Light and shadow shifted across the Sky Screen as the scenes changed rapidly.
The terrifying battle in the woods had ended. Kakashi dared not waste a moment. Carrying the unconscious, blood-soaked Sasuke Uchiha on his back, he raced toward Konoha at full speed with the still-shaken Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno.
The three looked terrified and were covered in dust. Sasuke, in particular, was barely breathing, and blood continued to seep through the layers of bandages around his severed arm-a horrifying sight.
The moment they passed through the Konoha Gate, Kakashi told the other two to go home and await orders. Then he headed straight for Konoha Hospital and rushed the gravely wounded Sasuke into the emergency room.
The scene on the Sky Screen fell quiet. Only the harsh lights of the hospital's emergency room remained, making the atmosphere unbearably oppressive.
After a long struggle to save him, the operating room lights finally went out.
Sasuke's life had been saved. He was out of danger, and his injuries had been stabilized.
But the left arm the mysterious man had taken was gone for good. It could not be restored.
From that day forward, Sasuke Uchiha had permanently lost an arm.
Before long, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at the hospital in a hurry, dressed in his Hokage Robe.
On the Sky Screen, he looked older and more exhausted than usual. The gray at his temples had grown more pronounced, and his face was clouded with worry and gloom.
He strode up to Kakashi, who was waiting in the corridor, and asked in a low, heavy voice, "Kakashi, what happened? How did an ordinary mission leave you so badly injured? Why have we lost contact with the entire Anbu squad?"
Kakashi lowered his eyes, his expression solemn, and recounted everything that had happened on their return journey. "Lord Hokage, a mysterious, powerful shinobi intercepted us on our way back."
"His strength was unfathomable. He defeated every Anbu accompanying us and immediately identified Naruto as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
Kakashi paused, a shadow crossing his eyes. "In the end, he cut off Sasuke's left arm, then withdrew."
"!!!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stiffened. His expression darkened at once, shock and anger filling his eyes as he demanded, "Did you uncover anything about who this mysterious man was?"
"With your strength and six elite Anbu, there are very few people in the Shinobi World capable of doing this."
Kakashi fell silent for a moment. The sight of the man activating his Three-Tomoe Sharingan flashed through his mind before he slowly answered, "I suspect he's most likely a survivor of the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre."
"What?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted sharply. He was visibly shaken, his mind reeling.
There was a second survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre?!
Kakashi nodded solemnly and supplied the most decisive evidence. "He could activate and deactivate his Sharingan at will. He couldn't have been an outsider like me posing as an Uchiha."
Those words settled the truth.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face turned ashen, and the air around him grew frighteningly heavy.
An Uchiha survivor with a Sharingan, terrifying strength, and malice toward both Konoha and Sasuke!
For Konoha, already struggling with a shortage of capable successors, this only made things worse!
A deathly silence settled over the corridor, so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
After a long while, Kakashi looked at the closed door of the hospital room and asked quietly, his voice tinged with helplessness and regret, "Lord Hokage, about Sasuke..."
"Now that he's lost a hand, I'm afraid he may never be a shinobi again."
Fighting, forming hand seals, practicing techniques-a shinobi needed both hands.
For an Uchiha boy who had sworn revenge and made becoming stronger his lifelong obsession, losing an arm was almost the same as destroying his path as a shinobi-and his entire life.
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long breath and sighed wearily, helplessness filling his eyes. "Kakashi, I think you understand. Medical Ninjutsu simply can't heal..."
Kakashi said nothing.
Of course he knew. He had merely clung to a little unrealistic hope.
Suddenly, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes shifted as someone came to mind. He murmured, "If Tsunade were still in the village... perhaps there would be a chance."
Creating an arm might not have been difficult for Tsunade.
With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi left.
"Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi murmured, then said softly, "As long as there's hope."
Before long, the unconscious Sasuke Uchiha slowly opened his eyes in his hospital room, his awareness gradually returning.
Waves of piercing, bone-deep pain came from where his left arm should have been.
Layers of bandages wrapped the wound, but they could not conceal the hollow feeling left by his missing limb.
Sasuke stiffly lifted his head and looked at his empty left shoulder.
Terror immediately spread across his face.
He remembered-that scene of utter despair.
In an instant, Sasuke completely broke down.
"Aaaah!!"
He screamed like a madman, his voice hoarse and desperate, his eyes filled with utter devastation.
"I only have one hand left... I only have one hand left!!"
"A shinobi? Am I even a shinobi anymore?"
"How am I supposed to get revenge?! How am I supposed to take revenge on Uchiha Itachi?!"
"How am I supposed to restore the Uchiha Clan?!"
"I'm ruined!"
"I'm useless now!"
"No..."
Sasuke clutched his empty sleeve, his body shaking violently. His eyes reddened, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
He had lived for one purpose alone-to grow stronger, take revenge, and restore the Uchiha Clan.
