Listening to Uchiha Itachi's account, Uchiha Sasuke's brows knit tightly together.
"Hahaha! As long as I kill you, I can obtain ultimate power—the most perfect power in this world!" Uchiha Itachi stared at Uchiha Sasuke with blazing eyes, laughing wildly.
Sasuke's gaze turned heavy, and he spoke softly,
"Itachi, as you said earlier, the key to obtaining the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan is close blood relations and both parties awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. So why did you call me here today? After all, I shouldn't meet your requirements yet."
Itachi's expression darkened. "That's right. Your growth is far too slow—I've already run out of patience. Didn't I tell you long ago how to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Sasuke shook his head and replied coldly, "Give up that idea. I won't do things your way."
Hearing this, Itachi didn't get angry. Instead, he tilted his head back, glanced at Sasuke with a smile, then slowly turned around.
Walking to the wall behind the chair, Itachi threw a heavy punch.
Boom!
The wall shattered and collapsed instantly, dust billowing everywhere. Sasuke frowned, unable to figure out what Itachi was planning.
When the dust settled, Sasuke looked past Itachi—and froze.
Before his eyes was Uzumaki Naruto, tied to a rack, his mouth gagged with cloth.
"What are you trying to do, Itachi?!" Sasuke shouted coldly.
Itachi let out a crazed laugh. "Hahaha! Sasuke, surprised?"
He then pulled the cloth from Naruto's mouth. Able to speak, Naruto looked urgently at Sasuke and shouted, "Sasuke, run!"
But before he could say more, Itachi stuffed the cloth back into his mouth.
Sasuke frowned deeply, thinking, Is this a genjutsu?
He tested it repeatedly, but found no abnormalities.
Meanwhile, Itachi simply watched him calmly and said,
"No need to doubt—it's not an illusion. This is reality!"
"What exactly do you mean?" Sasuke gritted his teeth.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm helping you take another step forward. Didn't I tell you that day?" Itachi said sinisterly.
"This has nothing to do with that idiot. What are you trying to do?" Sasuke's voice grew urgent.
Itachi slowly shook his head. "No, it has everything to do with him. He's your friend, isn't he?"
Sasuke denied it outright.
"Impossible. Right now, he's nothing more than a stranger to me."
Hearing this, Naruto's eyes dimmed, and he lowered his head.
"Heh. Do you think I'd believe that, little brother?" Itachi said with a smile.
"No matter what, I won't kill him. I won't let you have your way," Sasuke said firmly.
Itachi laughed again, his expression growing increasingly twisted.
"My naive little brother… you didn't really think what I told you before was everything, did you?"
Sasuke froze. "You mean…?"
Itachi nodded. "That's right. There's more than one way to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. If you personally witness the death of someone important to you, it can awaken as well. Some Uchiha awakened it that way."
He turned to glance at Naruto. "Since you won't lay a hand on him, that means he's someone precious to you. Heh."
Sasuke frowned. "Are you really going to do this? Don't forget—he's the Nine-Tails jinchūriki. If you kill him, how will you explain it to your organization?"
A faint smile curved Itachi's lips.
"Naive. Once I possess unrivaled power, do you think I'll still care about the Akatsuki?"
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, glaring at Itachi. Given the distance between them, he wasn't confident he could save Naruto from Itachi's hands.
"That's right. That look is perfect. Hatred will make your power grow even stronger," Itachi said calmly.
"What will it take for you to let him go? Our conflict shouldn't involve the innocent," Sasuke tried one last time.
"Innocent? You're still that naive, little brother," Itachi replied indifferently.
Seeing persuasion was useless, Sasuke burst forward toward Itachi, trying to save Naruto—but the distance between them was already over a hundred meters.
As Sasuke rushed in, a sword appeared in Itachi's hand, and he thrust it violently toward Naruto on the rack—fast as lightning!
Bound to the rack, Naruto's eyes turned lifeless, as if he had already foreseen his death and accepted it.
Looking at the charging Sasuke, his eyes shimmered with tears.
Shhk!
The blade pierced Naruto's left chest. Blood poured out, and Itachi once again removed the cloth from Naruto's mouth.
Sasuke, halfway there, stopped abruptly, his eyes going blank as he stared at Naruto.
Naruto slowly raised his head, smiled faintly at Sasuke, and spoke word by word,
"Good… bye… Sasuke…"
After speaking, Naruto closed his eyes, his head tilting to the side.
Witnessing everything, Sasuke roared frantically,
"This… this is a genjutsu!"
But no matter how he tried to dispel it, everything felt real. He slowly lowered his head, while Itachi stood silently, watching him.
With his head lowered, Sasuke closed his eyes as memories replayed one after another.
Team 7's first introductions—the blond idiot in his memory straightened his forehead protector and said:
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My dream is to surpass the Hokage, so I have to make the entire village acknowledge me!"
The Land of Waves mission. The Chunin Exams. The battle at the Valley of the End.
All those moments vividly resurfaced. A few drops of tears fell to the ground.
"Unforgivable…"
Sasuke slowly raised his head. Tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes. Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open—no longer the three-tomoe form, but a six-pointed star pattern.
He glared fiercely at Itachi and said coldly, "I will kill you. I swear I will!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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