Chapter 31: Konoha Without Uchiha Has No Value!
Biwa Juzo carefully examined it and, finding no hidden dangers, turned to hand Sasuke's head to Itachi.
With trembling hands, Itachi gently cradled Sasuke's head. His fingertips shook uncontrollably, his knuckles turning white from excessive force.
He stared fixedly at Sasuke's pale face. Those eyes that had once been so full of life now gaped emptily, never again to look at him with admiring gazes.
He pushed his Mangekyo Sharingan to its absolute limit, examining repeatedly and thoroughly for a long time. But no matter how he checked, the conclusion remained singular.
This was, truly and undeniably, the severed head of his most beloved younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke.
In that instant, Itachi felt the world spin and tilt, as though the entire universe were collapsing. His cold heart seemed to suddenly stop beating.
His little brother's adorable face appeared before his eyes again. Memories surged like tidal waves.
Sasuke stubbornly picking himself up after falling while learning to walk; his proud expression when first mastering the Body Replacement Technique; those eyes filled with confusion and grievance after being repeatedly rejected...
Life's countless moments flowed into his heart, tearing agony spreading bit by bit through his chest, as though ten thousand steel needles simultaneously pierced his heart, making even breathing painful.
Itachi's breathing became rapid and chaotic, each inhalation carrying the taste of blood.
He felt something warm slide from his eye sockets, leaving a glaring trail across Sasuke's cold cheek.
Itachi's lips trembled as he pressed his forehead against his brother's cold forehead, a hoarse whisper squeezing from his throat, his voice shattered beyond recognition.
"Why... did this happen..."
"The Third clearly promised me he'd protect you well..."
"Hahaha..." Yasushi beside him jumped with glee. "The Third promised you—Danzo didn't promise you!"
"Since it's clan extermination, of course it must be complete annihilation! What's the point of leaving one survivor?"
"What, wait for him to grow up, learn the truth, then return to take revenge on the village?"
"What?"
"Did you think the village elder would be blamed by Hiruzen Sarutobi for killing an evil Uchiha?"
"Ah, maybe. Confine him for a few days, slap his wrist—that sort of thing!"
"So what?"
"Don't tell me you expect a village elder to pay with his life for one Uchiha survivor?"
"Hahaha... You're such a bitch ass clown, Itachi!"
"How could someone disloyal to their own clan possibly be loyal to the village?"
"If Hiruzen Sarutobi truly trusted you, he should have taken you as a disciple, designated you as the next Hokage candidate!"
"If there'd been even the slightest bit of conciliation instead of constant suppression, the Uchiha clan wouldn't have been pushed to this point..."
"Silence!" Itachi's eyes turned blood-red as he roared hoarsely. "How could you possibly understand—if civil war erupted in the village, how many would die because of it!"
"Ah, right right right—my way of thinking is small, yours is big!" Yasushi shouted back with even greater volume. "Danzo knew your thinking was broad, so he chopped off your brother's head!"
"You surely wouldn't fall out with the village over this small matter, right?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The village couldn't possibly kill Sasuke!"
Itachi's eyes bled as he stared fixedly at Yasushi's face—identical to his own—demanding through gritted teeth:
"You killed him!"
"Didn't you?"
"Ah, right right right!" Yasushi grinned, revealing a sinister twisted smile. "That's right—I killed Sasuke!"
"Not only did I kill him, before killing him, I crushed all his limbs to powder, healed him with Mangekyo Sharingan ocular techniques, then crushed them again!"
"Over and over, I did it again and again, until finally he cried and begged me to kill him, and then I granted his wish!"
"You know what he cried?"
"Watch me demonstrate!"
"Ahem..." Uchiha Yasushi cleared his throat twice, pitching his voice high to imitate a child.
"Big brother, why won't you come save me?"
"Big brother, I'm suffering so much!"
"Big brother..."
"Shut up!" Itachi roared like a madman. "Sasuke's still just a child! How could you..."
"Child? You dare speak of children?" Yasushi was even more furious. "You say for peace's sake, then why didn't you only kill adults? Why did you kill the elderly, weak, women and children too?"
"You say Sasuke was innocent—weren't those infants innocent?"
"Did Konoha Village care about those innocent Uchiha children?"
"No!"
"They were afraid!"
"They feared the Uchiha descendants would grow up and take revenge!"
"They wanted to eliminate the roots!"
"Since they wanted to eliminate the roots, how could Sasuke—this sole survivor—be left alive?"
"You couldn't bring yourself to do it? No problem—I'm very considerate. I completed your mission for you!"
"No need to thank me!"
"Ah... who are you? Who exactly are you?"
Provoked by Yasushi's words, Itachi had no response, only roaring madly in impotent rage.
"Who am I? Hahaha..." Yasushi laughed wildly. "Look at this face—can't you recognize it?"
"I'm the dog of Konoha Village politicians, the beast who personally slaughtered the entire clan—men, women, elderly, children—Uchiha Itachi!"
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you. Not only did I slaughter the entire Uchiha clan, I also killed Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's grandson, abducted the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, and killed dozens of Konoha ninja."
"Though the Nine-Tails jinchuriki was taken away by Minato Namikaze, just now even the Ino-Shika-Cho died here."
"Guess whether Konoha Village will still trust you now?"
"Huh?"
"Hahaha..."
"Don't you love peace?"
"Aren't you afraid of village people getting hurt?"
"Then I might as well tell you—I not only killed Uchiha Sasuke, I'm also going to spark the Great Ninja War and kill even more Konoha people!"
"The Uchiha are one of Konoha's founding clans! Konoha without Uchiha has no value whatsoever!"
"I will completely destroy Konoha Village!"
"I will make Konoha Village vanish from the shinobi world!"
Provoked repeatedly by Yasushi, Itachi finally couldn't endure. He glared with his Mangekyo Sharingan, and black flames ignited on Yasushi's body.
"Die!"
"Amaterasu!"
***
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