Sasuke Uchiha immediately recalled his battle against Danzo Shimura from the footage in the diary. Back then, all sorts of problems had surfaced—his vision faltering, even blood streaming from his eyes.
It seemed Itachi Uchiha had been telling the truth.
He finally began to understand why Kaede Kitahara had mocked him, saying that after obtaining the Mangekyō Sharingan, he'd fire off Amaterasu at anything that moved—even a stray dog on the roadside.
It wasn't just about recklessness.
It was about wasting the Mangekyō's ocular power.
That power wasn't like chakra—it couldn't simply be replenished at will.
If he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan again in the future, he would have to be extremely cautious about this.
"Hmph. Looks like you've read the stone tablet in the clan's meeting hall, just like I told you," Itachi said in the video, stepping down slowly.
"What exactly is Uchiha Madara?" Sasuke pressed, clearly trying to extract more information. Even facing a mortal enemy, he didn't strike immediately.
"He was the man who first used those eyes to subjugate the Nine-Tails," Itachi said as he approached. "He was my partner… and my teacher. A man who cannot be destroyed."
"And he's also the only one who uncovered another secret of the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"That secret… is Uchiha Madara."
"Another secret of the Mangekyō Sharingan?" Sasuke asked, his curiosity piqued.
"The power to control the Nine-Tails… is there something beyond that?"
"Yes," Itachi replied calmly. "There is another secret. The most important one."
"What is it?"
By now, Sasuke's vision had already begun to blur. Anyone watching could tell—his eyesight was deteriorating rapidly.
"Then let me tell you a story from the past," Itachi said, his expression still composed. "A story about the history of the Uchiha Clan. Once, Madara had a brother… his younger brother."
The moment he finished speaking, Sasuke felt himself dragged into another world.
An illusion.
He found himself standing in the distant past, within the Uchiha clan's territory.
In the distance, two figures clashed—Uchiha Madara and his younger brother, Uchiha Izuna.
"From a young age, the two brothers competed with each other to grow stronger," Itachi's voice echoed. "Both awakened the Sharingan, and before long, their names became renowned within the clan. In pursuit of greater ocular power, they pushed each other further and further."
"In the end, both brothers turned their hands against those most important to them… and finally awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. This is how the story of the Uchiha began."
"After gaining that power, they led the clan. Madara, as the elder brother, became the leader. But even as everything seemed to go smoothly, something changed within him."
"As I said before, these are special eyes. The more they are used, the more their light fades. The end… is absolute darkness. That is the fate of the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"With great power comes a price. The very power you gain will one day seal itself away, taking your light with it."
"Madara tried everything to reclaim his sight, but nothing worked. In despair, he was consumed by the Mangekyō's curse. To regain his light…"
"He took his brother's eyes with his own hands."
"With that, Madara regained his vision—and those eyes would never again lose their light."
"The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
"By finding a new host, his brother's Mangekyō gained eternal light. Not only that, it underwent a transformation, giving birth to entirely new ocular abilities."
"However, such a transplant can only occur between clan members, and not everyone who attempts it will obtain that new power."
"This… is the truth that history has revealed through countless sacrifices."
"This is the other secret of these eyes."
Itachi spoke those shocking truths with complete calm.
"With that power, Madara unified the ninja clans and joined forces with the Senju Clan—the strongest clan in the shinobi world—to establish a new system."
"But later, Madara and Senju Hashirama clashed over leadership and the direction of the village. He was defeated in that struggle."
"Yet even now, Madara and that power still exist in this world. He formed the Akatsuki and hides within it. Sixteen years ago, the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha was his doing, though it was stopped by the Fourth Hokage."
"In other words, the current Madara is nothing more than a stray dog."
"The one who truly stands at the peak of the Uchiha is not him."
"The one who will surpass Madara… the one who will truly reach that peak…"
"It will be me."
"And now… I can finally obtain the power to surpass him."
"Sasuke!"
A twisted, almost frenzied expression spread across Itachi's face.
"To me, you are my new light. You are my spare parts."
"The Uchiha Clan has always been a cursed clan—killing friends to awaken the Mangekyō, killing brothers to obtain eternal power, taking pride in that blood-soaked strength."
"The moment you were born into this clan, you were dragged into that fate."
"Come, little brother. I will kill you, free you from the Uchiha's cursed destiny, and grasp true evolution with my own hands."
"Cast off your limits. Break free from your own capacity."
"We are each other's spare parts. That is the fate of Uchiha brothers!"
As Itachi's expression twisted into madness, Sasuke couldn't help but recall fragments of their past together.
The sheer weight of the information revealed stunned everyone watching.
So this was the truth?
No one had known that beyond the Mangekyō Sharingan, there existed something even higher—the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, eyes that would never lose their light.
"That doesn't line up with the clan records…"
Tsunade frowned.
Ever since learning that Madara might still be alive, she had gone through countless records within the clan archives. While she couldn't claim to know everything, she knew far more than most.
Especially when it came to Madara.
The notes and research left behind by Senju Tobirama were extensive, reflecting just how wary he had been of Madara.
According to those records, most of what Itachi said was accurate.
Except for one crucial point.
Madara's relationship with his brother, Izuna, had not been as strained as Itachi described. On the contrary, they had been extremely close.
Back then, the Senju and Uchiha had been locked in a life-and-death struggle. Hashirama had faced Madara, while Tobirama had fought Izuna—they were counterparts.
And in Tobirama's own records, he had proudly described how he had personally killed Izuna, giving the Senju a decisive advantage.
Clearly, things hadn't happened the way Itachi described.
So was Itachi deliberately misleading Sasuke?
Or did he himself not know the full truth?
Perhaps it was both.
"Why does Madara's brother look so much like that brat Sasuke?" Jiraiya muttered.
The resemblance was uncanny.
Then again, Sasuke was their descendant. A similarity in appearance wasn't strange.
Still, as Jiraiya watched Itachi's increasingly unhinged demeanor, he frowned slightly.
Itachi wasn't telling the whole truth.
That much was obvious.
From what they had already seen, Itachi hadn't awakened his Mangekyō by killing Shisui Uchiha, but by witnessing his death.
That meant Itachi wasn't as cold as he claimed.
Nor had everything been as calculated as he said—leaving Sasuke alive to measure his potential.
Most likely, he had been acting as an undercover agent for Konoha's higher-ups.
Faced with that possibility, Jiraiya found himself at a loss.
To the Uchiha, Itachi was undoubtedly a monster who had slaughtered his entire clan.
But from Konoha's perspective, he was a loyal shinobi who bore a deep love for the village.
The contradiction left a bitter weight in his chest.
"So Sasuke's future eyes… they evolved from the Mangekyō Sharingan into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Kakashi Hatake murmured thoughtfully.
During that earlier battle against the mysterious creature, Sasuke's Mangekyō pattern had looked different from when he fought Danzo.
At the time, Kakashi hadn't understood why. He didn't know whether the patterns could naturally change.
But now, it was clear.
It wasn't a mutation.
Sasuke's eyes had evolved into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—eyes that would never go blind.
"So that was Itachi's plan…"
Kakashi pieced it together in his mind.
Based on everything revealed in the video and earlier footage, Itachi's true goal had never been for himself.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan…
Had always been meant for Sasuke.