"Sasuke: Explain it clearly! What do you mean Itachi... my brother's goal was for me to obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan?!"
"The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan..."
At the mention of it, Senju Tobirama couldn't help recalling someone.
His lifelong rival, the second-in-command of the Uchiha clan.
Uchiha Izuna.
"As I said earlier, prolonged use of the Mangekyo Sharingan causes severe damage to the optic nerves. Even someone like Uchiha Madara gradually lost his sight after years of fighting my elder brother."
Sasuke cut him off, impatient.
"And then?!"
"His younger brother, Uchiha Izuna... gave his ocular power to Madara."
Sasuke didn't ask what would happen to Madara after gaining another's eyes.
What unsettled him far more was the fate of the one who gave them.
The Second Hokage answered calmly.
"He died."
"In the Warring States era, the Senju and Uchiha were mortal enemies. Whether Madara's brothers or my own... many died at the hands of the other side." Tobirama spoke evenly.
"I once heavily wounded Uchiha Izuna. Realizing his time was short, he used that as a reason to give his ocular power to Madara. After his death, Madara lost his last brother. The grief, combined with the toll of the Mangekyo Sharingan, drove him to extremes. He became more foolish... easier to deceive."
He conveniently ignored what his older brother used to say—that Madara had always been easy for Hashirama to fool since they were kids.
In Tobirama's opinion, if Madara hadn't grown increasingly obsessed with surpassing Hashirama and earning recognition from him and others, a man like him would never have believed in something as absurd as Black Zetsu's so-called Eye of the Moon Plan. Casting a massive illusion on all humanity in pursuit of "true" peace...
Sasuke's voice came out hollow.
"...He died?"
Ever since watching the recorded visions and learning that everyone had hidden the truth from him in the name of "protection"... learning what Itachi had gone through...
Even though he still couldn't forgive Itachi.
Couldn't forgive the Uchiha.
Couldn't forgive Konoha.
Uchiha Sasuke had never considered the possibility that Itachi might die.
His fists clenched so tightly the knuckles turned white. Of everything he had heard today, this angered him the most.
He wasn't angry at anyone else.
He was furious at Uchiha Itachi.
What gave him the right... what gave Itachi the right to always try and dictate his entire destiny?!
Bang!
Sasuke slammed his fist into the wall beside him. His body trembled with rage, yet no words came out.
Nearby, the crow perched quietly.
Itachi: "..."
"I don't believe Uchiha Izuna's choice back then was the right one," Tobirama said. "He was simply deceived."
Sasuke blinked.
"? "
The crow remained silent.
"..."
Inside the Kamui dimension, Obito nearly jumped.
"?!!!"
"Come to think of it," Tobirama continued with a sigh, "where exactly does your Uchiha clan's blind confidence in that ancestral stone tablet come from?"
"Izuna. Madara. Your brother. And that kid Madara manipulated into pursuing the Eye of the Moon plan." His tone grew more irritated the longer he spoke. "Did none of you ever consider that after a thousand years... someone might have tampered with the text on that tablet?"
Sasuke had no idea what "Uchiha tablet" he was talking about, so he simply stared at the Second Hokage in confusion.
But Itachi, who had once read the tablet with the Sharingan...
And Obito, who learned its contents from Madara's memories...
Both were deeply shaken by those words.
Just as Itachi was debating whether he should cast Tsukuyomi on the Second Hokage and have a very serious conversation about this matter...
Mito, who already knew the crow was Itachi, spoke up.
"It's getting late. How about I seal that curse mark first?"
She paused, then added casually.
"By the way, Tobirama. Aside from you and me, who else has been revived so far?"
Tobirama replied, "The mother of that Uchiha boy... Uchiha Mikoto. And my younger brother and Hashirama's, Senju Itama."
He kept Shisui's revival secret for now. Better to tell Mito-neesan later when no one else was around.
"Itama?! But wasn't he..."
"A Senju ninja who died during the Warring States era."
"I heard Hashirama mention him before," Mito said quietly. "You two always regretted losing him."
