Land of Rice Fields, Otogakure.
The underground Laboratory is dimmer than the buildings on the ground. The torches embedded in the walls sway slightly in the air flowing in from the vents, casting a layer of dark light and shadow on the exposed rock walls and rough stone pillars.
Uchiha Itachi stood on the edge of the cave entrance, looking in the direction of Konoha with an affectionate look on his face.
The night wind poured in from the gap at the cave entrance, blowing his long black hair slightly up and down, and the hem of his clothes gently slapped the edge of the rock wall behind him.
The sound of footsteps sounded from deep in the passage.
After a moment, Kabuto Yakushi's figure emerged from the shadow beyond the reach of the torch, and the lenses of the round glasses reflected two dark orange halos in Kakkō.
He stopped three steps behind Itachi and raised his hand to adjust the frame of his glasses.
"Lord Orochimaru said, everything is ready. Itachi-kun, come with me."
Uchiha Itachi's gaze did not return from the distance.
He was still looking in that direction, as if he wanted to carve the sinking night skyline into his sight.
"Wait a minute, I've made an appointment with someone else."
Kabuto Yakushi's mouth slowly opened, and the smile spread from the corner of his mouth to the corners of his eyes, with a strange and sinister feeling. He took two steps forward, and the soles of his shoes deliberately made a soft sound on the stone surface.
"Itachi-kun, do you not trust us?"
Itachi didn't look back or answer. His silence was an answer in itself, like a layer of cloth that was stretched to the limit, neither cracking nor springing back, just hanging there.
Kabuto Yakushi looked around and paused for a moment in the shadows on both sides of the passage. He was about to open his mouth to test again - a muffled sound exploded from the open space at the entrance of the cave, and white smoke quickly surged and dispersed in the night wind.
A big Toad, dozens of times larger than an ordinary frog, squatted at the entrance of the cave, its back undulating slightly.
There are two people standing on its back.
Jiraiya crossed his arms, his white hair rising to the sky in the airflow. Sasuke stood next to Jiraiya, with his back straight, his chin slightly lowered, and his eyes immediately locked on the figure at the entrance of the cave.
"Nissan!"
Sasuke At the same moment as the sound hit the ground, his body shot forward at an extremely fast speed, as if he had been holding back his energy for a long time and finally found the exit.
Geta stepped on the stone surface with two rapid sounds, and he stopped in front of Itachi, his forehead slightly lowered, with an urgency that he was not even aware of.
"Nissan, I miss you so much!"
Itachi raised his hand and placed his fingertips on Sasuke's forehead. The force was very light, as if he was comforting a kitten that had just been called home. His fingers paused for a moment on the center of Sasuke's eyebrows, and he rubbed it gently, his voice a little softer than before.
"I'm going to do a very dangerous transplant operation. Before I do it, I want to see you, so I asked Lord Jiraiya to bring you here."
Sasuke raised his head suddenly, the touch between his brows had not completely dissipated, and the joy of seeing his brother in his pupils was replaced by eagerness before it faded away.
His voice suddenly soared, carrying an uncontrollable panic.
"If it's dangerous, then don't do it!"
Itachi withdrew his hand from Sasuke's forehead, and the softness on his face disappeared at that moment, as if someone had smoothed it out from the outside.
His voice returned to its usual coldness, with an unmistakable gloominess.
"We must do it! In order to defeat Uchiha Yongye, I need stronger power!"
Sasuke's fingers were clenched tightly at his side, his face filled with resentment!
"It's this Uchiha Yongye again! He is indeed the source of all evil!"
"Nisan, don't worry, I will knock him down in the future!"
Itachi's gaze paused on Sasuke's face for a moment, and shook his head gently. "In case I'm no longer here, you have to take care of yourself..."
Before he finished speaking, his Sharingan lit up silently in his pupils. Three-Tomoe emerged from the edge of the iris and slowly rotated in Kakkō.
His previous pair of kaleidoscopes were poached by Yong Ye when he was in prison. Now, with his new pair of Sharingan, the kaleidoscopes have not yet been turned on.
But the rotation of the three Tomoe still carried a calm and steady Eye Power, which quickly occupied the entire field of view in Sasuke's sight.
Sasuke stood there blankly at first, his eyes seemed to be nailed into Itachi's pupils, without even blinking.
After a moment, Sasuke's body trembled suddenly, a short scream escaped from his throat, and his whole body trembled violently.
Under the urging of Uchiha Itachi's Genjutsu, Sasuke saw - his brother's operation failed and he died tragically on the spot!
Sasuke's body suddenly staggered back half a step, and his heels hit the stone surface, making a short muffled sound.
In his eye sockets, scarlet light poured out from the edge of the pupil. A Tomoe quickly solidified during the rotation and stabilized in the pupil. The light at the edge was still trembling slightly.
One-Tomoe Sharingan.
After breaking free from Genjutsu and seeing that his brother was still alive, Sasuke was both surprised and confused.
"Nissan, what are you..."
Itachi withdrew his hand from Sasuke's shoulder, and his eyes stopped for a moment on Sasuke's newly opened pair of Sharingan, and then moved away, falling into the darker shadow deep in the passage.
"Help you prepare yourself mentally. Okay, let's go, don't talk anymore."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked deeper into the passage.
Sasuke slowly loosened his clenched fists, hesitated to speak, and followed with a troubled face. Jiraiya walked at the back, released his hands from his waist, inadvertently pressed something in his arms with his fingertips, and then strode to follow.
The underground Laboratory is more spacious than the passage. Torches are arranged in two rows on the metal lamp stands on the four walls, illuminating the test bench in the center of the room.
There is a layer of white cloth spread on the countertop, and several metal buckles are pressed on the edge.
Orochimaru stood on the side of the test bench, with long silver-gray hair hanging on his shoulders, and his golden vertical pupils narrowed into a thin line in Kakkō. He turned his head and his eyes paused for a moment on Sasuke's newly opened pair of Sharingan, then moved away and fell on Itachi.
"Lie down, everything is ready."
Itachi didn't say much, took off his robe and lay down on the test table. He stared straight at the ceiling and breathed steadily, as if he was about to face an ordinary physical examination.
Orochimaru's hand fell on the skin of Itachi's chest, under the fingertips, Hashirama Cells was injected from a slender needle, and spread rapidly along the meridians.
The first wave of backlash came faster than expected.
Dark red fibers emerged from the surface of the ferret's skin and spread to both sides along the direction of the ribs, like a group of alarmed snakes looking for an exit.
Uchiha Itachi's expression was extremely distorted, his body arched suddenly, his back left the table, his neck was thrown back, his Adam's apple rolled violently under the taut skin, blue veins popped up on his forehead, and he was wailing in pain!
In Sasuke's eyes, the scarlet light lit up again. Tomoe split and increased during the rotation, from single Tomoe to Two-Tomoe. The light at the edge was brighter and deeper than before.
Orochimaru stood on the edge of the test bench, his hands hanging by his sides, his eyes falling on the layer of Hashirama Cells that was surging on the ferret's body.
His golden vertical pupils shrank for a moment, then expanded again, then his lips opened slightly and he let out a very light sigh.
"Failure, no miracle."
Jiraiya flashed out from the side of Sasuke: "Great Toad Sage had foreseen this scene before, let me try it!"