I've been abandoned!
I've been abandoned...
I'm not worthy of being Teacher's student...
Itachi's mind grew hazy, and the scene before his eyes flickered between light and darkness!
Why?
Why am I so weak?!
Teacher abandoned me! Teacher doesn't want me! Teacher doesn't love me!
As though kicking aside a piece of trash, Xuanhui gave Itachi a light kick and made to leave.
"Teacher! Please wait!"
"Don't call me Teacher! You're no student of mine!"
Silence fell, so complete that even their breathing was clearly audible.
"No... no, no... no, no, no!"
Itachi covered his eyes in agony, letting bloody tears stream down!
Grief flooded his heart like a rising tide...
The Mangekyō Sharingan slowly took shape within Itachi's eyes.
"Itachi, lift your head."
Itachi slowly raised his head.
"Those scarlet patterns...
Shisui! That's enough!"
Shisui broke eye contact, and the strain on his right eye immediately eased!
"Hiss! It's a little itchy, but nothing serious."
And Itachi?
He knelt on the floor, his face covered in blood and tears.
But his eyes held nothing but bewilderment!
He looked at the blood on his hands, then at Xuanhui.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Pakura, bring the mirror."
Pakura finally emerged from the corner where she had been hiding and handed Itachi the mirror.
"This is..."
Itachi saw the bloody tears on his cheeks and the patterns in his eyes.
He looked up at Shisui, who was rubbing his eye, then at Xuanhui's guilt-ridden face.
"I'm sorry, Itachi. I put you through a lot!"
Xuanhui took out some tissues and wiped the mess from his face.
As he wiped, he patted Itachi's head.
"I did it so you could awaken your Mangekyō Sharingan painlessly. You have to understand!
If you gain power because you couldn't protect what mattered to you, why not