"Clan Heads, how did you enjoy the show?"
Naruto's Shadow Clone, disguised as 'Hattori', spoke with his back to the mushroom cloud that was gradually billowing into the sky, addressing the group standing before him.
Destroying Konoha himself... it really was the most satisfying way to go.
If he hadn't been worried about accidental friendly fire, he would have preferred to wipe it off the map with a Kamehameha.
The dozens of ninja clan heads stood deeply shaken by the devastation they had just witnessed. The terrifying power radiated a dread they could feel even from this distance. It was a force far beyond human capability. At the same time, their resolve to stand with 'Hattori' solidified completely.
Naruto walked over to Itachi and leaned in close. "Itachi, those ninja clans you were talking about? They no longer exist."
"Konoha now consists only of the people standing here."
"So, from this moment on, we are 'Konoha'."
Itachi remained silent. The moment he witnessed Konoha's destruction with his own eyes, the light within them died. Everything he had sought to protect was gone.
There is no sorrow greater than the death of hope.
'Don't you still have Sasuke?' Naruto's voice resonated directly in the depths of Itachi's heart.
'Whatever your objective is, please do not hurt Sasuke anymore.' Itachi's mindset shifted instantly. With Konoha gone, his fixation snapped back to Sasuke, much like a toxic lover.
"With which eye did you see me hurting Sasuke? I have never hurt Sasuke. The one hurting Sasuke has always been you."
Itachi fell silent again, then resigned. 'You want my eyes, don't you? Take them.'
"No. I don't want them. They are for Sasuke."
Some had suggested binding Itachi and using him as a breeding tool for the Uchiha, forcing him to sire a child for every clansman he killed.
But why?
Why give him such a reward? Most men didn't even have one wife, so why should Itachi be gifted dozens? The Uchiha could rebuild their numbers with the remaining clansmen, it wasn't Itachi's place to do so. He had been expunged from the clan years ago. He could call himself whatever he liked, but he was no Uchiha.
Even if forced breeding was intended as torture, it was unacceptable.
A debt of blood must be paid in blood, that is the natural order.
His best ending was death.
To watch Konoha burn with his own eyes, and then die.
Itachi's fate was sealed.
A blade pierced his heart.
His eyes were harvested.
Itachi died.
An energy blast struck his corpse, leaving not even ash behind, not even the Edo Tensei would be able to summon him back. Destroyed along with him was the Crow that held Shisui's other eye after harvesting the eye.
"The Mangekyo Sharingan is not the end of the line."
Storing away Itachi's Mangekyo and Shisui's single eye, Naruto addressed the crowd again, revealing the secrets of the dojutsu. "The Mangekyo is formidable, powerful enough to let a standard Uchiha rival the Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages."
"However, it has a fatal flaw: overuse leads to blindness."
"But the eyes can evolve further. There is a power above it."
"This was the power possessed by one of Konoha's two founders, Madara Uchiha."
The world remembered Senju Hashirama as the founder, forgetting that he built the village alongside Uchiha Madara. Even the name 'Konoha' was Madara's creation.
It was just like the villagers remembering the Fourth Hokage as their savior while ignoring the boy who actually contained the Nine-Tails, treating Naruto as the Nine-Tails himself.
Did they really not know? Were they truly that ignorant?
Or did they pretend not to know simply because knowing Naruto wasn't the fox would make him harder to bully?
"The power above the Mangekyo Sharingan, is the Eternal Mangekyo."
The revelation hit the Uchiha with surprise and confusion. They had believed the Mangekyo was the pinnacle. Now they wondered, was there something even stronger beyond the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan?
"Then... how did he evolve it into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan?" Fugaku asked, unable to contain himself.
In his excitement, he forgot to disguise his voice. Sasuke looked at him sharply, the tone was incredibly familiar, but Naruto's next words pulled his focus back. It wasn't just Fugaku, the other clan heads held their breath. These were secrets few were ever privileged to hear.
"He transplanted his younger brother's Mangekyo Sharingan. The two pairs merged to birth a new power."
"To evolve into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, one must fuse with another pair of Mangekyo. The closer the blood, the higher the success rate."
"Once a normal Mangekyo evolves into the Eternal, not only does one's strength skyrocket, but from then on, one can use Mangekyo power without vision loss, never having to worry about eyesight issues again."
"And here..." Naruto said, looking toward Sasuke, "we just happen to have two pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan."
Sasuke and Itachi. Madara and Izuna. The parallels were undeniable.
The power of Madara. The power of the Eternal Mangekyo.
Even Fugaku trembled with anticipation. In the hearts of the Uchiha, Madara represented invincibility. To obtain his power meant becoming invincible.
But while some craved it, others did not.
"You want me to accept this Sinner's eyes? You want me to put his eyes into my own sockets?" Sasuke spoke with agitation. His emotions were so intense that his small face flushed red, and his Mangekyo Sharingan flared up involuntarily.
"I cannot accept it. I don't care for his eyes," Sasuke said decisively.
To Sasuke, who was Itachi?
Once, he was his biological brother, the person Sasuke respected and trusted above all else.
Now, he was a false brother, the object of Sasuke's deepest hatred, the enemy who slaughtered their clan, murdered their parents, and stole everything from him.
Even if Sasuke knew Naruto was doing this for his own good, offering him greater power, using Itachi's eyes... was something Sasuke could not accept.
This was Sasuke's final stubbornness.
The Uchiha were a stubborn breed, once they set their mind on something, ten bulls couldn't pull them back.
"The power you gave me is enough." Golden chakra ignited around Sasuke's body, Naruto's Yang release chakra.
"I carry my true brother's power inside me. As I am now, I can also use Mangekyo power without vision loss." Sasuke looked earnestly at Naruto, stating his position with absolute conviction.
This was his true brother.
He had genuinely accepted Naruto as his older brother, a bond that had long since replaced the space Itachi once held.
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