Blood and tears surged forth once more.
The condition of the young Sasuke only deepened the worry felt by Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and the others.
Without the Sharingan, they had no way of knowing what the Konoha ninja, the Uchiha ninja, or Sasuke, Obito, and Itachi were experiencing at that very moment. Even Kakashi's Sharingan—the one belonging to Obito—seemed unable to properly enter the illusion.
And the truth was…
After Itachi Uchiha spoke those words—
No matter what choice you make, I will always love you.
—the Konoha ninja and the young Sasuke all realized that their perspective had shifted once again, returning to the viewpoint of early childhood, barely a meter off the ground…
"This is… the Shinobi World War…?"
The voice was young and childish, yet clearly not Sasuke Uchiha's.
It was Itachi.
The young Sasuke suddenly realized that he had become Itachi. He had entered Itachi Uchiha's childhood.
The cruelty of the Third Shinobi World War was deeply etched into the consciousness of the young Itachi Uchiha, instilling in him a fear of war and an intense longing for peace.
"Life itself has no meaning."
Because of a single remark from Orochimaru, four-year-old Itachi Uchiha once attempted to take his own life, only to yield in the end to humanity's instinctive desire to survive.
"So in the end, no one really wants to die."
And yet war robbed people even of the right to choose whether they lived or died.
Listening to the voice within young Itachi's heart, the ninja existing within his thoughts suddenly felt a deep sense of sorrow about their own identities.
Overly sensitive and poor at expressing himself, burdened by both the Uchiha clan and the title of genius, the young Itachi Uchiha seemed profoundly out of place in the world.
Life is born.
Life clashes.
Life dies…
At just four years old, Itachi Uchiha was already pondering humanity in this way.
Only the birth of his younger brother, Sasuke, seemed to form a bond connecting him to this world that felt so incompatible.
"No matter what, I must protect this younger brother."
From the moment Sasuke Uchiha was born, that resolve had been firmly engraved into Itachi Uchiha's soul.
His admiration for his father.
His devotion to the honor of the clan.
His loyalty to Konoha.
And later, his reverence for life itself, his compassion, and his bonds with his comrades…
Every fragment of Itachi's childhood was experienced firsthand by the Konoha ninja within the illusion.
With the death of a comrade, his Sharingan awakened for the first time.
Itachi came to recognize the obsession with power and authority held by the strongest members of the clan.
He became close friends with Shisui Uchiha, the grandson of Kagami Uchiha, whose way of thinking was just as unconventional as his own. Together, the two youths threw themselves into trying to resolve the conflict between the clan and the village.
At this moment, the Konoha ninja were Itachi Uchiha.
Again and again, they sought out members of the Uchiha clan to communicate, hoping they would let go of their prejudice and integrate into Konoha…
"You're the clan head's son! How can you speak on behalf of Konoha?!"
"What are you saying, Itachi?! Look at how far Konoha has pushed us to the margins!"
"The Uchiha have already been driven out of the center of power in Konoha! Forget Sarutobi and Shimura—the Hyūga clan, the Ino–Shika–Chō, even the Aburame and Inuzuka are stepping all over us! Don't forget, it was the Uchiha and the Senju who founded Konoha in the first place!!"
"I'll pretend I never heard what you said today. Say something like that again, and I'll consider it an act of betraying the clan. I'll report it to your father, the head of the Uchiha clan."
…
No matter how Itachi and Shisui tried to communicate with their fellow clan members, all they ever gathered in the end was even more negativity.
The Konoha ninja existing within Itachi's consciousness felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness and isolation.
They could hardly imagine that, back then, two young members of the Uchiha clan had borne such crushing pressure, desperately trying to reconcile Konoha and the Uchiha. And the process had been so difficult, so lonely.
Sasuke, who had recently been going door to door with Naruto to speak with members of the Uchiha clan, felt his throat tighten.
In truth, how many times had they tried to communicate? Not just him—even Sakura had given up. Only that idiot Naruto, again and again, over and over, never once gave up.
Even Itachi, who was the same age as them, had at some point begun to see that idiot Naruto as the team's leader. Unafraid of rejection, he kept pestering clan members time after time, hoping they would cast aside their prejudice, change their own mindset first, and take a step toward Konoha.
Unlike the helpless isolation they now felt while experiencing Itachi's past, the young Itachi of these days was full of vitality and optimism. Even when he failed, he never lost heart. Wearing Konoha's ANBU uniform with Uchiha clan robes beneath, his role wasn't that of a double agent. He was just like them—a Konoha ninja doing everything he could to repair the relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha.
Itachi Uchiha.
Suddenly, Sasuke remembered something Shikamaru Nara had once said during the Fourth Shinobi World War: as long as you stay by that idiot's side, even someone like me feels embarrassed to complain about the trouble. It makes you want to stand beside him and work toward your dreams together.
What Sasuke was thinking now was the same as what Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi World War had thought, and also the same as what the Konoha ninja had felt during this recent period of gloom, watching a group of children running back and forth between them with their own eyes.
