Tsukuyomi

"Itachi! What the hell is going on in that head of yours? You actually willingly became that old mutt, the Third Hokage's murder weapon and turned against your own clan?"

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and asked curiously.

"Hm?"

Itachi furrowed his brow as he looked at Sasuke, who was wearing sunglasses. He felt that his younger brother was completely different from usual.

"Though I don't know where you got that information, I had to do it for the peace of the village!"

The three tomoe in Itachi's eyes spun rapidly, transforming into the pattern of a triangular shuriken.

The Mangekyō Sharingan activated!

He did not intend to waste time arguing with his younger brother here. He would directly use his Mangekyō ocular technique to knock him out, then carry out his mission and slaughter every last clansman!

Forgive me, Sasuke! This really is the last time!

After saying this to himself, the Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular technique suddenly activated!

—Ocular Technique: Tsukuyomi!

A powerful surge of spiritual energy descended upon Sasuke in an instant.

Huh? Are you kidding me? Going straight for the ultimate move?

Seeing Itachi activate his Mangekyō right away, Sasuke could not help but freeze!

He had wanted to trade some words with Itachi and see if he could persuade him.

Who would have thought that Itachi had no sense of fair play at all, launching a sneak attack with his Mangekyō ocular technique!

It seemed he really would have to beat the other guy up and persuade him in the most primitive way possible.

Thus, Sasuke loosened the mental defenses in his mind and allowed Itachi's Tsukuyomi to strike him.

He wanted to see what this filial son was planning to show him.

The scene before Sasuke's eyes blurred. The sight of Uchiha Street vanished, as did the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.

After a brief daze, he found himself standing before the entrance to his own home.

He looked around and saw brilliant sunshine, occasional white clouds drifting across the sky, butterflies fluttering among the flowers in the yard, and cheerful birds preening their feathers on the branches...

What a beautiful scene.

Creak!

The door opened, and Uchiha Mikoto emerged wearing an apron.

"Little Sasuke, welcome home! Come in quickly, don't stand outside. Mom made your favorite bonito rice balls!"

Mikoto looked at Sasuke with a gentle expression.

Sasuke obediently walked inside and glanced around the house.

Pretty realistic! Every detail had been recreated perfectly!

"I heard you took first place in this exam again. Mm! Very good, just like your brother! As expected of my son!"

Fugaku, who was sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper, could not help revealing a faint smile when he saw Sasuke enter. His eyes were full of pride... he was pleased with Sasuke's performance at the ninja academy.

"Come on, Sasuke, you can eat now! Remember to wash your hands before the meal!"

After carefully arranging the dishes across the table, Mikoto spoke gently to Sasuke.

Sasuke turned his gaze toward the dining table and saw a lavish spread of food.

"Come, Sasuke, sit here!"

Mikoto gently pulled out a chair, signaling Sasuke to take a seat.

Then, without warning, a flash of snow-bright blade light streaked past.

Squelch!!

Mikoto's chest was pierced through by a sharp blade. The tenderness vanished from her face, replaced by agony.

"Wh... why are you doing this?"

Mikoto looked at her eldest son behind her and asked in confusion.

Itachi did not answer. He twisted the short blade in his hand, slicing it toward her heart.

Splat!!!

Blood poured out, crimson liquid staining the entire table of delicious food red.

Seeing the feast ruined just like that, Sasuke's mouth twitched.

What a waste! Even if it was fake, it still felt like such a waste... the simple thought of a foodie.

Sshhk!!

Expressionless, Itachi pulled the short blade from Mikoto's back. Spurting blood dyed half his face red.

It made him look utterly cold and ruthless, with none of his usual gentleness remaining. It was as though he had become a completely different person.

The pungent scent of blood filled the house...

"Itachi! What are you doing!? Have you gone insane!?"

Fugaku roared and sprang up from the sofa, tearing the newspaper in his hands to pieces. His entire face twisted grotesquely.

Itachi cast Sasuke an indifferent glance. His figure vanished, and in an instant, he appeared behind Fugaku, the short blade in his hand carving an arc.

Swish!!

A fine head flew high into the air, blood spraying wildly!

Thud!!

