No Uchiha, Konoha Had No Value Whatsoever!

Juzo Biwa carefully checked for any hidden dangers. Finding none, he turned and handed Sasuke's head to Uchiha Itachi.

With trembling hands, Itachi gently lifted Sasuke's head. His fingertips shook uncontrollably, and his knuckles had gone white from gripping too tightly.

He stared fixedly at Sasuke's pale face. Those eyes that had once been so full of life now stared blankly ahead. They would never again meet his gaze with admiration.

He drove the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes to its utmost, inspecting the head over and over again. But no matter how carefully he examined it, he reached the same conclusion.

This was, without a doubt, the head of his beloved younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke.

In an instant, Itachi felt the world spinning beneath him, as if the entire world were collapsing. His ice-cold heart seemed to stop beating.

His younger brother's adorable face appeared before him again, and memories surged like a flood.

Sasuke falling as he learned to walk, then stubbornly picking himself back up; the smug look on his face when he first mastered the Substitution Technique; those eyes full of confusion and hurt after Itachi rejected him time and again...

Every little moment from their lives flowed into his heart, and with them came a soul-crushing pain that spread through him bit by bit. It was as if thousands of steel needles were stabbing his heart at once, making even breathing hurt.

Itachi's breathing grew quick and ragged. Each breath tasted of blood.

He felt something warm slide from his eyes, leaving a stark streak across Sasuke's cold cheek.

Itachi's lips trembled as he pressed his forehead against his younger brother's cold one. A hoarse whisper scraped from his throat, so broken it was barely recognizable.

"Why... did this happen...?"

"The Third Hokage promised me he'd protect you..."

"Haha..." Uchiha An was practically hopping with glee. "The Third Hokage promised you that. Danzo never did!"

"If you're going to wipe out a clan, of course you have to annihilate the entire family. What would you leave one survivor for?"

"So he could grow up, learn the truth, and come back to take revenge on the village?"

"What?"

"Did you really think that the dignified village Elder would be punished by Sarutobi Hiruzen for killing one evil Uchiha?"

"Ah, who knows? Maybe he'd be locked up for a few days, or get a slap on the wrist. A few toasts as punishment, just to make a show of it!"

"So what?"

"Were you really going to make a dignified village Elder pay with his life for the death of one Uchiha survivor?"

"Haha... You really are a clown, Itachi!"

"If you can't even be loyal to your own clan, how could you ever be loyal to the village?"

"If Sarutobi Hiruzen really trusted you, he should've taken you on as his student and named you a candidate to be the next Hokage!"

"If they'd offered even the slightest reassurance instead of constantly suppressing them, the Uchiha Clan wouldn't have been driven to this point..."

"Shut up!" Uchiha Itachi's eyes were bloodshot as he roared hoarsely. "With your narrow perspective, how could you possibly understand how many people would die if civil war broke out in the village?"

"Ah, right, right! I'm narrow-minded, and you're broad-minded!" Uchiha An shouted back even louder. "Danzo knew how broad-minded you were, so he cut your younger brother's head off with one stroke!"

"You're so broad-minded. Surely you won't fall out with the village over a little thing like this, will you?"

"See? I'm not like you!"

"I knew how broad-minded you were, so I went out of my way to bring you your younger brother!"

"Come on, show me how broad-minded you are! Let's see if you're really as magnanimous as you claim!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The village would never kill Sasuke!"

Blood ran from Uchiha Itachi's eyes as he glared at Uchiha An's face, identical to his own, and demanded through gritted teeth:

"You killed him!"

"Didn't you?"

"Ah, right, right!" Uchiha An grinned, revealing a twisted, chilling smile. "That's right. I killed Sasuke!"

"Not only did I kill him, I crushed all four of his limbs first. Then I used the Mangekyō Sharingan's Dojutsu to heal him, only to crush them again!"

"Over and over, I did it again and again. I only granted his wish when he was finally crying and begging me to kill him!"

"Do you know what he cried out?"

"Let me show you!"

"Ahem..." Uchiha An coughed twice and cleared his throat. Then he raised his pitch, imitating a little child's voice.

"Hey, Big Brother, why aren't you coming to save me?"

"Hey, Big Brother, it hurts so much!"

"Hey, Big Brother..."

"Shut up!" Uchiha Itachi roared like a madman. "Sasuke was only a child! How could you..."

"A child? You have the nerve to talk about children?" Uchiha An was even angrier than he was. "You said you did it for peace, so why didn't you kill only the adults? Why kill the old, the weak, the women, and the children too?"

"You say Sasuke was innocent. What about all those babies? Weren't they innocent?"

"Did Konoha ever care about the innocent Uchiha children?"

"No!"

"They were afraid!"

"They were afraid the Uchiha's descendants would grow up and take revenge on them!"

"They wanted to wipe them out root and branch!"

"If they wanted to wipe them out root and branch, how could they let Sasuke, the lone survivor, live?"

"You couldn't bring yourself to do it? No problem. I was considerate enough to finish the job for you!"

"No need to thank me!"

"Ah... Who are you? Who are you, really?"

Stung by Uchiha An's words, Uchiha Itachi had no answer. He could only roar furiously in impotent rage.

"Who am I? Haha..." Uchiha An burst out laughing. "Look at this face of mine. Don't you recognize it?"

"I'm that lapdog of Konoha's politicians, the beast who personally slaughtered every man, woman, and child in the clan—Uchiha Itachi!"

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. Not only did I wipe out the Entire Uchiha Clan, I also killed Sarutobi Hiruzen's grandson, kidnapped the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and killed dozens of Konoha ninja."

"Although Namikaze Minato ran off with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, even Ino-Shika-Cho died here just now."

"Take a guess. Does Konoha still trust you now?"

"Hm?"

"Haha..."

"Aren't you the one who loves peace so much?"

"Aren't you afraid of the people in the village getting hurt?"

"Then let me tell you: I didn't just kill Uchiha Sasuke. I'm also going to start a Ninja World War and make even more people in Konoha die!"

"The Uchiha are one of Konoha's founding clans. Without the Uchiha, Konoha has no value whatsoever!"

"I'm going to destroy Konoha completely!"

"I'm going to make Konoha vanish from the Ninja World forever!"

After Uchiha An's relentless taunts, Uchiha Itachi finally snapped. He glared with his Mangekyō Sharingan, and black flames erupted across Uchiha An's body.

"Die!"

"Amaterasu!"