At an Akatsuki hideout, Kisame and the masked man stood over confronting the members of Team Taka. Sasuke sat in the lead position.
Gazing at Sasuke, a slight smirk played on Kisame's lips. He had already collaborated with Itachi and Itachi's younger sister, Kanon. Now, it was the turn of Itachi's younger brother and Kanon's older brother: Sasuke Uchiha.
Truly a curious twist of fate.
At that moment, Sasuke spoke: "The goal of Taka is the destruction of Konoha."
The masked man, now sitting on the table and looking at Sasuke, asked, "Even so, how specifically do you plan to do it?"
"Our targets are the Konoha high-ranking officials; the rest are essentially not our concern," Sasuke said flatly.
Hearing Sasuke's grand declaration, Kisame's smirk widened. "But if you attack the high-ranking officials, those below them will become shields. It won't be that easy to accomplish. With just your Team Taka, you seem a bit short on manpower. The four of you combined probably couldn't even defeat little Kanon."
At those words, Suigetsu let out a loud laugh. "Kisame-senpai, please don't look down on us so much. Our little sparring match back then didn't reach a conclusion; this time, let's do it for real."
"Don't be reckless, Suigetsu."
Suigetsu had already made his move, lunging toward Kisame with the Executioner's Blade in hand. But in the next instant, he froze. The Executioner's Blade in his hands had been blocked by the masked man with a single hand.
"Sasuke, keep your subordinates in check!" the masked man said coolly.
Sasuke responded indifferently, "Fine. Suigetsu, fight all you want if that's what you wish. You won't beat him anyway."
"You certainly have a way with words, Sasuke," Suigetsu laughed as he retreated. "Just you wait, one of these days I'll bring you some shark fin to eat."
"Currently, Akatsuki's combat strength is stretched thin. I wish to avoid pointless infighting. Our interests are aligned; from now on, I want Taka and Akatsuki to operate together," the masked man stated.
"What benefit is there for us in doing that?"
"Akatsuki will lend you the power of the Tailed Beasts."
"Tailed Beasts?" Sasuke was puzzled.
"Do you know nothing at all?"
Karin began to explain for Sasuke: "It's that, right? Like the Nine-Tails' companions, monsters with manifested chakra tails..."
But before Karin could finish, Sasuke raised a hand to cut her off. "So, what does that mean?"
After the masked man finished introducing the Tailed Beasts to Sasuke, he added calmly, "The Tailed Beasts are, essentially, the ultimate chakra weapons. It's not a bad bargain, is it?"
"You're quite generous," Sasuke replied tonelessly.
"However, if you betray Akatsuki, I will surely take your life."
Sasuke gave a cold snort but said nothing more.
Kisame then spoke up in front of Sasuke. "There are nine Tailed Beasts in this world. Akatsuki has already collected six of them. However, just a week ago, our leader Pain captured the Six-Tails; there should be only two left. As a side note, your sister Kanon Uchiha was the one who captured the One-Tails, Two-Tails, and Five-Tails all by herself. As her older brother, surely you aren't incapable of doing the same?" Kisame met Sasuke's gaze without fear.
"A joke? You think I'm incapable?" A slight smirk appeared on Sasuke's face, unbothered by Kisame's taunt.
"Then we and Taka shall split up to hunt these two. That is our current objective."
Sasuke thought of Naruto and said quietly, "The Nine-Tails hasn't been obtained yet, has it?"
The masked man did not answer Sasuke's question but issued the order directly: "Taka will hunt the Eight-Tails. Akatsuki will handle the capture of the remaining one, including Naruto."
After the conversation concluded, the masked man walked to a bridge where he met Zetsu.
"How did it go?" Zetsu inquired.
"The talk went smoothly."
"That's good."
"Itachi is dead, the thorn in my side is gone. The vow that I would not lay a hand on Konoha is now null and void."
Hearing the masked man's words, Zetsu chuckled softly. "I've waited a long time for this."
"How is Kanon?" the masked man asked.
"Otogakure is in ruins, destroyed by Danzo. No one from Team Hana survived. She broke down and collapsed in the ruins; she still hasn't woken up," Zetsu said softly.
"Sigh, a girl of bitter fate." Obito lowered his head. The pain of losing Rin was likely not even half of what Kanon was feeling now.
