"Forgive me, Sasuke. This is the last time."
The crimson Susanoo gradually dissipated.
As Uchiha Itachi's fingertips lightly tapped Sasuke's forehead, all life left his body, and he collapsed to the ground.
Darkness swallowed his vision.
When he woke again, he saw that while the dark clouds formed by Sasuke's jutsu still blanketed the sky, the rain had stopped.
'I'm dead... I'm a soul now.'
Looking at his own corpse on the ground, then at his own body which felt transparent and ethereal, the ever-brilliant Uchiha Itachi immediately understood his situation.
He didn't react like a normal person learning of their death; instead, he remained remarkably calm, feeling a sense of finality as the dust settled.
Except for that lingering attachment to Sasuke deep in his heart.
"Yes, Itachi, you are dead."
A heavy, complicated voice accompanied by footsteps echoed behind him.
Hearing that voice, Itachi's eyes widened slightly, feeling a sense of familiarity he hadn't felt in a long time.
He turned slowly to see his father's stern face and his mother's tear-streaked expression of grief.
"Father, Mother... are you here to take me?"
A softness appeared on his face as he reached out, walking slowly toward them.
But he saw the tears streaming uncontrollably down his mother's face, her voice choked with sorrow.
"Itachi, why did you have to die now... why couldn't you live a little longer? If you had..."
Fugaku spoke as well: "Itachi, since you are dead, you must properly atone for your sins."
"The clansmen... they are all waiting for you."
Though Fugaku's voice was as heavy and solemn as ever, there was a trace of hesitation and conflict hidden within it.
Itachi's pace slowed. Looking at his parents, a sliver of doubt rose in his mind.
Despite having just met them, he sensed an obvious, jarring sense of dissonance in their attitude.
"Father, Mother, what is..."
"Itachi, if possible, neither your mother nor I wanted you to die so soon. If you had lived longer, perhaps you wouldn't have to face your judgment so quickly."
Fugaku closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his crimson Mangekyo shared only resolve.
"However, your crimes cannot be forgiven."
"The clansmen you killed, and even the attitude of the Lord... none of them will forgive you."
Itachi stopped in his tracks, the sense of dissonance growing stronger.
Hearing Fugaku's words, he immediately picked up on the most glaring point.
"Father, Mother, something must have happened to you, hasn't it?"
"And who is this 'Lord' you speak of?"
Mikoto could no longer contain her emotions. She pulled her son into a hug, sobbing quietly.
Her tears fell, soaking Itachi's shoulder.
Feeling his mother's warmth again, the soft spot in Itachi's heart was touched.
He gently patted her shoulder and asked in a low voice:
"Mother, what exactly did you encounter?"
"Itachi, we've been dead for a long time. What else could happen?"
Fugaku sighed. Just as he was about to speak, a figure suddenly flickered into existence beside them.
Surprise surfaced in Itachi's heart.
'Such a fast Body Flicker.'
He hadn't sensed a trace of presence, nor had he seen the movement. It was as if the person had appeared out of thin air.
But when he saw the man's face, he froze.
"Shisui..."
The newcomer was indeed Uchiha Shisui.
Seeing Shisui arrive alone, a look of surprise crossed Fugaku's face.
"Where is the masked man?"
"And the one with the black-and-white face? Why aren't they here?"
Shisui shook his head slightly. "They escaped."
"The masked man uses space-time ninjutsu, and the black-and-white one took Sasuke hostage. Both were taken away."
"Though that black-and-white one seemed able to sense my presence."
Fugaku nodded slightly, his expression returning to calm.
"Space ninjutsu... no wonder he could escape from you."
"It doesn't matter if they fled. He caused such a commotion; he won't stay hidden forever."
"He'll show himself eventually. There's no rush."
Listening to their conversation, Itachi's gaze stayed fixed on Shisui, his eyes flickering as his lips trembled.
"Shisui, is it really you?"
