On the screen, the battle seemed to be over, but Itachi's condition took a sudden turn for the worse.
"Now… your eyes are mine. I think I'll take my time to retrieve them." After saying that through labored breaths, Itachi suddenly covered his mouth, blood pouring from between his fingers, dripping to the ground in a shocking display.
"Wha-? What's this?! Something seems wrong," White Zetsu said in confusion.
"Cough… cough…" Two loud coughs rang out, and Itachi collapsed to his knees.
Even his Susano'o could barely be held, the outermost layer of the armor vanished, leaving only a skeletal frame barely maintaining its form.
Sensing that something was wrong with Itachi, Sasuke instantly pulled a kunai with an explosive tag attached from his waist pouch and hurled it at the Susano'o with all his might.
BOOM!
A cloud of dust and smoke rose.
And as the smoke cleared, the Shinobi World saw that Itachi had once again used Susano'o's shield to block the explosive tag's attack.
In the scene, Sasuke kept retreating, while Itachi manipulated Susano'o to advance step by step toward him, blood still dripping steadily onto the ground.
"Damn it!" Sasuke pulled out another string of explosive tags, but they all were easily blocked by Susano'o's shield.
Once again, Black Zetsu stepped in to explain the origin of Itachi's Yata Mirror.
"They're my eyes… Mine…" Itachi staggered forward, continuing his approach toward Sasuke.
Seeing this, Sasuke flew into a frenzy. He drew his Kusanagi blade, leaped high, and thrust it at the Susano'o, but was knocked aside. The sword flew out and stuck into the rubble in the distance, and Sasuke himself crashed heavily to the ground.
With no options left, Sasuke struggled to his feet, his back against the partially broken stone monument carved with the Uchiha clan emblem, his body trembling slightly.
But contrary to what everyone watching the Sky Screen expected, although Itachi extended his bloodstained right hand, he did not reach for Sasuke's eyes. Instead, he gently tapped Sasuke's forehead.
"Forgive me, Sasuke. There won't be a next time."
Itachi's right hand finally fell limply, leaving a long streak of blood across Sasuke's face.
His body could no longer hold on. He toppled forward onto the stone monument, then fell backward onto the ground, his fiery red Susano'o letting out a final screech before vanishing.
Just then, the scene shifted. The black flames of Amaterasu, which had been burning all this time, seemed to move of their own accord; seeking out the small white serpent hiding in a rock crevice and burning it to ash.
However, the people of the Shinobi World largely ignored this detail. After all, the Sky Screen had already clearly mentioned that Orochimaru was the one who lived the longest, not even the meticulous Itachi could truly kill him.
The screen then concluded with the scene of Sasuke, having completed his revenge, lying hollowly on the ground, head to head with Itachi.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Akatsuki Hideout]
The atmosphere was heavy.
The Akatsuki members realized that although Itachi had never passed any useful organization intelligence to Konoha, after this screen reveal, he still seemed to be an unstable factor.
With Sasuke in Konoha, there might come a day when he would be ordered to stab the organization in the back.
Deidara was the first to break the silence. With a gloating smile spread across his face, he slowly walked toward Itachi's position.
"Itachi-san, you're quite something, aren't you? Fooling your little brother for all those years, and then pulling that heartfelt 'Forgive me' at the very end? Tsk tsk tsk—I was almost moved to tears."
Hidan hoisted his scythe and followed suit, a teasing grin curling at his lips: "No kidding. Throwing away your life for your little brother. You sure played your cards well, Itachi. But tell me, when you killed your parents, did you ever think about the word 'forgiveness'?"
Kakuzu said nothing, but he had risen to his feet and quietly blocked another exit.
Kisame, holding Samehada, wore an unreadable expression on his shark-like face, but he too shifted his stance and joined the encirclement.
Hidan tilted his head, his tone growing sharper: "I mean, here you are in the organization, always acting all mysterious and brooding, and we thought you were some cold-blooded killer. But what's the truth? You're actually a good big brother? Tsk tsk tsk, that's just… disgusting."
One by one, the Akatsuki members converged around Itachi, who remained seated in the corner.
