"Three years later? I left Team Kakashi?"
Only now did Uchiha Sasuke finally realize something. In the earlier video of him during the Mangekyo Sharingan period, he hadn't been with Team Kakashi at all.
Which meant something had gone terribly wrong in between.
At this point in his life, Sasuke hadn't even considered leaving Konoha. Even though one of the people he wanted to kill was supposedly the future five-and-a-halfth Hokage, he still acknowledged the village deep down.
Especially after losing his entire family and living in isolation for years. Now, he'd finally found teammates. A teacher.
He didn't want to leave Konoha. He didn't intend to leave.
But seeing that Naruto and Sakura had chased after him for years, desperately trying to bring him home… that wasn't something he expected.
He actually had such a strong bond with that idiotic dead-last? And with Sakura too?
Right now, he didn't see them as particularly important. He just hoped they wouldn't drag him down.
But the future made it clear that their bond wasn't shallow at all. Even after he became a missing-nin, even after he betrayed the village, they still refused to abandon him.
A warmth he hadn't felt in years stirred faintly in his chest.
"So Sasuke leaves after all…" Hatake Kakashi let out a quiet sigh. The earlier video of Mangekyo Sasuke attacking Shimura Danzo alongside Uchiha Madara had already made him suspect that Sasuke would join Akatsuki.
Now it was confirmed. He really did leave Team Kakashi.
But the bond between those three students ran deep. Even if Sasuke became a missing-nin, they still tried to bring him back.
And right now, it still wasn't too late. If they learned what caused Sasuke to leave, maybe they could prevent it.
"Sasuke has two good companions," Uchiha Itachi exhaled softly. "This is the bond I wanted to protect. The reason I never wanted the village destroyed."
He still worried about Sasuke's future, but knowing Naruto and Sakura would chase after him even at the cost of their lives gave him a measure of comfort.
"Yes. I understand."
On screen, the older Sasuke nodded. He didn't deny that bond. But he had something more important to accomplish, something impossible to do in Konoha.
"That's why I have to sever it."
Everyone watching froze.
The video flashed back to the countless times Itachi had beaten Sasuke, forcing him, again and again, to relive their parents' deaths through the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Everyone could see the agony Sasuke had endured.
"The bond I have is with my brother. With my hatred for him. Too many bonds only cloud who I am." Sasuke's voice was calm, but there was a depth in it that made the air heavy. "The stronger the desire, the more it drowns out everything else."
The real Sasuke clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms.
Even if the boy on screen wasn't literally him, it felt like watching his own soul being torn open.
Just thinking about that night sent tremors down his spine.
"Itachi was brutal… but he clearly wasn't trying to kill Sasuke." Kakashi's thoughts were jumbled.
If Itachi had wanted Sasuke dead, it would've been effortless.
One moment in the footage even showed Sasuke wearing the clothes from the 'Return of the Morning Mist' arc.
So after that retreat, Itachi had gone back to find Sasuke?
And the result was obvious. Sasuke was completely overwhelmed.
White Robe Sasuke hated Itachi.
But the Sasuke who awakened the Mangekyo clearly saw things differently.
Maybe he learned something about Itachi later. Something tied to Shimura Danzo's words, the dark truth beneath the Uchiha massacre.
The real world's Itachi lowered his eyes at the sight of himself tormenting his brother. A moment of pain flickered across his face before he buried it again.
This was a sacrifice he had already accepted.
And in the end, Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyo.
But something had gone terribly wrong in his plan.
Because the Sasuke who awakened the Mangekyo was standing against the village instead of protecting it.
"Why didn't you kill me then? You thought that would sever everything between us?" Naruto shouted in the video, fury shaking his voice.
And that revealed something else.
The two of them must have fought at some point, and Sasuke had been in a position to kill Naruto.
But he hadn't.
"The reason is simple. It's not that I couldn't sever our bond." Sasuke said quietly.
In his mind, he remembered a voice he could never forget.
"If you want eyes like mine… if you want the Mangekyo Sharingan… then you must kill your closest friend."
"What? There was a condition like that?"
Kakashi was the only one shocked. He had never known the Mangekyo Sharingan carried a requirement like that.
He couldn't believe Itachi had said something so twisted to Sasuke. And if that was the rule… then how had Sasuke awakened his own Mangekyo later?
"I just didn't want power gained through the method he told me."
On screen, Sasuke's tone barely shifted.
Naruto demanded an explanation, but Sasuke dismissed him without hesitation.
"There's no reason to tell you any more than that."
He paused, then added, "But there is something you should know. Back then, I spared you only because I felt like it."
The moment the words fell, Sasuke vanished and reappeared in front of Naruto, landing gracefully.
A perfect demonstration of the Body Flicker Technique taken to its absolute limit.
No one could even track the movement.
"Your dream is to become Hokage, right? If you have time to chase me across the world, you should spend it training. Isn't that right, Naruto?"
His expression stayed cold.
"So this time, that same whim… will cost you your life."