Hearing Itachi's voice, Shisui turned to him. Surprisingly, his face lacked much expression.
"Itachi, it's been a long time."
"Shisui, you, Father, and Mother... what is going on?"
Shisui's sudden appearance, his parents' strange behavior, and the conversation he'd just overheard left Itachi unable to grasp the situation.
There was no doubt that the three people before him were the ones he knew.
Yet a veil of mist shrouded them, preventing him from seeing the truth.
"Itachi, you're confused, aren't you?"
"Why we've appeared before you in this form."
Shisui and Fugaku exchanged a look, then recounted everything that had happened to the Uchiha clan after death.
After listening, Itachi's face fell into a state of dazed shock.
"Living again after death... going to an otherworldly Soul Society... Shinigami, and Lord Ren..."
"This..."
It was too absurd, truly unbelievable.
But looking at his father and Shisui, whom he regarded as an older brother, Itachi clearly felt that they weren't lying.
Everything they said was true.
Suppressing his shock, Itachi quickly integrated the newly acquired information in his mind.
He frowned slightly, gently pushed his mother away, and stepped toward the two men.
"So, you came here to take me back to the Uchiha clan to face punishment?"
"I was prepared for this the moment I swung my blade."
"Though this is different from what I imagined, I won't run."
Seeing his son accept punishment so calmly, Fugaku's face flickered with hesitation again before turning hard.
"Itachi, you couldn't run even if you wanted to."
Shisui sighed. "This time, no one can save you."
"Even the Lord supports the clan's revenge—not just against you and the masked man, but against Konoha as well."
"The village?" Surprise appeared on Itachi's face. "The village has nothing to do with this. Why would you attack them?"
"Itachi, the village ordered all of this. How can you say it has nothing to do with them?"
Fugaku's brow furrowed deeply.
Seeing his son's reaction, he sighed once more.
"In the end, the village is what truly matters to you."
Itachi shouted, "Sasuke just killed me; he'll be able to return to Konoha as a hero soon. You absolutely cannot attack the village!"
"Father, why is your vision always so narrow? Even the annihilation of the clan hasn't changed that. You still haven't moved beyond the limits of the clan."
"Shut up! Who do you think killed over a thousand members of the Uchiha clan?" Fugaku roared in a low voice.
Seeing his father remain so stubborn, Itachi looked toward Shisui, hoping for a shred of validation.
"Shisui, talk to Father and the others. We're already dead. Why must the dead disturb the happiness of the living?"
"The happiness of those people is built upon the misery of the Uchiha clan!"
Deep disappointment showed in Shisui's eyes.
"Itachi, I entrusted the Uchiha clan and Konoha to you because I wanted you to bridge the conflict between them and protect both the village and the clan."
"But what did you do?"
After his death, Shisui had received permission from Ren to stay briefly in Konoha.
Consequently, he had watched everything that happened in the village during that time from start to finish.
"Clan Leader Fugaku was doing his best to suppress the clan's rebellion, longing for reconciliation with the village and taking action to achieve it. But what about you?"
"Not only did you fail to help him, you negated his efforts. Your own actions completely escalated the tension between the clan and the village, and you didn't even realize it."
"You discarded the clansmen like trash, never once empathizing with their hardships, only ever complaining about their narrow-mindedness."
"Uchiha Itachi, for someone like you to criticize the clan... how narrow-minded are you yourself?"
"You thought you had a vision that transcended the clan, looked down on them from the bottom of your heart, and fell into arrogance without even knowing it."
Shisui's words pierced Itachi's heart like a blade.
If anyone else had said this, he might have ignored it.
But this was Shisui, someone he respected. Such accusations completely exposed his true nature.
His expression became dazed as he muttered, "But if I hadn't done it... once the Uchiha rebelled... there was no chance of winning. The village would have been crippled, and other villages would have surely started a war."
"Years of peace would have been ruined. I had no other choice..."
"So you killed the entire clan?"
Shisui closed his eyes, refusing to look at him.