"Indeed. As her brother, Itachi abandoned his sister every single time. Now Sasuke has inherited Itachi's will; it truly is a twisted love," Zetsu evaluated plainly. "One could say Kanon has been abandoned by her brother since birth. Now the only older brother she could rely on seems set to abandon her as well. I don't know what she will do next." Obito shook his head with regret.
"Setting that aside, Itachi surely never expected us to know the truth about him. Why was he still so guarded?" Zetsu asked, confused.
"Even putting the truth aside, he must have always worried that I would pull Sasuke into our ranks," Obito shook his head. "But I didn't expect things to reach this point. The child left behind back then has grown into the terrifying existence he is now. It's also thanks to Kanon's existence that Akatsuki has only lost Sasori so far."
"Yes," Obito nodded. "Without Kanon, and without Sasori's sacrifice, we wouldn't have the progress we have now. I am grateful to them. It seems I was right to leave Kanon alive back then. Thanks to them, my script could proceed to this stage. More importantly, I have tamed Sasuke."
At this moment, Sasuke was already heading toward Kumogakure. Team Taka's goal was to capture the Eight-Tails. The journey would take several days, giving Sasuke time to recover from his fierce battle with Itachi.
…
Three days passed. At a certain hideout, the remaining members of the Akatsuki organization materialized.
Kakuzu and Hidan were still recovering from their wounds. Deidara had shut himself away in an unknown location to research his "new" art, but he still showed up for this sealing. After witnessing the duel between Kanon, Sasuke, and Itachi Uchiha, he deeply realized his current inadequacies. He had to continue becoming stronger.
In an instant, only six people remained for the ritual to seal the Six-Tails. As the corpse of the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, fell to the ground, it had already lost its warmth and life.
"The sealing of the Six-Tails is concluded."
"As expected, with only six people, it takes a lot of time."
"Deidara has been very quiet these past few days," Kisame laughed.
Deidara said nothing. Since Kanon wasn't there this time, he didn't really want to speak.
Seeing Deidara ignore him, Kisame shook his head helplessly. "Only two Tailed Beasts left, then?"
"Yeah. I've put Sasuke in charge of capturing the Eight-Tails," the masked man said tonelessly.
Konan was somewhat doubtful. "Kanon's brother? If you said Kanon was going, I'd think it was a sure thing, but is he really going to be alright?"
"Sasuke will be fine," the masked man said flatly.
At that moment, the masked man recalled his conversation with Sasuke.
"Be honest. What is it you want?"
Sasuke, sitting in the lead seat, had told him coldly: "Itachi showed me a way of life where one stakes their very existence to protect the village. But for me, the grief of losing Itachi is far deeper than that way of life. It's simply impossible. The peace bought at the cost of Itachi's sacrifice is not the peace I desired. Now that I know the truth... Inheriting Itachi's will and continuing to protect Konoha... I simply cannot do it! Furthermore, I will never forgive the Konoha high-ranking officials. Those villagers of Konoha who shamelessly enjoy the peace bought at the price of Itachi's life are equally guilty!"
Hearing Sasuke's words, the masked man had been somewhat surprised. "The ones you want to eliminate aren't just those at the top?"
"No. My goal is the same as Kanon's. I alone want to wipe out the entirety of Konoha! In front of Taka, that is all I can say!"
"Is that so? Having seen Itachi's way of life, you want to destroy the very thing he spent his heart protecting? Is that really what you think?" the masked man asked, looking back at Sasuke's icy gaze.
"You asked why Itachi didn't kill me. Because to Itachi, my life was more important than the village, more important than Kanon. I am the same. To me, Itachi's life was equally precious in my heart. That is all."
"And Kanon?" the masked man asked.
"I can only apologize to her for now. Currently, I have more important things to do. The Konoha high-ranking officials who looked down on the Uchiha clan, turned father against son, abandoned a sister, and drove Itachi into a corner until he died! And those Konoha people who revere the Senju! All of them are the lowest of the low! Every single one is a target of my revenge! If you want to think of me as a brat who only acts on emotion and impulse, fine. Inheriting Itachi's dying wish, such pretty words are nothing more than a joke from those who don't understand hatred. If anyone denies my way of life, I'll kill their precious people one by one. Then they can experience a little bit of the hatred in my heart."
Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan trembled.