Unable to move, Sasuke could only feel the pressure intensify as Itachi Uchiha stepped closer, one step at a time.
His eyes…
They were about to be gouged out…
The fear of the Konoha people and Sasuke Uchiha's own terror fused together. Within his consciousness, the Konoha ninja screamed desperately, trying to escape this mental illusion.
They had no desire to experience the agony of having their eyes torn out while still alive!!
The young Sasuke instinctively wanted to withdraw as well. Whether it was a sudden mental block or sheer shock from what he was witnessing, he froze in place.
In the end, even though he clearly could have exited the illusion, he didn't.
Instead, he watched Itachi continue to approach him step by step…
When Itachi was only half a meter away from "him," he suddenly showed a gentle smile—one Sasuke had seen countless times in his childhood.
Tap—
A light touch to his forehead.
"Sorry, Sasuke."
"But this… is the last time."
Right after that, Itachi collapsed. Blood from his fingertips traced a line across Sasuke's forehead…
His vision flickered as exhaustion overwhelmed him. As the young Sasuke's consciousness sank, he somehow noticed that even in death, Itachi's eyes never fully closed.
Unlike the utterly stunned Konoha onlookers—
In that fleeting moment, the young Sasuke seemed to understand something.
Brother…
From the very beginning, you never intended to kill me, did you?
And yet I fought with everything I had to kill you…
How pitiful. How miserable. How absurd…
His eyes…
The pain was unbearable, worse than anywhere else in his body.
Torrential rain poured down, just like that day in the Valley of the End.
After that came endless darkness.
When he regained consciousness, the person standing before him was Obito Uchiha—or rather, calling him the masked man felt more appropriate.
"I brought you here to tell you one thing."
"Itachi Uchiha…"
"He spent his entire life protecting you, his younger brother, in his own way."
Young Sasuke: "!!!"
"Did Itachi Uchiha ever tell you? On the night the Uchiha clan was wiped out, there was an accomplice who helped him kill every member of the Uchiha Police Force." The masked man continued, "That person was me. Madara Uchiha."
"Get lost!"
"Do you really not want to know Itachi's true self? Think carefully. Why did the gentle older brother you once knew become the person he later was?"
Scenes of Itachi surfaced one after another. Those long-forgotten, happy memories…
The young Sasuke, along with everyone immersed in the illusion within Sasuke Uchiha's consciousness, were overwhelmed by his emotions and completely lost control—
Collectively…
They stopped breathing.
From the masked man's words, the truth was revealed to everyone once more.
"It's true that he slaughtered his clan and became a Missing-nin, but all of it was a mission issued by Konoha."
"Under Konoha's endless suspicion, the Uchiha clan was forced to plan a coup. Between Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha clan, a double agent was needed. That person was your brother—Itachi Uchiha."
"Then why did Itachi choose Konoha instead of the Uchiha?!"
"You, who have never experienced war, understand nothing. Once the Uchiha and Konoha split apart, the Fourth Shinobi World War would have accelerated. No matter whether the Uchiha or Konoha emerged victorious, they would ultimately become prey for the other villages—devoured and carved up…"
"The choice he made wasn't about the survival of the Uchiha clan or Konoha alone. It was about the lives of all the innocent people in the ninja world who could be swept into war, weighed against the interests of his own clan."
"If you were Itachi Uchiha, what would you do?"
The masked man's question was directed at Sasuke Uchiha.
However, all of the Konoha ninja who still retained their own consciousness—including the young Sasuke Uchiha—were forced into deep thought by this question.
[Question: If your family betrayed the nation and attempted to launch a coup, even directly accelerating the outbreak of the next world war, one that would turn both your country and your clan into prime prey in the eyes of other nations, what would you choose?]
You, who so often stand on the moral high ground criticizing others and proudly claim to love your country, what choice would you make?
All Konoha ninja—especially those who still carried a strong sense of clan identity—could not help but contemplate this question.
"When Itachi joined the Akatsuki, he made only one request of me: that I never lay a hand on Konoha. And the single condition he demanded from Konoha…"
"Do you know what it was, Sasuke?"
"...."
"He made the Third Hokage personally promise that you would be kept in the village and protected properly."
Young Sasuke: !!!
"And that wasn't all. He even threatened Danzō Shimura. If Danzō dared to make a move against you, Itachi would leak all of Konoha's intelligence to the other villages. Do you understand what that means?"
Feeling the fear, sorrow, and rage coming from his other self in another world, the young Sasuke was unable to answer the masked man's question. Even though he already knew the answer, the sheer weight of these revelations left his mind unable to keep up.
The masked man said, "It means that to him, the survival of Konoha and the entire ninja world outweighed everything else. And yet, you were the only variable within that 'everything'."
"Your existence was the one line Itachi wasn't willing to cross, the bottom line where all principles could be broken."
"You… are more important than Konoha, more important than the village, more important than the ninja world…"
"More important than anything!"
