According to Uchiha Itachi's original plan, he would wait for Uchiha Sasuke to grow stronger. Then he would find a way to push him into awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan. In their final battle, he would lose to him in a way that made sense.
After that, someone would tell Sasuke about the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
No.
If possible, Itachi would tell him personally.
He had to make sure Sasuke would never recklessly discard his eyes.
When the time came, Sasuke would fuse them into a pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. No one would ever control him again.
Not even that masked man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara.
Even now, Itachi still doubted whether that man was truly Madara.
He was the kind of person Kaede Kitahara had described as a "wolf exterminator." The type who would squeeze every last drop of value from his own body. Someone who would sacrifice everything to accomplish what he believed in. Even his body. Even his soul.
The kind who would cry while marching into battle, yet still mow down enemies without hesitation.
Apologizing while sending you to hell.
Aside from Uchiha Sasuke, no one was irreplaceable to him.
That included himself.
He did not care about his own life any more than he cared about the clan's.
As long as his plan succeeded, that was enough.
Now that he had seen the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes, he was certain.
He had chosen the right path for his little brother.
In his heart, Sasuke was still the child who trailed behind him calling out "Nii-san" over and over again. He had never treated him as an equal. He had never truly considered Sasuke's pain.
In other words, it was all for your own good.
"Hahahahaha… I did it. I really did it!"
A manic smile spread across Uchiha Itachi's face.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his reflection in a mirror.
That slightly unhinged grin staring back at him.
Suddenly, he remembered something Kaede Kitahara had written in his diary.
The Uchiha Laughing Four.
At first, he had not understood what that meant.
But in that instant, it clicked.
Was Kaede Kitahara mocking them?
Could he… be one of the so-called Uchiha Laughing Four?
His mouth slowly closed.
If there were four of them, that meant three more.
Sasuke counted as one.
That masked man who might be Madara counted as another.
Then who was the last one?
No matter how much he racked his brain, he could not think of another surviving member of the Uchiha Clan.
Unless…
The last one was Kaede Kitahara himself?
While Itachi was lost in thought, Sakura completed her summoning.
The figure that appeared was the one only Tsunade had been able to summon before.
Katsuyu.
"Sakura, you can finally activate the Strength of a Hundred Seal," Katsuyu said gently. "Lady Tsunade must be very happy."
"Lady Katsuyu, we'll talk later. Please split apart and attach yourself to every ninja in the alliance. Our mission is healing," Sakura replied at once.
Outside the scene, aside from the still-young Uchiha Sasuke, who had yet to grasp the severity of it all, everyone else's expressions turned grim.
Leaving aside the Warring States era, since the founding of the ninja villages there had already been three massive wars between them.
Countless lives had been lost. Blood feuds were endless.
Hatake Kakashi's father, the White Fang of Konoha, had risen to fame by killing Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law from Sunagakure.
Not long ago, during the conflict between Kumogakure and Konoha, a Kumo envoy had attempted to kidnap young Hinata during peace negotiations and was killed on the spot.
In order to appease Kumogakure, the Hyuga Clan sacrificed Hyuga Hizashi, head of the branch family, in place of Hyuga Hiashi.
And that was only during wartime.
They had not even counted the underhanded struggles that took place during so-called peacetime missions.
Two villages might ally to fight a third.
But for every village to unite?
That was supposed to be impossible.
No village would agree.
Otherwise, what were all those sacrifices for?
Yet the evidence was right in front of them.
The only explanation was that the monster they were facing truly required the combined strength of all five great ninja villages.
In that situation, there was no choice.
An allied army had to be formed.
Earlier, the ninja character engraved on Sakura's forehead protector had raised suspicions.
Now, it was practically confirmed.
It matched what Uchiha Sasuke had said before about returning to protect the village.
This was not like when the Akatsuki leader attacked Konoha.
That had targeted a single village.
This was aimed at the entire shinobi world.
The weight of that realization settled over everyone.
How were they supposed to face such a future?
Then they thought about the Ten-Tails' overwhelming presence.
