Itachi slowly raised his blade and walked behind Fugaku and Mikoto.
He gazed at their backs in anguish.
This was the father who had once taught Itachi ninjutsu, the mother who would gently stroke his forehead.
When Itachi had hurt himself practicing combat techniques in the courtyard training ground, Mikoto had bandaged his wounds.
Sometimes, when he was heartbroken over the villagers outside who bullied him for no apparent reason, Fugaku had come to his side.
He had told him to be strong and become an outstanding ninja.
Those memories came crashing back, so vivid they nearly shattered Itachi's strained composure.
His fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
Itachi wanted to flee, to take back every decision, but the screams that had already fallen silent in the settlement behind him reminded him that there was no turning back.
He could not go soft. If he stopped, the sacrifices of all the clansmen who had died tonight would be wasted, the village would descend into civil strife, and Sasuke would die.
All his efforts would come to nothing.
"Itachi, have you awakened those eyes?"
Only at the very end of his life did Fugaku find the words for a heart-to-heart with Itachi. His words seemed to comfort him.
Don't be afraid. Bring the blade down!
This is the path you chose for yourself.
Itachi took a deep breath and said, "Yes. I killed Shisui with my own hands, then obtained those eyes."
In Itachi Shinden, Shisui had asked Itachi to kill him at the end, using this extreme method to awaken Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
At the time, Shisui had been poisoned by Root. Knowing he was beyond saving, he had wanted to help Itachi one last time.
Shisui had awakened his Mangekyo out of remorse for causing a close friend's death.
But Shisui jumping