While several people were still stunned by Mei Terumi's transformation, the atmosphere on the other side of the battlefield was strangely tense.
The three tomoe in Uchiha Itachi's eyes slowly rotated.
At last, his gaze shifted away from the man's empty sleeve.
He studied the familiar yet unfamiliar face before him.
The Rinnegan and Mangekyō Sharingan hidden within those eyes contained emotions so complex they seemed impossible to describe.
Then his eyes dropped to the Kusanagi Sword in the man's hand.
Gradually, he caught hold of a truth that should have been impossible.
This is... Sasuke?!
The moment the thought surfaced, Itachi's body trembled.
For the first time, cracks appeared in the icy mask he had worn for years.
"You..."
He stepped toward Sasuke.
His voice carried a hoarseness even he hadn't noticed.
Whoosh!
In an instant, he appeared directly before him.
"Your eyes..."
"Your arm..."
"And the way you look at me..."
He murmured.
His hand lifted as if wanting to reach out.
But halfway there, it stopped.
"So..."
"Who exactly are you?!"
Future Sasuke tightened his grip on the Kusanagi Sword.
His lips pressed into a thin line.
Under Itachi's gaze—which seemed capable of seeing through everything—he felt that all his attempts at concealment were meaningless.
Within the Rinnegan hidden beneath his bangs, turbulent emotions churned violently.
Hatred.
Pain.
Twenty years of accumulated bitterness.
And beneath it all—
An even deeper longing.
If Uchiha Kai inspired pure affection and nostalgia in Sasuke...
Then Itachi inspired both love and hatred.
That complicated bond had been destined from the very night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
After taking several deep breaths, Sasuke abruptly turned his head away and deliberately lowered his voice.
"It has nothing to do with you."
"Answer me!"
"Look me in the eyes!"
But Itachi seemed to have confirmed something.
He grabbed Sasuke's empty sleeve and lost his composure.
"Your chakra..."
"Your soul's fluctuations..."
"There's no mistake..."
"You're... Sasuke?!"
"At this point in your life..."
"You've been through a lot, haven't you?"
The final words almost drifted out from the depths of his throat.
So quiet that even he himself couldn't understand why he had asked them.
After countless comparisons and deductions, he could only reach one conclusion.
The person before him was Sasuke.
And yet... not Sasuke.
And for the cheerful, confident younger brother he remembered to become like this...
He must have suffered greatly.
That was why he asked.
Unfortunately...
Those words were the worst thing he could have said.
Future Sasuke exploded instantly.
His attitude changed completely.
"The hardships I've endured?"
"Wasn't all of it because of you?!"
Sasuke took half a step back.
His voice trembled slightly.
If not for Itachi...
He would never have become what he was today.
"Because of me?"
Itachi looked genuinely confused.
But he quickly reacted.
His confusion only deepened.
"The night of the massacre?"
"But... shouldn't Kai have stopped me?"
He understood Sasuke's identity now.
What he couldn't understand was how such a thing could still happen.
With Kai's personality, the Night of the Massacre should have ended with Itachi being beaten senseless at best.
Then Sasuke spoke again.
"Second Brother..."
"Was killed by your own hand."
One sentence.
That single sentence left Itachi completely stunned.
He looked at Future Sasuke.
Then he turned and looked toward Kai.
A trace of confusion flashed through his mind.
Would I really kill Kai?
The atmosphere between the two brothers became complicated once again.
Heavy.
Painful.
Filled with tension.
So out of place compared to everything happening around them.
Meanwhile, Kai acted as though nothing unusual was happening.
Strolling casually forward, he made his way into the enormous crater.
Walking on air, he looked down at Yagura Karatachi, who had already returned to human form.
The former Mizukage lay sprawled on the ground.
His eyes were empty.
His expression vacant.
His baby-faced features were pale as paper.
His legs bent backward at unnatural angles.
His entire body trembled unconsciously.
Clearly, he was still trapped within overwhelming terror and pain.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Mizukage-sama?"
Kai nudged Yagura's cheek with the tip of his foot.
There wasn't a trace of pity in his eyes.
"You weren't very good at governing your village."
"But you're certainly talented at causing trouble."
After saying that, he crouched down and extended a chubby little hand.
At the tip of his index finger, a tiny speck appeared.
Minuscule.
Yet it radiated dense life force and natural energy.
Spore Divine Seed.
Puchi!
Against Yagura's current state, the Spore Divine Seed met almost no resistance as it entered his body.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Tell me."
"Why did you have to act tough?"
"Why insist on charging in like an idiot?"
"You wanted to challenge me?"
"Do you have the strength for that?"
"Hm?"
"Do you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kai grabbed Yagura's head, turned it toward him, and delivered a fierce slap.
At such a young age, and instead of learning something useful, the guy had learned bureaucratic arrogance.
Kai grinned.
The smile was absolutely malicious.
"From now on, just stay a decorative fountain."
"Stop going berserk every other day."
"Got it?"
As he spoke, he pressed a finger against Yagura's forehead once more.
Buzz.
Buzz, buzz.
One Spore Divine Seed after another flashed into existence before disappearing beneath Yagura's skin.
"Urgh..."
Yagura's body trembled violently.
For a brief moment, a faint black glimmer flashed through his vacant pupils.
Then it vanished.
Only fear and emptiness remained.
His body trembled even harder than before.
Especially whenever he looked at Kai.
A deep instinctive urge to kneel and submit rose uncontrollably from the depths of his soul.
Only after finishing everything did Kai stand up with satisfaction and clap his hands.
The battlefield remained trapped in a strange silence.
The only sounds were the increasingly powerful blue chakra radiating from Mei Terumi's body.
And the silent yet fierce emotional confrontation between Itachi and Future Sasuke.
Creak.
Creak.
Sasori of the Red Sand shifted awkwardly and forcibly reattached the puppet tail that had snapped off earlier.
His movements looked stiff.
Awkward.
As if he was simply finding something to do so he wouldn't look completely out of place.
Seeing this, Kisame frowned.
He looked left.
Then right.
He also felt incredibly awkward.
"Maybe I should find something to do?"
He rubbed his blue shark-like head uncertainly.
But at that exact moment—
Outside the shattered barrier that had been destroyed by the Three-Tails' rampage—
Rapid footsteps suddenly echoed.
Getting closer.
And closer.
The noise grew louder with every second.
"MEI TERUMI!!!"
Almost the moment those footsteps arrived, an aged yet furious roar erupted from outside Kirigakure's central district.
The voice exploded like thunder.
"Hm?"
"That's...?!"
The instant Kisame heard it, his eyes lit up.
He had been wondering what to do with himself.
And now—
Someone had conveniently delivered themselves right to his doorstep.
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