Sasuke stood blankly in the desert.
The blazing sun hung overhead, shining on his back, yet a chill ran down his spine, as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.
Whether it was because of the resonance between the ripples, or the influence of the Sage's Thorn Ring, standing in the desert, Sasuke could clearly sense Ryosuke's heartbeat,
Extremely faint, as if… it could stop at any moment.
"It's not 'as if'!"
Sasuke suddenly snapped back to his senses.
"Brother Ryosuke's life has entered its final countdown!"
"Everyone… can you hear me?!"
Sasuke's roar echoed across the desert battlefield. Tsunade, Terumi Mei, and the others who had come earlier as reinforcements heard him and stood atop the sand dunes, waving to Sasuke from several hundred meters away.
Members of the Yamanaka clan stationed in the Sky Fortress hurriedly performed a secret technique, linking the minds of the people on the ground together so they could communicate more easily.
Sasuke's voice appeared in everyone's minds as he told them what he had discovered.
Terumi Mei said in disbelief, "How is that possible… why would this happen? He's Ryosuke."
Yes, he is "Ryosuke."
The Ryosuke who was omnipotent and undefeated.
How could he die?
But after that thought flashed through their minds, everyone fell silent again.
Fighting Momoshiki, Kinshiki, Isshiki, and Kaguya, four members of the Otsutsuki clan.
Then restarting the universe, throwing everything into the old universe so people could live in the Fourth Universe.
No matter how powerful someone was, after doing so many earth-shaking things, they were bound to pay a price.
Tsunade lowered her head, took a deep breath, and clenched her fist. "All these years, Ryosuke has been protecting us. Now it's our turn to protect him."
After briefly exchanging information, everyone immediately split up to search for Ryosuke's whereabouts.
Sasuke couldn't determine Ryosuke's exact location. What he could be sure of was that Ryosuke was near the battlefield, somewhere in this endless golden desert.
Time passed second by second. The clear sky gradually darkened without anyone noticing, thick clouds gathering, as if about to bring a little rain to this long-parched wasteland.
Sasuke's expression mirrored the dark clouds above, his face gradually turning grim, his eyes filling bit by bit with anxiety and panic.
"If only I had Amenominakanushi…"
He couldn't stop the thought.
As long as he could find Ryosuke, he was willing to pay any price.
At that moment, Sasuke saw a familiar figure from behind.
Uchiha Itachi.
More precisely, Uchiha Itachi with a crippled version of Amenominakanushi.
During the universe's cycle, the dead were not supposed to come to the new world, but those revived by Edo Tensei had exploited a loophole.
They had souls and temporary vessels, and because Yakushi Kabuto wanted to create chaos to make his escape easier, he hadn't canceled the Edo Tensei.
As a result, Itachi, along with Minato Namikaze, Nagato, and others, came to the new world.
After learning the truth behind the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Uchiha Itachi became a walking corpse.
He trudged step by step through the desert, feeling lightheaded and unsteady, his life devoid of any hope. Yet in the Edo Tensei state, he couldn't even choose death.
He could only wander forward aimlessly, not knowing where he was going.
However, driven by years of instinct, Uchiha Itachi still asked Amenominakanushi a question, "Will I ever see my clansmen again? Can I still obtain happiness?"
Before the universe restarted, the answer to that question was no.
But after arriving in the Fourth Universe, the low-health version of Amenominakanushi gave a clear answer.
"Find Ryosuke. Find him, and you will see the Uchiha clan again. You will gain true happiness."
Uchiha Itachi couldn't understand why seeing Ryosuke would make all of that possible.
Still, he followed Amenominakanushi's guidance and kept moving forward, until he crested a sand dune and... Itachi froze in place.
At the end of his vision lay nothing more than a withered, emaciated body, yet to his eyes it seemed to radiate a gentle light. He couldn't look away, and a flood of emotions welled up.
Redemption, reverence, shock, and greed.
At this moment, without needing any reminder from Amenominakanushi, Uchiha Itachi instinctively understood. As long as he obtained Ryosuke's remains, he would receive the world's blessing and create a world where everyone could be happy.
Itachi rushed toward Ryosuke.
As the distance closed, new pieces of information emerged from Amenominakanushi.
"Ryosuke… isn't dead yet?!"
That shriveled chest, the extremely faint rise and fall, Ryosuke's heart was still beating.
Someone who wasn't dead yet naturally couldn't be called "remains."
Uchiha Itachi understood.
Only by waiting for Ryosuke to die completely would true happiness arrive.
"Then… should I kill the Ryosuke in front of me, who has no power to resist?"
The moment that thought appeared, Itachi rejected it.
He was the first in the entire ninja world to be beaten up by Ryosuke, and after being beaten again and again, he had witnessed Ryosuke's growth all the way to the present. Itachi had long sworn never to step within Ryosuke's attack radius again.
Uchiha Itachi chose to wait.
According to Amenominakanushi's information, he wouldn't have to wait long, the heartbeat was about to stop.
