Madara Uchiha had taken Sasuke.
No one could resist his power. Madara's Complete Susanoo spread its wings, vast enough to block out the sun, and snatched the black-haired boy before soaring into the sky.
"Cough... cough..."
Itachi Uchiha could only watch as his brother was taken. His weakened body couldn't put up any resistance.
In fact, after learning that Itachi, another Mangekyo Sharingan wielder, was Sasuke's older brother, Madara had decided to go easy on these "traitors." This elder brother, after all, would be the perfect sacrifice for an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
But Itachi's only concern was for his younger brother. He just hoped nothing would happen to Sasuke in the Akatsuki's hands.
As for everything else... the future was uncertain. As long as Sasuke was safe, Itachi was confident he could lead him back to the right path, even if Emiya Shirou and Madara led him astray.
After all, if Sasuke ever wanted to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo or even the Rinnegan, he would need his brother's power. The two were destined to meet again, most likely in a battle where only one would survive.
Kisame and Orochimaru knew none of this. Watching the towering blue warrior fly away, they finally realized they had survived a disaster.
"We're lucky, everyone..." Kabuto, still controlling the Second Tsuchikage, released the sealed Second Mizukage.
He smiled as he bid Orochimaru farewell. "Let's hope your luck holds out next time, Orochimaru. See you..."
Bang!
Both Kage disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Orochimaru bit his lip in frustration. His former, useless assistant now had a new backer and acted as if he could look down on him. The arrogance was infuriating.
But it was only annoyance. The other two observers of the fight were left with nothing but fear.
Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Obito.
Their battle had been a long stalemate. It wasn't until Kabuto summoned Madara with Edo Tensei and Madara revealed his Complete Susanoo that Obito immediately called a truce.
He knew his real crisis had just begun.
Madara… had been revived.
To Obito, Madara was even more dangerous than Emiya Shirou.
At least with Shirou, if he was careful, he wouldn't be killed on a whim. But Madara? He had planted a curse mark on Obito's heart.
Worst of all, Sasuke had been taken by Madara. Obito was now completely disposable.
He shot a cold glance at Kakashi, blaming his former teammate for everything. "If you hadn't interfered, Sasuke wouldn't have been taken. Thanks to you, the whole ninja world is in danger now..."
"Sasuke..." Kakashi watched as the Complete Susanoo shrank into a blue dot in the distance, forced to face the reality that his student had been snatched away.
"You two..." While others might have blamed Obito and Orochimaru for luring a Konoha ninja away, Kakashi's question was more practical. "Why did you take Sasuke?"
Yes, that was the important question. Kakashi had always felt his student was burdened with too much hate and responsibility, which could lead him down an extreme path.
But was there another secret?
Sasuke was supposed to be just a Konoha genin.
Even as an Uchiha survivor, awakening the Mangekyo should have been his limit. Why was he so important that the Akatsuki, Orochimaru, Madara, and Emiya Shirou were all fighting over him?
"Hmph!"
Obito wasn't about to answer Kakashi. He had to find Orochimaru. They urgently needed to come up with a plan to deal with Madara's return.
While Obito hadn't truly betrayed Madara yet, the thought had always been there, and Madara had always been suspicious.
At this point, even if Obito didn't want to betray him, he had no choice. He knew better than anyone how arrogant Madara was, especially now that he considered Emiya Shirou and the Sage of Six Paths his true partners.
-----
After some time, Konoha reinforcements finally arrived, but they were too late. The missing-nin had already left, leaving only the deep ravines carved by Madara's power on the battlefield.
"Madara is really back? He did all this?" The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, had arrived in person, intending to hunt down Orochimaru. She surveyed the fearsome gashes in the earth, pondering Madara's power as she listened to Kakashi's report.
But Kakashi didn't have many answers. He had only seen Madara descend like a god, crush Itachi and the others, snatch Sasuke, and leave.
"So..." Tsunade thought for a moment before turning to Kakashi. "Sasuke didn't defect on his own, right?"
"..."
Kakashi was silent, unsure how to answer. Both he and Tsunade knew Sasuke had likely left seeking power, but this version of the story could lessen his guilt.
"That's how you'll report it to Jiraiya and Naruto," Tsunade ordered, her authority as Hokage clear. She decided not to issue a warrant for Sasuke's arrest.
Clapping Kakashi on the shoulder, she left him with a final thought. "Let's hope our stories aren't repeated in the next generation. Beyond this... it's up to them now."
It was a clear move by the Hokage to open a back door, leaving a path for Sasuke to one day return. Tsunade didn't want Team 7 to repeat the tragedies she and Jiraiya had faced, or to fall into another Kakashi-Obito mess.
Of course, a Hokage's leniency could fool many, but not those who truly knew Sasuke.
For example, Jiraiya, who had watched Sasuke grow up.
When he got the news, he quickly guessed Sasuke's true position in this tug-of-war. But he understood Tsunade's intentions and had no desire to expose the truth. Instead, he used it to motivate Naruto.
"Naruto. Sasuke's been taken..."
"Who?!" Naruto's face flashed with shock and anger.
"Based on the intel we have," Jiraiya began, "it was probably the Akatsuki, under Emiya Shirou."
He recalled how seriously Shirou had regarded Sasuke back in Konoha, wondering if the boy truly held the power to change the world. After all, Sasuke had nearly become his own disciple.
"We're bringing him back!" Naruto's face was set with unusual determination.
"But our power isn't enough yet," Jiraiya patiently advised his student. "You'll have to become much stronger to take Sasuke back from Emiya Shirou. And you have to be ready, Naruto. If Sasuke ends up being used by him, you two could become enemies in the future..."
-----
In the Land of Rain, outside the Akatsuki's base, the sky was still pouring. Emiya Shirou, his head wrapped in black bandages and apparently blind, sat in a wheelchair. Nagato stood beside him, holding a paper umbrella as they waited for Madara and Sasuke to arrive.
"..."
Sasuke felt a strong urge to turn back. Ever since the Chunin Exams, he had come to see Emiya Shirou's true, terrifying nature.
In Sasuke's mind, this man was an extremely dangerous figure—not a healer, but a revolutionary disguised as a medical ninja, bent on overturning the world.
However, to gain greater power, Sasuke knew he had to step forward. He followed Madara to meet him.
"Hmph..." Madara reached out and casually covered Sasuke's head, shielding him from the rain.
But there was no need.
Emiya Shirou seemed to notice the gesture. He lifted a finger and pointed at the sky. Immediately, a terrifying gale swept the clouds away. The rain quietly stopped, and warm sunlight spilled down.
This effortless display of weather control stunned both Madara and Sasuke. Their eyes went wide with shock. It wasn't just them; even the people standing behind Shirou were stunned.
This power... it was truly beyond imagination.
"Interesting..." Madara's lips curled into a slight grin. Looking at Shirou's now-living body, he realized the man's true power was even greater than he had thought.
But for now, at least, they were allies. Madara just hoped their revived Lord Emiya wouldn't get any ideas about coveting the Ten-Tails' power.