"I need to see it. I have to know."
Sasuke jammed his hand into his pouch and dumped everything onto the table: loose change, crumpled bills, and a handful of shuriken. He even unstrapped the kunai from his leg.
"Is this... is this enough?"
Sasuke stared at Roy, desperate.
Roy glanced at the pile. The System scanned it—low value. Surprisingly, the kunai was worth a bit; it was custom-made. The Uchiha kid definitely had high-tier gear.
"Barely enough for one run."
Roy swept the loot into a drawer.
"Get in."
Sasuke knew the drill this time. Without a word, he climbed into the cold metal pod.
[Loading Raid: The Night Before - Secret Council]
[POV Locked: Itachi Uchiha]
Heavy. That was the first thing Sasuke felt when his consciousness rebooted.
He looked down to see a gray tactical vest and a red tattoo on his arm.
This wasn't his body. It was Itachi's.
Sasuke could feel the bone-deep exhaustion in his brother's muscles. Ahead of him was a door.
Itachi pushed it open.
It was a dimly lit office. Sasuke recognized the four people inside immediately.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sitting behind the desk.
Danzo Shimura, standing by the window.
And the two elders, Homura and Koharu, on the sofa.
The four most powerful people in the Leaf.
"Itachi. You're here."
Hiruzen set down his pipe. Smoke curled around him, obscuring the old man's expression.
Sasuke felt "himself" drop to one knee.
"Lord Hokage."
Itachi's voice was calm.
But inside, Sasuke could feel Itachi's heart hammering against his ribs. It was a suffocating, crushing kind of pain.
"What is the status?" Danzo asked.
"The clan meeting ended last night. Father has made his decision," Itachi said, head bowed. "The coup launches in ten days. The plan is to storm the ANBU HQ, secure the Hokage, and seize control of the village administration."
Sasuke's mind went blank.
A coup. So Danzo wasn't lying. His father really was planning a rebellion.
"Idiots."
Danzo scoffed.
"The Uchiha are blinded by their own arrogance. Do they think the Sharingan is enough to control the Nine-Tails and fight the entire village?"
"Once civil war breaks out, our neighbors will pounce. The Cloud and the Stone are watching the borders like vultures. The Leaf will be destroyed, and the Land of Fire will burn."
Danzo walked over to Itachi.
"Itachi, time is running out."
"We have two options on the table."
"Option one: You side with the Uchiha and join the coup. We will deploy the ANBU and Root to exterminate the clan. Everyone dies, including you, branded as traitors."
Danzo paused for effect.
"Option two: You side with the Leaf. Before the coup starts, you execute the entire Uchiha clan yourself."
Sasuke wanted to scream. Are you kidding me?!
Tell my brother to kill our family? What kind of monster proposes that?
He tried to force Itachi's body to stand up, to fight, to draw the sword on his back and slash Danzo.
He couldn't move.
He was just a ghost haunting his brother's tragic life.
Danzo's voice continued.
"If you choose the second option, we will classify it as an internal Uchiha purge. That means your little brother, Sasuke..."
"...gets to live."
Sasuke froze.
Every other sound in the room faded away. Only that sentence echoed in his skull.
Keep Sasuke alive. That was the deal.
Exchange the lives of hundreds of Uchiha for my life alone.
"Hiruzen!"
The Third Hokage, who had been silent, looked like he wanted to interject, but Danzo cut him off.
"It is the only way. Hiruzen, do you want to watch the village burn?"
The Third Hokage fell silent.
He picked up his pipe and took a long, slow drag.
Sasuke looked at the kindly old grandfather figure he used to respect. In that moment, all he felt was nausea.
"I understand."
Itachi spoke.
"I accept the mission."
Sasuke felt the sky falling.
Don't do it!
Brother! Don't say yes!
I'm not afraid to die! I'll die with Mom and Dad! Don't do this for me!
Sasuke screamed inside Itachi's soul.
No one heard him.
Itachi looked up at the four leaders.
"But I have one condition."
"Name it," Danzo said.
"Sasuke must survive. And he must never know the truth." Itachi's eyes were dead. "I will take the blame. I will become a rogue ninja and leave the village. Just... take care of him."
"You have my word," Hiruzen finally spoke. "As long as I am Hokage, no one touches Sasuke."
"Thank you."
Itachi stood up. As he walked out of the Hokage's office, the sunlight hit his face.
Sasuke finally felt the emotion Itachi was holding back. It was love—love so deep and heavy it felt like drowning.
For that love, Itachi was willing to become a monster. He would send his parents to hell and wear the title of 'traitor' forever.
Forgive me... Sasuke.
Itachi thought the words silently.
[WARNING: Player emotional stress critical.]
[WARNING: Vital signs unstable.]
[Emergency Eject sequence initiated.]
The screen shattered.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the silence of the shop.
The pod door hissed open.
Sasuke tumbled out, hitting the floor hard. He didn't get up.
He curled into a ball, clutching his head with both hands.
It wasn't physical pain. His heart was being shredded.
He always thought his brother hated him. He thought Itachi looked down on him for being weak.
