Chapter 329: Sasuke's Revenge
Three days later.
Sasuke and Naruto slowly woke up in their respective rooms.
It had to be said, Orochimaru's dosage had indeed been heavy.
For those three days, both Sasuke and Naruto had relied entirely on IV drips for nutrition.
However, the place where they woke up was no longer the medical branch outside Amegakure.
A day earlier, the Sound Four had finally managed to grasp the basics of the Four Violet Flames Flying Thunder God Formation. The range was still limited, but it was already usable.
So they were tasked with attempting to transfer Sasuke and Naruto.
Naruto was sent back to Konoha.
Sasuke was sent to the Land of Waves, to where Uchiha Itachi was.
Now that Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, Itachi no longer needed to interfere or manipulate anything. There was no need to worry about him pulling any more schemes.
Sasuke awakening the Mangekyō once again proved something that, in the original timeline, Itachi only realized after his death, he needed to trust Sasuke's strength.
This was also why Shiromo had been able to "talk-no-jutsu" Itachi from the very beginning.
Combined with the line Itachi himself once acknowledged: "It's not that if you become Hokage, everyone will acknowledge you. It's the ones who are acknowledged by everyone who become Hokage."
This statement stood in opposition to the lone-hero ideology of Indra and Uchiha Madara.
Yet in the end, Itachi realized he was the least qualified to say it.
Because everything he had done, bearing all the pain alone, deciding others' lives by himself, was exactly what he once despised.
Using Sasuke and Konoha to break through Itachi's mental defenses was the easiest approach.
And since Shiromo's reasoning made sense, Itachi was easily persuaded.
Oh, and Itachi had also personally seen the future adult Sasuke.
But in the end, that was just a "tool" Shiromo used, not the "truth."
If you thought about it even a little, you'd realize that "trusting Sasuke's strength" and "trusting Sasuke's choices" weren't viable options at all.
Those were realizations Itachi only came to after Sasuke had grown up.
Even if Itachi could go back and redo things, it wouldn't change anything.
The Sasuke of the massacre night was just a crying child running away, shouting "Don't kill me, please!" What constructive advice could he possibly give?
Was he supposed to think like a Hokage at that age?
As for strength, there was no need to even mention it.
In truth, Itachi's problem was far more complex. It couldn't be solved simply by "trusting Sasuke."
But none of that mattered to Shiromo. As long as Itachi was convinced, that was enough.
Even if Itachi later noticed the flaws, he would simply deceive himself.
Now, sending Sasuke over meant they didn't need to explain the truth about the massacre night.
That was something Uchiha Itachi himself had to do.
Sasuke woke up.
"Niisan? No… Itachi!"
At first, Sasuke was confused when he saw Itachi, but he quickly snapped back to reality and struggled to attack.
"Tsukuyomi."
Itachi had anticipated this and immediately cast Tsukuyomi, restraining Sasuke within the illusion to have a proper conversation.
He could no longer act out cruelty like before, breaking Sasuke's arms and pinning him to the wall.
Moreover, according to the reports from Amegakure, Sasuke had already awakened the Mangekyō and even gained Susanoo.
If it came to a direct clash, a fresh pair of Mangekyō Sharingan would far surpass his own nearly blind ones, even if Sasuke's abilities were slightly inferior.
Kisame stood guard outside, his lifeless eyes glancing toward the brothers.
When he saw Itachi use Tsukuyomi, he relaxed.
Ever since learning from the strategist that Itachi had once been a Konoha spy, Kisame had started wondering whether he had really been on missions with Itachi, or whether he even knew Water Release at all.
Fortunately, Shiromo later confirmed that Itachi's illness was real, not an illusion or an excuse to slack off.
Only then did Kisame feel reassured.
"Itachi-san, is it done?"
Seeing movement resume inside, Kisame asked.
For anyone outside Tsukuyomi, no matter how long the conversation lasted inside, it was only an instant.
Sasuke looked at Itachi with a complicated expression, falling into confusion.
As expected, within the Tsukuyomi space, after Itachi revealed the truth, Sasuke immediately wanted to take revenge on Konoha.
Itachi remained silent and first showed him a scene.
Recently, at Amegakure's New Year celebration, there had been many performances. The one that left the deepest impression on Itachi was a stage play by Hyūga Hanabi, reenacting the destruction of the Hyūga clan.
Aside from that, there was also a song titled "Great Konoha Is My Hometown."
Only the first line, "The wind blows over wheat fields, cherry blossoms fragrant", sounded somewhat normal.
The rest, like "Great ninjas have no parents", "Chatting over sizzling Fire Release", "The cute Nine-Tails softly calling", and "As the reanimations spin, people rejoice", felt like a barrage of absurdity.
But in Itachi's view, the song expressed a deep longing for one's homeland and carried the Will of Fire.
After all, what is a "hometown"? It's only when you've left it behind that it becomes one.
Those born and raised in Konoha who never left wouldn't call it their "hometown."
Only missing-nin would.
Well… exchange students like Hyūga Hanabi could say it too.
In any case, while Sasuke raged about revenge, Itachi looped this cheerful song repeatedly within Tsukuyomi, trying to cleanse Sasuke's violent emotions.
The effect was immediate.
By the third loop, Sasuke surrendered and demanded to know what Itachi actually wanted.
That's when Itachi began a "sacred distinction", telling Sasuke that Konoha was still their homeland. If he sought revenge, it should be directed at the Konoha leadership who gave the order.
He even borrowed a line from the strategist: loving one's homeland is not the same as loving its corrupt rulers.
Sasuke was shocked that Itachi didn't stop him from seeking revenge.
Then he learned that the primary culprit, "Pot King" Danzō, was already dead, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, who bore secondary responsibility, was also gone, both had been reanimated by Orochimaru as laborers.
And thus, the current atmosphere came to be.
Sasuke was lost.
He had finally gained the power of the Mangekyō and Susanoo, only to discover that Itachi wasn't his enemy, and the real enemies had already died recently.
What was he supposed to do?
Kill himself and go to the afterlife just to kill them again?
"Sasuke, I personally hope you let go of hatred and look toward the future. But if revenge is the only way to break the chains in your heart, then take this mission."
Itachi pulled out a scroll from his robe and tossed it over.
"What is this?"
Sasuke caught the scroll, frowning.
What kind of mission could possibly count as revenge?
He opened it, and his pupils shrank.
There were still other culprits!
In his agitation, Sasuke immediately activated his Mangekyō ability.
"Ahhh!!!"
Clutching his eyes, Sasuke let out a scream.
"What's wrong, Sasuke?"
Itachi stepped forward in concern.
Was it a side effect of the Mangekyō? Already?
He glanced at the scroll and saw that an extra photo had appeared on it, an image of Utatane Koharu bathing.
(End of this chapter)