Hatred and Schemes

Sasuke stood at the edge of the enormous crater. The rain had stopped completely.

The night wind swept through the valley, carrying the mingled scent of earth and blood. Waves of stabbing pain came from his left eye—not blindness, but the violent soreness of depleted Dojutsu Power. His vision was somewhat blurred, as though he were looking through frosted glass, yet the Three Tomoe pattern still rotated slowly in his pupil. He blinked, and bloody tears slid down his cheek. His vision cleared a little.

It wasn't blind.

He was just exhausted.

At the final moment, Susanoo had unleashed all its power and hurled him out of the pull of the Inner Four Symbols Sealing. The price was that the Dojutsu Power in his left eye had nearly run dry. But the foundation of the Eternal Mangekyou had not been damaged. It would recover after some rest—Itachi's eyes had left him with one final gift.

Sasuke wiped the blood from his face with the back of his right hand and gave the massive crater one last look.

Moonlight shone upon the water, shattering into a sheet of silvery white. The bottom of the crater was as quiet as the end of the world. Danzō's body, the ten closed Sharingan on his arm, that shattered counterfeit eye—all of it had been swallowed into nothingness by the Inner Four Symbols Sealing. The man who believed himself to be controlling everything from Konoha's shadows had not even left behind a single bone.

Danzō's final words still echoed in Sasuke's chest.

"Let Itachi see in the other world—what became of the little brother he protected with his life."

What became of him?

Sasuke turned around, facing the forest stretching out into the darkness. His steps held neither hesitation nor stagger as he planted them