[Deidara: Whoa, look at Uchiha Itachi's face! That's hilarious! Hahaha!]
[Hidan: Hahaha! Even though I've already seen it once, Itachi's expression is still priceless!]
[Mei Terumī: I know it's a genjutsu, but that expression—ah! My image of a handsome man is shattered!]
[Ao: Enough with the fangirling. The Sharingan is the real issue here.]
[Izuna Uchiha: What do you mean my brother took my eyes? Even if you're lying, don't talk nonsense like that. Believe it or not, I'll gouge your eyes out!]
[Tobirama Senju: As expected of that inherently evil Uchiha clan. Just look at this genjutsu—you can tell how twisted Itachi is inside.]
[Tsunade: Hahaha! Who would've thought that stoic-faced Itachi had such a dramatic inner monologue? I get it now—he's the brooding type.]
[Izumi Uchiha: No, Lady Tsunade. He's just painfully dense. If Aunt Mikoto hadn't nudged him, he would've kept treating me like just a friend.]
[Itachi Uchiha: …]
Sasuke was already growing impatient.
"Surpass Madara? Sure, you've surpassed him. No matter how insane Madara Uchiha was, he would never scheme against his own brother. In that regard, you've outdone your predecessors."
"'A clan of narrow vision'? And you think your own vision is so broad? What right do you have to judge the Uchiha clan?"
"Release!"
Sasuke shattered Itachi's genjutsu once again.
"I'm done watching these cheap tricks."
As he spoke, Sasuke pulled several shuriken from his pouch. Itachi did the same.
The barrage began.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Neither could gain the upper hand.
Sasuke immediately drew the Sword of Kusanagi and closed in. Itachi met him with a kunai.
Several exchanges passed in a blur.
Sasuke lunged forward in a thrust. Itachi sidestepped—but the thrust abruptly shifted into a horizontal slash. Forced to react, Itachi grabbed Sasuke's right wrist to halt the strike and countered with a kick from his right leg.
Sasuke had already anticipated it and blocked.
More exchanges followed.
Itachi soon realized that despite his years of battlefield experience, he couldn't gain any advantage. Every time he initiated an attack, Sasuke was already prepared with airtight defense from every angle.
"Sasuke's defensive coverage is ridiculously tight…"
Little did he know, this was the result of countless brutal sparring sessions with Nagi . After being beaten so many times, Sasuke had learned to assume that every part of his body could be targeted at any moment.
The brothers leapt back simultaneously, forming hand seals without pause.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" ×2
Itachi had intended to slow his hand seals slightly—but seeing Sasuke match him at full speed, he stopped holding back.
Two equally massive fireballs collided midair.
Neither yielded.
"Sasuke… let me show you the true power of the Sharingan!"
The three tomoe in Itachi's right eye spun and transformed into a Mangekyō pattern. Blood began to stream from the corner of his eye.
"Amaterasu."
Black flames erupted within Itachi's Great Fireball, devouring Sasuke's flames as they surged forward.
Sasuke responded instantly, channeling Yin Release chakra.
"Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi!"
Black flames burst forth from Sasuke's fireball as well, clashing head-on with Itachi's Amaterasu.
"What?!"
Itachi's eyes widened in shock.
He poured more dōjutsu power into the technique. At the same time, Sasuke intensified his Yin Release chakra.
The two masses of black flames reached a stalemate—
Then the overwhelming heat triggered a violent explosion.
The ceiling collapsed.
"Sasuke… you…"
This time, Itachi was genuinely shaken.
"My foolish older brother," Sasuke sneered, "it seems the Mangekyō Sharingan isn't that impressive after all."
Itachi fell silent.
Sasuke's Fire Release wasn't just powerful—it was nearly identical to Amaterasu itself.
"Sasuke… this is the true power of the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Tsukuyomi."
This time, Itachi unleashed Tsukuyomi at full strength with his left eye.
He had to make Sasuke understand the Mangekyō's true terror—only then would Sasuke crave its power, and in order to escape blindness, eventually transplant Itachi's eyes.
Darkness swallowed Sasuke.
He stood once more on the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
Inside their home.
Itachi raised his blade toward their parents.
"Uchiha Itachi! I won't allow you to defile the Uchiha clan again! I will never let you use Father and Mother like this again!"
Sasuke's Sharingan shifted—
Forming a six-pointed star.
"Vaiśravaṇa— Release!"
Crack!
The Tsukuyomi world shattered.
"What?!"
Itachi had intended to trap Sasuke in an endless loop of that night, to teach him a lesson.
Instead—
Tsukuyomi was broken.
The backlash made him clutch his left eye in pain.
Through the haze, he saw Sasuke's eyes clearly.
"Sasuke… you—!"
"My foolish older brother," Sasuke said coldly, "did you really think you could keep the truth of the Uchiha Clan Massacre from me forever?"
Understanding dawned.
"So that's it… No wonder you awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. You already know the truth. Was it the man in the fox mask?"
"Of course. I also learned about the foolish, self-righteous stunt you pulled back then."
Itachi felt something absurd twist inside him.
If Sasuke had cursed him out of ignorance, it would have been understandable.
But knowing the truth—and still condemning him?
That felt like genuine humiliation.
After a moment of silence, Itachi spoke quietly.
"Sasuke… you've truly grown. Since you've awakened the Mangekyō, then you understand its cost. Let me see if you can take my—"
"Drop the condescending act. It makes me sick."
"And as for the Mangekyō's drawbacks? Sorry. Since awakening it, I've used it countless times—and I haven't felt the slightest decline in my dōjutsu power."
"What?!"
Itachi had lost count of how many times he'd been shocked today.
Sasuke laughed.
"That ignorant look on your face is almost pitiful, my foolish brother. If the Mangekyō Sharingan were still bound to outdated methods, it would've been obsolete long ago."
"I don't need to transplant your eyes to avoid blindness."
"In other words—your eyes are useless to me."
"My eyes… are useless to Sasuke…?"
Itachi's pupils contracted violently.
The revelation struck him like lightning.
His blood surged upward; he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Sasuke remained unmoved.
That final line—
Nagi had taught him.
When you kill someone, you strike the heart first.
Simply killing Itachi would never appease the spirits of the Uchiha clan.
Itachi had to taste despair.
And the greatest pain for Itachi wasn't losing Sasuke—
It was Sasuke rejecting him.
What Itachi feared most was that Sasuke would no longer need him.
If Sasuke deemed him unnecessary, then every plan Itachi had ever made would become nothing more than a cruel joke.
That—
Was something Itachi could never accept.
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