agreement.
Before, as a father, he might have been picky or even put Sasuke's potential wife through trials.
But now...
As long as it was a girl, that was enough!
"Tekka and the others have gone after that masked man. We should leave as well."
The three looked at each other, nodded slightly, and flickered away with Sasuke and Karin.
When Sasuke opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a blurred ceiling.
"Ugh... where am I..."
Sasuke held his forehead and sat up from the tatami mat.
The scene from before he passed out flooded back, and his expression immediately became wary.
As he rose, he woke the red-haired girl sleeping beside him.
Karin rubbed her sleepy eyes. Seeing Sasuke awake, she looked excited enough to pounce on him, but she stopped herself.
"Sasuke, you're finally awake!"
"Karin?"
Sasuke looked around, and seeing nothing unusual, his gaze fell on Karin.
He noticed the bandages wrapped under her collar, with a faint hint of blood seeping through.
"You're still alive, Karin."
"Where are we? And where is that invisible attacker from before?"
Sasuke remained as cold as ever, but to Karin's ears, his voice sounded like music.
Sasuke is worried about me! He cares!
But thinking back to how ruthlessly Sasuke had stabbed her, her expression dimmed.
Quickly suppressing her surging and complicated emotions, the girl composed herself.
"This is a small town nearby."
"We were saved by a strange man who brought us here for treatment."
"Saved? I don't need anyone to save me!"
Sasuke's expression turned cold.
Even with Naruto present, and even though he had exhausted most of his chakra against Danzō, he wouldn't have been afraid with the power he had left.
"I imagine it was this man you mentioned who knocked me out and brought me here."
"Karin, who is he?"
Karin shook her head and was about to speak when a deep voice echoed in the room.
"Though I was the one who knocked you out, it is a fact that I saved you, Sasuke."
A dark figure suddenly appeared in the room.
Sasuke was startled; he hadn't seen how this person arrived at all.
He activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, and his blurred vision cleared significantly.
But when he saw the person's appearance, he couldn't hide his shock.
The man wore a pitch-black cloak with a hood, and his face was covered by a pale fox mask, making him look quite mysterious.
What Sasuke found unbelievable was that beneath the mask's eye slits, two crimson Sharingan eyes were glowing brightly.
And they weren't ordinary Three-Tomoe eyes; their complex design clearly indicated they were Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Who are you?"
"I'm the only one left of the Uchiha clan!"
Sasuke lunged to his feet, staring intently at the stranger. A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Or are you one of Madara's men?"
"No need to be so tense. I mean you no harm."
The figure waved a hand and sat cross-legged on the tatami. His defenseless posture was a clear display of sincerity.
"As for my identity?"
The person appearing before Sasuke was, of course, Fugaku.
However, to avoid disrupting the plan, Fugaku had donned many disguises after entering the Gigai.
Only then did he try to contact Sasuke.
"I am no subordinate to that rat who hides his head and shows his tail. If anything, I have a score to settle with him."
"As for now, I am merely a ghost of the Uchiha."
Sasuke scanned the man from head to toe with his Sharingan. Seeing his posture, Sasuke felt slightly more at ease.
"A ghost of the Uchiha?"
Sasuke weighed the man's words before letting out a cold snort.
"Aren't you also hiding your face? Take off that mask."
"I'm afraid I cannot. I can't reveal myself to you just yet."
Looking at the arrogant and cold Sasuke, Fugaku sighed softly.
He had been so cute as a child, focused on catching up to his brother and desperate for his father's praise.
Hatred had truly changed his youngest son.
His mind was being swallowed by darkness, step by step, making it hard for him to pull himself out.
Sasuke said coldly, "If that's the case, I cannot trust you."
"That rat calling himself Madara is also hiding his true form. You being with him..."
Fugaku finished his sentence, but Sasuke interrupted.
"I never said I trusted Madara. I'm only using him to complete my revenge!"
"You aren't just using Madara, are you?"
Fugaku reached out, pointing to the red-haired girl beside Sasuke.
"This young Uzumaki girl is clearly your comrade, yet you stabbed her. That was a bit much."
Seeing the topic turn to her, Karin waved her hands frantically. "It's not like that! Sasuke didn't have a choice at the time."
"After all, we couldn't let Danzō get away..."
