Pointing His Sword at His Own Brother! Did You Ever See Me as Your Little Brother?
The Land of Iron, the temporary residence of the Hidden Leaf delegation.
Outside the window, wind and snow raged, and the gale-force winds, carrying ice shards, pounded against the wooden lattice window, making a series of cracking sounds.
Kakashi Opening Gate and strode into the room, bringing with him a chill. He gripped a Kunai tightly in his hand, the black handle bearing a clearly engraved red and white Uchiha Gunbai emblem.
Naruto was sitting at a wooden table, holding a tattered piece of burlap in his hand, casually wiping his specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai.
"Sasuke is gone." Kakashi didn't waste any words, his tone so heavy it could drip water. "The doors and windows are intact, the barrier hasn't been touched, he bypassed the patrol and left on his own. This is all that's left on the table."
Naruto didn't even lift his eyelids, reached out and took the Kunai, casually tossing it onto the table. With a crisp "clang," the Kunai spun halfway across the wooden board.
"That Uchiha Sasuke, he gets so stubborn whenever it comes to his brother," Naruto thought to himself, without even pausing his work of wiping his weapon.
Kakashi frowned, his right eye filled with worry. "Obito's White Zetsu spies are Obito outside; the situation is too chaotic. I'll take a few men and bring him back immediately. The Five Kage Summit just established the alliance rules, and if someone from Hidden Leaf leaves the group without permission, Ōnoki and those old foxes, the Raikage, will definitely use it as an excuse to cause trouble."
This is standard Anbu thinking, prioritizing the big picture and its impact.
Naruto threw the burlap sack aside, stood up, grabbed the Hokage Haori draped over the back of the chair, and put it on.
"Why bring him back?" Naruto's tone was calm, yet it carried an unyielding firmness. "To tie him to a chair with a rope and have him listen to those old men arguing in a meeting?"
Kakashi was momentarily speechless. "But..."
"No buts." Naruto interrupted abruptly, walking to the window and looking at the howling night snow. A fierce golden light flashed in his azure eyes. "His mind is completely occupied with his brother right now. If you try to stop him, you'll only drive him back to Orochimaru's old path of ruthlessness."
Naruto whirled around, staring directly at Kakashi: "Pick three quick-witted fighters: Tenzō, Shikamaru, and you. Head straight to the northern outskirts of the Land of Iron, about twenty miles away, and set up a perimeter."
Kakashi was stunned. "Go stand guard on the outer perimeter?"
"Yes." Naruto raised his hand, and a dazzling golden Chakra Chains slammed into the supporting pillar beside him, sending wood chips flying. "He wants to see Itachi; that's their Uchiha family matter. Let them fight, let them talk. But anyone who dares to interfere at this crucial moment, even that Obito—"
Naruto's lips curled into a bloodthirsty smirk. "Just twist your head off!"
Kakashi looked at the domineering young man before him, and his heart, which had been in his throat, inexplicably settled. Disregarding dogma and rigid rules, directly using strength to protect and defend—this was the backbone of Hidden Leaf now.
"Understood." Kakashi nodded decisively, then turned and disappeared into the snowstorm.
Midnight, on the Land of Iron.
An old shrine, abandoned for many years, is hidden on a steep mountainside.
The weight of the snow broke the dry pine branches, which fell onto the rusty bronze incense burner in the center of the courtyard, producing a dull echo.
Sasuke trudged through the ankle-deep snow, stepping onto the slippery, moss-covered stone steps. His Kusanagi Sword was held diagonally in his right hand, its blade gleaming coldly in the pale moonlight.
The surroundings were utterly silent, with only the soft crunch of boots on the snow.
Suddenly, a series of rapid flapping sounds came from the dilapidated black-tiled roof of the shrine.
Dozens of jet-black Crow flew down from the shadow of the beam and landed neatly on the stone pillars on both sides. In the eyes of each Crow, a scarlet light gleamed, and three Tomoe slowly rotated in its pupils.
An extremely cold Chakra instantly filled the entire courtyard.
Sasuke stopped in his tracks, Six-Pointed Star Mangekyo Sharingan in his left eye instantly activated, its red light piercing through the darkness and locking onto the dilapidated statue in the main hall directly in front of him.
"You've finally stopped hiding." Sasuke's voice was hoarse, all the fatigue and tension of the past few days transforming into a tangible killing intent.
From the shadows behind the statue, a figure dressed in a black robe with red clouds slowly emerged.
Itachi Uchiha.
His face was even thinner than Sasuke remembered, so pale that he seemed almost lifeless. In his deep-set eyes, the same Mangekyō Sharingan silently watched his younger brother on the steps.
"You've grown taller, Sasuke," Itachi said, his voice soft, even carrying an inappropriate gentleness.
This gentle, elder-like warmth instantly ignited the powder keg that had been simmering in Sasuke's heart for ten years.
"Don't talk to me like you're lecturing a child!"
Boom!
