A stream of blood and tears trickled from Itachi's left eye.
But Sasuke, who had used the power of his own Mangekyo Sharingan, showed no reaction beyond a drain on his stamina.
"Did you know, Itachi?" Sasuke's voice was low, his gaze fixed on his brother. "The policy against the Uchiha was established by the Second Hokage. The ones who carried it out were the Third Hokage and Danzo. They had the choice to change things, follow different directions but they didn't," He paused, letting the words hang in the air. "You didn't ever consider that, did you?"
"The Third Hokage you trusted? He was the mastermind behind the Uchiha's persecution from the very beginning. Even if our clan had done nothing, even if we had never planned to rebel, Konoha's blade would have fallen on us all the same." Sasuke's voice hardened. "I told you I would kill you. And then I will use Konoha to test the measure of my own strength."
'Sasuke has lost his way,' Itachi thought, dismissing the words entirely. 'I have to correct this.' A ninja of his caliber wouldn't have his beliefs shaken by a few words, even if they were true. Not everyone possessed the infamous 'Talk-no-Jutsu,' and Itachi's mind was, to put it mildly, wired differently.
To him, Sasuke had fallen into darkness, never realizing he was the one who had truly strayed from the path.
But Itachi still had one card left to play, a trump card he believed could bring Sasuke back.
"Your thinking is too dangerous, Sasuke," he said aloud. "Amaterasu!"
Black flames erupted from Itachi's right eye, a blaze that would not die until its target was nothing but ash. It was the absolute pinnacle of Fire Release.
"Useless," Sasuke murmured as a different hexagram pattern flared to life in his own eyes.
'Analyzing...'
A mechanical voice echoed in his mind, providing him with a critical insight.
'I see it... the weakness in this dojutsu.'
He unrolled a scroll with a flick of his wrist. "Sealing Jutsu: Fire Seal!"
The supposedly inextinguishable black flames were drawn into the scroll, pulled by the powerful Fuinjutsu until not a flicker remained. It was a perfect counter. The move looked effortless, but only someone with very strong perception and speed could pull this off. Any ordinary shinobi attempting to use the Fire Seal against Amaterasu would be incinerated long before completing the hand signs. But Sasuke was different. He could perceive the weakest point in the flames, the single thread he needed to unravel the entire technique.
In a way, his powers of analysis and deconstruction were the ultimate foils to Itachi's Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. Sasuke had prepared for this fight meticulously. With every piece of intel committed to memory and a counter for every ability, Itachi's only remaining option was to use the power of Shisui's eye.
Of course, Itachi could have activated his Susanoo, but his failing body couldn't handle the strain, and pushing himself would only lower its chances of success. Besides, if Itachi brought out his Susanoo, Sasuke could simply summon his own. It wasn't a power unique to him.
"Crow Substitution Jutsu!" Itachi's body dissolved into a swarm of crows that scattered in every direction. "Amaterasu!"
The black flames ignited once more, only to be sealed just as quickly. The technique was simply too slow; any Jonin worth their salt could evade it. Itachi couldn't sustain consecutive uses, not with his reserves so low.
Ignoring the blood that now streamed freely from both of his eyes, Itachi performed a Summoning Jutsu. A single crow materialized on his shoulder.
"Forgive me, Sasuke." He extended his index and middle fingers, the gesture aimed at the space where he saw his brother's forehead.
In the next instant, the crow's black pupil warped into the distinct pinwheel pattern of a Mangekyo Sharingan.
'It's finally time,' Sasuke thought.
It was Shisui's Mangekyo, the ultimate genjutsu: Kotoamatsukami. And Itachi had just activated it.
At that exact moment, Naruto pulled a small, green frog from the pouch at his waist. With a quiet, "Here goes nothing," he tossed it in a high arc between Sasuke and the crow.
The frog flailed in mid-air, its wide, panicked eyes locking directly with the crow's.
Instantly, the frog went limp, its expression vacant. A thin line of blood trickled from the crow's Mangekyo eye.
Kotoamatsukami, a technique with a ten-year cooldown, had been successfully broken.
A quiet smirk played on Naruto's lips. Sasuke's eyes went wide in disbelief. Itachi could only stare, utterly bewildered.
Naruto had planned for this long ago. Kotoamatsukami had no built-in chakra lock-on, which made it surprisingly simple to counter. All you needed was a living creature to intercept its line of sight. Because as long as the chakra lock-on was active, as long as it didn't hit a living thing, it would give the user couple seconds of backup time. Fortunately, the chakra lock-on didn't have tracking feature for specific chakra.
It was the same principle Goku had used on Planet Namek, throwing a frog between Vegeta and Ginyu to disrupt the Body Change technique. Naruto had simply adapted it.
Naturally, this trick wouldn't have worked on Shisui himself; he was far too clever for such a simple diversion.
Naruto had a backup plan, too. The Mangekyo Sharingan was fundamentally a product of Yin Release. In theory, a sufficiently powerful Yang Release should be able to negate its effects. His Yang Release Chakra Mode might have been able to resist the genjutsu, but since he'd never tested it, he couldn't be sure.
'So... after everything I said, this is still your choice,' Sasuke thought, a cold clarity settling over him. 'You really do love Konoha more than anything. I was right not to hesitate.'
He remembered what Naruto had whispered to him just before the battle, his hand warm on Sasuke's shoulder.
'Fight without worry, Sasuke. I left something with you.'
"I won't be shackled by that false bond any longer, Ashura-nii!" Sasuke declared, his voice ringing with newfound conviction. As he spoke the name, he felt a weight lift from his heart. Golden chakra erupted around him, flooding his body with what felt like limitless power. His chakra was not just replenished; his stamina was completely restored.
"Sage Mode: Activate!"
His pale skin grew even fairer, and sharp fangs emerged from the corners of his mouth. Over the pentagrams of his Mangekyo, a vertical, serpentine slit formed in each pupil. A faint trace of purple eyeshadow appeared at the corners of his eyes, but otherwise, his transformation was subtle. It was a Sage Mode perfected to a degree far beyond what Sage Kabuto had achieved with his half-snake form in the original timeline.
"I spent a long time mastering this mode, Itachi," Sasuke said, his voice dangerously calm. "I endured a great deal, all to defeat you." He clenched his empty hand, and a tachi of pure blackness materialized from thin air. It wasn't an ordinary blade but a weapon forged from pure sage chakra. The sage arts of Ryuchi Cave could breathe life into inanimate objects, and they could just as easily create them.
In his Mangekyo Sage Mode, Sasuke's power was immense. As Itachi's strength faded, his own was peaking. The advantage was now undeniably his.
'He's been buffed. Time to send him in.' This wasn't just setting up a dramatic comeback, it was a statement of fact.
"Sage Art."
Sasuke vanished. An instant later, he reappeared directly in front of Itachi, moving too fast for his brother to react.
"Swallow Return!"
The blade flashed, and blood sprayed into the air.
===============
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