Sasuke slowly woke up.
As he lifted his head and scanned the people around him, his eyes landed on Naruto Uzumaki. A look of sorrow crossed his face. "Is this… the Pure Land?"
"..."
Naruto's eye twitched. What happened? Did Itachi Uchiha break his brother?
Itachi pondered this for a moment, then landed another light chop on Sasuke's neck, knocking his younger brother out again.
"Itachi, doing that to Sasuke…" Naruto's eyelid twitched as he watched. He said softly, "When he wakes up, I'm afraid he's going to make a scene."
"He should be used to it by now," Itachi said, shaking his head. Every time Sasuke had woken up on their journey, he had immediately knocked him out again.
After speaking, Itachi suddenly looked at the young Hokage in surprise. "Naruto, your memories… have they returned?"
"Yeah."
"That's good." Itachi felt a sense of relief. At least the two of them wouldn't have to play guessing games with Tsukuyomi anymore. He lowered his head and looked at Sasuke. "Good. I have something that needs your medical ninjutsu's help. Sasuke has already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan…"
"..."
Kabuto Yakushi looked up in surprise.
A look of astonishment also appeared on Naruto's face. "Awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan requires sacrificing someone important, right? Who… was sacrificed?"
"You." Itachi spread his hands and explained softly, "I designed a scenario. I had a White Zetsu take on your appearance and die in front of him. Just like that, Sasuke awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"..."
Naruto's expression froze for a moment.
This was highly possible. Whether it was in the original timeline or this one, the awakening of Sasuke's two-tomoe and three-tomoe Sharingan were both related to him. If he died in front of Sasuke, it wouldn't be surprising if Sasuke awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Since Sasuke has also awakened the Mangekyo…" Naruto looked at Itachi and said softly, "Are you two going to transplant each other's Mangekyo Sharingan now?"
"Yes," Itachi nodded. "In the future, we won't need to worry about the loss of visual prowess, and we can even activate a higher form of Susanoo. All of this will allow my and Sasuke's strength to be enhanced to the maximum, to obtain the same power as Madara Uchiha."
"Madara Uchiha isn't that simple," Naruto sighed softly, remembering the god-like figure from the Fourth Great Ninja War. That man was a true one-man army, capable of taking on ten thousand foes. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Black Zetsu's underhanded move, Madara might have been their most difficult enemy ever.
Taijutsu, ninjutsu, senjutsu, and genjutsu—he was powerful with almost no weaknesses. Even though he and Sasuke had received gifts from the Sage of Six Paths, their battle with Madara had ultimately involved a bit of luck.
"Madara Uchiha's visual prowess is even above the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan," Naruto glanced at Itachi and said softly. "Madara evolved his Sharingan by transplanting the First Hokage's cells. That's how he obtained the dōjutsu of the Sage of Six Paths—the Rinnegan."
"Rinnegan?" Itachi frowned, thinking of the leader of the Akatsuki. He said in a low voice, "If the Rinnegan evolves from the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, then Pain's Rinnegan…"
"Those are Madara Uchiha's eyes," Naruto looked up at Itachi and explained. "You still have the Yang Power I gave you inside your body. After you awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, there should be a certain chance you can awaken the Rinnegan."
No matter how it evolved in the future, the first step was for Itachi and Sasuke to transplant each other's eyes. Coincidentally, Kabuto was a medical ninja. Moreover, Naruto possessed Yang Power. The difficulty of this eye transplant surgery was probably about the same as bandaging a wound.
"Thank you very much for your trust, Lord Hokage." A smile touched the corner of Kabuto's mouth. He felt that Konoha's Fifth Hokage was very interesting, having an attitude of placing full trust in those he used.
How magnanimous. He had to remember, he was previously a rogue ninja, and even a spy. He never expected to gain Naruto's trust, let alone be entrusted with such important tasks and told so many secrets.
Naruto didn't really care. After all, in the future, he knew many secrets of the ninja world, and most of them came from reports written by Kabuto Yakushi, the director of the Konoha Orphanage.
During the entire eye transplant surgery, Sasuke remained unconscious. After the transplant was over, Kabuto helped with his healing. Because Itachi had Yang Power in his body, his own recovery was very fast.
"How does it feel?"