And suddenly, it made sense.
A creature like that could wipe out the entire world.
There was no reasoning with it.
Even the past Hokage had somehow been summoned back.
The scale of the crisis was beyond imagination.
"That girl Sakura really is talented. A genius," Tsunade said with satisfaction.
She could activate the Strength of a Hundred Seal. She could summon Katsuyu. At such a young age, she had already reached Kage Level.
Tsunade was more than pleased.
Why should the other two have successors to inherit their legacies while she had none?
"Hatake Kakashi's Team 7… I'll remember that."
She stroked her chin.
She might look young, but she was already fifty.
It was time to think about an heir.
"A new era is upon us. Go."
With Sarutobi Hiruzen's command, Uchiha Sasuke moved first.
"Go, Aoda!"
Aoda roared and surged forward.
"Please, Lady Katsuyu!"
Sakura called out.
Katsuyu immediately split into countless smaller slugs and latched onto the allied shinobi, beginning treatment.
At first, the ninja were startled.
But once they learned this was the Fifth Hokage's Summoned Beast sent to heal them, relief and excitement spread quickly.
Their stamina recovered.
Their wounds began to close at a visible pace.
"Jump, Gamakichi!"
Uzumaki Naruto pointed forward and shouted.
In the blink of an eye, Gamakichi leaped into the air, kicking up a violent gale.
Sai watched from within the roaring wind, stunned.
So this is the original Team 7…
Gamakichi shot straight toward the Ten-Tails' main body, swatting aside the spears hurled by its clones along the way.
"Nice one, Gamakichi. Guess you didn't grow that big for nothing!"
"That's a weird thing to say. Hurry up and form your hand seals," Gamakichi snapped. "Move it. Or I'll shake you off my head."
"Your temper's bigger than your size," Naruto muttered, reminded of Gamabunta. It had been the same back then.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Sasuke rode atop Aoda, cutting through the battlefield without fear of the mutated Ten-Tails clones.
"Wind Release: Super Massive Rasenshuriken!"
Multiple chakra arms extended from Naruto's back.
A colossal Wind Release Rasenshuriken formed in his grasp.
At the same time, Sasuke arrived before the Ten-Tails.
Only now, through the size comparison on screen, did everyone truly grasp how massive it was.
Gamakichi was already nearly as large as Gamabunta, like a small mountain.
Yet suspended in midair before the Ten-Tails' towering body, he looked like an insect.
The Rasenshuriken only made it more terrifying.
The Wind Release Rasenshuriken in Naruto's hand was several times larger than Gamakichi.
Jiraiya, who had trained in the Rasengan himself, felt his mouth twitch.
The Rasengan had been created by the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, as a close-range technique to complement Flying Thunder God. A single hit could severely injure or even kill.
Its range was small.
Even with its destructive power, it was classified as A-rank.
But this Wind Release: Super Massive Rasenshuriken?
It was a large-scale attack Jiraiya could never hope to use.
One cast would drain him dry.
On a normal battlefield, throwing something like that would devastate an entire area.
One technique capable of deciding a battlefield.
Even if he developed his own Wind Release Rasenshuriken in the future, there was no way it would reach this absurd scale.
Naruto had already surpassed him.
Perhaps even surpassed his father, the perfect ninja in Jiraiya's heart, Namikaze Minato.
"Well… if he couldn't do this, how could Kaede Kitahara call him a savior?" Jiraiya said with a grin.
To save the world from a monster like that required real strength.
His heart felt lighter than it had in years.
He thought back to what the Great Toad Sage had once told him.
The child of prophecy.
The one who would change the shinobi world.
He had spent half his life chasing that vague prediction.
He once believed it was Nagato, because of the legendary Rinnegan.
Then Nagato had died inexplicably. The Rinnegan had appeared in Yahiko's body and destroyed Konoha in a single blow.
After that, he placed his hopes in Namikaze Minato.
Minato had died on the night of the Nine-Tails.
This time…
He had finally chosen the right one.