When the smoke cleared, everyone saw that Uchiha Itachi's Akatsuki cloak was gone. Patches of burns covered his exposed skin, leaving him looking utterly battered.
Seeing that Itachi's Akatsuki cloak was gone, Little Naruto knew he was done for.
Although Orochimaru hadn't interfered this time, nothing could stop Uchiha Itachi from claiming this Ocean Oscar.
Mustering the last of his strength, Itachi staggered toward Sasuke, coughing up blood as he raised his index finger.
Sasuke looked terrified. He thought Uchiha Itachi still wanted to gouge out his eyes...
But Sasuke had no chakra left, and his physical strength was exhausted too...
Just as Sasuke fell into despair, Itachi's index finger gently touched his forehead.
"Forgive me, Sasuke... There won't be... a next time..."
With those final words, Itachi's life came to an end...
Sasuke watched his enemy, Uchiha Itachi, die in his arms. He felt no excitement, only an emptiness deep inside.
And... Itachi's final words had struck him deeply.
Only now did he begin to think about Itachi's life, and why Itachi had slaughtered their entire clan...
At the same time, Sasuke's eyes began to change, becoming his own Mangekyō Sharingan...
Elsewhere.
After Obito was captured, Little Naruto, Otherworld Itachi, and Minato Namikaze paid him no further attention.
With Minato Namikaze there as Obito's natural counter, escape was impossible anyway.
As for Karin and the other two, all three had rushed over the moment Itachi reached out and walked toward Sasuke.
Now that they saw Itachi was dead, the three of them breathed sighs of relief.
"Sasuke... are you all right?"
Sasuke stared fixedly at the smile on Itachi's dead face. Instead of answering, he looked up at Little Naruto and the other two walking toward him.
"Itachi from the Otherworld, do you know what really