Under the blood-red sky, a figure was bound to a pitch-black pillar, his cold Sharingan staring at the somber man in front of him.
"Being caught by Tsukuyomi was my own negligence, and I'll admit that. But I advise you to save your righteous words and focus on torturing me. Because once I get out of here, I won't hesitate to show you no mercy." Sasuke spoke coldly, his tone brimming with hostility.
Reconciliation?
That's impossible. Not in this lifetime!
"Sigh…!"
Itachi let out a long sigh, filled with helplessness.
With Naruto's shadow clone gone, using Tsukuyomi further damaged his Sharingan. But to clear things up with Sasuke, Itachi had no other choice.
In Tsukuyomi World, everything was under his control.
Only by seizing this opportunity to explain could he hope to resolve the misunderstanding.
Itachi waved his hand, and a black strip of cloth wrapped around Sasuke's mouth, silencing him completely.
"From now on, you don't need to say anything. Just listen to me."
Itachi's tone left no room for debate.
Sasuke glared at Itachi, wanting to refuse. However, with his limbs bound and mouth sealed, he had no chance to resist.
'Forced brainwashing, huh?'
'Fine, do your worst!'
Sasuke sneered in his heart. His resolve was set… to kill Itachi.
No matter how persuasive Itachi tried to be, it would never sway him.
Taking a deep breath, Itachi began, "Sasuke, I'm truly proud to see how much you've grown. Regarding everything in the past, I owe you an apology. I know mere apologies mean nothing, so I'm prepared to tell you the whole truth. Afterward, whatever you choose to do, I will respect it."
Itachi then started recounting the past.
From his first participation in the Shinobi World War to awakening the Will of Fire, and eventually joining the Anbu.
When he mentioned the Anbu, his eyes filled with sorrow, "Back then, the Uchiha Clan sought to overthrow the leadership of Konoha and become its new rulers. Between the peace of the village and the selfish ambitions of the Uchiha Clan, I ultimately chose the village. I deeply regret the massacre of our clan, but I have never regretted my decision. The Uchiha Clan brought about its own demise. If you want to blame someone, blame me."
As he spoke, Itachi waved his hand again, and the cloth sealing Sasuke's mouth disappeared.
He noticed Sasuke struggling to speak and assumed he wanted to vent his anger with insults. After all, Itachi had annihilated their entire clan, leaving Sasuke with a traumatic childhood. Being cursed at was only natural.
Itachi had long anticipated this moment and was ready to endure any verbal abuse.
However, Sasuke's first words caught him completely off guard, "You idiot. Is that really how you see the Uchiha clan? The Uchiha Clan was framed!"
"What? What do you mean by that?"
Itachi's expression faltered, sensing a deeper meaning behind Sasuke's words.
Sasuke explained, "After I killed Danzo, I uncovered the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. It wasn't that the Uchiha Clan wanted to rebel. Long before that, Danzo had been plotting to persecute the Uchiha Clan, aiming to obtain their Sharingan and eliminate what he saw as a dangerous, uncontrollable faction in the village."
"Danzo even collaborated with the so-called Uchiha Madara, orchestrating chaos… including the Kyubi's attack on the village. Think about it, what other Genjutsu besides a powerful Sharingan could control the Kyubi?"
"At the time, the village suspected that Sharingan users, specifically the Uchiha Clan, were behind the Kyubi's attack. This led to their systematic ostracization and the stripping of their influence and power within the village. These actions pushed the Uchiha Clan toward rebellion."
"The Uchiha Clan was wrongfully accused, but you knew nothing about it. All you cared about was the village. Yet the ones persecuting the Uchiha Clan were the very leaders of the village… Shimura Danzo!"
As Sasuke grew more agitated, his frustration over the unjust demise of the Uchiha Clan became evident. Even the death of Danzo, the mastermind, couldn't quench his anger.
"How could this be…"
Itachi's quick thinking picked up on the inconsistencies. Indeed, the Kyubi's attack back then had been unusual. Yet he had never imagined that it was orchestrated by Danzo in collaboration with the so-called Uchiha Madara to persecute the Uchiha Clan.
Itachi, who originally thought that he was on the right path and embraced the Will of Fire, was actually confused at this moment.
'If the Uchiha Clan had been wrongly accused and slaughtered due to the greed of Konoha's higher-ups, then what had I been doing?'
"No, your words alone aren't enough. Where's the proof?"
For the first time, Itachi sought to evade responsibility.
Sasuke snorted coldly, "Proof? Simple! Danzo had an arm covered in Sharingan, more than ten of them. You know as well as I do that outsiders can't possess the Uchiha's Sharingan. Orochimaru helped implant those Sharingan onto Danzo's arm through his twisted experiments. If you don't believe me, you can confirm it with Orochimaru after we leave."
"…"
Itachi fell silent. He knew Sasuke had no reason to lie about something so easily verifiable. It was clear that everything Sasuke said was true.
Even if Sasuke's sources weren't entirely accurate, Danzo having an arm full of Sharingan defiled the honor of the Uchiha Clan.
'If Konoha's leadership could stoop to such despicable acts, then falsely accusing the Uchiha wasn't beyond their capabilities…'
'Could it be that I had been wrong all along?'
Thud!
Itachi collapsed to his knees, his eternally cold eyes now filled with profound regret.
The Uchiha Clan were wrongfully accused, driven to extinction through internal betrayal… a tragedy of unimaginable proportions!
And the one responsible for it all was none other than himself!
If this weren't merely a Genjutsu World, Itachi would likely have vomited blood in anguish, dying from the weight of his own actions.
"Heh, do you see how foolish you've been now?"
Seeing the expression on Itachi's face, Sasuke laughed.
Even though he remained bound, seeing Itachi consumed by genuine remorse gave Sasuke more satisfaction than killing him ever could.
If Itachi had maintained his cold, unfeeling demeanor, it would've confirmed him as heartless, unworthy of any sympathy. Sasuke would've had no qualms about ending such a callous person.
But Itachi's regret showed that he, too, had been deceived. While Sasuke could never forgive his brother for his actions, this remorse allowed him to acknowledge Itachi, however begrudgingly. After all, as a child, Itachi had been a caring older brother.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask the doubts in his heart, "When Danzo ordered you to annihilate the entire clan, why didn't you kill me? I know that when you left Konoha, you even warned Danzo not to harm me, threatening to reveal village's secrets to the other villages if he did. I've always wondered why."
After a long silence, Itachi summoned his remaining strength. To him, the massacre of the wrongly accused Uchiha Clan marked him as an irredeemable sinner. Yet, buried within this misunderstanding was also the truth about Naruto. Even if it cost him his life, he was determined to clarify things.
"It was for the village." Itachi began, "But you... you were still so young, uninvolved in any of it. You shouldn't have had to die for it. And…"
His voice softened, "You are my only younger brother."