Sasuke stared blankly at a face identical to his own in his previous life, as though he were looking into a mirror!
For one fleeting instant... he thought the person Kabuto had brought back through Impure World Reincarnation was the Sasuke of this life whom he had replaced, transformed into his adult appearance by some new jutsu of Orochimaru's!
He quickly dismissed that almost absurd conjecture.
Because... an old memory he had truly lived through resurfaced in his mind at the sight of that face!
It was a conversation he had had with Hashirama near the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War in his previous life.
"Wait, young Uchiha. I want to give you a jutsu..."
"A jutsu?"
"Yes. Madara... he stole my senjutsu chakra. The jutsu I want to give you will respond to that senjutsu chakra and bind him!"
Back then, Sasuke had been proud and defiant.
"Then do it yourself. You're a body raised by Impure World Reincarnation. You'll recover soon enough. How about I pull those rods out of your back?"
Hashirama patiently tried to persuade him.
"The rods in my back have sealed my chakra points. I can't mold any more chakra, and you'd be better off not touching them. I'll give you all the chakra I have left. Go stop Madara."
Sasuke challenged him. "I'm an Uchiha. Why ask me to go?"
Hashirama answered, "Because you look so much like... Madara's younger brother, Uchiha Izuna."
Sasuke stroked the beak of the summoned hawk beside him and pondered for a moment.
"So what? What does that have to do with stopping Madara?"
Hashirama explained, "Madara was originally a kind man. He dearly loved his younger brother and was devoted to his beliefs. That's why he gave you a chance to live."
His thoughts returned