"For hundreds of years, our village has survived invasions, wars… we have successfully protected the land of fire from every threat before us. Thousands of Jonin from the Leaf were sacrificed. Kind men, powerful men. Itachi... self-sacrifice is the ninja path of a proper shinobi," Danzo muttered, standing his distance between himself and a quiet Itachi who merely stared at him with his Sharingan.
The young man's bleeding eyes made him look scarier than usual
…
"Only by sacrificing ourselves can we preserve–"
While Danzo rambled and talked about his ideals. Itachi went back to his past, to his friends and clan, to his family. All of whom had sacrificed themselves for the village as well. But whenever he saw those eyes in the man's hand. He just couldn't hold himself back.
His eyes bled even harder, his vision blurred to the point he could barely see anything.
"U-Uh aghhhhhh!!!"
Danzo caught fire instantly, unable to even dodge... he stared at Itachi's lifeless eyes as the blazing fire intensified. Just then, a creature burst through the forest, shattering trees and rocks and growling towards Itachi. It was the previous summon.
It crashed against Itachi with shocking strength, sending shockwaves along the forest.
However, what resonated next was the creature's pained shrieks of despair. In his burning moments, Danzo witnessed some sort of monster materialise behind Itachi.
A sword materialised, and this sword sliced the creature in half as effortlessly as if it were made out of butter. The creature caught flames and rambled along the forest, its screams of pain resounding until they stopped dead.
Danzo's eyes flicked... he had certainly used the technique, but he was still in the same place, being burnt by the hideous black flames!
'W-What!?'
"You might have this many Sharingans on you, but you don't know how to use them, do you?"
"Uhwaaaaaa!!!"
The screams of pain from Danzo intensified as he watched Itachi come closer with slow steps, the monster behind him getting even bigger and fleshier.
"H-How are you!– Ahhhhh!!"
"There is little use in exchanging pleasantries at this point... explanations... manipulation. Danzo... don't think for a moment you will have a quick death. I do not deserve to live... but you don't either. Let's have some fun together and come to terms before we both depart this world, what say you?".
When the steps had finaly reached him. Itachi got Danzo's head, pulled his hair and smashed his head on the dirty floor.
"You're quite fond of taking eyes, don't you? Let's do this then".
Itachi put his fingers around Danzo's right eye. The man gasped, he couldn't move... he couldn't do anything. All he could do was watch Itachi's bleeding eyes while his body burned with striking pain.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Unable to even strike back, Danzo felt his right eye being gouged out by the membrane. He couldn't stop screaming as Itachi smiled and made the process a lot slower and more painful than it had to be.
It wasn't until he technically tore his throat that Danzo opened his eyes and everything was back to normal.
!!!
His eyes were still in their sockets, and his body wasn't burning. Itachi was standing across; Susano'o wasn't there. He even felt the chakra of his summoned beast not too far away, waiting to ambush.
"G-Genjutsu...?"
"I told you, Danzo... you won't have a quick death".
Itachi walked in slowly, his Mangekyo Sharigan staring straight at the eye, watching Danzo like he was mere livestock. He knew his overwhelming superiority. The real question was: 'How much can I make him suffer?'.
"You have eleven Sharigans... six left. Don't worry, I will make sure you suffer more than six deaths' worth, I will kill you and kill you... and kill you again in the most gruesome ways possible. I will tear all your eyes off... and once I am finally done with you. I will go back to your house and do the same to your wife and your kids..."
Something clicked just then. The eerie smile, the bleeding eye.
He realised this was no longer just Itachi Uchiha.
'This is the monster you created' The young man grinned. He didn't know what he wanted to do; he didn't know if to live or to die was the answer. But... it felt like making Danzo Shimura suffer was the right course of action. The worse, the better.
"I will tear her eyes away and feed them to your kids. That sounds like the kind of thing you would partake into, doesn't it?".
"Itachi... don't underestimate me!"
Danzo's body exploded with wood, creating intricate branches that headed his way. Itachi frowned and jumped off.
