Chapter 105: Parting Ways
The silence in the psychic realm stretched, heavy and profound. Itachi's grand performance, his carefully rehearsed role as the power-mad older brother, lay in tatters at his feet. The illusionary katana remained lodged in his chest, a cold, painless symbol of his younger brother's absolute dominance in this mental space. The shock of Ren's knowledge had been a physical blow, but the calm, unwavering certainty in Ren's eyes was what truly unraveled him.
"So," Ren's voice cut through the stillness, cold and pragmatic. "Instead of wasting your energy worrying about the fate of a village that used you as its butcher, you should be concerned with your own deteriorating body. Let me guess your grand plan. You've been meticulously strengthening Sasuke's hatred, and now you've discovered a second, unexpected vessel in me. You intend for us to grow powerful, to eventually hunt you down, claim your eyes, and then... what? Return to Konoha as its saviors? As the restorers of the Uchiha name?" Ren's lips curled into a derisive smirk. "A poetic end for the clan's prodigal son. But tell me, brother, in your current state, do you truly believe your body will hold out long enough for Sasuke to even find you?"
Itachi's illusionary form seemed to sag against its bonds. The last of his pretense evaporated. "You truly do know everything," he whispered, the admission sounding like a confession. "If that is the case... why haven't you taken them? The eyes you need for the Eternal Mangekyō are right here. Why delay claiming that supreme power?"
Ren let out a short, humorless laugh that echoed in the featureless void. "You can keep them. I have no interest in your eyes. And as for that 'supreme power'... I already possess it."
The statement hung in the air, more shocking than the phantom blade. Itachi's head snapped up, his composure shattered. "What? That's impossible! Without a transplant from a blood relative, the descent into blindness is inevitable! How could you—?"
"I didn't transplant anyone's eyes," Ren stated flatly, his tone leaving no room for argument. "It is the truth. You operate on the old rules, the cursed knowledge of our clan. You believe nothing is possible outside of them. You are wrong."
A dawning, horrifying understanding washed over Itachi's features. "So that's how it is... That is how you reflected my Tsukuyomi. Your pupil power isn't just strong; it's stabilized. Eternal. What did you do? What did you experience to achieve such a thing without the... the sacrifice?" The question was laced with a desperate, almost scientific curiosity, the mind of a genius confronted with an impossible equation.
"You think too much," Ren deflected, his voice losing its edge for a fraction of a second. "It was a unique set of circumstances. An exception. Not a path open to replication."
"An exception..." Itachi repeated, the fight finally draining out of him. He looked away, a strange sense of relief mingling with his shock. "I see. In a way, that puts my mind at ease. I was... concerned. I only have one pair of eyes. I did not know how I would choose between the two of you when the time came. This... resolves that dilemma." He didn't press further. The secrets of the Uchiha were deep and varied; if Ren had found another path, he would guard it fiercely. Itachi could respect that.
The silence returned, less charged now, more melancholic. Itachi, freed from the need for his villainous charade, looked at his brother—truly looked at him—for the first time in years. He saw not the broken child nor the arrogant rogue, but a resolute, formidable shinobi, hardened in a forge he himself had helped light.
"Ren," he began, his voice softer now, stripped of all pretense. "Despite everything... I must ask you. Do not make an enemy of the entire vill—"
"Enough." Ren's voice was like a shard of ice, cutting him off. He waved a hand, and the bonds holding Itachi dissolved. "I know exactly what you're going to say. Spare me. The Uchiha will have their vengeance. The debt of blood owed by Konoha's elders will be paid in full. That is non-negotiable. No one, not even you, can stop it."
Itachi met his gaze, and for a long, suspended moment, the two brothers simply stared at one another across the vast gulf of their choices and their pain. Itachi saw the iron will, the cold fire of a justice delayed for far too long. Ren saw the profound exhaustion, the tragic love for a peace that had cost everything, and the faint, fading hope for his brother's redemption.
Finally, Ren was the one to break the silence, his voice losing some of its harshness. "But... I will concede this much. Out of respect for the brother you once were, the one who protected me in his own twisted way, I will limit the scope. I will deal only with the architects of the massacre—Danzo and the two old advisors. Their lives are forfeit. The rest of Konoha... I will not actively seek its destruction. But." His eyes hardened again. "If any of them stand in my way, if they raise a blade to defend those monsters, they will share their fate. That is the only promise I will make."