The oppressive pressure radiating from them would have been enough to suffocate any ordinary Kage-level fighter. Yet Itachi sat motionless, his expression unchanged, as if the mockery and surrounding threat didn't exist at all.
His calm gaze remained fixed on the spot where the screen had vanished, not even blinking.
Deidara stepped right in front of him, staring at his face. "Uchiha Itachi—say something. What do you think your little brother will think of you now that he knows the truth?"
His voice dripped with mockery: "Will he cry out 'big brother'? Or will he just try to kill you again?"
Itachi finally broke the silence, his voice flat: "It's none of your concern."
Deidara's grin froze for a moment, then grew even wider: "None of my concern? Hah—of course it's none of my concern. I'm just curious; someone like you, where will you go after death? Heaven? Hell? Or will you join your clan in the afterlife?"
Itachi didn't answer.
But just then, Pain raised his right hand and gave a light squeeze in Itachi's direction.
With a soft thud, the Itachi on the seat transformed into a flock of crows. Black feathers scattered in the air, and the birds scattered in all directions.
The crows let out piercing cries, circled the hideout once, and then flew out through the entrance, vanishing into the night.
Deidara was stunned. "...He got away?"
Hidan was equally dumbfounded, looking left and right with his scythe. "When? We had him surrounded—when did he slip out?"
Kakuzu withdrew his tendrils expressionlessly: "Genjutsu! He was prepared long ago, who knows from which point the one sitting there was just a Crow Clone."
Kisame, clutching Samehada, wore an unreadable smile on his shark-like face: "Itachi-san, truly elusive as ever."
Pain withdrew his right hand, his tone utterly devoid of emotion: "No need to chase him for now, he's probably already far away. However, Deidara, Tobi…" He then turned to glance at Kisame, "…and Kisame—the three of you will be responsible for the follow-up pursuit of Uchiha Itachi. No one betrays the organization without paying the price... And I don't believe he's as hard to kill as Orochimaru."
"Yes!" ×3
The hideout fell quiet again, but the heavy atmosphere lingered for a long while.
---
[Land of Waves, Tazuna's House]
Sasuke stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.
What did Itachi's death this way mean? Was he pitying him?
His voice trembled with barely contained anger: "Damn it!! I'll never let him die that easily! I must kill him with my own hands!"
"'Forgive me'… I will never forgive him!"
Looking at the somewhat hysterical Sasuke, Kakashi sighed in his heart.
Combined with all the intelligence revealed so far, he had already pieced together Itachi's true intentions. This battle… was all about helping Sasuke awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan, and taking care of Orochimaru in the process.
'But why go to such lengths?'
Kakashi silently asked in his heart.
Itachi, for the sake of Sasuke, pushed himself to that point… Was it worth it?
Still, thankfully, the Sasuke of that time was no weakling. At the very least, he could fight Itachi under normal circumstances.
Though the future Itachi's body was already ravaged by illness; so his speed couldn't be compared to the Itachi from his earlier fight with Kakashi.
---
[Konoha, Year 52. Uchiha Clan Grounds]
Unlike other places, where the response to Itachi and Sasuke's battle was one of reflection or sympathy, the atmosphere here was seething with fury.
A crowd of Uchiha had gathered, their voices dripping with contempt.
"He didn't care about his clan or his parents, and now he puts on a show of brotherly love? Hypocrite!"
"Exactly! He slaughters the entire clan, then tells his little brother 'forgive me'? Where does he get the nerve?"
"Pfft—good riddance! He deserved to die!"
"And that future Sasuke, getting played like a fool and then feeling hollow… hollow my ass! He should have ground that bastard's bones to ashes and offered them to us!"
Fugaku sat in the main seat, his face livid, but he stayed silent. Mikoto sat beside him, her head lowered, lost in thought.
Young Sasuke, frightened by the angry mob, shrank into a corner. He didn't fully understand what the adults were yelling about, but he had a vague sense that they were cursing his brother.
Young Itachi stood at the edge of the crowd, expressionless, impossible to read. But his hands, clenched at his sides were trembling slightly.
Shisui gently patted him on the shoulder. "Itachi, don't take it to heart."
Itachi shook his head, his voice a wishper: "They're right. If the future me did those things… I have no right to say those words."
Shisui opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he just sighed.
*****
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