Karin's voice grew weaker, clearly lacking confidence by the end.
Sasuke agreed with a curt nod.
"I will never forgive Danzō."
Hearing this, Karin's expression brightened, and she puffed out her chest again.
"Exactly, exactly."
Fugaku's expression beneath the mask became quite awkward as he watched Sasuke and the girl.
Little girl, I know you like Sasuke, but this self-deception is a bit... you're truly blinded by love.
He really couldn't understand it.
His gaze fell on Sasuke. After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly.
"Sasuke, this Uzumaki girl is your girlfriend, isn't she?"
"As a fellow Uchiha, let me give you some advice."
"She is devoted to you. I'm sure you can sense it. Don't let such a good girl down."
Fugaku's words echoed in the room, making Karin's face turn bright red. She was visibly excited.
"G-G-G-Girlfriend? We haven't gotten that far yet!"
"Do we... do we really look like a loving couple?"
As she spoke, Karin covered her burning cheeks with both hands, peeking at Sasuke through her fingers before quickly looking away as if she'd been burned.
Sasuke remained cold, clearly uninterested in such questions.
He looked at the masked man in black, his voice carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
"If all you have left are boring topics, you don't need to say anything else."
"Just tell me, why did you bring me here?"
Sensing the faint killing intent in Sasuke's words, Fugaku sighed again.
Suppressing the complexity in his heart, he looked straight into Sasuke's eyes and said slowly, "Sasuke, you're almost blind now, aren't you?"
"None of your business."
"How can it be none of my business..."
Fugaku pulled a transparent glass jar from his robes. Inside, two eyeballs with nerves attached were preserved in liquid.
"This is Itachi's eyes."
"I'm giving them to you now to help you complete the evolution of your eyes."
"Itachi's eyes?"
Sasuke looked at the jar, his eyes widening in shock.
His gaze became extremely fierce, radiating blatant killing intent as it fell on the man.
"So Itachi's body is in your hands! Give it to me!"
"Whether it's Itachi's eyes or his body, I can give them all to you."
Fugaku shook the glass jar slightly, making the eyeballs inside bob gently.
"But in exchange, I want you to do two things for me."
"You!"
Sasuke's killing intent erupted.
Fugaku's expression didn't change as he said, "This is a trade. Whether you agree or not is up to you."
Looking at the eyeballs in the jar again, Sasuke gritted his teeth and finally reined in his killing intent.
"Fine. What two things?"
Fugaku held up two fingers.
"First, I want you to transplant Itachi's eyes and awaken the Eternal Eye."
"What?"
Sasuke frowned, his voice full of confusion.
"Why?"
"This condition doesn't seem to benefit you at all. It sounds more like you're looking out for me."
During his fight with Itachi, he had heard Itachi mention that transplanting the eyes of a sibling could awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, which would never go blind.
It seemed this mysterious man knew about it too.
Fugaku sighed. "I told you, I am a ghost of the Uchiha."
"Is it so hard to understand that I want to strengthen the only member of the clan left in this world?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment before nodding slightly, his voice softening a fraction.
"Fine. I'll accept that reason for now."
"What's the second thing?"
Fugaku said solemnly, "Help me resurrect Orochimaru!"
"Orochimaru?" Sasuke sounded confused.
"Orochimaru!"
Compared to Sasuke's relatively calm reaction, Karin's was much more dramatic. She jumped up as if triggered, her previous shyness replaced by shock.
"Didn't Sasuke already kill that guy?"
"Why would you want to bring him back!"
"Karin, be quiet. I'm talking here."
Sasuke glanced at her, and Karin immediately covered her mouth and nodded quickly.
His Mangekyō looked back at the mysterious man as he said softly, "It seems you have a deep understanding of Orochimaru."
"Why do you want to resurrect him?"
"That is my secret. I cannot tell you yet."
Fugaku's voice grew heavy.
"Now, just answer me. Do you agree to this trade or not?"
Sasuke slowly closed his eyes, various thoughts flashing through his mind.
After a moment of contemplation, he opened them and nodded.
"I agree."
"But you'll have to prepare the materials for Orochimaru's resurrection yourself... Given your knowledge of him, I assume you know what's required."
"Naturally. My companions are already making preparations," Fugaku nodded. "Once the resurrection is complete, I will give you Itachi's body."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]