But now!
He had lost an arm. His body was incomplete!
With his body like this, he could not even form hand seals properly. How could he remain a shinobi? How could he grow stronger? How could he take revenge?
Sasuke clenched his teeth, his eyes filled with lifeless despair.
"I'd be better off dead than living like this!"
That desperate roar left everyone aching inside.
Kakashi pushed open the door and entered the room. Seeing Sasuke so utterly broken pained him as well. He offered gentle reassurance. "Sasuke, don't give up. There has to be a way."
But Sasuke seemed unable to hear him at all.
He was submerged in despair, his eyes hollow and his body cold. He had lost all hope.
Kakashi sighed inwardly at the sight, then spoke earnestly again. "You're my student. Whatever happens, I'll help you. I'll find a way to heal you."
Having said that,
Kakashi offered no further persuasion. He silently turned and left the room, giving Sasuke space to be alone.
The hospital room fell completely silent.
Sasuke sat alone on the bed, staring blankly at his severed left arm.
Watching his one-armed, desperate, tormented self on the Sky Screen, the real Sasuke's face turned utterly ashen.
Was this him a few years from now?
Was this his future?
Maimed, weak, helpless, unable even to take revenge!
I refuse to accept this!!
Sasuke roared furiously inside.
He was Sasuke Uchiha!
The Uchiha Clan's last genius!
He represented the honor of the Uchiha Clan.
If he could not avenge them or restore his clan, his life had no meaning at all!
He would rather die than live in disgrace!
Just then, countless gazes from his Ninja Academy classmates fell on him, filled with sympathy, pity, and regret.
Those looks ignited the fiercest depths of Sasuke's pride and anger!
You pity me?
You actually pity me?
What right do you have to pity me?
Ridiculous!
Absolutely ridiculous!
Hahaha...
I'm an Uchiha! My clan stood above all others in the Shinobi World!
Noble blood, unmatched talent!
Who are these ordinary people to sympathize with me? To pity me?
His overwhelming pride twisted Sasuke's expression, while humiliation and fury surged in his eyes.
"Get away... all of you, get away from me!!"
"I, Sasuke Uchiha, don't need anyone's pity!!"
Seeing Sasuke so unhinged left all his classmates shaken.
Even Naruto, who always found himself drawn to Sasuke, did not dare speak now.
In a corner of the corridor outside the window,
Kakashi Hatake stood quietly in the shadows, watching every moment of Sasuke's breakdown, anger, and stubborn defiance.
He let out a soft sigh.
Sasuke was not his student yet.
In fact, before this, he had never paid Sasuke any attention.
But ever since the Sky Screen appeared, he had begun to care deeply about the boy.
Perhaps it was because a certain fool had once given his life to redeem Kakashi's bleak existence.
Kakashi touched the Sharingan hidden beneath his forehead protector.
Whatever the future held, whatever tragic ending the Sky Screen foretold,
At that moment, Kakashi silently made up his mind.
He would make sure to train Sasuke well.
He would never let this child fall into darkness.
Meanwhile, in the distant Land of Rain,
Uchiha Itachi stood alone in a dark, damp corner.
His head was raised, his gaze fixed on his younger brother as he screamed and broke down on the Sky Screen, so desperate he wanted to die.
He watched Sasuke weep over his severed arm. He watched Sasuke suffer a fate worse than death. He watched his brother despair, preferring death to accepting a future with a maimed body.
Itachi's heart almost shattered with pain.
That was his own little brother, the one he had sacrificed everything to protect, bearing infamy and even slaughtering his clan for his sake!
His only weakness in this world, his only light!
The precious little brother he had so carefully protected as he grew up.
And now someone had brutally taken his arm, tormented him without restraint, and driven him to utter despair!
How dare you!!
How dare you hurt Sasuke like this!
Overwhelming anguish, fury, regret, and murderous intent instantly filled Itachi's heart.
His composure truly shattered.
Completely.
Uchiha Sen!
This man was too ruthless!
He knew exactly how to take revenge on him!
He wanted vengeance for the Uchiha Clan.
But he never came to fight Itachi himself.
He went straight for his weakness.
Hurting Sasuke, tormenting Sasuke, destroying Sasuke's life.
Forcing Itachi to watch everything he cherished shatter and collapse.
This was the cruelest revenge, the one that cut deepest into his heart!
"Unforgivable..."
"Absolutely unforgivable..."
Itachi clenched his hands inside his sleeves until his knuckles turned white. Murderous intent flooded his eyes, and his voice was hoarse and cold, edged with bone-chilling ruthlessness.
"Uchiha Sen."
"I will find you."
"I will kill you with my own hands."
"I'll make you pay in blood!!"
"No one touches Sasuke!"
Before you continue