"The visual prowess is increasing very quickly." Itachi reached out and touched his newly replaced eyes, his brow furrowed. "If I had enough Yang-nature chakra in my body, I might be able to break through that barrier right now…"
"Want to try?" Naruto reached out and once again slapped the Yang Power that the Nine-Tails had painstakingly gathered onto Itachi's body, staring at his eyes.
At first, there was only silence. Then, a faint tremor ran through the ground. Itachi's breath grew shallow as a wave of heat surged through his body. His Sharingan began to spin slowly, then faster and faster, the tomoe blurring into a whirl of red and black light.
Kabuto stepped back, shielding his face from the sudden burst of chakra. "His chakra output… it's skyrocketing!"
Itachi clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead. The power inside him was wild, untamed — like a storm tearing through his body. The Yang Power was feeding his eyes, pushing them past their limits.
"It's enough!" Itachi's voice shook as the energy within him reached its peak.
The air around him twisted. A roaring sound filled the room, not from his mouth but from the sheer pressure of chakra being released. His eyes burned as if on fire — then, for a moment, everything went white.
When the light faded, Itachi was kneeling on one knee, his body trembling. Slowly, he raised his head. The Mangekyō pattern in his eyes began to distort, the tomoe merging together and forming a new, unfamiliar design. Then, the red faded completely — replaced by ripples of purple light spreading across his pupils.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan had transformed into a pair of Rinnegan.
Itachi blinked, the world before him changing completely. Every detail, every movement of chakra, every vibration in the air — he could see it all.
"Is this the power of the Rinnegan?" he murmured. His tone was calm, but there was disbelief in his eyes. "A power stronger than a Kekkei Genkai… As expected of the Sage's eyes."
The Rinnegan completely transcended Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta. This was an even higher level — a Kekkei Mōra, the ultimate fusion of Yin and Yang chakra. From now on, Itachi Uchiha could also cultivate Yin-Yang Release.
"Can you hide them?" Naruto stroked his chin, thinking of how Madara could freely switch his dōjutsu. "I previously reached an agreement with the Akatsuki's Black Zetsu. It will find a way to have the Akatsuki help me unify the ninja world. We still need to continue monitoring them."
"Understood." Itachi nodded. After a moment of thought, he said in a low voice, "If it makes any move that harms Konoha, I can eliminate the Akatsuki organization on the spot."
The three people present understood the purpose of the Akatsuki's existence. In reality, with the power Naruto and Itachi now possessed, they were strong enough to unify the ninja world through force. But by striking down the Akatsuki and unifying in a more just manner, it would be easier to integrate the power of the ninja world in the future.
"Can Sasuke also obtain this power?"
"No," Naruto shook his head and said in a deep voice. "The power Sasuke will obtain in the future is even stronger than the dōjutsu of the Rinnegan."
Itachi nodded. With a flip of his hand, he used gravitational force to pull his red-cloud-patterned black cloak to him and casually put it on.
"Then, I'll leave Sasuke to you."
"You're still not going to tell Sasuke the truth?" Naruto was a bit confused. He had sent Sasuke to the Land of Rice Fields precisely because he wanted the two brothers to solve the problem themselves. After all, the future Sasuke was always reminiscing about his older brother. If they could find closure, it would save Sasuke from having any more regrets.
Itachi shook his head, glanced at the unconscious Sasuke, and sighed. "I haven't thought it through yet… Let's wait a while longer."
"..."
Naruto's eye couldn't help but twitch.
Now is not the time? Are you going to wait until one day the whole world knows you're a peerless, one-of-a-kind good older brother, while only keeping Sasuke himself in the dark?
-----
Bonus:
Decades later.
Kakashi Hatake: Sasuke still wants to get revenge…
Itachi Uchiha: Please, Kakashi-senpai, you must stop him!
Kakashi Hatake: Have you still not figured out how to tell him?
Itachi Uchiha: No. Please, you must stop him. Both of our powers are too strong; one of us could accidentally die…
Kakashi Hatake: Alright, the last reason I used to stop him was that Naruto Uzumaki was peeping at the bathhouse, so I had him go monitor Naruto to avoid shaming the Hokage's office…
Itachi Uchiha: That reason is good. It can be reused!
Kakashi Hatake: But since that day, Naruto really has started to like peeping at the bathhouse!
Itachi Uchiha: ...