A figure stepped out of the drifting dust.
It was no longer the form of the Ten-Tails. What emerged instead was another Sasuke.
Same face. Same posture. Same calm composure.
The only difference lay in the eyes.
Sasuke's own gaze was dark and steady. This other self looked back with pupils dyed a deep, predatory crimson. Hunger lingered there, sharp and undisguised, as if it could swallow whatever stood before it.
"You separated me," the crimson-eyed Sasuke said evenly. "You'd better not regret it."
"There's nothing to regret," Sasuke replied, his tone unhurried. It sounded like a conversation between old acquaintances. "I only care whether this path leads where I need it to. Everything else is irrelevant."
A low scoff followed.
"That's good," the other Sasuke said. They shared the same thoughts, after all. The difference was that this one had no patience for restraint. Morality, consequence, restraint—none of it mattered to him.
Sasuke turned slightly. "Yakumo. Please seal him."
"I'll assist from here."
Yakumo stiffened, then stepped forward despite the tremor in her hands. She avoided meeting the crimson gaze.
"W-what kind of seal?" she asked.
"The Five Senses Seal," Sasuke said. Then, to the other him, calmly, "Sorry to trouble you."
A thin, chilling smile crossed the other Sasuke's face. "Worry about yourself instead. These emotions will return to you eventually. I hope you don't break when they do."
"I understand," Sasuke replied simply.
"Begin, Yakumo."
To her surprise, the sealing went smoothly.
There was no resistance. If anything, the crimson-eyed Sasuke seemed almost cooperative, standing still as the genjutsu closed in. That eased Yakumo's racing heart.
…He's rational, she thought. Terrifying, but not mindless.
When it was over, the other Sasuke stood motionless, eyes closed, cut off from sensation.
"Thank you," Sasuke said quietly.
Yakumo nodded, then hesitated. "Sasuke… are you sure this is right? Even sealed, something like this could break free someday. It could—"
"It won't," Sasuke said, gently interrupting her. Seeing how pale she'd become, he added, "You've done enough. Go rest. Leave the rest to me."
She studied his expression for a long moment, then nodded.
"…All right."
Her presence faded, leaving Sasuke alone in the inner world.
He looked at the sealed figure.
"I hope this is enough," he murmured.
The Mangekyō did not awaken easily. Sasuke knew that now. He could not rely on bonds gained and lost, nor on a single moment of tragedy.
So he prepared two paths.
One was refinement. Strengthening his mind, sharpening his will, raising his spiritual endurance until it reached the threshold on its own.
The other stood before him now.
A vessel of instinct and hatred, born from bloodline memory and his own discarded impulses.
If the first path succeeded, this darkness would be erased without hesitation.
If it failed…
Then he would release it.
Merge with it.
Force the Mangekyō open through sheer pressure.
What would remain afterward, even Sasuke did not know.
Would his temperament fracture. Would the darkness overwhelm him. Or would his mind simply collapse into silence.
None of those outcomes were impossible.
It was dangerous. Reckless, even.
And yet.
"If I can't cross this line," Sasuke said softly, "then this is as far as I was ever meant to go."
A thin smile formed.
His eyes bled red for an instant, madness flickering beneath the surface before vanishing just as quickly.
Far away, sealed within absolute silence, the other Sasuke's lips curved upward in a faint, vicious grin.