The headless corpse crashed straight to the floor with a dull sound.

Throughout the entire process, Sasuke merely stood with his arms crossed, watching with interest as though he were viewing a VR movie.

The world in his eyes changed in the next moment.

It was still the same routine. First came a warm and beautiful scene, then Itachi appeared and destroyed every bit of that beauty.

The entire world began to turn scarlet and dim! The atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

Again and again, Itachi reenacted the scene of personally killing his parents before Sasuke.

At the same time, terrified and despairing screams from the clansmen rang out all around them!

"My foolish little brother!"

"If you want to kill me, then hate me! Curse me!"

"Then live on in an ugly, miserable way!"

"Keep running away, all just to stay alive! Then, one day, when you possess eyes like mine, come before me!"

"That way, you can become a qualified vessel, and then..."

At that point, Itachi looked at Sasuke, who was sitting across from him in a recliner, casually cracking sunflower seeds, and his words abruptly stopped.

"Hm!? And then? Then what? Keep going. Why'd you stop? Did it lag?"

Sasuke spat out a sunflower seed shell and reminded him when the movie scene in front of him suddenly froze.

"You... you're not Sasuke! Who are you? Why are you pretending to be my younger brother!?"

Itachi's expression darkened terribly.

Given Sasuke's innocence, there was no way he could calmly crack sunflower seeds and watch a show after witnessing their parents' murder.

Therefore, the guy before him had to be a fake!

When he first saw Sasuke appear wearing sunglasses, he had already sensed that something was off.

After testing him with Tsukuyomi, he really was a fake!

"Me? I'm your ancestor!"

Sasuke sat upright and leaned forward, his expression grave as he said:

"You unfilial descendant! Why aren't you coming to pay respects to your ancestor?"

Itachi's face was dark with fury. His younger brother Sasuke was his reverse scale.

Yet now, someone actually dared to impersonate Sasuke and toy with him!

Utterly unforgivable!

"Hmph! You won't talk? Fine. This is the Tsukuyomi world I created. Here, I am the master of this world! Everything here is under my control!"

"I'll make you experience countless different kinds of pain until you reveal the truth!"

A chilling glint shone in Itachi's eyes, and his voice was ice-cold.

As his words fell, the entire world began to change.

The scene of his parents' slaughter vanished. All the surrounding buildings dissolved into nothingness, while countless crosses suddenly rose from the ground.

The sky was entirely scarlet... more accurately, the whole world had turned scarlet. One look was enough to make anyone feel unbearably oppressed.

"Here, both time and space are entirely under my control. Over the next seventy-two hours, I will make you..."

As he spoke, Itachi's words abruptly caught in his throat, as though something had lodged there and prevented him from delivering the rest of his boastful line.

Then his eyes widened sharply, his face filled with disbelief.

He cried out in shock:

"How is this possible!? I already changed the world, so why are the chair beneath you and the sunflower seeds in your hand still there!?"

Itachi was utterly stunned. He discovered that within his Tsukuyomi world, he could not control the fake Sasuke before him at all!

"Oh? When did you get the illusion that I was caught in your Tsukuyomi?"

Sasuke tossed a sunflower seed into his mouth, looked up at Itachi, and revealed a faint smile.

"What!?"

Itachi was startled by his words. Then he saw Sasuke's right eye suddenly change.

His originally black pupil turned scarlet, bearing an intricate six-pointed star pattern!

"This is... the Mangekyō!"

Itachi's pupils shrank. The other party also possessed a Mangekyō.

Moreover, he could clearly sense that its ocular power was stronger than his own Mangekyō.

He felt enormous pressure!

"Could this... be the legendary Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!"

Itachi's pupils shrank to pinpoints as his own guess startled him.

Then warning bells suddenly blared in his heart.

Not good! I can't look into his eyes!

He had only just turned his head away to avoid the other party's ocular technique when he realized it was already too late.

In the next instant, the world in his eyes suddenly changed.

The once scarlet world disappeared, replaced by a vibrant new world beneath clear skies.

And he now stood before the entrance of a house that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

Itachi: "..."

Why did this plot feel somewhat familiar?

Could it be...