Ever since Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi World War had asked, "If I hadn't left Konoha, would you have stopped me from seeking revenge?" he had been considering another possibility.
If he hadn't left Konoha, with Naruto and Kakashi by his side, would he have been more clear-headed? Before killing Itachi, could he have found another path for both himself and his brother?
Before his eyes appeared a figure wearing a hospital gown, the right sleeve empty and void, his left hand scratching the back of his head as he smiled foolishly at him.
It felt as though his heart was being torn apart.
So painful… it made him feel unbearably wronged.
...
Within the illusion…
"Itachi, I understand what you're thinking. But can you guarantee that if we let go of our prejudice against Konoha, Konoha will abandon its prejudice against the Uchiha? Don't forget who forced the Uchiha clan into this position. It was Konoha. It was Konoha's upper ranks!!"
'We…'
The Konoha ninja existing within Itachi's memories instinctively wanted to say something.
Should they say, "We can abandon our prejudice against the Uchiha clan"?
But words like that couldn't even fool themselves.
When the thought "We can" reached their deepest psyche, it twisted into—
…"Can we… really?"
Every time Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha met, the result was the same: nothing gained. Their way of communicating was awkward enough, but the real problem lay in the irreconcilable relationship between Konoha and the Uchiha, as well as the wounds Konoha had suffered from Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha.
"The Uchiha clan's decision can no longer be stopped. If this continues, internal conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha will inevitably invite invasion from other nations. War will break out."
This was the final conversation between Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha at the edge of the cliff.
"I originally planned to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the rebellion, but the Captain took my right eye. He doesn't trust us. He doesn't trust a single Uchiha. He's determined to protect Konoha in his own way alone."
Shisui Uchiha forcibly tore out his remaining left eye.
The grating sound made even those who hadn't projected their consciousness onto Shisui feel the pain—along with the despair of the once-feared Body Flicker Shisui, whose name alone had once intimidated entire ninja villages…
Shikaku Nara let out a quiet sigh. Around the time of the Third Shinobi World War, how many powerful ninja had Konoha lost because of its internal policies…
Thinking about it now, it was truly a waste.
"I can't let my left eye fall into Danzō's hands."
Feeling the sticky sensation in "his" palm, Itachi Uchiha realized he had caught the eyeball Shisui handed over.
"I'm entrusting my eyes to you. Whether it's Konoha or the Uchiha clan, the only one I can trust now… is you, my closest friend…"
"Please protect the village, and the honor of the Uchiha."
"Shisui—!!!"
"I've already written my farewell letter. If we're truly friends, don't stop me, Itachi."
Unlike before, when they had observed everything from within Sasuke Uchiha's consciousness as outsiders, this time the rage Itachi felt toward the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha that had driven Shisui to his death, the despair born from countless failed attempts at dialogue, and the pain of losing Shisui all fused together into a special kind of chakra that stabbed directly into his optic nerves.
The Konoha ninja felt pain pierce both their hearts and their eyes as Itachi Uchiha awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at the age of thirteen.
And this, of course, was far from the end…
The aggressive, pressing tone of Konoha's upper ranks bore down on Itachi, who had just lost his closest friend.
"Seizing power under the banner of revolution? Hmph! The Uchiha clan must be insane!!"
"Exactly! The Uchiha should be treated as traitors to Konoha and executed immediately!"
"Ever since the era of Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha have never known how to behave! I've said it before—they're a hidden danger to Konoha!"
"Don't discuss this in front of Itachi. And besides, a civil war between Konoha and the Uchiha isn't that simple. There must be other solutions."
"Hiruzen, you're far too naive! This matter can't wait any longer. We must strike first and wipe out the Uchiha clan!"
The Konoha ninja inhabiting Itachi's consciousness listened to the upper ranks barking orders from above. With a single command from them back then, if Itachi hadn't acted, the ones who would have fought the entire Uchiha clan wouldn't have been these officials standing here now—it would have been them.
Ordinary ninja of average ability. How much chance would they have had against the elite Uchiha clan? Would they even survive? Did questions like whether they would be wounded, or whether it would hurt, ever factor into the considerations of these Konoha elders at all?!
The Third Hokage at least tried to dissuade them. But Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzō Shimura only ever repeated the same thing:
"When we were charging across the battlefield, you weren't even born yet! How could you possibly understand the merits we earned during the shinobi wars?!"
All that remained now was a sense of clinging to seniority, drowning in past achievements, and comforting themselves with memories of former glory.
How were these Konoha elders any different from the hawkish faction within the Uchiha clan?!
Perhaps influenced by Itachi's emotions, or perhaps because their consciousness had been forcibly projected onto him by the mission scroll's reward, the Konoha ninja felt the same intense disgust toward both the Uchiha hawks and Konoha's upper ranks as Itachi himself did.
And yet…
When Itachi stood outside the Ninja Academy, watching Sasuke, Naruto, and the other children their age strive to grow into Konoha's next generation…