Chapter 92: The Performance of Betrayal
Satsuki felt her legs go weak as she trembled and slowly straightened up. Yet once again, she instinctively shielded Naruto behind herself.
Her gaze shifted fearfully between the two—on one side was Naruto, his entire body tense, blue eyes flickering with unprecedented wariness, the fresh bloody mark on his face so glaring it made her panic.
On the other side was her once most admired and depended-upon sister, now emanating such cold alienation it could freeze her blood.
'Just now... sister really... attacked me?'
"Sister... you... what are you doing?" Her voice carried sobbing and complete confusion.
Naruto's tension and vigilance weren't feigned. He knew Itachi wouldn't truly kill them—but that was limited to "wouldn't kill."
Recalling what Uchiha Itachi had done in the original to "motivate" her brother—beating Sasuke bloody, then using Tsukuyomi to make him repeatedly experience their parents' death nightmare for seventy-two straight hours... that kind of "not killing" was backed by utterly ruthless "tempering" that could completely destroy a person.
'I've already warned her this time... she shouldn't do such things, right?'
"Sister... please...!" Satsuki's voice filled with desperate grief as she still pleaded, hoping this was just a terrible joke, hoping sister would suddenly return to normal.
However, her pleas cut off abruptly.
All sound stuck in her throat.
Because she saw—Uchiha Itachi expressionlessly, slowly drawing the tantō from her back.
That subtle unsheathing sound seemed particularly harsh on the deathly quiet street. "My foolish little sister... haven't you recognized reality yet?"
Substantial killing intent surged like tide, yet even at this point, looking at that blade pointed at herself gleaming with cold light, seeing the unfathomable darkness in sister's eyes...
A trace of absurd, stubborn hope still remained in Satsuki's heart. She shook her head as tears finally burst forth. "It's fake, right... sister."
"Everything I've done was to test my own capacity." Uchiha Itachi's voice rang out calmly, betraying no emotional fluctuation.
"Every... thing?"
Satsuki murmured, repeating the word. She looked at this utterly familiar face, trying to find any trace of joking or coercion, but ultimately saw only bottomless indifference. She still couldn't completely equate the person before her with "the murderer who slaughtered the entire clan."
Seeing her sister's gaze still mixed with confusion and refusal to believe, Itachi felt heavy-hearted. Her original plan had been far from this gentle, but Menma's warning bound her actions like icy shackles—don't use Tsukuyomi on Satsuki.
'Then... at least use this.'
The next moment, crimson color suddenly surged in Uchiha Itachi's black eyes! Three tomoe appeared from nothing and began spinning rapidly.
Genjutsu activated the instant their gazes met!
Naruto had been staring fixedly at Itachi's movements. The moment he saw Sharingan manifest, his heart leaped to his throat. He immediately saw Satsuki's form stiffen violently, the sad and incredulous expression on her face instantly freezing like a paused video.
Then a new, more primitive emotion quickly stained her pale face like ink dropping into clear water—bone-deep terror.
Her pupils shook violently. In Satsuki's consciousness, she was witnessing terrifying scenes like mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
"Satsuki!"
Without hesitation, Naruto pressed his hand firmly on Satsuki's cold shoulder, his other hand quickly forming the "Mi" seal as he injected his chakra into Satsuki's body, forcibly attacking the foreign genjutsu's constraints.
"Kai!"
Accompanying Naruto's shout, the genjutsu shackles binding Satsuki's spirit shattered!
"Ugh... AHHHHH! Why?!!"
Satsuki, breaking free from the genjutsu like the final thread of self-deception had finally snapped, felt indescribable pain and despair instantly burst forth.
She suddenly clutched her head tightly with both hands, tears rolling down like broken pearls, smashing on the ground.
She finally understood the cruel, undeniable reality—all this was truly done by her only sister... This was the reality Itachi wanted Satsuki to see.
Naruto looked at Satsuki, who was only crying in collapse rather than fainting as in the "original" he knew, feeling slightly relieved. It seemed Itachi had indeed only released a relatively ordinary genjutsu to forcibly instill cruel reality, rather than that dōjutsu capable of completely ravaging one's spirit for seventy-two hours.
At this moment, Uchiha Itachi silently gazed at her sister's tear-filled eyes, brimming with pain and fear yet not showing the crimson color she hoped for, her heart sinking slightly.
'As expected... relying only on this level of stimulation is still far from enough?'
"Just... just for such a reason... you killed Mother and Father?!"
Accumulated grief and despair were finally ignited by boundless rage. Satsuki cried hoarsely, suddenly standing up from the ground.
Her gaze fixed on Uchiha Itachi's face. That reason was so flippantly horrifying, forming cruel irony with this sea of blood and deep hatred before her eyes.
"What kind of joke is this!!"
Emotion completely overwhelmed reason. Satsuki let out a wail of fury, clenching her small fists and charging recklessly at Uchiha Itachi! Her movements lacked any technique, completely dominated by surging emotions.
"Satsuki!"
'The gap in strength was a despairing chasm.'
Facing her sister's hate-filled yet powerless assault, Itachi didn't even move her feet. She merely expressionlessly, extremely easily raised one hand to precisely catch Satsuki's swinging wrist.
All of Satsuki's momentum came to an abrupt halt.
Before she could react, irresistible tremendous force suddenly came from her neck! Itachi's other hand gripped her throat like iron clamps, effortlessly lifting her entire body off the ground.
"Urgh!"
Suffocation instantly surged forth. Satsuki's feet kicked helplessly in the air, her small face rapidly reddening. She futilely tried to pry at Itachi's fingers with both hands, but those fingers remained immobile.
'So uncomfortable... can't breathe...'
Itachi gazed at her sister struggling painfully in her grasp. Deep in her Sharingan, a trace of barely perceptible reluctance and pain flashed extremely quickly, but the next second was completely covered by the resolve called "necessity."
For that unreachable future, this trial must continue.
She drew her tantō again, aiming at Satsuki's shoulder—a position that wouldn't be fatal but would bring sufficient pain and fear.
Barely opening her tear-blurred eyes, Satsuki saw that close blade aimed at herself. Tremendous fear and sense of betrayal pierced her heart like ice picks.
'She... really wants to kill me?'
"Don't... stop..." She squeezed out weak pleading from deep in her throat, tears flowing even more torrentially.
"Let her go!"
Naruto, whose nerves had been taut, could no longer stand by. Among the choices available to his identity as "Uzumaki Naruto," he unhesitatingly used his most powerful trump card.
Kongō Fūsa!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Several brilliant golden chains shot through the air behind Naruto! Just before Itachi's tantō could touch Satsuki—
Clang!
The golden chains, as if alive, instantly coiled up! One firmly bound Itachi's striking arm and wrist, the tremendous force forcing the blade to halt in mid-air, while several others lightning-fast wrapped around her waist, abdomen and other arm, completely locking her movement!
The sudden restraint and the heart-stopping suppressive power from those chains completely exceeded Itachi's expectations. With her body constrained by this tremendous force, her hand gripping Satsuki's neck unconsciously loosened its strength.
"Cough! Cough cough cough..."
Satsuki crashed to the ground, clutching her throat and coughing violently, gasping the cold air in large gulps.
Itachi slowly looked toward that golden-haired youth she'd been ignoring, standing behind Satsuki.
Naruto stared fixedly at the temporarily restrained Uchiha Itachi.
"If you dare touch Satsuki again... I'll kill you!"