Parallel Ninja World.
Inside the Tsukuyomi space.
Itachi Uchiha lay limp like a puddle of mud in the scarlet bloodwater.
The roar rolling from his throat had completely changed pitch, like a trapped beast driven into a corner.
Sasuke was tied to a cross, watching his collapsing older brother.
The crosses around them still stood, while the bloodwater gave off a nauseating stench.
The next moment.
Sasuke closed his eyes.
Memories from the Empire flooded into his mind like a tide.
The sunlight there had always been exceptionally bright.
The brother there had always worn a gentle, composed smile.
Powerful.
Gentle.
He stood at the peak that countless geniuses of the Empire looked up to, the sharpest blade of the Uchiha Clan.
The ninja blade in his hand was always wielded to protect his clansmen and defend the Empire's honor.
But what about the Itachi before him?
He had been driven mad, even preparing to turn on his own clansmen!
This immense sense of absurdity was like a poisoned dagger stabbing viciously into Sasuke's heart.
Why?
Because this world was not ruled by His Majesty Chiba?
Because of the damned lust for power of those two old bastards, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō?
How filthy did the hearts of the Konoha High Command have to be to force a thirteen-year-old boy into slaughtering his entire clan with his own hands?!
Rage.
Uncontainable rage exploded in Sasuke's chest.
Grief and fury intertwined into a violent blaze, rushing through his meridians and straight into Sasuke's mind.
It was the curse buried deep within the Uchiha Clan's bloodline.
The deeper the love, the deeper the hate.
This peculiar Chakra churned in Sasuke's eye sockets, as if it were about to burn straight through his eyeballs.
"Buzz—"
A strange humming sound exploded in Sasuke's