Even Kakashi Hatake, as powerful as he was, had clearly struggled against both Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru in the earlier videos.
That alone made one thing painfully obvious.
Those two were both far above him.
And if Kakashi was already below Itachi Uchiha, then if Sasuke truly became Kakashi's disciple in the future, could that ever really give him the power to surpass Itachi?
At that moment, Sasuke Uchiha was deeply pessimistic.
Maybe Orochimaru had been right to sound so confident in the video.
Maybe there really would come a day when he went to seek power from the snake.
He was an avenger. If vengeance demanded it, he was willing even to sell his soul. But so long as there remained even the faintest possibility of another road, he did not want to give up on himself completely.
While both Kakashi Hatake and Sasuke were still processing those thoughts, Itachi Uchiha moved again.
Without any warning, Itachi's shadow clone appeared behind Kakashi and drove a shuriken straight through him.
"Shadow clone? That hand-seal speed is insane!" Kurenai Yuhi gasped in the scene.
Fortunately, the Kakashi standing before them dissolved into water and splashed harmlessly onto the ground.
"Water clone? Hmph. So the Copy Ninja really has picked up even the techniques from our village," Kisame Hoshigaki said, unable to hide his surprise at how broad Kakashi's arsenal was.
On-screen, Kakashi had already slipped beneath the water and quietly handed a shuriken over to Kurenai Yuhi. But before Kurenai could launch a surprise attack, Kakashi suddenly slammed into her and tackled her away from the area.
"That's a shadow clone," Kakashi said immediately.
The next instant, Itachi Uchiha's clone exploded into a surging wave.
That entire exchange of feints, clones, and split-second reactions shocked Sasuke even more than the earlier direct clashes.
For the first time, he realized what it really meant to be a true shinobi.
Compared to these people—no, compared to monsters like these—his own strength was pitiful.
Any one of them could kill him effortlessly.
"Damn it… am I really this weak?"
Sasuke clenched his fists so tightly his nails bit into his palms.
As a descendant of the Uchiha clan, was his power really this insignificant?
At what point would it ever be enough to avenge his clan?
At what point would it ever be enough to restore the Uchiha name?
At that moment, a line of commentary from Kitahara Kaede floated across the top of the video.
It had to be said, the early fight between Kisame Hoshigaki and Team Seven was actually pretty exciting. People still fought like ninja back then—lots of deception, counters, and proper hand seals. At least Kisame still looked like an honest man. Who still seriously forms hand seals these days, right, Kisame?
Later on, everybody's basically piloting Gundams and nobody even bothers with hand seals anymore. At that point is this still ninja combat? Or are you all just immortals now?
Kakashi Hatake almost went speechless looking at those sarcastic lines.
What did Kitahara Kaede even mean by "who still forms hand seals properly"?
Of course shinobi formed hand seals when using ninjutsu.
Was that not basic common sense?
Hadn't that been taught in the Academy?
And then there was the part about Kisame being an "honest man."
Honest?
Wasn't this the same super-dangerous criminal who had assassinated the Mizukage and the Daimyo of the Land of Water?
Then again…
That story did sound strangely familiar.
Right.
There was another one like that.
Zabuza Momochi.
One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
The wielder of Kubikiribōchō, the Executioner's Blade.
He too had attempted to assassinate the Mizukage, eventually betraying Kirigakure and escaping.
Considering Kirigakure's infamous Bloody Mist policies—which had clearly produced countless terrifying killers—it was not hard to imagine that one day those monsters would eventually turn their blades back on the village itself.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had numbered only seven people, each one among the very strongest in Kirigakure.
That alone made it obvious how unpopular the Mizukage's rule must have been.
Kakashi's attention returned to the scene.
There he saw his future self standing with his back to Itachi Uchiha while droplets of water still fell all around them from the earlier explosion.
"Don't be careless," Kakashi said. "He became an ANBU captain at thirteen."
"I didn't expect him to be this strong," Asuma Sarutobi admitted in shock.
"No," Kakashi replied calmly. "This is only a fraction of it."
As he said those words, he seemed to recall the years when he and Itachi had once worked together in the ANBU.
Off-screen, Sasuke Uchiha's fingers dug hard into his palms.
He had gone through the Academy too. He knew perfectly well what the ANBU represented. That was the elite arm of a village. At minimum, even an ordinary ANBU member had to be an elite chūnin. Anyone who became a captain was said to possess strength on par with—or outright beyond—a Special Jonin.
In other words, Itachi Uchiha had reached jonin-level combat ability by the age of thirteen.
And what about himself?
At present, he probably could not even beat the chunin instructors at the Academy.
Then Itachi spoke again in the video.
"You are not of the Uchiha clan, and yet you can use the Sharingan this far," Itachi said. "But your body is not Uchiha. It cannot truly adapt to the eye."
"As he said," Kakashi replied, "I'll start running out of steam before long."
He knew that better than anyone.
Even when he kept the Sharingan sealed under his forehead protector most of the time, simply opening it in battle consumed a huge amount of chakra. And the longer he fought with it, the closer he was pushed toward exhaustion.
That was why his style had gradually turned into one centered on speed, lethality, and ending fights quickly.
He had become a high-attack, high-speed assassination-type shinobi almost by necessity.
If he could not finish the enemy fast enough, then eventually the enemy would outlast him.
Then Itachi's voice, calm and cold, sounded again.
"Do you know why the Uchiha clan is known as the strongest—why they are revered by all?"
He closed his eyes.
Then he opened them once more.
"Let me show you the true power of the Sharingan… and of the bloodline limit."
When he opened them again, the pattern within them had changed completely.
They had become Mangekyō Sharingan.
Of the three facing him, only Kakashi understood the danger immediately.
His voice rose in alarm.
"Could it be—? Damn it! You two, whatever happens, don't look into his eyes!"
Asuma and Kurenai reacted instantly. Trusting Kakashi's judgment, they shut their eyes at once.
Neither of them doubted that if Kakashi gave such a warning, then those eyes were truly something terrifying.
For Sasuke Uchiha, watching from outside the scene, this only deepened the crushing pressure in his chest.
Different Sharingan.
Even among Sharingan, there were worlds of difference.
And once again, the distance between him and Itachi only seemed to grow wider.
But there was also something else now.
Curiosity.
Fear.
And a desperate need to know exactly what those eyes of Itachi's really were.