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"Madara still lives. Believe it or don't." Itachi's voice carried no weight of persuasion, only cold fact.
"Stop lying to me!" Sasuko snarled, the Kusanagi steady in her grip, unwavering despite the tremor in her heart.
Itachi's lips curled faintly, as though the denial itself was part of the lesson.
"People cling to what they think they know. They call it reality. But knowledge and perception are fragile things. What you believe to be real may only be an illusion. Humanity lives shackled to misunderstanding."
Sasuko's eyes narrowed. "What are you even trying to say?"
Her mind reeled. The brother she had once adored, who had laughed with her, trained her, and guided her, was the same one who slaughtered their parents in cold blood.
Why? For what? Even now, with answers dangling just out of reach, she no longer cared to understand. She only wanted to kill him, to end the nightmare and lay her ghosts to rest.
"You think Madara is dead simply because you want him to be," Itachi said softly. "The same way you once believed I was your kind brother."
Those words hit like poison. Memories flooded Sasuko's warmth, games, shared meals before they bled crimson. A moonlit night.
Corpses littering the clan compound. Blood running like paint. Her parents' still faces on the floor of their home.
Her grip on the sword shook. Hatred surged like a beast clawing from her chest.
"That night," Sasuko rasped, "I prayed it was only an illusion. That it was some cruel genjutsu. But no. That horror… that was reality!"
She spun, lightning bursting from her fist. The Chidori spear lashed forward, grazing Itachi's cheek and tearing strands of his hair free.
Her crimson eyes blazed. "My Sharingan has evolved! I can see through your illusions now!"
Itachi, ever calm, merely tilted his head. "Still so stubborn. That much hasn't changed."
"Then stop stalling!" Sasuko spat. "Use your Mangekyō and kill me now! Or are you afraid I'm still beneath your so-called measure of 'capacity'?"
A sigh left Itachi. "Such confidence… You don't understand. The Mangekyō Sharingan is special. But from the moment you awaken it, its light begins to fade. With every use, you march toward blindness."
Sasuko faltered. "What?"
His eyes shifted the tomoe twisting into the jagged pattern of the Mangekyō. "The Mangekyō will always lose its sight. Unless… you take the eyes of your kin. Then, and only then, do you gain eternal light."
A shadowed smile curved his lips. "You, Sasuko… you are my light. My spare."
His chakra pressed down like a storm. "The Uchiha have always been cursed killing their closest friends to awaken power, killing their own siblings to make it eternal. Such is our clan's shameful legacy."
The genjutsu world shuddered. Sasuko's limbs froze. A phantom arm materialized, clawing toward her eyes.
"From the moment you were born into this clan, you were bound to its bloody fate!" Itachi's voice cracked with madness. "Let me kill you, little sister. Let me break free of this destiny! You are my vessel, my sacrifice, my bond!"
The phantom hand crept closer. Sasuko struggled, her Sharingan straining to tear the illusion apart. For an instant, despair gnawed at her.
Then her eyes flared with raw power. The binding shattered. The genjutsu dissolved.
Back in the real world, she ripped the bandages from her brow, cast off her heavy cloak, and stood bare in simple gear. Her gaze, cold as a blade, locked onto her brother.
Itachi's eyes narrowed. "So… you've glimpsed the true me."
"Finally," Sasuko said, voice iron. "All this talk of eternal light what a joke. Madara tore out his own eyes to defy fate, and even though he was blind, he was stronger than me. But you—" her lip curled, "you're trapped by destiny. Chained by obsession. My foolish brother."
For the first time, Itachi's composure slipped.
"Enough talk," Sasuko declared. "It's time we end this."
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