He was willing to wait.
But Sasuke, who had followed all the way here, couldn't wait.
A long blade appeared. Sasuke entered his Mangekyo state and moved to kill Uchiha Itachi to save Ryosuke.
Clang!
A kunai collided with the long blade.
Uchiha Itachi had seen Sasuke's Mangekyo before and had suffered greatly during the Kyoto battle. How could he not be prepared?
Itachi might be foolish in some ways… but he was truly not weak.
Itachi fought Sasuke using pure taijutsu.
Even though once he was cut, the corresponding Edo Tensei body part wouldn't regenerate, and even though Itachi's taijutsu was no longer a match for Sasuke, who had trained in ripple techniques, holding him off for a few seconds was more than enough.
Reinforcements were on the way. Sasuke knew there was no time. At their current pace, in just a few seconds, Ryosuke's heartbeat would stop.
Looking at Sasuke, Itachi said softly, "Sasuke, you've grown."
From child to adult, there are often two moments, one is losing the person who protected you, and the other is finding someone you want to protect.
Now, Sasuke…
Was about to lose the person who had protected him and walked with him all the way to this point.
"Ryosuke!"
Voices from Terumi Mei and the others came from hundreds of meters away.
At the same time, Sasuke heard the final heartbeat.
Thump!
The sound gradually sank into silence.
Sasuke stepped forward again. Countless rippling flames erupted, engulfing his entire body and burning fiercely. He slashed Itachi across the shoulder, then immediately cut his own arm, flinging his blood toward Ryosuke.
"With Brother Ryosuke's physique, as long as he absorbs the ripple energy in my blood, he can definitely delay death!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of kunai shot out from Itachi's hands. They collided and changed direction midair, blocking every drop of blood that had been flung.
The Shuriken Manipulation Technique.
Worried that Sasuke's ninjutsu might be nullified, Itachi didn't use Amaterasu, instead choosing the shuriken skills he had trained in since childhood.
The final kunai fell onto the sand.
Ryosuke's heartbeat stopped.
Sasuke, Terumi Mei, Tsunade, Might Guy… everyone stood frozen in place.
The Sky Fortress that had rushed over hovered in the air. In the central control room, the pilots stared at the screens, their minds completely blank.
The world fell into silence at that moment, broken only by Uchiha Itachi's wild laughter, "Ryosuke is dead!"
"I killed Ryosuke!"
Splash! Splash!
Under the cloud-choked sky, heavy rain began to fall.
The rain soaked Sasuke's body, and once again he felt that same helplessness.
Uchiha Itachi had once again, right in front of him, killed the person who was most important to him.
Sasuke lowered his head. Rain mixed with tears, dripping down his cheeks.
Just then, a hand appeared behind Sasuke. It was about to pat his head, but then hesitated, thinking Sasuke had grown taller, so patting his head didn't seem appropriate anymore.
Instead, it patted his shoulder, accompanied by a smile and a voice, "You're a big guy now. Crying like this won't make you handsome."
Sasuke spun around abruptly.
Ryosuke was standing there, smiling.
Sasuke stood there dumbfounded, his mouth half open, tears shimmering in his eyes.
On the other side, hearing loud sobbing, Ryosuke looked over and saw Terumi Mei, her face covered in tears and snot, charging over in big strides and, bam, crashing into his arms.
Uchiha Itachi stared in disbelief at Ryosuke, who had fully recovered. "You, you're still alive? Your heartbeat stopped! How can you still be alive?!"
Who said that when the heart stops, you die?
Earlier, Ryosuke had merely exhausted his life energy and entered a dormant state. Rain, snow, or slowly absorbing natural energy could all revive him.
If Uchiha Itachi hadn't been so cautious earlier and had attacked, then the moment he struck, he would have been completely absorbed by Ryosuke in his dormant state, his energy drained and his body reduced to nothing.
Compared to Ryosuke's revival, what Itachi found even harder to understand was Amenominakanushi.
"According to Amenominakanushi's guidance, as long as I found Ryosuke, I could see my dead clansmen and gain happiness… Could it be that Amenominakanushi made a mistake?"
As he pondered this, an evil spirit composed of countless mechanical parts appeared before Uchiha Itachi, the Civil War.
At the same time, Itachi heard a voice from behind him, "Why did you kill us?"
One by one, Uchiha clansmen with scarlet eyes glared at him, pouncing forward and tearing at his body.
Among them were young men, but even more were elderly people, children, and women.
This was his sin.
Just as Amenominakanushi had deduced.
Once again, he saw his clansmen.
As for the so-called "happiness"... A long blade swept through, severing Uchiha Itachi's head in a single strike.
Sasuke slowly sheathed his sword.
"Lingering regret binds the soul; one strike severs the mortal world."
The existence known as Uchiha Itachi was completely erased from the world. No one would ever remember him again, and he would never be revived through Edo Tensei or the Rinnegan.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
For a sinner… this was probably the greatest happiness of all.
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