"That's a Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Looking at the cherry-blossom-petal Sharingan in Uchiha Senmon's right eye socket, Sasuke looked astonished, then warily activated his Sharingan.
Just as his Three-Tomoe Sharingan was about to transform into a Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke suddenly pressed his left hand over one eye and groaned through clenched teeth.
"Ugh..."
"Sasuke, your ocular power hasn't recovered yet. Your earlier battle with Itachi did considerable damage to your eyes. You'd better not push yourself," Uchiha Senmon said.
"What's wrong with your eyes?"
Uchiha Senmon's right eye was a Mangekyō Sharingan, while his left was an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan. At a glance, they looked asymmetrical.
"I mean you no harm. My Mangekyō Sharingan's Eight Thunder Gods isn't an offensive Dojutsu like Amaterasu. It poses no threat whatsoever to the living."
Uchiha Senmon neither confirmed nor denied Sasuke's doubts. Bloody tears spattered from the corner of his Mangekyō Sharingan as ocular power surged out.
"But this Dojutsu can let us see Itachi one last time."
As soon as he finished speaking, the empty air seemed to shatter. A dark, deathly aura seized Sasuke's heart. Amid that hair-raising atmosphere, a streak of ghostly blue light flashed and vanished, and the hazy outline of a figure gradually grew distinct before Uchiha Senmon and Sasuke.
"Itachi!"
Sasuke was startled, a subtle trace of joy mingling with his resentment and anger.
But his Sharingan's ocular power immediately saw through it. This was not Uchiha Itachi himself, but his soul.
"Why am I here?"
A moment later, Uchiha Itachi opened his black eyes in confusion. Upon seeing Sasuke, he furrowed his brow and murmured:
"Could this be the Ritual of the Lord of Mount Tai..."
"No, I used my Dojutsu to summon you back to the world of the living. I hope you won't blame me for