Chapter 26 – In the Silence of Ashes
"When everything turns silent, the only voice left is the one you've been running from."
The wind swept through the ruins.The ground still smoked, covered in grey dust — a mix of soil, blood, and burnt chakra.Sasuke stood motionless at the center of the battlefield, his Sharingan dimmed, his eyes black once more.
He felt nothing.Or rather — he tried not to feel anything.
The beating of his heart had calmed. The tension in his muscles had vanished.Everything was silent again.And in that silence, there was only him… and the faces he had erased.
His fingers tightened.Every time, it was the same.He believed he was protecting others — yet with each victory, he felt more distant from them.
He looked up at the sky.Ash drifted slowly, falling around him like dead snow.
"Itachi… did you see their faces too, after?"
A light breeze passed, but no answer came.Only the whisper of leaves — and the echo of his own voice.
He sat down on a stone, laying his sword beside him.His hands trembled slightly — almost imperceptibly.Not from fear. Not from remorse. Just from something buried too deep to name.
He thought of Karin.Her overwhelming chakra, raw and vibrant, like a heartbeat that wasn't his.And Sakura.Her distant smile, the warmth he had left behind.
Two faces. Two worlds.One he had abandoned. One he was only beginning to understand.
He ran a hand across his face.— "Ridiculous," he muttered.
His eyes turned toward the forest. He could almost sense their chakras — faint but alive.Suigetsu probably grumbling.Jūgo asleep, recovering.And Karin… probably worried.
He should go back.But he didn't move.
Something held him there — an unfinished feeling.He stared at the corpses. The Senju.For a moment, he wondered if one of them had a family, a dream, a promise.Then he pushed the thought away.
The Senju… that name stirred something ancient inside him.Descendants of Hashirama — the clan that had built peace on Uchiha ashes.
He clenched his jaw.He hadn't killed for revenge.But every time he heard that name, the old fire burned again.
He rose slowly.The flames were gone. Only shadows and silence remained.
— "It's over," he whispered.
But he knew it wasn't.As long as he saw the world through pain and loss, nothing would ever be over.
A sound made him turn.A silhouette among the trees — not hostile, just watching.A black crow, perched on a branch, staring with round eyes.
He smirked faintly.— "You again…"
The crow tilted its head, as if answering.A voice echoed in his mind — calm, soft, familiar:
"You'll understand someday, Sasuke. Even in the darkness, light still exists. You just need to learn to see it differently."
Silence fell again.The wind lifted the ashes, carrying them away.The crow took flight.
Sasuke watched it go, then turned away.This time, he was heading back.Not because he wanted to —but because he needed to.