Sasuke stared fixedly at the Mysterious Man on the battlefield, disbelief written across his face, and screamed uncontrollably, "Why? Aren't you a survivor just like me?"
"I want revenge on Itachi too!"
"Why are you stopping me? Why are you trying to kill me?"
"Shouldn't we be working together?"
Naruto and Sakura Haruno had only run a few steps when his words made their expressions change sharply. They stopped at once and turned toward Sasuke, their faces full of alarm.
"Sasuke, run!"
They hadn't expected Sasuke to still be hung up on that.
The man was already trying to kill him.
"Who we take revenge on, who gets to live-those were never decisions for a brat like you to make!"
The Mysterious Man snapped coldly. During a brief opening in his fight with Kakashi, a clone suddenly appeared behind him and silently circled around behind Sasuke!
"Besides, who said we were the same?"
"I'm the only survivor. You aren't..."
Sasuke's expression changed violently, and his whole body stiffened. He tried to turn and run, but it was already too late!
Slash-
The piercing sound of a blade cutting through flesh rang out.
Sasuke's left arm was severed clean off in an instant!
"Aaargh-!!"
Agonizing pain swept through his entire body. Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply, and he let out a heart-rending scream as he crashed heavily to the ground.
Blood gushed from the wound. He convulsed in pain and rolled across the ground, his face as white as paper.
"Ah..."
"That feels good!!!"
Watching Sasuke writhe in agony, the Mysterious Man showed not a shred of pity. Instead, he let out a deeply satisfied exclamation, his voice brimming with sick pleasure.
"I will kill Uchiha Itachi!"
"But tormenting the little brother he cares about most, watching you suffer until you wish you were dead-that's the cruelest punishment I can give him!"
"Don't worry. I won't kill you!"
Listening to Sasuke's heart-rending screams and watching him convulse in a pool of blood, the Mysterious Man radiated delight, clearly immensely pleased.
"Sasuke Uchiha, you really aren't like me."
"You were never a survivor who happened to escape with his life."
"You're just a pathetic fool who's been kept in the dark by lies from the very beginning."
Searing anger burned in Sasuke's chest. He clenched his fist so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, and ferocious hatred churned within him.
"You're angry?"
The Mysterious Man's voice suddenly rose, charged with overwhelming rage.
"Then shouldn't the clan members who died because of Uchiha Itachi be angry too?"
"Do you know whose hands their bodies ended up in?"
"Konoha's Root."
"Those twisted, inhuman freaks."
The more the Mysterious Man spoke, the angrier he became, until his entire body trembled with rage.
"We Uchiha have always been beautiful. Our clan was full of handsome men and beautiful women. Take a guess."
"What exactly happened to their bodies once they fell into the hands of those freaks in Root?"
That pointed question sent a violent shudder through the hearts of countless shinobi.
They were all shinobi. Who didn't know what the others were like?
Years spent living in the shadows had long since twisted the minds of most shinobi.
Especially the assassination-type shinobi who handled the dirty work!
Dark, unsettling suspicions began to creep unbidden into countless minds.
Just as Sasuke's breathing became utterly erratic and hatred threatened to overwhelm his reason, the Mysterious Man suddenly chuckled, mocking and cruel.
"You're the clan leader's son. Aren't you curious..."
His laughter was bone-chilling, striking straight at Sasuke's most vulnerable spot:
"Your mother, Uchiha Mikoto."
"She once stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world, the wife of the leader of its greatest clan, the Uchiha-noble, graceful, and composed."
"When her body fell into the hands of those freaks in Root-"
"What unspeakable fate did she suffer?"
Sasuke froze, and all he could hear was a deafening buzz.
His mother's gentle smile, the Mysterious Man's cruel words...
Overwhelming anger, grief, and bone-deep despair devoured every last shred of his reason.
The Mysterious Man looked down at Sasuke, whose consciousness was beginning to fade, and said flatly, "That's enough for today."
"Sasuke Uchiha, today, I'm only taking one of your arms."
With that, he bent down, reached out, and picked up the blood-soaked left arm from the ground, gripping it in his hand.
His scarlet Sharingan swept over Sasuke's battered body. He slowly raised his hand and pointed at each part of Sasuke in turn.
"You still have a right arm, two legs, ears, eyes, a nose..."
"I'll have to think carefully about how long I should wait before taking another one of your 'parts.'"
A sick smile curled the Mysterious Man's lips, and his voice brimmed with anticipation.
"I truly can't wait to see the pain and despair on Uchiha Itachi's face when he learns about all this."
He said nothing more. Chakra flashed around him as he used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished into the woods, leaving behind only bloodstains and lingering terror.
Only when the Mysterious Man's presence had completely faded did a panting Kakashi finally break free of the fight and stagger over to Sasuke, his expression thunderous.
Not daring to waste a moment, he immediately crouched down and began treating Sasuke's wound.
"Kakashi-sensei, how's Sasuke? What should we do?"
Naruto clenched his fists, his eyes red as he looked at Sasuke lying in the pool of blood, his heart filled with anxiety and anger.
Sakura Haruno was even more frightened. Her face was deathly pale, and she trembled all over, her voice full of worry and tears welling in her eyes.
"There's nothing we can do..." Kakashi's brow was tightly furrowed, his voice heavy and helpless. "He took Sasuke's severed arm with him. All we can do now is stop the bleeding and give him basic first aid. We have to return to Konoha immediately and find a trained medical shinobi to treat him!"
Looking at Sasuke, who had passed out from the pain, he said no more. He bent down and carefully lifted him onto his back, then led Naruto and Sakura Haruno in a headlong rush toward Konoha without another moment's delay.
Meanwhile, the entire shinobi world watching the Sky Screen fell into utter silence before erupting into a thunderous uproar. Everyone was completely stunned by what they had seen.
"Damn! That man has to be Uchiha Sen! He can't handle Uchiha Itachi, so he goes after his little brother instead. That's despicable!"
"But that doesn't make sense either! Uchiha Itachi could slaughter his own parents and his entire clan. Would he really still care about his little brother Sasuke?"
"Exactly! How could hurting Sasuke make Uchiha Itachi suffer? He wouldn't care at all!"
"But didn't Uchiha Itachi threaten Danzo earlier, telling him not to lay a hand on Sasuke?"
"I can't make sense of it. I just can't..."
"So that can only mean one thing."
"Uchiha Itachi is a complete lunatic!"
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