"Shisui…?" Uchiha Sasuke's thoughts drifted back to years ago. He'd been too young then, so the memories were hazy.
But he remembered a boy who used to hang around his brother, Uchiha Itachi. A boy named Uchiha Shisui. Back then, Sasuke called him Shisui-nii.
Then one day, Shisui was suddenly dead. Rumors spread through the clan that Itachi had killed him. Sasuke refused to believe it. There was no way his gentle brother would kill someone that close to him.
But then Itachi slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan. At that point, what was one more body? If he'd killed the whole clan, killing Shisui too didn't seem impossible.
People whispered that Itachi's eyes, the Mangekyo Sharingan, awakened after killing Shisui. Itachi even bragged afterward, telling Sasuke to gain the same eyes before coming to challenge him.
Knowing that, Sasuke swore he'd never use a comrade's blood to obtain power. Even without the Mangekyo Sharingan, he'd kill Itachi with his own hands.
But now… Shisui's eye wasn't with Itachi. It had been in Shimura Danzo's possession the whole time.
What was going on?
He couldn't make sense of it.
Itachi, however, felt his suspicions settle into certainty. Shisui's death had been tied to Danzo after all. He'd known the possibility, but because of Shisui's final request, he'd chosen to look away.
If he hadn't, he would've joined the Uchiha rebellion. And if that happened, the Uchiha Clan would have been wiped out anyway, dragging Konoha down with them.
"Shisui's eye was with Danzo?" Hatake Kakashi stiffened. Of course he knew who Shisui was.
That brilliant prodigy who earned the title Shisui of the Body Flicker at a young age, a boy whose raw strength had surpassed his own.
When Shisui died, rumors blamed Itachi. Kakashi never confirmed the truth, but he did know one thing: Danzo was involved.
The darkness of the ninja world… his former superior had been far more corrupt than he realized.
No wonder Kaede Kitahara described Danzo in his diary like some sewer rat crawling through filth. Judging by everything unfolding, that comparison wasn't even harsh.
He was exactly like a sewer rat.
Kakashi silently reminded himself to be extremely careful.
At this point, Sasuke had burned through nearly all of his strength. Uzumaki Karin rushed over and offered her arm for him to bite, helping him recover his energy.
"What kind of constitution is that? Do all Uzumaki have that ability?" Itachi couldn't help wondering. Still, someone like her would make a fine partner for his brother.
On-screen, Danzo finally lost control of the Wood Release inside him. Wood Release suppressed the Sharingan's Yin Release chakra, but the Sharingan also kept the Hashirama Cells inside Danzo from overwhelming him.
Now that all of his Sharingan were spent, nothing held the balance together. Tiny sprouts of Wood Release began bursting from his body.
Desperate, Danzo prepared one final move. He tore off the bandages over his right eye, revealing his last Sharingan.
"This isn't over. This is still a battle of eyes."
Those past uses of Izanagi were all to buy time. He'd been waiting for Shisui's eye to recharge.
To stall for even more time, Danzo turned to Karin. He grabbed her in an instant, dragging her into a hostage position. If he could delay long enough, he might regain control, maybe even take hold of Uchiha Madara.
Suddenly, Itachi remembered something written in Kaede Kitahara's diary. Sasuke stabbing Karin… was this when it happened?
In the video, lightning crackled in Sasuke's palm. Chidori gleamed dangerously in his hand.
"You talk about self-sacrifice, yet you take a hostage."
Danzo's voice stayed cold. "I'm not afraid of death. For Konoha, for the ninja world, I cannot die here. No matter what I must do, I must survive. I'm the only one who can reform this world. This woman will die for that future."
"Unbelievable," Kakashi muttered. Even after years in Anbu and Root, even after taking missions under Danzo's own orders, hearing Danzo justify this still made his blood boil.
If sacrifice was required, why was it always someone else's sacrifice that was acceptable, but never his own?
Who decided that?
Faced with Danzo's choice, Sasuke simply said, "Don't move, Karin."
Karin thought he was coming to save her. But the next second, Sasuke's Chidori Current changed shape mid-strike and pierced straight through her vital point, skewering Danzo behind her.
The entire audience froze. No one expected Sasuke to go that far.
For revenge, he would do anything.
Sasuke didn't feel a shred of guilt.
Danzo didn't even have time to activate Izanagi.
"Sasuke… am I really…" Karin's voice trembled. Was she so meaningless to him?
"Karin, once you're taken hostage, you become a burden." Sasuke said it as if it were obvious, watching her collapse onto the ground.
At that point, Danzo had no way to cast Izanagi again. Even he was shocked. He'd never imagined someone could be more ruthless than he was.
If he were in Sasuke's position, he probably would've done the same.
With no other choice, he staggered away. Every step looked like the last march of a dying tyrant, and Sasuke followed slowly behind him.
Danzo had spent a lifetime chanting "for Konoha" while sacrificing countless others, destroying lives, triggering tragedy. Now it was his turn. He wasn't different from any of the victims.
"For Konoha, for the ninja world, I can't allow you to live."
He released the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, a deadly technique meant to drag all enemies into death with him.
But in the end… he sealed nothing.
He sealed a bridge.
And with that, the video finally ended.