"For what?" Hyuga Gakuya chuckled coldly, his tone thick with disdain toward Hinata. "For power. For revenge. And for ambition."
"Kinda cruel, huh? You've changed a lot since we last saw you, Gakuya," Kakashi said, stepping protectively in front of the others.
Gakuya scratched his head with a sheepish smile, his voice momentarily regaining that familiar, modest tone from the past.
"Really? Maybe I just kept up the act for too long."
"Why did you leave us alive?" Hinata finally asked, the question that had haunted her for years. "You wiped out the entire Hyuga clan—why not finish the job?"
"Why now?" Gakuya raised a hand, and in an instant, Hinata's body flew uncontrollably toward his outstretched palm.
Yūhi Kurenai and Kakashi reacted in a flash, trying to grab her, but an invisible repulsion force flung them backward.
Gakuya's hand closed tightly around Hinata's neck. He lifted her effortlessly and stared into her white eyes with a chilling glare.
"Because I wanted you to live… live in the same torment and hatred that I once did."
Back then, almost everyone who knew the truth behind the death of Hyuga Gakuya's parents had vanished. Hinata, of course, had no idea what really happened.
With a flick of his chakra, Gakuya cast a genjutsu, pulling Hinata into an illusion.
In that world, Hinata became the three-year-old Gakuya. She sat in her mother's arms, while his father knelt and pleaded with a cold, unfeeling Gakuya.
Then came the horror. They crushed his mother's skull with a single blow, her brain matter splattering across Hinata's small frame. The father, desperate to protect her, took his own life before Gakuya's eyes.
After the bloodshed, Gakuya stared coldly at Hinata within the illusion.
"Do you feel it now? That unforgettable, soul-rending hatred. But this is only the beginning. You'll experience everything I did."
"You'll understand me eventually."
With those words, the genjutsu deepened.
...
In the real world, Gakuya casually tossed Hinata's unconscious body toward Kurenai.
"Don't even think about trying to dispel the genjutsu," he said with a sneer. "You'll only make it worse. Relax—she'll survive. All she's seeing are some... memories."
This genjutsu had built-in safeguards, and with the gemstone embedded in Gakuya's chest, it was nearly unbreakable.
Inside the illusion, Hinata trembled and thrashed. In reality, her body shook uncontrollably in Kurenai's arms.
After hearing Gakuya's warning, none of them dared attempt to break the illusion.
Without another word, Gakuya—clearly growing impatient—walked past them, Deidara trailing close behind.
"My target isn't Konoha, Kakashi. So stay out of my way." As Gakuya passed, no one had the nerve to try and stop him.
...
"I finally found you… Itachi!" Sasuke called out to the distant figure.
Itachi's gaze sharpened. Despite the flood of memories and longing he felt for his little brother, his tone remained flat.
"Sasuke… you've grown. But I wonder—has your strength kept up?"
Sasuke drew the Kusanagi Sword, his eyes gleaming with three tomoe.
"For three years, I've lived by your words. Trained, pushed myself past every limit. All for this moment—to kill you!"
"How pitiful. Those eyes… is that all you've got?" Itachi said with a condescending smirk.
"You want to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, don't you?" Sasuke snapped. "Was it exhausting playing the role of the doting older brother? All so I'd gain the Mangekyō and become your spare? You slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan… for a pair of eyes?!"
Question after question, Sasuke laid bare the suspicion he'd harbored for years. Deep down, some small part of him still hoped he was wrong—hoped Itachi would deny it.
"You've come a long way," Itachi replied calmly. "You've figured out more than I expected. But you still can't beat me. Not with those eyes."
It wasn't time yet. Itachi hadn't reached the end of his rope. He wasn't ready to die—not by Sasuke's hand.
Hearing Itachi confirm it all broke something in Sasuke. The fury he'd kept buried erupted. He couldn't comprehend it—how anyone could kill their own parents for such a reason.
"Don't you dare underestimate me!!" Sasuke roared, lightning flickering across his Kusanagi.
"Just keep that sharp-fanged guy off me," Sasuke said to his team without looking back.
"Got it," they replied one by one.
"Want me to take care of him, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked with a chuckle.
"No. Go focus on capturing the Tailed Beast," Itachi replied, glancing briefly at the chaos behind them.
Iwagakure and Kirigakure had formed a temporary alliance to attack Uchiha Obito, who was using the Three-Tails' power to lay waste to both sides. And the Mist shinobi—Obito gave them special attention.
The girl he loved had died because of one of their schemes.
"Alright then. I'll go handle the Three-Tails," Kisame said as he turned away. But in his heart, he was already planning how to help Obito escape. After all, it was Obito who'd recruited him into Akatsuki, and one of the few who knew about the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Sasuke's attack struck like lightning—fast, sudden, brutal. He leapt, raising the Kusanagi high overhead, and brought it down in a deadly vertical slash.
Itachi reacted with incredible speed, drawing a kunai and raising it in defense.
But Sasuke's power had surpassed Itachi's expectations. Bolstered by Chidori's lightning, the kunai snapped clean in two, and the blade kept falling.
Itachi twisted, narrowly avoiding the strike. As he dodged, he lashed out with a powerful kick aimed at Sasuke's airborne body.
But Sasuke wasn't the same as three years ago. He anticipated the move, flipping in midair to dodge Itachi's counterattack with ease.
...
Sasuke followed through, driving the Kusanagi into the ground. In that instant, an intense current of electricity exploded outward from the point of impact.
Chidori had evolved. The raw, concentrated force of it transformed into a wave of lightning—Chidori Stream—ripping across the battlefield.
But Itachi wasn't fazed. His eyes shifted—three tomoe rotating and fusing into a Mangekyō Sharingan.
A crimson skeletal frame appeared around his body, assembling rapidly into a solid defense. The ribcage-like armor blocked the lightning with ease.
Then came the retaliation.
From the skeletal barrier, a massive arm materialized—an enormous bone hand—slamming down toward Sasuke.
This time, Sasuke couldn't dodge. The blow landed hard, hurling him like a ragdoll through the air.
At the last possible moment, a blur of orange and yellow streaked across the battlefield—Naruto.
He jumped, caught Sasuke mid-flight, and landed smoothly.
"Sasuke! Are you alright?" Naruto asked, grabbing his friend's arm.
But Sasuke, burning with rage, shoved him off.
"Get lost!"
Naruto wasn't deterred. He grabbed Sasuke again, checking him over.
"Are you hurt? Can you move?"
"I said GET LOST!" Sasuke roared, throwing him off once more.
Without another word, he charged back toward Itachi.
The two clashed in a blur of hand-to-hand combat—until Itachi's Mangekyō gleamed.
Tsukuyomi.
In an instant, Sasuke was trapped.
Naruto's eyes widened. He ran toward them, trying to save Sasuke—but Itachi beat him to it. He grabbed Sasuke by the collar and tossed him directly into Naruto's arms.
Naruto caught him, eyes fierce.
"Why do you care so much about him?" Itachi asked.
Naruto pulled Sasuke close, letting his head rest against his shoulder.
"You'd never understand… This is what it means to have a bond with someone."
"…A bond, huh?" Itachi murmured. For a brief moment, something flickered in his eyes.
Sasuke… had found a true friend.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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