Heavy snow was falling.
Sasuke stood alone at the Uchiha ruins, his expression dazed.
He looked left and right, seeing one familiar building after another, familiar streets.
Those were the buildings of the former Uchiha Clan compound.
Sasuke clearly remembered, on that rainy night when he killed Danzo, the endless downpour crushed all the buildings in the Uchiha compound. Everything turned to dust and returned to the earth.
Right now, those houses and streets that had long disappeared in the rain appeared once again before Sasuke's eyes. He could even hear the laughter of children and parents inside the homes.
Sasuke subconsciously reached out to touch a wall.
He didn't touch anything.
He understood. Everything before his eyes was an illusion, or rather…
Sasuke turned to look up at the sky.
It was clearly still daytime, yet the sky became pitch black, with only a blood-red moon hanging high above, quietly casting down crimson light.
"I am witnessing history."
"The history of that night of the massacre."
Sasuke whispered softly.
One second ago he was on the sky battleship, following the support troops to Kyoto, and in the blink of an eye he was in Konoha Village.
Now he was seeing history buried under the dust.
He thought of the Sage who had appeared behind him just moments ago.
The only explanation was that the Sage performed a miracle, sending Sasuke to the Uchiha ruins, sending him to the very starting point of everything, for him to personally witness the past with his own eyes.
("Only by remembering history can one learn from it, and know where they should go.")
Sasuke recalled what Ryosuke had once said to him.
He had never known what exactly happened that night, nor how Itachi killed the entire Uchiha Clan.
By the time Sasuke returned home, everything had already happened, and everyone was dead.
Sasuke took a deep breath, his gaze falling on a figure crouched on top of a utility pole.
"Then… let me see it, Itachi. That night, what exactly did you do?"
Sasuke followed behind Itachi's figure, walking between the streets.
He thought Itachi would cast genjutsu, trapping the clansmen inside illusions, making them lose the ability to resist, then letting them silently die within the illusion.
From a certain point of view, dying inside an illusion was a kind of mercy.
At least Uchiha Itachi would act fast, and the victims wouldn't feel fear or pain.
However, going against Sasuke's expectations, perhaps to guard against the masked man assisting him, Itachi barely used any ninjutsu at all. He killed using his exceptional taijutsu and shuriken-jutsu the whole time.
Every victim clearly saw how Itachi broke into their home, how he swiftly and cleanly slaughtered their family, and then killed them as well.
Sasuke followed behind Itachi.
He personally saw how Itachi dragged out a woman hiding inside a wardrobe and slit her throat as she begged for her life.
He then saw an old man kneeling on the ground, holding his granddaughter and desperately begging, but Itachi walked straight behind them and stabbed through both of them with one strike.
"Bas…tard!"
Sasuke slowly clenched his fist, his eyes full of rage and hatred.
Just as Itachi stepped on the old man's back and pulled out his blade, Sasuke could no longer suppress his anger and was about to draw his sword.
But...
Sasuke's right eye saw another illusion.
It was Danzo's monologue.
Danzo explained the truth, spoke of the reasons behind Itachi's actions, and explained Itachi's difficulties, resolve, and sorrow.
It was an incredibly fragmented scene.
Sasuke's left eye was witnessing one inhumane death after another, while his right eye was listening to the "righteous cause" of the killer, hearing his reasons for slaughter.
Anger and sorrow intertwined with each other.
("If your heart is filled with confusion, then do not draw your blade.")
The Sage's words still echoed in his ears.
Sasuke slowly released his grip on the sword hilt.
History had not finished yet. It was not yet the moment for him to draw his blade. Sasuke continued to follow Itachi forward, witnessing the sight of his parents kneeling on the ground and being killed by Itachi.
The further he watched, the more the anger in Sasuke's eyes faded. His pitch-black eyes became like a deep ancient well, all emotions sinking like dust, falling to the bottom of the well, falling into…
The sword in his hand.
Finally, Sasuke saw the four-years-younger version of himself, who was terrified and sitting on the ground.
"So pathetic."
At this moment, his past self became the last speck of dust floating on the well's surface.
Sasuke closed his eyes, exhaled, his breath long, slow, and burning hot.
Click!
The sword was unsheathed, slashing toward his past self.
There were no ripples or waves, the blade had no edge, only a faint layer of sacred brightness, as if gently brushed by a Sage.
Sasuke was not trying to kill his past self, but to let him sink into the bottom of the well, to become himself, to become part of the blade.
Then, to swing a blade with no more confusion, Sasuke's eyes snapped open and locked onto Uchiha Itachi, hidden inside his Susanoo.
———
On the other side, in the sky, out of the corner of his eye, Nagato saw a figure rushing toward them.
His pupils slightly shrank.
'Jiraiya!'
And not Jiraiya in a normal state. Red eye shadow appeared at the corners of Jiraiya's eyes, his pupils became horizontal bars, his nose showed slight swelling and small bumps, and his whole chakra surged violently. He had clearly entered Sage Mode.
After Tsunade decided to join the fight, she had already arranged personnel at important cities such as Kirigakure, Kyoto, and around the research institute. The one stationed in Kyoto was Jiraiya.
The moment the Six Paths of Pain attacked, Jiraiya wanted to join the battle.
But no one expected that a Super Shinra Tensei would create more than 20 kilometers of ruins.
Facing an enemy of this scale, plus Uchiha Itachi, Kisame, and the others, Jiraiya could only choose to summon the two toad sages and enter Sage Mode, otherwise charging in would just mean death.
Seeing Jiraiya attack, Konan instinctively rushed forward.
Before she could get close, the two sages, Shima and Fukasaku, sitting on Jiraiya's shoulders blocked her even faster.
Sss~
A piercing sound of wind. Nagato's gaze fell on Jiraiya's right hand.
Chakra was rapidly condensing and spinning. As Jiraiya's disciple, Nagato naturally knew what ninjutsu that was.
"Jiraiya-sensei."
Nagato lightly shook his head, his eyes filled with pleading.
His ideal was about to be achieved, only one last step remained. He was begging Jiraiya not to stop him.
Hearing Nagato call him "sensei," Jiraiya's heart trembled. Memories of the past with Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan surged into his mind.
Jiraiya was a man who valued emotions deeply.
It was precisely because he was bound by so many emotions that, at every crucial moment in his life, he always fell "just a little short."
Just a little short of confessing to Tsunade.
Just a little short of keeping Orochimaru.
Just a little short of saving Sasuke.
If it were the past him, at this moment, he might truly have hesitated.
But now…
"Sorry, Nagato."
Jiraiya said softly.
"Sage Art: Giant Rasengan!"
The massive Rasengan struck Nagato with a thunderous impact, sending him flying heavily.
———
On the ground, Uchiha Itachi had no spare attention to worry about Nagato. He stared at Sasuke who appeared before him, utterly shocked.
Sasuke's eyes were black as ink. The blade in his hand shone with sacred brilliance. As he swung down, Susanoo's armor, flesh, and bones dissolved and melted under the blade, cutting toward Itachi without any resistance.
Itachi was in disbelief.
"What is this sword technique?!"
In the depths of Sasuke's eyes, three tomoe slowly surfaced, spun, and finally formed the Mangekyō.
"This blade is called..."
"Lingering Sentiments Entangling the Soul, One Blade to Sever the Dust."
[T/N: Never let him name ANYTHING again]