"Perhaps it's just my own wishful thinking, or maybe I'm just being naive..."
Sasuke stared intently at Itachi, a faint trace of hope hidden beneath his raging anger.
"But I just can't bring myself to believe you're the kind of person who would do something like that."
A person's actions are intrinsically tied to their daily habits, personality, and the experiences they have lived through.
Sasuke had practically grown up attached to Itachi's hip...
Although he didn't know exactly what Itachi did in the Anbu, he knew his brother's personality inside and out. He knew Itachi despised conflict and deeply yearned for peace.
Moreover, from Itachi's daily teachings, it was glaringly obvious that his love and devotion to Konoha were genuine. It was absolutely impossible for him to do something that betrayed the village.
It had to be said, Sasuke was actually quite perceptive.
Without the tragedy of his clan's massacre and without being blinded by hatred, his ability to rationally judge situations made him vastly different from the impulsive 'Sasuke' in the anime.
When he was younger and heard the news that Itachi had assassinated the village elders and defected, he had been incredibly skeptical.
However, the evidence was ironclad, and even their father had gone to the scene to personally confirm it.
No matter how doubtful Sasuke was, he couldn't deny his father's judgment.
Yet, the seed of doubt had always remained buried deep within his heart.
Staring at the resolute Sasuke, Itachi fell into a brief silence.
Jokichi had once spoken to him about Sasuke, claiming that Sasuke possessed immense potential and would one day surpass him.
Itachi had been overjoyed to hear that.
However, he didn't want to see this version of Sasuke.
He believed Sasuke shouldn't be fixating his gaze on him, but rather on broader, far more distant issues.
After a brief pause, Itachi asked in a deep voice, "What does the truth matter? The deed is done, and the undeniable outcome is that I murdered the elders and betrayed Konoha."
"Itachi!"
Sasuke shouted indignantly. "Is this the outcome you truly wanted?! Was this your own choice?! Have you ever regretted it?!"
Itachi froze for a second before answering frankly, "This was not the outcome I desired."
Sasuke's expression softened slightly.
"But this was indeed my own choice. A choice I made willingly, guided by my own will and reason. I may hold regrets in my heart, but if given the chance to do it all over again, I would still make the exact same choice."
"You bastard!"
The momentary relief he felt instantly evaporated, replaced by blazing fury once more. With Chidori crackling in his hand, Sasuke lowered his stance and charged.
Itachi shook his head inwardly. As the lightning thrust toward him, he casually sidestepped it. At the same time, his right hand snatched Sasuke's wrist and yanked him upward, lifting his entire body off the ground, while delivering a heavy punch directly into his stomach.
The sheer force caused Sasuke's body to curl involuntarily. Showing absolutely no mercy, Itachi drove a brutal knee strike squarely into Sasuke's jaw, sending him flying backward.
Bam!
Sasuke skidded across the ground for quite a distance before finally coming to a stop.
Propping himself up on his hands, his body trembled as he tried to force himself back to his feet, but his vision swam, and his limbs refused to listen.
Itachi watched the scene in silence, his inner thoughts completely unreadable.
After a long pause, he looked up at the blue sky, watching the white clouds drift idly by, and sighed. "My foolish little brother. Not everything in this world will go the way you want it to. Without absolute strength and without comrades, you can accomplish absolutely nothing."
Turning his gaze back to Sasuke, who was still struggling fruitlessly to stand, Itachi let out a faint chuckle.
"Just like you are right now."
"You desperately sought the truth, yet this is the only outcome you can achieve. For the sake of our blood ties, I will spare your life today. But the next time you come at me..."
In his blood-red eyes, the three tomoe twisted and morphed into a snowflake-like hexagonal pattern.
Itachi's tone plunged to absolute zero. "I will not show mercy."
As his words fell, the hexagonal snowflake spun violently. Sasuke's consciousness rapidly began to fade.
—Tsukuyomi!
...
"Nagato, what on earth are you all trying to do?"
Having already entered Sage Mode, with the two Great Toad Sages, Fukasaku and Shima, perched on his shoulders, Jiraiya stood atop a stone pillar and shouted his question.
On the ground below, Nagato looked up at him with an emotionless expression.
"Didn't Jokichi already explain everything?"
"It is to confront Kaguya, and also to establish everlasting peace."
"I didn't come here to listen to half-assed excuses."
Jiraiya said angrily, "Can't everyone just join forces to fight Kaguya together?"
"Will this method truly bring about everlasting peace?!"
"Jiraiya-sensei..."
Nagato looked at that familiar, aged face and muttered softly, a trace of nostalgia flickering deep within his eyes.
"Ever since you left, we constantly fought for the sake of peace in the Shinobi World. We endured so much, and Yahiko lost his life because of it."
"Over these long, grueling years, through my own experiences and what I have witnessed, I finally found the answer that leads to peace."
"What Jokichi is doing is the only way to bring true peace to the Shinobi World."
"His actions will only spark another war!" Jiraiya shot back. "After everything you've experienced, do you seriously believe the Five Great Shinobi Villages, let alone the entire Shinobi World, will just obediently bow down and unify peacefully?!"
"Even if everyone agreed, who is going to feed all these shinobi?!"
"Will the Daimyo just sit by and watch the Shinobi World unify under one banner?!"
"They won't! None of them will!"
"All these unresolved problems will only trigger an even more massive war! Are you really blind to all the issues staring you right in the face?!"
Nagato gently shook his head.
"Jiraiya-sensei..."
"Every problem you just listed exists, and your judgment is entirely correct."
"However, you are wrong about one crucial thing."
"And that is... war will not break out."
Nagato possessed absolute conviction in this fact.
Jiraiya was utterly baffled. "What proof do you have to back that claim?"
"Because Jokichi's power far exceeds the limits of your imagination."
Only a conflict between two forces of relatively equal strength could be called a war. If one side was an ant and the other side was a human...
Could that kind of conflict still be called a war?
Absolutely not!
Because a child could burn an ant colony to the ground with a single torch, and the ants would have absolutely no way to fight back.
A one-sided slaughter like that was simply extermination.
However—
"The gap between Jokichi and the entire Shinobi World's military might is dozens, if not hundreds of times wider than the gap between a child with a torch and a colony of ants."
"If he unleashed his full power, the so-called Kage wouldn't even be able to muster the will to resist him."
Nagato shared his perspective with Jiraiya.
But Jiraiya just scoffed dismissively.
"I admit he's incredibly strong. He is the most talented genius I have ever seen in my life. But what you're describing is far too exaggera—"
Before he could finish his sentence.
The earth jolted violently.
Seconds later, a howling gale roared across the horizon, carrying thick clouds of smoke and the deafening rumble of destruction.
Jiraiya quickly steadied himself, looking intently toward the direction the wind had come from. His expression turned incredibly grave.
Because that direction... was where the Five Kage were fighting!
And that battlefield was several dozen kilometers away.
"Rest assured!"
Nagato offered a word of comfort. "Jokichi won't actually do anything to the Five Kage."
"After today is over, we might very well become comrades!"