Chapter 216 – The Death of Uchiha Itachi
Rumble—
No one knew how long that dreadful silence lasted.
But the instant sound returned to their ears, it came like a deafening thunderclap.
Fragments of the collapsing Chibaku Tensei rained down, reshaping the battlefield in moments. What was already a scarred wasteland now became nothing but ruins—a desolate sight in every direction.
"What happened over there?"
Jiraiya's battle with Orochimaru had already slowed. In truth, it wasn't because Jiraiya was faltering—rather, Orochimaru himself seemed unwilling to continue.
Whether it was their deep familiarity with each other or the overwhelming roar of power from afar, Orochimaru's focus was broken.
"That white sphere just now… was that a Rasengan? Since when did Rasengan carry such destructive power?"
Of course, Orochimaru knew the technique well. But never—not once—had he seen a Rasengan like that.
"Did Gen… actually win?"
Even Jiraiya was stunned. He remembered Kakashi's words—how Kitagawa Gen had once shattered a planet-sized jutsu with Rasengan. Jiraiya had believed him, of course; he never doubted Gen's strength.
But hearing it and witnessing it were two different things. And now, he had seen it with his own eyes.
"Hey! Orochimaru, where do you think you're going?!"
Suddenly, Jiraiya noticed Orochimaru fleeing toward the edge of Takigakure. His heart skipped.
Orochimaru spared him only a glance, offering no explanation. Regardless of the outcome, he had no intention of lingering in this chaos.
---
Elsewhere, the Akatsuki were still reeling.
The clash they had just witnessed shook even them to the core.
"Tch… He didn't lose, did he?" Kakuzu muttered darkly to Sasori.
"I don't know." Sasori's voice was flat.
Hidan, however, was visibly unsettled. "Damn it! If something like that hit me, I'd be smashed to pieces again… and worse than last time. Ugh."
Twice shattered already, each time more brutal than before, even Hidan now carried a genuine fear.
"We should go." Kisame finally broke the silence. His tone was resolute. "The Nine-Tails is too troublesome—we can't deal with him here. We already extracted chakra from the Seven-Tails; there's no need to keep dragging this out."
The others scoffed, but none argued. They had gained what they came for. The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's Flying Thunder God made him too dangerous, and the battlefield had grown far too chaotic.
"If we stir up Otsutsuki Genshiki, things will spiral out of control…"
Across from them, Naruto panted heavily, staring at the Akatsuki warily.
But then, to his surprise, they began to scatter and withdraw.
"They're… leaving?"
"Seems they've decided it's not worth it. After all…" Minato's voice echoed inside Naruto.
Both he and Kushina had been watching intently, and the reality of Akatsuki's power weighed heavily on them.
Still, compared to all of them, what Gen had unleashed far away was the most terrifying of all. The scale of his jutsu dwarfed even the Nine-Tails' rampage from years ago.
"He actually shattered a meteor-sized technique with a Rasengan…" Minato whispered, shaken.
Kushina, equally stunned, muttered: "So that's how strong he's become?"
Even after witnessing Gen's Wood Release in the spirit world, this display was on an entirely different level. The devastation was almost unimaginable.
"Wait—what if they're heading toward Gen?"
Naruto's heart lurched. He turned, worry etched on his face.
"Calm down," Minato said quickly. "Remember, Gen has mastered Flying Thunder God—and he's far beyond even us in its use. First, go check on Sasuke. Then we'll regroup."
Naruto hesitated, then nodded. "Sasuke…" His gaze shifted toward the distant ruins.
---
Amidst another shattered battlefield, Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi continued their duel.
The earth quaked with each distant detonation, but neither brother paused. Their battle only grew fiercer.
"Was everything I did… truly wrong?"
Itachi's thoughts buzzed with turmoil. Against Sasuke's relentless assault, he barely counterattacked—only evaded.
Sasuke's words cut deeper than his blade. The hatred, the killing intent in his eyes—Itachi had hoped for this strength. But not like this.
Not with such bitterness. Not with such despair.
"Was I truly… mistaken?"
His chest tightened as he met Sasuke's gaze. There was no pride left in him, only pain.
Shhh—
A kunai whistled past. Itachi leapt back instinctively, but Sasuke was already on him, riding the kunai's path like a predator.
Buzz—
A short blade crackled with violet lightning—Purple Lightning. The arc seared through the air as Sasuke slashed.