"Liar! You're lying! Itachi… he—"
"You're still alive. That's the proof." The masked man continued. "Don't forget, he killed every elderly person, woman, and child in the clan. He wasn't someone who couldn't bring himself to kill a child. And yet, he spared you alone. All this time, Konoha has protected you well. At least until the Third Hokage's death, you were never harmed…"
"The Third Hokage kept his promise to Itachi. And I kept mine as well—I never attacked Konoha before Itachi died."
"Itachi Uchiha thought only of you until the very end. To die by your stronger ocular power, he dragged along a body ravaged by a terminal illness, barely sustaining himself with medicine. Everything he did was to pave a way forward for you. He even planned his own death."
"Even after death… he gave you his eyes, setting it so that Amaterasu would activate automatically the moment you encountered me, forcing me away from you. Then you, having avenged the Uchiha clan, could return home in glory and become Konoha's hero."
Hearing all of this, the final thread holding the young Sasuke's mind together snapped.
Endless pain surged over him. From the moment Itachi appeared before him again, all the way to just now, when he had wanted to kill Itachi to avenge his parents and clan, he had imagined countless reasons for why Itachi committed the massacre.
He had imagined Konoha forcing him.
He had imagined the masked man forcing him.
But he had never imagined…
That his own existence was what condemned Itachi to a lifetime of suffering.
If he hadn't existed, Sasuke knew his brother would still have completed Konoha's mission, and then…
Paid for everything with his life.
So this was… the truth…?
The searing pain in his eyes came directly from Sasuke Uchiha's sensory nerves. Not only the young Sasuke, but everyone else felt that same despair.
The enemy they had hated for their entire lives was dead, yet this was the outcome.
Even though they had learned part of the truth earlier, they were still drowned by the hatred within Sasuke Uchiha's heart.
Following the flow of his consciousness, they faced the ocean, bathed in the light of the setting sun.
Recalling his childhood, Sasuke remembered how his brother had always treated him with gentle patience. But as they grew older, missions became more frequent, and the conflicts within the clan deepened. The smile on his brother's face nearly disappeared, replaced by a look perpetually weighed down by worry.
—I am your older brother. I will be the goal you must surpass, and I will protect you. No matter what it takes.
All those memories ultimately converged into a single image: Itachi, broken and staggering, walking toward him step by step, finally revealing the same gentle smile he had worn in their childhood.
—I'm sorry, Sasuke. This is the last time.
Waves crashed violently against the rocks, their roar surging and relentless.
Sasuke Uchiha's grief swept through every Konoha ninja whose consciousness resided within him.
All the sorrow and rage condensed into a single declaration—
"From this day onward, we are no longer 'Snakes.' We are Hawks—an existence that will crush Konoha at any cost!"
At that very moment, Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan burst open.
The young Sasuke felt searing pain in his eyes as the three tomoe showed faint signs of transformation.
Bloody tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes, his shoulders and lips trembling uncontrollably.
Naruto and Sakura, who had not entered the illusion, were filled with worry, yet they dared not pull him out without permission.
...
After that, the Konoha ninja personally experienced the despair of this Uchiha youth.
As Sasuke Uchiha…
He joined the Akatsuki.
He attacked the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.
He stormed the Five Kage Summit.
He harbored killing intent toward Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake.
Yet during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when he encountered Itachi Uchiha revived by Edo Tensei, he once again felt what it was like to fight side by side with his brother.
Despite the many unresolved knots between them, when facing Kabuto Yakushi, the brothers simultaneously activated Susanoo. They used Amaterasu together. They used genjutsu in perfect coordination to counter Kabuto Yakushi's techniques.
Not only Sasuke Uchiha, but even the Konoha ninja were stirred to a fever pitch by this battle beyond comparison—while at the same time being filled with profound sorrow.
The living and the dead were always destined to part.
"Why! Why won't you face me even at a time like this?!"
"Ever since I learned the truth, I've hated Konoha to the core for what it did to you!"
"If just because you're my brother, you think you can ignore my feelings and decide everything for me—"
"Then precisely because I'm your younger brother, no matter what you say, I will destroy the Konoha you want to protect with everything I have!"
No matter what Sasuke Uchiha said, Itachi was resolute in breaking the Edo Tensei as quickly as possible.
This impending farewell, after the truth had finally come to light, left every Konoha ninja trapped within Sasuke Uchiha's consciousness in deep anguish.
'Why won't you say something to your brother?!'
'At a time like this!!'
'Before releasing Edo Tensei, shouldn't he untangle his brother's heart and protect Konoha?'
Some, having fully empathized with Sasuke's emotions, sincerely wished for the brothers' conflict to be resolved.
Others feared that the Sasuke within the illusion might truly go on to destroy Konoha.
"Edo Tensei: Release."
Once again, Itachi Uchiha walked toward "himself" with trembling steps. The bitterness in his heart made the Konoha ninja feel even more pain than when they had feared their eyes would be gouged out.
"This time, I won't tell you everything."
"After knowing all of this, no matter what choice you make…"
"I will always love you, Sasuke."