A cold wind swept through, carrying dead leaves from the trees. They fluttered down onto a massive crimson skeleton before turning to ash and scattering into the night.
Itachi's heart once again sank into indecision—should he kill Hidan, or should he cling to his original choice?
If he killed Hidan, judging from the situation just now, the Uchiha clan would still be doomed nine times out of ten. But to let Hidan torment his clan like this… he couldn't endure it.
For a moment, Itachi was trapped in a cruel dilemma.
"Oi! I told you, I'm just waking them up. I'm not going to torture them anymore."
Hidan was the first to break the silence, trying to push Itachi into making a decision sooner.
"Sasuke is coming home!" he added, provoking again.
Sasuke.
The instant those words reached him, Itachi's composure shattered. His younger brother, his one and only little brother was his life.
Susanoo dissolved in a flicker of crimson light, and the hand gripping the blade withdrew. His expression returned to that calm mask as he said lightly:
"I hope you keep your word and resurrect my clan when the time comes."
Then, his form scattered into a storm of crows that vanished into the frozen night sky.
"Hahaha… of course I'll bring them back. They'll be part of my unstoppable bloody legion in the future!" Hidan chuckled darkly.
Poof!
The black spear pierced straight through Hidan's own chest. Since he'd already achieved his purpose of stirring Itachi, the clan could die. That was enough.
With a wet sound he drew the spear back out. The strange black-and-white marks on his skin faded, and his wound began knitting shut.
Step by step, Hidan walked back toward his cabin, already thinking about counting the loot he'd collected this time…and also wanting to see whether his plan worked or not.
At the gate of the Uchiha compound, Sasuke rushed in excitedly with his shoulder bag.
His heart was eager...his brother had promised to teach him more advanced shurikenjutsu tonight.
But as he ran through the streets of the Uchiha, something felt off. Too quiet. Strangely quiet.
The silence clung to the night like the stillness of a corpse lying in its coffin.
Sasuke's heartbeat quickened, pounding in his chest. He shouted desperately into the still night:
"Dad! Mom! Niisan!"
But the silence remained, heavy and suffocating. Not even an echo answered back.
Faster and faster he ran, his legs burning as he even used the Body Flicker Technique.
Yet his heart kept screaming the same thing at him, dead… they're all dead…
Boom!
He pushed the doors open with trembling hands.
What greeted him was a nightmare, his father and mother lying lifeless on the cold floor, their blood long since dried.
Standing beside them was his brother...Uchiha Itachi. His figure was tall and motionless, his gaze frigid as he looked down at Sasuke, as if staring at nothing more than a fragile insect.
"Brother! W-What happened? Dad, Mom, they… they…" Sasuke's voice cracked, words breaking apart as tears streamed endlessly down his face. He collapsed to his knees, sobbing.
How could a boy so young accept such a sudden, merciless reality?
"What happened?" Itachi repeated, his lips twisting in disdain.
"My foolish little brother. You're not even worth killing. You're boring." His tone was cruel, emotionless.
"Then, let me show you reality."
"Tsukuyomi."
With that chilling word, Sasuke's eyes locked with Itachi's spinning Mangekyō Sharingan—and his world collapsed.
His spirit was dragged into the nightmare. Inside the illusion, the cold silhouette of Itachi moved endlessly through the Uchiha clan, blade flashing, each stroke claiming another life.
And at the very end—he drove his short blade into their parents' chests. Their eyes, filled with confusion and despair, stared into his, until they too dimmed and their bodies slumped into a pool of blood.
Itachi stood silently beside them in that vision, waiting for Sasuke to arrive and witness it all.
"Ahhhhhh! N-No… this isn't real! Brother, you… you couldn't…" Sasuke's cries trembled, his voice breaking as the horror consumed him.
"My foolish brother… you still don't see clearly enough?" Itachi's voice dripped with venom.
"Then let me show you again."
"Tsukuyomi."
Once more, Sasuke was pulled into the abyss of illusions. His small body trembled violently, veins bulging as his fists clenched, his face twisting in terror. Each cycle of torment broke him further, shredding his soul.
At some point, Itachi's stoic mask cracked—his face was streaked with tears. But Sasuke couldn't see them, trapped in his prison of illusions.
He couldn't feel the pain tearing at Itachi's heart.
To torture his most beloved little brother with his own hands...what could be more cruel?
After endless torment, Sasuke collapsed limply on the floor, staring hollowly at the brother who now looked like a devil.
"Don't you want to know why?" Itachi said coldly.
"Do you see these eyes? The eyes that frighten you, that's why I slaughtered our clan. This is the source of power. And you… you don't even have the value of being killed."
"My foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me… then hate me. Detest me. And live on in disgrace. Run."
"Run, cling to life, hide in the shadows. Only when you awaken the same eyes as mine will you have the right to seek revenge."
"Hatred, Sasuke. Hatred is the only thing that will keep you alive."
With those words, Itachi vanished into the night. Scarlet moonlight spilled across the room, bathing the corpses in crimson.
Sasuke's once-innocent eyes now burned with hatred—hatred that eclipsed everything else.
Deep in the silent forest, Hidan and Itachi walked side by side, neither speaking for a long while.
"There was a man who came to me before I took the clan's blood." Itachi finally spoke.
"Oh?" Hidan raised an eyebrow.
"He said he would help me destroy the Uchiha. He invited me to join an organization… called Akatsuki."
"You agreed?"
"Yes. For such a group to appear out of nowhere with unknown intentions… I had to join. To watch them."
"Well, good luck with that. As for Sasuke, I'll report to the Third Hokage. Don't worry." Hidan waved dismissively, a casual farewell.
"Then… I leave Sasuke to you."
Itachi's figure faded into the darkness, swallowed by the thick woods.
Hidan remained still for a moment, his shoulders starting to tremble. Then he tilted his head back, covering half his face with one hand, and burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
He had deceived Itachi completely. The Uchiha prodigy hadn't seen through anything. All his worries had been for nothing.
Hidan glanced into the Kamui space, and a wicked grin spread across his face.
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