"Of course, it's..."
Itachi began to speak but paused, brushing aside a lock of hair that obscured his eye.
However, with just this one movement, the black-robed figure's body trembled slightly.
"Now!"
Without hesitation, Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Sasuke never expected that Itachi would repeat the same trick and was trapped in the Tsukuyomi World again.
This time, however, Itachi didn't hold back. Wielding a sword, he relentlessly attacked Sasuke inside the Tsukuyomi World.
Moments later, blood trickled from Itachi's eyes.
Meanwhile, not far away, a black portal materialized fully.
"Deidara, quickly!"
Orochimaru commanded as he rushed forward, grabbing both Itachi and Sasuke, and hurled them into the black portal.
"Alright, let's go!"
Deidara formed a hand seal and shouted, "Katsu!"
The instant the words left his mouth, he quickly darted into the black portal too.
Orochimaru was the last to follow. As soon as he entered, the black portal dissipated, leaving Sunagakure and the surrounding desert humming with an ominous energy.
I A hemispherical glow erupted from the ground, spanning a radius of thirty kilometers. The intense white light ignited the very air around it.
The black-robed figure was engulfed by the light.
Pop!
Surprisingly, there was no earth-shattering explosion… just the faint sound of air escaping.
All the light condensed abruptly, shifting from white to black, releasing a deep, resonant tremor.
When the pitch-black sphere expanded once more, it radiated a dazzling spectrum of colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, each layer rippling outward like waves in water.
As the ripples spread, faint rumblings coalesced into a deafening explosion that shook the sky.
Boom!
The explosion sounded like the earth itself wailing in agony. Flames danced in the sky, and clouds scattered in chaotic spirals. The world seemed to pale in its wake.
Thunderstorms, frost, and fire surged in rapid succession before converging into total annihilation.
Sunagakure and its surroundings were utterly erased, leaving a void over a hundred kilometers wide.
If there were satellites in the Naruto World, by looking down from the sky, one would be able to see a gaping black hole on the desert's surface!
The once-endless golden sands now revealed deep, charred-black soil, remnants of an explosion so intense it had torn through multiple strata of the earth.
The shockwaves were so powerful that even the Land of Fire, neighboring the Land of Wind, felt the ground tremble violently.
"This is an explosion! A true explosion! This is art!"
Standing at the Land of Wind's border, Deidara leapt with joy, tears streaming down his face from sheer exhilaration.
This explosion was his magnum opus, surpassing anything he had ever created.
What made it even sweeter was that he had accomplished it alone, without relying on Naruto's powers.
This achievement filled him with a sense of fulfillment so profound that he wouldn't have regretted dying on the spot.
After all, he had lived up to his creed: Art is an explosion!
"Alright, save the excitement for later. Let's regroup."
Orochimaru said, pulling the jubilant Deidara back to the black portal for another retreat.
Rustle!
Cold winds howled, and snowflakes fluttered down.
On a snow-covered peak riddled with hundreds of caves, a black portal slowly emerged before one of the openings.
Orochimaru and Deidara stepped out and entered the cave.
Had Deidara not insisted on witnessing the explosion firsthand, Orochimaru wouldn't have taken such a detour.
"How did it go? Was it successful?"
The cave was sparsely furnished, carrying the earthy scent of freshly dug soil, so it was obvious that it had not been excavated for a long time.
The one asking the questions was Itachi.
"You should lie down and rest."
Kisame interjected, stepping forward to help Itachi to a bed.
Without Naruto's Weapon Blessing, using Tsukuyomi had severely taxed Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan. Currently, Itachi's vision was nearly gone, and his stamina utterly depleted.
Not to mention Itachi was using Tsukuyomi to attack Sasuke, which dealt a deeper blow on a psychological level.
"I'm fine."
Itachi pushed Kisame away and tried to force himself to stand up.
Orochimaru stepped forward, firmly pressed Itachi back onto the bed, and said in a deep voice, "Rest properly, the plan went relatively smoothly. When the explosion occurred, the black-robed figure had not yet left the area. The explosion was devastating. Even I would likely have perished if caught in it. Given that they were under a Genjutsu and unprepared, I estimate that they're dead."
"That's good."
Itachi breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his head and asked, "Chiyo, how is Sasuke's condition?"
"He…"
Before Chiyo could reply, Sasuke bolted upright in bed, "Itachi! I'll kill you!"
Sasuke roared, but quickly realized something was off. Glancing around, he asked, "What's going on?"
Earlier, after landing with the black-robed figure, he had been forcefully dragged into the Tsukuyomi World by Itachi. Unlike before, this time, Itachi didn't converse much, and he simply kept apologizing while stabbing Sasuke with a sword for three days and nights.
So, when the Tsukuyomi ended, Sasuke was so tormented that he lost consciousness.
Itachi hadn't expected Sasuke to recover so quickly. Though surprised, he felt a twinge of pride at Sasuke's growth.
But as Itachi opened his mouth to speak, his vision darkened, and he collapsed back onto the bed.
Orochimaru pulled out a pill from his pocket, administered it to Itachi, then stepped up to Sasuke, "Itachi has fainted. I'll explain."
"Fine, speak."
Sasuke glared at Orochimaru with a fierce intensity.
Orochimaru explained, "When we reached Sunagakure, we found you had already left with the black-robed figure. We originally planned to catch up and bring you back, but we knew we weren't a match for him. After realizing that you needed Gaara as leverage, we decided to stay in Sunagakure and wait for you."
"So Itachi attacking me just now… that was your way of forcing me to submit and take me away?"
Sasuke frowned and said, "I have my own things to do, why do you have to do this?"
Orochimaru pondered briefly before responding, "The black-cloaked man is Naruto's nemesis, and we know very little about him. Until Naruto returns, keeping you close is the safest option for everyone."
"What about that person?"
Sasuke demanded, his brow furrowing further.
Orochimaru continued, "In order to help Naruto eliminate his greatest threat, we devised a plan to kill the black-robed figure, and finally came up with a relatively reasonable method, which is to set a trap."
Gaara added, "A trap of this scale required substantial preparation. Deidara's explosions are unmatched in power. To ensure the success of a cataclysmic blast, we relocated all of Sunagakure's residents to this mountain beforehand."
Deidara picked up the explanation, "And I was responsible for creating the bomb. Since Sunagakure was to be destroyed, I used all the leftover materials we couldn't move and crafted an unprecedented mega-bomb. The result speaks for itself… everything within a hundred kilometers was obliterated. The black-robed figure must have been killed in the explosion!"
"What!?"
Sasuke's mind raced as he pieced it together. He didn't expect that from the moment he landed, he had fallen into their trap.
He thought of the scene where the black-robed figure's body trembled after Itachi touched his hair. It was probably Itachi's Genjutsu that caught her off guard, causing her to be unable to react for a while.
Understanding the sequence of events, Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration, "No, it can't end like this!"
The black-robed figure couldn't be dead. Sasuke hadn't repaid her yet. Besides, all the Biju in the black-robed figure's possession, so his bargaining chips would vanish if she died.
How could he achieve his revenge without them?
Only Sasuke himself knew the truth: the black-robed figure had never harmed him. On the contrary, she had always offered help.
Now, it was Sasuke's actions that had indirectly led to the black-robed figure's demise.