Chapter 112: The Unvarnished Truth
The mist of the Land of Sound clung to the gnarled trees and jagged rocks, creating a world of muted grays and greens. Ren led the way, his footsteps silent on the damp earth. Behind him, Sasuke followed, a brooding, silent shadow. The only sounds were the crunch of gravel underfoot and the distant cry of a hawk.
The curiosity radiating from his brother was a palpable force, but Sasuke's pride, or perhaps his deep-seated resentment, kept his questions locked behind a stony silence.
After nearly an hour of walking, Ren suddenly stopped. He didn't turn around immediately.
"Sasuke," he began, his voice cutting through the quiet. "You must be wondering what this is all about. Why I came for you."
Sasuke halted, his expression unchanging. He offered no reply, only a cold, waiting stare.
Ren finally turned. And in that instant, Sasuke's world dissolved.
He hadn't been fast enough to look away. The moment his eyes met Ren's, the familiar, cursed pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan seared itself into his vision. The forest around him warped, twisted, and bled away into nothingness.
When his senses stabilized, he was standing on a clean, wooden porch overlooking a tranquil, familiar courtyard. The air smelled of polished wood and damp evening earth. Paper lanterns cast a soft glow. It was the Uchiha compound. Not as it was now—a derelict, haunted monument—but as it was in his childhood memories. Whole. Alive. Peaceful.
*Where...?*
"How is it?" a voice asked from behind him. "Does it feel familiar?"
Sasuke spun around, his hand instinctively flying to the hilt of his sword. Ren stood there, leaning against a support beam as if he had always been there. His eyes had returned to their normal, dark state.
"What is the meaning of this?" Sasuke demanded, his voice tight with a mixture of anger and confusion. "What is this place?"
"A recreation," Ren said softly, his gaze sweeping over the perfect, silent compound. "Our home. As it was. We're inside my mind, Sasuke. Or more accurately, you are inside mine. This is the Tsukuyomi space."
*Tsukuyomi.* The name was a spike of ice driven into Sasuke's heart. The memory of that night—of Itachi's cold, red eyes and a world of endless torture—flooded back with nauseating intensity. His composure cracked, rage flashing across his features.
"I know," Ren said, his voice unnervingly calm, cutting off Sasuke's building fury. "You've experienced this before. Twice, I believe. Once the night our family died. Once more recently. This is your third time. It's an advanced genjutsu only possible with these eyes." He tapped his own temple. "In here, time, space, reality itself... it's all under my control. The damage I can do to your mind is limitless. But that's not why I brought you here."
"Then why?" Sasuke spat out, his fists clenched. "To show off your precious eyes? To rub in the fact that you and *him* have power I don't?" The bitterness in his voice was acid.
"No," Ren said, his tone shifting, becoming grave. He looked pointedly at Sasuke's neck, at the three tomoe seal stark against his skin. "I brought you here because what I have to say is for your ears only. The cursed seal on your neck... it's not just a source of power. It's a window. Orochimaru uses it to watch you, to listen. He hears everything you hear. But here, in this world I control, his eavesdropping ends. Our conversation is ours alone."
Sasuke's hand flew to the seal, his fingers brushing against the raised skin. A flicker of disgust and understanding crossed his face before it was shuttered behind his usual mask. He said nothing, but his posture changed. He was listening now. Truly listening.
Ren looked at him for a long moment, the playful cynicism gone from his face, replaced by a weary gravity. "Sasuke... you want to know why I haven't spoken of revenge against Itachi? Even with these eyes?"
A cold, mocking smirk returned to Sasuke's lips. "Why? Because you're a coward. You hid behind the facade of a fool for years. You have the power but lack the will to use it. You're a disgrace to the Uchiha name."
"Is that what you believe?" Ren asked, his voice quiet. "That it's so simple?"
"Isn't it?"
Ren gave a soft, humorless laugh. "No, little brother. It isn't. It's time you knew. It's time you learned the truth behind the annihilation of our clan. The truth Itachi has been hiding. The truth you've been chasing all these years. You have a right to know it."
The words landed like a physical blow. Sasuke's arrogant smirk vanished, shattered into a million pieces. His eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat. All pretense of cool indifference evaporated.
*Nani?* What... what did you say? His mind reeled. *You know?*
In a burst of movement too fast to track, Sasuke closed the distance between them. He grabbed the front of Ren's shirt, his knuckles white, his entire body trembling with a sudden, violent urgency.
"What do you know?!" he demanded, his voice a raw, desperate snarl. "Tell me! Tell me everything!"
The carefully constructed wall of hatred he had built around himself for years showed its first, massive fissure. Behind it was just a lost, furious boy, finally standing on the precipice of the answers he had killed for, trained for, and lived for.
Ren didn't push him away. He just met his brother's desperate, burning gaze, his own expression one of grim resolve.
"Then listen closely, Sasuke," he said, his voice low and steady. "And prepare yourself. The story you are about to hear will shatter every single thing you think you know."
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