Itachi closed his eyes. It was more than he had expected. It was a thread of mercy in a tapestry of vengeance. "Perhaps... by then, I will be gone," he said quietly, a statement of fact, not of self-pity. "The village's fate will be its own to choose."
He opened his eyes, and for the first time since Ren could remember, a genuine, unburdened smile touched Itachi's lips. It was a sad smile, full of regret and a strange, weary peace. "Very well. If there is nothing else... I should take my leave. I came today only to see how far you had come. It seems... my worry was unnecessary."
The sight of that smile, so rare and so real, struck a chord deep within Ren. The cold armor around his heart cracked, just for an instant. "It's time for you to go," he said, his own voice quieter. He looked at Itachi, his expression complex, a whirlwind of resentment, understanding, and a lingering, familial bond that not even genocide could fully erase. "Brother," he said, the word feeling foreign yet weighted on his tongue. "This may be the last time I call you that. You... take care of yourself."
Itachi's smile remained, though it was now tinged with an immeasurable sadness. "Forgive me, Ren."
With that, Ren released the genjutsu.
The world snapped back into focus with the jarring suddenness of a splash of cold water. The psychic katana, the gray space—all of it vanished. They were back on the sun-baked plain, the wind whipping at their cloaks.
The toll of the mental battle and the backlash of his own reflected technique hit Itachi like a physical wave. A crippling wave of dizziness and ocular pain overwhelmed him. His vision swam, his knees gave way, and he pitched forward.
Fortunately, Kisame Hoshigaki's instincts were razor-sharp. The moment he saw Itachi's eyes revert to normal and his body sway, he moved. In a blur of motion, he caught his partner before he could hit the ground, hauling him upright with a grunt. "Whoa there, partner," Kisame rumbled, his sharp eyes wide with alarm as they darted from Itachi's ashen, pained face to Ren's impassive one. "What the hell happened in that second? One minute you're staring contest, the next you're about to eat dirt."
Itachi struggled to draw a full breath, his voice a strained, thin whisper. "His ocular power... it far surpasses mine. My technique was reflected. We're leaving. Now."
Kisame's eyes widened further. In all their years together, he had never seen Itachi bested in a contest of genjutsu, let alone so thoroughly overwhelmed. He didn't waste time on questions. With a final, deeply wary glance at the stoic Uchiha Ren, he hoisted Itachi onto his shoulder and vanished in a high-speed Body Flicker, becoming a dissipating blur against the shimmering heat haze of the desert.
Ren watched them go until they were completely out of sight. The confrontation had left a strange, hollow feeling in his chest—a mix of vindication, sorrow, and the grim finality of a chapter closing. There was no triumph, only the cold, satisfying click of a necessary piece falling into place. He turned on his heel and continued his journey toward the Land of Sound, his path clear, his resolve absolute.
***
A short distance away, the ground seemed to bubble and warp silently. From the dirt, the bizarre, plant-like form of Zetsu emerged, its two halves looking in the direction both parties had departed.
"Yare, yare," White Zetsu chirped, his voice a mixture of glee and confusion. "That was fast! Did they even trade blows? Itachi looked like he got his soul knocked loose! What happened? Spill it!"
"They fought on a plane you are incapable of perceiving," Black Zetsu replied, his tone grim and analytical. "Itachi attempted to use his most potent ocular genjutsu. Uchiha Ren's pupil power is so vastly superior that he not only negated it but channeled the backlash directly into Itachi's own mind. He forced Itachi to experience the full force of his own technique."
"He did *what*?" White Zetsu gasped, his form quivering with excitement. "That's insane! So the little brother is actually stronger than the legendary Itachi? This is the best drama I've seen in decades!"
"It appears the power dynamic within the Uchiha lineage has shifted dramatically," Black Zetsu mused, his single yellow eye narrowing in calculated thought. "This is a significant variable. There is no need to follow Ren further; his trajectory leads directly back to Orochimaru's lair. Our priority now is to report this to Lord Obito immediately. An Uchiha with power rivaling, and potentially exceeding, Itachi's—and one who operates completely outside our influence—represents a complication he must be made aware of."
"Ooh, I can't wait to see the look on his mask!" White Zetsu giggled.
Without another word, the two halves sank back into the earth as silently as they had arrived, leaving the desert once again silent and empty, holding the secrets of the fractured Uchiha brothers close under the relentless sun.
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