"Shisui… I can't go back anymore…"
Itachi Uchiha's voice trembled as he spoke. "The sins I carry… they're too heavy. Every time I close my eyes, I see the faces of my clan, dead by my hand. Their souls haunt me, never letting me rest. I… I can't go back…"
As he spoke, Itachi pulled a sealing scroll from his cloak. "Shisui, this scroll holds one of your Sharingan, and my father's and mother's as well. Please… give them back to them."
With those words, Itachi's hands shot to his face, and with a sickening squelch, he gouged out his own eyes. Blood poured from the empty sockets, leaving two hollow, crimson voids.
"Itachi!" Shisui cried out, panic and anguish in his voice as he watched his brother's self-destruction.
"Shisui…" Itachi's voice was weak but steady. "I've never forgotten what you taught me about the Will of Fire. Where the leaves dance, the fire burns eternal… My eyes… please give them to Sasuke. As a failure of a brother, this is all I can do for him…"
With that, Itachi swiftly drew a kunai and plunged it into his chest. Squelch! Blood soaked his body as he collapsed into Shisui's arms, his lifeless hands still clutching his bloodied Mangekyo Sharingan.
Shisui's heart twisted as he held his dying brother. He hadn't stopped Itachi because he knew Hirofumi Ito's power—Itachi could be brought back. But watching his brother die in his arms like this… the pain was unbearable.
Sasuke Uchiha, meanwhile, was breaking down. He'd come here for revenge, to kill the man who'd slaughtered their clan. But now… it felt like a cruel joke. The man he'd sworn to kill had been silently protecting him all along. In Itachi's eyes, Sasuke's life was worth more than the entire Uchiha clan.
"Brother… BROTHER!" Sasuke screamed, stumbling toward Itachi's body.
Thud. He fell, then scrambled back up. Thud. He fell again, climbing to his feet once more. His legs felt like they weren't his own, as if Itachi's body was a thousand miles away despite being so close.
"Brother… BROTHER!" Sasuke's voice cracked with desperation.
Shisui, his heart heavy, gently placed a hand on Sasuke's head. "Sasuke… these are Itachi's eyes. As an Uchiha, you know what the Mangekyo means. Don't let him down."
Sasuke's head snapped up, his tear-streaked face turning toward Hirofumi Ito. "Hirofumi! You can bring him back, right?! You can revive my brother, can't you?!"
Seeing Sasuke's tear-soaked desperation, Hirofumi nodded. "Don't worry, Sasuke. If you want to see your brother again, I can make it happen right now."
Sasuke stared at Itachi's lifeless body in his arms and let out a shaky laugh. "Heh… heh heh heh… You damn Uchiha skunk! You think you can just die and be done with it?! Leave me to carry all this pain alone? You've got a cruel heart, you bastard! But your plan's not gonna work! Why should I be the one to suffer? You deal with your own pain! Live with your sins! Spend your whole life atoning for what you did to the Uchiha!"
Despite the option to merge Itachi's eyes and awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke didn't do it. He'd already had Naruto's cells transplanted into him, and he could feel his own Sharingan evolving, growing stronger on its own. He didn't need to fuse his brother's eyes to reach the Eternal Mangekyo—or even the Rinnegan—someday.
As for these eyes… they belonged to that damn Uchiha skunk.
"Hirofumi," Sasuke said, his voice firm, "do it. Bring that bastard back. He thinks he can make me carry this pain forever? No way in hell!"
Hirofumi knew Sasuke's tough talk was just his pride talking. Deep down, he just wanted his brother back.
"Sure thing," Hirofumi said. "But, just a heads up—Danzō's already dead, so I'm not entirely sure if this summoning will bring back your brother or Danzō…"
At the mention of Danzō's name, Sasuke's eyes blazed with murderous intent. "Danzō! I'll kill him with my own hands!"
Hirofumi raised an eyebrow. He'd figured as much. Danzō was trouble every time he popped up. Sasuke had already racked up a 50-million-ryō tab with him, and Danzō's death count was only going to climb.
Luckily, Hirofumi had skimmed some funds from Danzō's Root organization, plus a nice chunk from former elders Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. He hadn't dumped all of it into his system—after all, the Hidden Leaf needed funds to keep running. Salaries don't pay themselves. But he'd still managed to bank a cool billion.
"System, pull up my data panel!" Hirofumi commanded.
[Summoning System
Host: Hirofumi Ito
Wealth Value: 1,250,000,000
White Summons: 0
Green Summons: 0
Blue Summons: 0
Purple Summons: 0
Gold Summons: 0]
His wealth value now sat at a dazzling 1.25 billion. He'd started with 400 million, but summoning Hiruzen Sarutobi had cost him, and reviving Hiruzen after his death ate another 50 million, leaving him with 250 million. Then he'd topped it off with another billion, bringing him to his current total.
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