"If we hadn't met the Lord, the Uchiha clan would be nothing more than trash swept into a corner. Where could our grievances and hatred have been settled?"
"In the end, we who once existed would have been nothing more than a laughingstock to others."
Fugaku stopped paying attention to the eldest son he was once so proud of and looked at his weeping wife.
"Mikoto, take him back."
"Itachi doesn't have much time left. You... should spend some time with him."
"I will handle the matter with Sasuke."
Mikoto nodded through her sobs.
Seeing this, Itachi hesitated no longer. He turned to flee the area.
'I must at least get information about the Uchiha clan out so the village can prepare.'
But before he could even take two steps, a massive pressure suddenly descended, pinning him to the ground, unable to move.
Under this invisible pressure, even breathing felt like an impossible dream.
"What... is this..."
Uchiha Mikoto walked to his side, took out a glass-like bead, and pulled his soul inside.
Trapped like an ant inside the bead, Itachi hammered against it, but to no avail.
After Mikoto opened a Senkaimon and departed, Fugaku retracted his gaze, a flash of sorrow on his face.
"It is my responsibility as his father that Itachi turned out this way."
"I neglected him before, which led to this."
Shisui shook his head. "Clan Leader, you can't blame yourself... Perhaps this is simply the nature of us Uchiha."
Arrogant, conceited, looking down on everyone equally, yet firmly believing in their own thoughts and becoming trapped by them.
Itachi was simply one of many.
Fugaku nodded in agreement. "Next, I will track down that masked man and bring Sasuke back."
"The Soul Society's vanguard is expected to arrive soon. Be ready."
"Understood," Shisui said. "Before that, I'll find the one called Kabuto Yakushi."
With those words, the two left the area.
In the time that followed, Fugaku tracked the masked man's whereabouts while Shisui searched for Kabuto.
But the ninja world was vast, and both the masked man and Kabuto hid like rats, deep in the shadows.
For a time, the two could not find them.
As time ran out, Shisui stopped his futile efforts and returned to Konoha.
When he arrived, the village was in the midst of a great upheaval.
A man named Pain was wreaking havoc in Konoha, attempting to draw out the Nine-Tails.
Encountering the rare Rinnegan, Shisui set up a barrier around the village, intending to capture one to investigate.
But looking from a distance, he realized that the one called Pain had no soul.
It was merely a corpse being controlled.
All six Pains were the same.
Seeing this, Shisui abandoned his original plan, deciding to wait for the incident to end before taking action.
Shisui stood atop the Hokage Rock, watching the farce below.
In his line of sight, the mastermind controlling Pain was at the Hokage building, talking with the current Hokage, Tsunade.
That Pain seemed provoked. His body slowly ascended, hovering high in the sky.
Accompanied by a powerful repulsive force descending from above, the entire village of Konoha was decimated.
A massive roar from the destruction echoed as the once-prosperous village was turned into a deep crater by Pain's repulsion.
The ruins of the buildings were pushed to the very edge of the village, held back by the high walls.
Seeing this and feeling the gale blowing against him, Shisui's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What incredible destructive power!"
"So this is the power of the Rinnegan."
Destructive power on this scale might not be much in the Soul Society—any Gillian's Cero could do it.
But in the ninja world, it was eye-opening.
The destruction caused by Pain had essentially wiped Konoha off the map.
Just as Shisui was marveling, a cloud of smoke from a Summoning Jutsu appeared in the crater.
Shisui looked over to see a giant toad appearing there.
Atop the toad's head stood a blond boy.
"That is... the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
With his superior eyesight, Shisui recognized the newcomer instantly.
Fugaku's previous reports had contained information on this person.
He remembered the name was Uzumaki Naruto.
Such a massive disturbance immediately caught the attention of Pain in the sky.
Slowly descending into the crater, a great battle was about to erupt.
Meanwhile, Shisui sat on the Hokage Rock, quietly watching the battle unfold.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]