Wrong. It was all wrong.
His brother had sold his soul to the devil just to keep him breathing.
The cold stares, the distance—it was all a shield.
And the real killers...
Sasuke's eyes were bloodshot, practically glowing with rage.
"Danzo..."
" The Third..."
"The Elders..."
He ground the names out through his teeth, dripping with hate.
Those people drove Shisui to suicide. They forced his brother to become a kinslayer.
They sat in their high tower, sipping tea, and sentenced the Uchiha to death with a few words.
They were the murderers!
They were the darkness of the Leaf!
"I'm going to kill them!"
Sasuke scrambled up from the floor.
He stumbled toward the door, gripping the custom kunai Roy had rejected earlier.
"I'm going to kill Danzo! I'll tell Father! I'll tell everyone!"
A hand clamped down on his shoulder, rooting him to the spot.
"Chill out."
Roy's voice came from above.
"Let me go!" Sasuke struggled like a trapped animal. "I have to save him! There are only three days left! I'm going to kill that old bastard!"
SMACK.
Roy slapped Sasuke across the face.
The sharp sound stunned Sasuke into silence.
"You awake now?"
Roy withdrew his hand and pointed out the door.
"You go out there now, what are you gonna do?"
"You tell Fugaku, he launches the coup early. Result: The Uchiha get slaughtered by Root and ANBU combined. You and your brother both die."
"You try to kill Danzo? You can't even beat his guards. You'd be decapitated before you even stepped foot in his office."
Sasuke clutched his stinging cheek. He didn't even have his Sharingan yet.
Against a monster like Danzo and the entire village administration, he was an ant.
"Then what..."
"Do I just watch my brother become a murderer? Watch Mom and Dad die? Watch that old freak win?"
"I can't..."
"I can't accept that!"
Sasuke grabbed Roy's pant leg.
"Boss... your dojo can show me the past. You have to have a way, right?"
"Please."
"If I can save my brother... if I can get revenge... I'll give you anything! Take my life if you want!"
The arrogant Uchiha heir was on his knees, head banging against the floorboards until his forehead bled.
Roy looked down at the kid.
Hate was excellent fuel. The fire was lit.
"Keep your life."
Roy crouched down.
"Violence won't solve this. At least, not with your current power level."
"If you want to save your brother and the Uchiha, there is only one way."
Sasuke looked up, hope desperate in his eyes.
"What is it?"
"Flip the board."
Roy pointed to the quest board on the wall.
"Danzo can do this because he controls the narrative. He claims it's 'for the Leaf.'"
"He packages himself as the guardian of the light and brands the Uchiha as evil traitors."
"As long as that story holds up, he's invincible."
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "It's a lie!"
"Exactly. But the villagers don't know that."
Roy stood up and walked to the window.
"If you want to win, you have to tear down the curtain."
"Let everyone see Danzo's true face. Let everyone see the Third's hypocrisy. Let everyone see Itachi's sacrifice."
"When the truth is out in the sunlight, Danzo won't dare make a move. And to protect his image, the Third will have to cancel the massacre."
Sasuke understood, but he was lost on the mechanics.
"How do I show everyone? Do I run through the streets yelling? No one will believe a kid."
"No yelling required."
Roy patted the metal hull of the pod.
"We use this."
"You just played the Single Player Campaign. I have a special mode unlocked."
Roy swiped on the holographic panel, bringing up a red menu option.
[Multiplayer Raid · The Final Night]
"The mechanics of this raid are unique. If the players inside generate enough emotional turbulence, creating a massive chakra resonance..."
Roy turned to look at Sasuke.
"The System triggers a Sky Projection."
"The gameplay inside the dungeon gets broadcasted directly into the sky above Konoha. Like a drive-in movie, but for twenty thousand people."
Sasuke's eyes lit up. A global livestream.
Broadcast the footage of Danzo blackmailing Itachi. Broadcast Shisui getting his eye gouged out. Show it all to the villagers!
Danzo would be finished!
"Let's do it!" Sasuke stood up, wiping the blood from his face. "Put me in!"
"Not yet."
Roy wagged a finger.
"This mode requires massive chakra to power the projection signal. Your reserves? You couldn't power a flashlight."
"You need a teammate."
"Someone with a chakra pool so deep it's barely human. A monster."
Sasuke paused. Massive chakra?
He scanned his mental contact list.
A Jonin? No, they wouldn't help. A clan member? Too risky, they're being watched.
Who among the kids had the most energy?
A goofy, whiskered face popped into his mind. The prankster. The one everyone hated.
The "dead last" who supposedly had a monster sealed inside him.
Naruto Uzumaki.
"Got a name?" Roy watched Sasuke's expression shift.
"That loser..." Sasuke frowned. "He's weak. He can't even do a basic clone jutsu."
"He just has bad control. In terms of raw fuel, no one in the Leaf has more juice than him."
Roy sat back down behind the counter, waving him off.
"Go."
"Bring him here. Tell him you can make him a hero."
"As long as you two cause enough chaos inside the simulation, I can help you..."
Roy lowered his voice.
"...burn the whole corrupt system down."