*BAANGG!*
The branches impacted agaisnt the forest, rearranging the nature in the region. While mid-air, the summoned beast growled to chase after him. Itachi dodged and flickered from tree to tree.
'Mokuton? (Wood release)' He muttered inwardly in surprise, only one thing came to mind when he saw that and the eyes on his arm, 'Orochimaru, huh? That is the reason why he can continue to use Izanagi without exerting himself'.
Danzo yanked his arm out of the wood and prepared a jutsu. He blew some air against some shurikens and threw them at Itachi. The edges of the shurikens expanded considerably, splitting everything in their path.
'As long as I keep a safe distance from him–'.
*CRUNCH!!*
He didn't even know how or when. But before he could prepare the next Shuriken, an arm was penetrating his torso, splurting blood everywhere.
"AGHHAAAAA!!!"
Itachi removed his hand, and Danzo fell to his knees, shrieking in despair. His blurry eyes set on the Itachi that he had been attacking all this time. That person dissipated like the wind.
*CRUNCH!!*
He stepped on Danzo's leg, tearing his bone in two with a gruesome noise that resounded, like wood shattering in front of an overwhelming force.
"AHHHHH!!"
"Don't use it yet... Izanagi... after all, the more you use them, the less your chances are of turning this battle over, Danzo".
Itachi knelt and placed his hand to uncover Danzo's left eye, which was still wrapped in bandages. He knew there was a sharingan there... and he knew which one it was.
"I will start with this one–"
Itachi gasped, not even with enough time to react. His mind was placed in perhaps the most powerful genjutsu the Sharingan could ever create. Danzo looked at Itachi fall on his knees as he laughed.
"I told you not to underestimate me, kid..."
The bandages on his left eye concealed the ultimate Sharigan, Shisui Uchiha's eye. A power capable of tampering with anyone's mind to the point that they would become actual puppets.
"This was merely a failsafe... I never thought I'd have to use it with you" Danzo smirked, he crawled on the floor trying to reach Itachi's kneeling form. The pain was still overwhelming, but his consciousness washed up in relief like warm water from an oasis in the desert.
He had won this battle. The moment Itachi was under the influence of the Kotoamatsukami, there was no way he would be able to free himself.
"Just as you said. That's exactly the kind of thing I would partake in. Itachi, I will be taking your eyes now to give myself some new legs~"
"Ughh..." Itachi groaned amidst his stupor. Without mercy, he yanked out one of Itachi's eyes. He felt them hot and heavy compared with the rest, but unable to hold himself back, Danzo laughed audibly. He had used his trump card; he wouldn't be able to use Kotoamatsukami again against Azrael, which was a loss.
'I still have to defeat that woman, if there is any hope... I must get my hands on Amaterasu–'
*SCREECH!*
The annoying screeching of a crow interrupted his thoughts. He looked at one tree where a crow was sitting, watching him. He didn't pay any mind to this crow... until he noticed one of the crow's eyes looked a bit weird.
"W-Wait, that is–"
*BAAAANGGGG!!*
A fist to the face shattered his jaw and sent him flying towards a nearby tree, where he crashed in disbelief.
'W-What... just happened...?'
He felt his life was slipping away, but even at that moment, before activating Izanagi, he saw the sharingan in the crow's eyes, staring at him in disdain.
"You were not the only one who prepared a failsafe".
"H-HOW!? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE!?".
He tried to regain his momentum, but the pain was overwhelming. He knew if he used Izanagi, his chances of coming out of this alive would decrease drastically. Azrael was not someone to be trifled with; the fewer eyes he had, the more likely that he'd be defeated.
"How? I knew it was you who took Shisui's eye. I took the other one, Danzo. Do you want to know the truth? I was always wary of you because of this. I didn't massacre my clan just because you ordered me to. In truth, I thought about it over and over"
Itachi looked at the ground, placing himself back in the past, those agonising nights looking for solutions, unable to find none.