Itachi dodged, but not cleanly. The current grazed his chest, sending paralysis through his body. Blood spilled from the wound.
"Purple Lightning…"
Of course he knew the jutsu—he had suffered its sting before. That Sasuke now wielded it should have filled him with pride.
But this Sasuke was not the one he had envisioned.
"Is dodging all you can do now?"
Sasuke's cold voice cut him again.
"Don't show me that pitiful face. You don't deserve it. My life wasn't spared by you—it was fate's decree that I avenge my clan as a Uchiha!"
"You don't understand the truth of that time!" Itachi forced out, his words trembling with desperation. "Danzō wasn't Hokage, but he held sway. He—"
"Spare me your excuses, you arrogant fool!" Sasuke's chakra surged violently, his attacks pressing harder.
"You really think you were right? Then tell me—do you even know who was behind the Nine-Tails attack?"
"That man was the true culprit—the one who twisted Konoha and the Uchiha into conflict. Don't tell me the clan was doomed regardless. Don't dismiss it as inevitable!"
"Why didn't you expose him? Why didn't you fight him? Why didn't you protect the clan—the village—by revealing the truth?!"
Lightning flared in Sasuke's hand, his scarlet eyes blazing with the full force of his Sharingan.
"Don't tell me you thought he was Madara. If it really was Madara, then all the more reason it wasn't the Uchiha's fault!"
"Don't give me your delusions of what might have happened! And don't say you feared he'd kill me. I would rather have died—than see you slaughter our clan alongside him!"
"For that… you deserve to die!"
Itachi's chest tightened. Each word pierced him deeper than any blade.
Had he been wrong? All along?
Watching Sasuke's fury—his brother wielding Purple Lightning and the Flying Thunder God, fighting with strength that rivaled legends—Itachi's heart trembled with both sorrow and a fleeting, painful pride.
Sasuke was strong. Strong enough to stand in this world.
But at what cost?
But none of this had unfolded the way he had envisioned.
In his plan, Sasuke would still remain a shinobi of Konoha—but not like this.
Sasuke would hate him, resent him, and eventually kill him. By doing so, Sasuke would awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, seize his eyes, gain the Eternal Mangekyō, and one day rise as the celebrated hero of Konoha.
That was the future he had bet everything on.
Yet now, that vision had shattered completely. Everything he had once clung to had turned to ash, and in his younger brother's eyes… he was nothing but a pitiful clown.
"Die, Uchiha Itachi!"
Sasuke's blade drew closer, his eyes blazing with rage and killing intent. Staring into those merciless crimson pupils, Itachi suddenly felt the urge to stop resisting. Even now, a part of him still believed he had chosen correctly.
After all, back then, he had convinced himself the situation had already gone beyond salvation.
But Sasuke didn't understand. Konoha didn't understand. And what meaning was there in dragging out such a painful existence?
Shhhk—
The chilling sound of steel piercing flesh echoed. Sasuke's short sword drove straight through Itachi's chest, the force so great that the blade burst out from his back.
"…Forgive me… Sasuke…"
Sparks of lightning danced across his body as blood dripped from the corner of his lips. His vision blurred, his spirit wavering. Yet he still forced his lips to move—perhaps a final apology, perhaps a last farewell.
"Shut up. I don't want to hear another word from you."
What he received instead was Sasuke's cold, merciless voice.
"Don't think I'll ever forgive you. And don't delude yourself that the countless souls you slaughtered will forgive you either."
With a harsh pull, Sasuke ripped the blade free. Itachi's body lost all strength and crumpled to the ground.
Above him, framed against the sunlight, Sasuke looked down with piercing, scarlet eyes. The sight was chilling, oppressive.
"I will never forgive you. I have no right to forgive you on anyone else's behalf. And more than that—"
As he spoke, Itachi forced himself to lift his head… and froze.
The three tomoe in Sasuke's Sharingan had converged, twisting together into a new shape. In his brother's eyes now burned the unmistakable pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"The Mangekyō… Sharingan?"
Itachi's lips trembled, his voice no more than a whisper. But instead of pride, his heart felt only cold, gnawing despair.
And Sasuke's next words turned that cold into unyielding frost.
"I will never forgive you. Your words, your actions, your very existence—disgust me."
He sneered.
"You should've killed me back then. At least that would've been kinder than this."