[Inside the Hospital]
"Sasuke, how did you get hurt this badly?"
After learning Sasuke was hospitalized, Naruto hurried over to visit him.
During Konoha's attack, he and Hinata had been outside rescuing people the whole time. They had no idea what happened inside the clan grounds.
Of course, even if Naruto had been there, Rengoku would still have sent him away.
Seeing the concern in Naruto's eyes, Sasuke also felt some warmth inside.
"It's fine. Someone snuck into the clan. Aren't I okay now?"
Naruto looked at Sasuke's hand wrapped up like a rice dumpling.
"And you still call this fine? Why's your hand wrapped up like that?"
Sasuke obviously wasn't going to say his hand had been broken. Otherwise Naruto would probably start shouting again.
"It's nothing, just burns. It'll heal before long."
As he spoke, Sasuke put on a happier expression and changed the topic.
"Naruto, I already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
As he spoke, he opened his Mangekyo Sharingan for Naruto to see.
Naruto's attention was quickly drawn away.
"Ah, really? That's great!"
He looked over Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan up and down.
"Then in the future, you'll become a strong man like Lord Rengoku."
Sasuke slightly nodded, determination flashing through his eyes.
'Now that Father and Brother's Mangekyo Sharingan are gone, the family would have to rely on me.'
Naruto chatted with Sasuke for a while. Seeing that Sasuke looked tired, he left first.
Sasuke also drowsily fell asleep.
But he slept very uneasily and kept dreaming.
In the dream, it was all scenes of Itachi collapsing in front of him, his eyes dug out, while Sasuke reached out but failed to touch him.
"Ahhhh!", Sasuke sat upright, covered in sweat.
At this moment, he saw a figure sitting beside the bed. After looking carefully, he realized it was Rengoku.
And Rengoku's hair had already completely turned white.
"Shishou… your hair… why did it become like this?"
Shock filled Sasuke as he hurriedly asked.
Rengoku shook his head. His face showed no particular expression, nor did he explain anything about his hair.
"Itachi and Fugaku have already been saved. I'll take you to see them."
Sasuke's mood lifted, and he quickly got out of bed to put on clothes.
But part of his attention was still fixed on Rengoku's hair.
Sasuke's memory was perfectly fine. Back then, when Shukaku had been extracted from Gaara, Gaara had died too.
After Shishou revived him, Shishou's hair had looked exactly like this.
It was a sign of losing a huge amount of life force.
Now Brother and Father had been revived, and Shishou had become like this again.
'That means Shishou he…'
Sasuke's chest tightened, followed by deep guilt, 'After waking up, I actually blamed Shishou.'
'I really deserve to die!'
"Since you're ready, let's go."
Rengoku didn't say much more to Sasuke. Seeing him dressed, he walked ahead.
Sasuke silently followed behind Rengoku.
Looking at that gray-white hair swaying behind Rengoku, even the joy from his father and brother being revived had been completely washed away.
The hospital wasn't far from Orochimaru's laboratory. In just a few minutes, Rengoku brought Sasuke underground.
At this time, both Fugaku and Itachi had fallen asleep, breathing evenly.
Sasuke looked at Fugaku, then looked at Itachi. His eyes quickly reddened.
There was gratitude and relief…
Rengoku softly said from beside him, "They were badly injured. They just finished treatment and are sleeping now."
Both of them currently had bandages wrapped around their eyes, but Rengoku still directly lied to him, "We used the eyes of fallen Uchiha clan members and transplanted them for now."
Sasuke knelt beside Itachi's bed and touched Itachi's hand. Large tears fell down.
There was regret, and hatred toward his own weakness.
Feeling Sasuke's touch, Itachi's fingers moved slightly as he weakly said, "Is that Sasuke?"
Sasuke quickly wiped his tears and choked out:
"Nii-san, it's me."
Itachi stayed quiet for several seconds before slowly saying, "I heard from Senpai that you already have the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"That's great…"
"Ugh…"
The tears Sasuke had just wiped away filled his eyes again. He kept apologizing, "Sorry, Nii-san. Sorry… it's all because of me…"
Itachi reached out and stroked Sasuke's hair, gently saying, "Idiot, why are you crying? Awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan is a good thing."
"Sasuke, you're my pride…"
If Itachi normally praised Sasuke like this, Sasuke would definitely jump up happily.
But at this moment, Sasuke felt pain like countless arrows piercing through him.
Although awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan was a good thing, his pair of Mangekyo had been exchanged for two pairs of Mangekyo and two lives from his father and brother.
At this moment, Sasuke cried like a child, desperately wiping tears that simply wouldn't stop.
Itachi patted Sasuke's hair, "Stop crying, Sasuke. From now on, your brother can only rely on you for protection."
Sasuke covered his mouth and tried hard to control his emotions. He heavily nodded.
"Brother! From now on, I'll protect you!"
"Alright, Itachi needs rest. Come see him another time."
Seeing things were about done, and with Fugaku at the side nearly unable to stop the corners of his mouth from rising, Rengoku also pulled Sasuke slightly.
Sasuke stood up and had just wanted to check on Fugaku when Rengoku casually wiped Sasuke's tears with one hand and tapped Fugaku twice with the other.
By the time he stepped aside, Fugaku had already adjusted his expression and was quietly sleeping.
Sasuke softly said to Itachi, "Brother, I'll come see you again next time."
Rengoku said from the side, "Don't come here anymore. It won't be long before Itachi and Fugaku recover. See them outside next time."
Itachi's voice came over, "It's okay, Sasuke. We'll see each other again very soon."
Sasuke answered, "I understand. Then Nii-san, I'm leaving first."
After Itachi waved his hand, he seemed to fall back asleep.
Rengoku also used this chance to bring Sasuke away.
After the two left, Itachi suddenly asked, "Father, aren't you going to talk to Sasuke?"
Fugaku stayed silent for a while before speaking, "Sasuke is a good child…"
"But just now, I was afraid I'd laugh."
———
After following Rengoku out, Sasuke had already sorted out his emotions.
'Shishou, Brother, Father...'
All of them quietly cared about him, protected him, and silently held up a piece of sky for him.
'I can't disappoint Brother either!'
Determination shot from Sasuke's eyes. At this moment, he felt the responsibility on his shoulders.
After going through major ups and downs in life, people mature very quickly.
And after this incident, Sasuke's state of mind had completely changed.
"Shishou…"
Hearing Sasuke's voice, Rengoku turned around.
Sasuke sincerely said, "I'm still unfamiliar with the Mangekyo Sharingan right now. Shishou, can you guide me in training Susanoo?"
Rengoku sharply sensed the change in Sasuke's mental state and felt relieved inside.
But a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Opening Susanoo is very painful."
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