Her expression dimmed slightly.
"If Hashirama were here... he would probably cry tears of joy."
Tobirama chuckled.
"...If it were my brother, he'd probably hug Itama and cry."
Hearing that Mikoto had been revived, Itachi froze completely.
Sasuke showed no reaction.
Which meant...
He already knew.
For the first time in years, Itachi felt an overwhelming urge to leave immediately.
Ever since the night he slaughtered the clan, he hadn't seen his mother.
But just as the crow lifted its wings to fly away...
The delayed projection from that 'Horror Quiz' he had encountered suddenly activated at the worst possible moment—
The screen showed a record of Itachi's life.
A small child appeared in the image. Four, maybe five years old.
Yet his eyes carried a sorrow far beyond his age, like someone who had already glimpsed the suffering of the entire world.
He asked himself a question.
"What is the meaning of life?"
Later, he received an answer from Orochimaru.
"Life... has no meaning."
During the Third Shinobi World War, Uchiha Fugaku actually brought four-year-old Uchiha Itachi onto the battlefield.
Corpses littered the ground.
The earth itself was scarred by war.
The gentle child came to understand another truth.
"Life... perishes."
"Life... breeds conflict!"
The atmosphere grew tense as the scenes intensified.
In the war, shinobi slaughtered one another.
At the academy, young students fought desperately in training.
Was all of it preparation for surviving a future battlefield?
Was this the destiny of life?
Or simply the destiny of shinobi?
Then his younger brother was born.
The young Itachi joyfully took the swaddled baby Sasuke from his mother's arms, excitement shining in his eyes.
As if the tiny child in his hands was his salvation.
"Life... is born."
Watching the scene, Sasuke's chest tightened. He pursed his trembling lips and quickly averted his gaze.
As a young shinobi on missions with his team, Itachi formed bonds.
Then those bonds vanished.
In his memories, a masked man appeared. A boy only slightly older than Itachi.
One by one, he slaughtered all of Itachi's teammates.
Itachi awakened the Sharingan in that grief.
Later, he sat silently in the courtyard at home, tears falling.
It was Sasuke's hug that brought him warmth.
In that moment, he realized another truth.
"Losing life... is painful."
But the pain wasn't for the one who died.
It belonged to those left behind.
Itachi touched his brother's cheek. Bitter tears spilled from his eyes.
"Sasuke... one day, will you have these eyes too?"
"After experiencing this pain."
Even Tobirama, who had grown up surrounded by battlefields, felt a heavy weight settle in his chest watching the oppressive scenes.
"The power of the Sharingan... within a clan filled with love..."
"They seek strength to protect what they cherish. Yet that strength only grows through loss."
"The contradiction twists them. In the end, the Uchiha are left with nothing but power... and madness."
More scenes appeared.
As teenagers, Shisui and Itachi were training in the wilderness when they saved a Konoha ANBU member from Root operatives under Danzo.
That day, the two of them made a promise.
"I, Uchiha Itachi, will never betray Uchiha Shisui. We'll always fight side by side!"
"And I, Uchiha Shisui, will never betray Uchiha Itachi. We'll always fight side by side!"
Itachi puffed his cheeks like a sulking kid while Shisui carried him on his back.
Shisui smiled.
"No matter what happens, I've always thought of you as my own little brother."
But fate intervened.
Under Danzo's persecution, Uchiha Shisui gouged out his own eye and entrusted it to Itachi.
With his final breath, he passed on both his unfinished mission and the power of his Sharingan.
"You're the only one I can count on... my best friend."
"Please... protect the village... and the Uchiha name."
"Don't try to stop me, Itachi. If you are my friend..."
"Shisui...!!"
In that agony, Itachi awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
But the thing he once wanted to protect...
Became increasingly distant.
"...Brother..."
Even watching it again, Sasuke felt the pain of everything his brother had endured.
But that didn't mean he could accept Itachi's choices.
While everyone's attention remained fixed on the projection...
Naruto quietly pushed open the door and stepped inside.