When it came to wasting ocular power, neither side had any room to judge.
The only difference was that Uchiha Sasuke could only burn through his own Sharingan, while Shimura Danzo wasted the Sharingan of others.
Their fighting styles bordered on ridiculous.
Both had gained overwhelming power too quickly and fought without the caution a true ninja would have.
Even Uchiha Obito, watching through the recording, silently agreed. Susanoo, Amaterasu, repeating attacks just to test Danzo's abilities, all of it wasteful. Danzo was the same, throwing lives away to probe Susanoo's defenses.
As expected, the moment Danzo was burned to death by Amaterasu, he appeared behind Sasuke again, forming seals. A Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet shot forward like a burst of rifle fire.
Sasuke avoided the killing shot by a hair and summoned a massive hawk beneath him midair.
The whole exchange happened in a flash.
The younger Sasuke watching could not look away. Every movement of the future version of himself was unbelievably cool.
That's me? I really can become someone like that.
"Oh? Amaterasu? Haven't seen that in a long time. As expected of Itachi's little brother."
Danzo's voice was cold. "You inherited Itachi's jutsu, but despite having the same ability, your eyes lack his resolve."
On the battlefield, Uzumaki Karin noticed an eye on Danzo's arm permanently closing. The recording zoomed in, making the meaning unmistakable.
"So his revivals are tied to the Sharingan… Is this some kind of Sharingan technique?"
Kakashi formed a theory.
"Sharingan can do that?"
The younger Sasuke felt like everything he knew about the Sharingan had been a lie.
"For you, Itachi's truth doesn't matter at all. You're only venting your anger. You're wasting the sacrifices of the Uchiha Clan."
Danzo's voice was flat.
"You have no right to speak about the Uchiha!"
Sasuke roared and dove forward on the hawk.
"Wind Release, Vacuum Wave."
Danzo spat out razor-sharp wind blades.
Sasuke barely dodged again and closed the distance.
Dust exploded across the bridge. A spinning, wind-imbued shuriken rushed toward Sasuke like a storm wheel.
The two clashed in close quarters.
Danzo grabbed Sasuke by the throat and nearly crushed his windpipe, but at the same instant the hawk returned, carrying Danzo's own wind-charged shuriken. It sliced Danzo's right arm clean off.
Sasuke cut Danzo down at the same moment.
On the severed arm, another eye closed.
The corpse vanished into mist.
A fresh, uninjured Danzo appeared on the bridge again.
By now, everyone understood it. Danzo's endless revivals came directly from that arm filled with Sharingan eyes.
"Useless."
Danzo stood calmly at the bridgehead.
Then a new figure formed behind him.
Uchiha Itachi.
An illusionary Itachi cast Amaterasu over Danzo.
"So you caught me in a genjutsu. Impressive, I suppose."
Danzo's tone never warmed. Behind him, the real Sasuke couldn't move at all.
Strange black markings crawled across Sasuke's body. A Cursed Seal. Danzo had planted it on him earlier. It locked Sasuke in place.
This was Danzo's real strategy. After losing several lives, he was finally fighting like a former leader of Anbu.
"Your genjutsu is pathetic."
Danzo said, unmoving. "Compared to Itachi's Tsukuyomi, which can control time itself, yours is nothing."
Through Obito's commentary, everyone understood the truth.
Sasuke had used himself as bait to kill Danzo once.
But Danzo had done the same. He let Sasuke touch him so he could plant the Cursed Seal.
A clash of tactics, simple and brilliant.
"Sasuke is still too inexperienced. Too aggressive. He charges in before understanding the opponent's abilities."
Itachi couldn't help critiquing.
And that made the younger Sasuke's temper spike. His eyes reddened.
This damn man. Clearly he was defending Itachi.
Clearly he had been involved in the massacre.
No wonder his future self wanted to kill him.
In the recording, Uzumaki Karin tried to rush in, but Danzo kicked her away. He wasn't willing to spend more chakra on jutsu. He needed to conserve energy.
Because Uchiha Madara was still watching.
If Sasuke already knows the truth about Itachi, then the Akatsuki… There's no way to hide the intel anymore.
Danzo realized.
He picked up Sasuke's fallen sword.
"Why did you allow this piece of trash to live, Itachi?"
He lifted the blade.
"Look at him, Itachi. This is your only failure."
He swung downward.
Even knowing Sasuke wouldn't die here, the real Itachi watching couldn't stop his Mangekyo Sharingan from flaring to life. Sasuke mattered more to him than his own life. No one was allowed to kill Sasuke. No one was allowed to call him trash.
Whether Sasuke understood him or hated him, Sasuke had to live.
He had to carry the clan's hope.
He had to bear Itachi's sins.
He had to rebuild the Uchiha Clan.
Deep inside the Akatsuki base, the frail Nagato opened his eyes and looked in a distant direction.
For a moment, he had sensed Itachi's sudden eruption of ocular power.
Something was wrong.