Wherever he looked.
Those eyes met.
When Uchiha Itachi clearly saw the six-pointed scarlet stars in Sasuke's pupils and felt that peculiar pulse of chakra, even after all these years, even though his heart had long since grown still as water, the normally rational Itachi almost failed to contain the turmoil rising deep within him.
The Mangekyō! The Mangekyō! My little brother has awakened the Mangekyō!
His lifelong wish. The plan he had spent years carrying out.
This was supposed to be the final step—the most important one—in his goal.
And now—
After all these years, at the moment of their reunion—
He saw that Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan ahead of time!
From the perspective of an older brother,
this was undoubtedly a tremendous shock to Itachi.
Still, he had to keep up the act. And seeing Sasuke grow in the direction he had hoped only made Itachi more determined to follow through with his plan.
Because it all proved that his plan was right.
The future he had laid out had a good chance of coming to pass!
The Six Villages had already joined forces against the Akatsuki.
Naruto had even been recognized by the Five Kage as the Sixth Shadow.
Sasuke, who was close to Naruto, would surely become one of the Snow Ninja Village's leaders in the future. Though that was far from Itachi's wish for Sasuke to become a hero of Konoha, the outcome was much the same. So long as Sasuke could secure the best place to settle down, the next and most crucial step was to give his little brother enough power to protect himself—and even dominate the Shinobi World.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!
That was the path to strength Itachi had laid out for his little brother, Sasuke Uchiha.
But before