"Over and over... and over... I couldn't find a Solution in which the village was not invaded by Amegakure. Akatsuki already existed, and they had set their eyes on the village due to their link with Jiraiya-san. But then, Madara... he convinced me. It was the only way".
"M-Madara...?"
"I realised that Madara was an even bigger danger to the village than any other. And the only way for me to keep watch on him was to join Akatsuki. All the pieces fell in the right place... all I needed to do was execute the plan. If I had found any other way that didn't involve massacring my clan to preserve peace, I would have rebelled against you, and I would have used Shisui's eye to control you before you even knew what happened. But... there was no other way for me to do it. That's the only reason I did it".
Itachi walked towards the elder with his cold visage, missing one eye. That empty cavity looked as hollow as his very soul.
"From the start, you didn't control me. I just didn't expect you to view our clan as less than mere livestock, eyes for you to use. That's not something I can forgive, Danzo".
A brand new Danzo appeared, growling like a beast, seeking to engage Itachi in Taijutsu, only to be dominated overwhelmingly.
"Nothing you say could ever change your unavoidable painful death. Your and my blood will flow, repaying the debt for my clan".
"Don't be senseless, Itachi!"
Nevertheless, Danzo was powerless in front of Itachi's genjutsu. He couldn't fight against the Tsukuyomi.
He found himself in a black and white world, tied to dozens of logs of wood, like a witch ready to be executed in old times. Itachi held a bonfire.
"You have two eyes left… but I couldn't possibly let you off so easily, dying only two more times… do I?"
He lit up the fire, and Danzo screamed for his life.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Then there were two Danzos tied, then three, ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, two hundred, three hundred thirty-three, a thousand.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Then he saw himself, his wife, his kids, all being lit up. Then he saw his comrades, people he remembered dearly, previous lovers.
All burning. He knew it was an illusion, but he couldn't do anything. That empty socket cavity of Itachi's eye was like a blackhole he continually fell into, unable to crawl out.
Itachi yanked out his eyes one by one, gouging them out slowly, painfully... enjoying it. Amidst the revenge, amidst the disgusting feeling which he wished he could die as soon as possible. There was a bit of retribution.
From the start, he wasn't a match for Itachi.
Danzo Shimura died slowly, painfully slow and with a lot of suffering. His body was unrecognisable by the time Itachi finished, as for his mind, it was beyond screwed. Contrary to what he promised, Itachi didn't chase after Danzo's family.
If they lived or died, it wasn't his concern.
With that, Itachi fell on his knees. Missing one eye, he looked at the eyes he had gouged out, burning in a bonfire. The last remains of his Uchiha Clan. He didn't say a word... because he knew even apologising a thousand times wouldn't be enough.
He only hoped Danzo's blood had somehow soothed the souls of his clan. He took a kunai and, with shivering fingers, brought it close to his neck, ready to finish it all. Itachi looked at the sky, where the Moon looked different from usual. It was a pitch-black moon.
It all looked eerily beautiful.
"Fufufu, what a pitiful child, master~ why don't we make him into our adoptive son?~"
"Stop playing around, Haku..."
Itachi didn't notice how or when, but two individuals were standing before him. They seemed to have walked out of the void itself.
"You are..." Although he didn't recognise the ridiculously tall woman. He did recognise Tsunade's lover.
"What are you trying to do, boy? My woman worked so hard to make sure there was justice for you and your brother... because she wanted you both to live a happy life after everything you went through... and are you going to waste her efforts by killing yourself?" Ray asked him, the light of the eclipse seemed to be drawn to him naturally, giving him a surreal splendour.
In contrast, the light seemed to avoid the woman who stared at him with this mesmerising gaze.
"..."
"Are you going the waste the efforts of the only person in this world who has been considerate to you?"
They made way, and Itachi's gaze settled on someone who was walking back along the forest. Funny enough, there was a boy next to her, and she was pulling his ear.
"Sis, have mercy!"
"Shut up".