Chapter 487: Sasuke — Forgive You? Not a Chance
Half a day later,
The Konoha Clan was like a shattered egg. The clan walls, buildings, and emblem were still barely intact.
But inside, more than half of Konoha's players had perished.
"Sasuke, everything I did was to protect you… to preserve the honor of the Uchiha!"
Itachi spoke while coughing up blood.
His chest was pierced by a cursed blade, the blade itself wreathed in black flame, constantly burning his flesh.
Agony that seared the soul.
Yet Itachi seemed unaware, his gaze filled with hope as he looked at Sasuke.
"Wiping out the Uchiha Clan was my agreement with Danzo. In exchange, I was allowed to spare you—so that you could grow up safely."
"And father… and mother… they agreed to die by my hand!"
"Otherwise, with my power alone, father—who also had the Mangekyō Sharingan—could not have been killed so silently!"
"Sasuke!"
Itachi had endured everything. Even when facing the wrathful Uchiha wraith amalgam and being condemned by Shisui, he hadn't shown such emotion.
But now, he was agitated.
Sasuke had finally grown strong enough to defeat him, and Itachi could die with no regrets.
Originally, he had wanted to take all his secrets to the grave.
But after Aizen's psychic suggestion broke the dam in his heart, and after Shisui's rebuke shattered his mental defenses, he could no longer die in silence.
At the very least, he wanted acknowledgment and understanding from the person he had protected at the cost of everything—his younger brother.
That was his final wish.
Itachi's body was crumbling, his flesh rotting and turning black.
It was like the state after Edo Tensei was canceled—when the soul breaks free from the sacrificial body.
But as a dark curse sorcerer, Itachi's soul was extremely powerful, solidifying into a dense, almost tangible black light.
"Forgive me, Sasuke!"
"This is my final gift—absorb my soul and become even stronger!"
Itachi forced a gentle smile, remembering the days before he betrayed the clan, when Sasuke would beg him to train together.
It had been peaceful.
Shing!
A swift slash came down, from Itachi's head all the way through his torso.
Decisive. Merciless.
Itachi's soul, a vertical line running through his brow, was split completely in half.
Stunned.
His fading vision saw only Sasuke's cold, killing stare.
"I could never forgive a lunatic like you."
Sasuke's gaze was icy. He rejected Itachi's final gift outright.
The stronger a dark curse sorcerer, the more valuable the soul core they left behind. For a gold-tier player like Itachi, his soul core could easily skyrocket Sasuke's [Spirit] stat.
There was even a chance Sasuke could inherit Itachi's advanced Soul Flame skill.
On the marketplace, it would sell for at least a million reward points.
But Sasuke slashed it to pieces without a second thought. He had no interest in such a "gift."
"A lunatic?"
Itachi's soul, now cleaved, began to dissipate.
His eyes shook, as if he had heard something incomprehensible.
"Sasuke… did you just call me a lunatic?"
The soul core was the essence of a dark curse user. Offering it willingly left him vulnerable.
Now that it was destroyed, Itachi couldn't go on living.
"That's right. A lunatic."
Sasuke had no intention of accepting Itachi's gift—let alone his apology.
His eyes were expressionless as he watched Itachi fade. "Father and Mother willingly died for you? You did it to protect me?"
"Stop spouting that disgusting nonsense!"
"The crimes you committed were always about yourself!"
"You lost yourself in a delusional fantasy—wanting the world to move in line with your twisted ideals. Father, Mother, the clan—they were just obstacles to be removed."
Sasuke's eyes turned crimson. His voice grew even colder:
"You think shedding two cheap tears will wash away a river of blood?"
"You can't."
Itachi's soul visibly faltered. One of his spiritual arms disintegrated in an instant.
"Sasuke, it wasn't my fault. No—Danzo… Hiruzen… I was just their pawn!"
Itachi shouted madly, his face contorting in anguish.
Sasuke only looked colder, replying: "You're pitiful. Truly. A lunatic like you in the Uchiha bloodline… it's our clan's greatest misfortune."
"I will never forgive you. And neither will the Uchiha's departed souls."
"Take your sins—and rot in hell!"
Slash!
With a flash of the blade, Itachi's soul was completely annihilated—his last desperate cries and twisted expression erased from existence.
Sasuke slumped to the ground, eyes blank.
Vengeance was his, but there was no satisfaction. Only absurdity.
To think his parents, and countless clan members, had died because of such a fool.
He would revive the clan—bring glory to the Uchiha once more.
That was the true path to honoring the clan's legacy.
...
[Transaction successful!]
[Konoha Clan Lv.Max (Tier 2)] has been sold to Player (Orochimaru) for 10 million reward points.
Aizen looked upon the ruined battlefield with calm eyes.
Turning to Orochimaru—now holding full authority over Konoha—he smiled, "Orochimaru-san, it's been a pleasure working with you. Shall we part ways now?"
"No."
With that single word—
The necrotic mist around them began to churn violently, growing unstable.
Then… came a massive explosion.
The entire residential district of Konoha—deemed expendable by Orochimaru—was obliterated. His undead army detonated like overinflated balloons.
BOOOOOOOM.
The necrotic explosions differed from gunpowder. Anyone caught by the black ash—land, air, buildings—was reduced to sand-like residue.
That was the nature of necrotic energy:
It erased all life.
"Aizen-kun, your Kyōka Suigetsu is powerful, but it only manipulates perception—it can't alter reality."
Orochimaru smirked like a hunter cornering prey.
"I can't catch your real body. But I don't need to."
"I just need to attack indiscriminately."
No matter how strong or fast Aizen was—
Konoha now belonged to Orochimaru. Aizen, having lost his claim to the territory, couldn't easily escape the automated attacks.
One of the towers could even detect stealth.
Cornered like a rat in a jar,
Aizen could dodge all he liked, but he couldn't avoid everything once Orochimaru flooded the area with deadly AOE.
"Orochimaru-san… just as Konoha's players described you—nothing more than a cold, venomous snake."
Aizen suddenly appeared in midair, looking down at his former ally-turned-enemy.
Not far away,
A massive golden holy barrier had been raised over half the mountain range, shielding against the necrotic blast.
Tsunade stood pale and exhausted—
But still maintained the barrier, protecting the last handful of survivors.
Jiraiya was dead.
Minato, surrounded by a dozen Vasto Lordes empowered by the Hōgyoku, had self-destructed his Nether Assassin core. He was now crippled.
Naruto, after slaying thousands of Hollows, was ambushed by Aizen and left unconscious.
Asuma—dead.
Hayate—dead.
Hiashi Hyuga—dead.
The ninja clans had been nearly wiped out.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo, with their schemes and infighting, had dreamed of weakening the clans—
And now, it had happened in the most brutal way possible.
The Shadow Organization, singled out by Aizen and Orochimaru, was annihilated.
Konoha no longer existed in any meaningful form.
No—now that Orochimaru was its new leader, the village was effectively destroyed.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read: patreon.com/Franklin1