His skin was covered in eerie purple-black markings that resembled blood vessels, or some kind of parasite.
Most horrifying of all was his chest-a fist-sized hole gaped there, its edges lined with constantly writhing buds of flesh. Inside, a dark red glow swirled like molten lava.
"How is he?" a masked Anbu medical ninja asked.
"Not good at all." Another medical ninja shook his head. "The corrosion from the Hōgyoku remnants is accelerating.
"His body is undergoing irreversible mutations. The nature of his chakra has changed completely, and it's steeped in savagery and destruction.
"The biggest problem is that the power inside him... is rejecting our treatment. It's even corroding the medical ninjas' chakra in return."
"Can we suppress it?"
"We've held it down with the Four Symbols Seal for now, but the seal is being corroded too.
"At this rate, he'll lose control completely within a month at most. What he'll become then... I don't dare imagine."
On the medical bed, Itachi's fingers twitched.
He was still conscious. He could hear the conversation around him, feel his body's agony, and sense that frenzied power inside him that wanted to destroy everything.
But he couldn't control it. He couldn't even open his eyes.
His consciousness was trapped in a dark chaos.
Within that chaos, countless voices echoed.
"Hate... hate... hatred breeds power..."
"Kill him. Kill Uchiha Ryūha. Kill everyone..."
"Your brother, Sasuke, is growing stronger. He's becoming someone who can kill you..."
"This is your fate. The fate of the Uchiha. A cursed fate..."
No...
Itachi struggled within his consciousness.
It's not like that... Sasuke... Sasuke is...
"He hates you. He hates you for killing the entire clan. He hates you for betraying him. He's in the Pure Soul Court now, searching for the power to kill you. Once he