A dazzling blue lightning bolt exploded from Sasuke's palm without warning, and a shrill cry like the chorus of thousands of birds tore through the deathly silence of the snowy night.
The electric current of Chidori wound up his arm and tightly coiled around the Kusanagi Sword, transforming the entire longsword into a lightning blade.
The heavy stone slab beneath Sasuke's feet shattered instantly, and he transformed into a raging blue lightning bolt, covering a distance of more than ten meters in an instant, his lightning blade piercing straight for Itachi's throat.
The wind was incredibly fast, and it cleaved a huge trench in the snow-covered ground.
This is a Jonin, furious attack capable of instantly killing a Jonin.
But Itachi didn't Hand Seals, didn't use the Substitution Technique, and didn't even activate Susanoo. He just stood there quietly, watching the dazzling lightning approach his neck.
The lightning illuminated Itachi's expressionless face.
Just as the blade was less than half an inch from his throat, Sasuke's wrist abruptly stopped.
The frenzied Lightning Release Chakra surged outwards, whipping Itachi's black hair wildly around his ears and even leaving a thin, bloody gash on his pale cheek.
"Why didn't you dodge?!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
"You don't want to kill me." Itachi lowered his gaze, looking at the sharp blade pressed against his neck, his tone resolute.
"Shut up!" Sasuke roared, reaching into his ninja tool pouch with his left hand and pulling out a bandage stained with dried blood, which he slammed onto the snow between them.
The bandages came undone, and a small glass vial filled with preservative solution rolled out. Inside, soaking inside, was a right eye—the still- Shisui Mangekyō Sharingan forcibly gouged out from Danzo's deformed corpse.
"Danzo dead! Naruto and I killed him together!" Sasuke's eyes were red as he stared intently at Itachi. "I saw the top-secret files he left in Root, and I also heard that Obito spewing nonsense through spatial transmission!"
Lightning crackled violently on the blade, threatening to sever the opponent's carotid artery at any moment.
"Obito said you accepted the mission to massacre the entire clan for the sake of the village's peace. Danzo's file says the Uchiha were plotting a rebellion, and you were forced to be the executioner!" Sasuke's voice was terribly hoarse. "I didn't come here today to listen to your childish nonsense about the Will of Fire!"
"Tell me the truth! Who gave the order to exterminate the clan that night?!" Sasuke roared, blood trickling down his cheek and dripping onto the pure white snow, a horrifying sight.
The wind and snow seemed to stand still at that moment.
The Crow on the stone pillars made annoying cawing noises.
Itachi glanced at the Sharingan on the ground, a complex and sorrowful look flashing in his eyes. But when he raised his head again, his gaze turned cold and resolute once more.
"The truth you seek is far more cruel than you imagine." Itachi didn't back down an inch, letting the scattered Lightning Release Chakra scorch his skin. "In this situation, no one is entirely innocent."
Sasuke's arm trembled slightly uncontrollably as he struggled to keep the blade from veering off course.
"Whose orders were these?" Itachi's voice echoed in the empty shrine. "It was the long-standing distrust of the Uchiha by the Konoha High Command, and Danzo's boundless greed for power."
He paused, his tone turning icy.
"It was also a coup d'état launched by my father and his clansmen out of pointless vanity."
The word "coup" was like a barbed knife, twisting cruelly around Sasuke's nerves.
"Of course..." Itachi slowly raised his right hand, gently pinching the lightning blade pressed against his throat with his index and middle fingers. "This was my own choice."
The lightning bolt shot up the blade and onto Itachi's fingers, scorching his skin black, but he didn't even flinch.
"To protect the foundation of the village, to nip in the bud the internal strife that could trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War, I chose to stand on the village's side and slaughtered all those who intended to rebel. Is this the answer you wanted?" Itachi looked directly into Sasuke's eyes, each word piercing his heart.
Sasuke froze on the spot.
High-ranking officials, Danzo, coup d'état, and one's own choice.
These four cruel answers shattered the vengeful obsession that had sustained him for the past decade.
He had always thought Itachi was a pure demon. Later, Obito told him that Itachi was a saint who sacrificed everything for the village. But now, Itachi himself admitted that he was not a puppet forced into it, but a sane executioner.
Sasuke felt as if ice water had been poured into his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.
The Kusanagi Sword pressed against the weasel's neck could no longer advance even a millimeter. The lightning vanished with a deafening roar.
Sasuke slumped down, his arm hanging limply, the tip of his sword slamming into the snow with a hiss.
He lowered his head, his thin shoulders trembling violently.
"So..." Sasuke's voice was extremely soft, carrying a hint of vulnerability stripped of all pretense, "That night, when you swung your sword at your parents..."
He suddenly raised his head, his Six-Pointed Star Mangekyo Sharingan eyes brimming with tears of despair and intense longing.
"Did you, even for a fleeting moment..." Sasuke stared intently at Itachi's bloodless face, pressing him with each word, "Treat me as... a younger brother who must survive?"