In the southern part of the Land of Fire, at the Uchiha ruins.
Sasuke watched Itachi, who had transformed into crows beneath him, sitting on a stone chair with an expressionless face.
Suddenly, from behind the stone chair, Sasuke raised the Kusanagi sword and plunged it into Itachi's chest along with the chair.
"Crows, just like before, Itachi! I can see through your genjutsu now. Answer me, who is the other person?"
"Since you want to know so badly, I'll tell you. Uchiha Madara, one of the founders of the Hidden Leaf Village. Madara is alive. Believe it or not, that's up to you."
Uchiha Madara is alive. Sasuke naturally wouldn't believe it. How could a human live for so long?
Sasuke made hand seals again, and lightning appeared in his hand, then shot towards his back. But behind him, Itachi was still sitting there unharmed.
Sasuke had stabbed Itachi twice before, both were genjutsu, but Sasuke had already seen through them.
Itachi smiled slightly, opened his eyes, and his pupils transformed from three tomoe to Mangekyo Sharingan. The scene around Sasuke instantly changed.
"Then I will tell you the secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan. From the moment it awakens, it leads to darkness. The more you use it, the faster you will go blind. The Mangekyo Sharingan brings great power, but it comes with a price."
Then, Itachi told Sasuke the story of Uchiha Madara and his younger brother, Uchiha Izuna. Although it was fabricated, half truth and half lies made it easier to believe.
What Itachi said was nothing more than that Uchiha Madara, in order to obtain eternal light, stole his brother Izuna's Mangekyo Sharingan and fused them into Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Of course, to fuse Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, one must possess the Mangekyo Sharingan of a close relative. But in reality, it was Izuna who voluntarily offered his Mangekyo Sharingan to his brother before his death. The one who killed Izuna was the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
"Sasuke! You are my new light! I want to take your Sharingan to gain power beyond Uchiha Madara!"
After telling the story, Itachi suddenly attacked Sasuke. With a flash of movement, he appeared before Sasuke and kicked him into the wall. As Sasuke was about to use Chidori, Itachi appeared before him, grabbed Sasuke's left hand, and pinned him down with his feet.
Next, Itachi reached for Sasuke's eyes and directly gouged them out, then preserved them in a bottle.
Just as Itachi was about to reach for the second eye, the Curse Mark of Heaven on Sasuke's body activated, and everything shattered like a mirage.
Returning to reality, Itachi was clutching his eye with one hand, gasping for breath. Sasuke was also kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily.
"You actually broke my Tsukuyomi..." Itachi's face was filled with disbelief that Sasuke could break Tsukuyomi.
Yes, everything that had just happened was genjutsu. Sasuke, with his three tomoe Sharingan, had broken through the Mangekyo Sharingan's Tsukuyomi. It was clear that Sasuke's talent might surpass Itachi's.
Obito, hiding in the shadows, also understood this, further solidifying his belief that Sasuke could be manipulated. Lixing, on the other hand, had witnessed everything in the genjutsu. For Obito and the Black Zetsu, who had stood still for only a moment, Lixing felt as if a very long time had passed.
"Sasuke could break Itachi's Tsukuyomi? I won't believe Itachi wasn't holding back," Lixing grumbled inwardly. The holding back was too obvious.
Next, Sasuke tore off the bandage in his hand, and a shuriken appeared in his palm. Without hesitation, Sasuke threw it forcefully at Itachi.
Itachi was about to make hand seals, but upon seeing the shuriken flying through the air, it suddenly split into two. Itachi simply leaned sideways and leaped, passing through the middle.
However, this shuriken had a mechanism. Sasuke pulled a string with one hand, the shuriken was disassembled, and it pierced Itachi's thigh from behind.
This scene left Zetsu confused. Itachi shouldn't have been unable to dodge an attack of this level, and there were many ways to dodge it, yet he chose to pass through the middle.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke wouldn't give Itachi any chance to breathe, and immediately spat out a large fireball. Itachi jumped up to avoid the fireball, but Sasuke followed up with a Chidori.
This attack pierced the ceiling, and Itachi also ascended to the rooftop, simultaneously spitting a large fire downwards.
After the flames disappeared, Itachi finally saw Sasuke, who was pursuing him. At this moment, Sasuke activated the Curse Mark of Heaven again, and two wings extended from his back, blocking Itachi's fire jutsu.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"
Itachi and Sasuke simultaneously used the Great Fireball Jutsu, clashing without pause.
But it was clear that Sasuke's fireball was slightly larger, and his fire style suppressed Itachi's.
But was that the case? No, Itachi was distracted. He closed his right eye tightly, and suddenly blood tears flowed from his right eye. He opened it again, and a ball of black flame appeared in the air, directly incinerating Sasuke's flames.
The reason he was suppressed was that Itachi was brewing Amaterasu. The size of a ninjutsu is determined by the amount of chakra used by the caster. Itachi had focused his chakra on Amaterasu, which is why his Great Fireball was smaller than Sasuke's.
Seeing that Itachi had used Amaterasu, Sasuke immediately began to run around the surroundings at the fastest speed. Itachi's eyes continuously followed Sasuke. Wherever Itachi's gaze fell, it was burned by Amaterasu.
In a short while, the entire Uchiha ruins were surrounded by Amaterasu. Lixing, who was hidden in the air, was almost burned. Although Lixing didn't care about Amaterasu, he was currently holding a sleeping Fū.
"Almost burned me. You wait, I'll definitely beat up your brother next time."
...
No matter how fast Sasuke ran, he couldn't be faster than the eyes of a person. The wings on Sasuke's back were touched by Amaterasu.
Sasuke writhed in pain on the ground. Itachi also couldn't hold on any longer and quickly closed his eyes, stopping the use of Amaterasu.
However, Lixing saw very clearly that Sasuke had already created a hole on the ground with Chidori and escaped Amaterasu using Orochimaru's Body Replacement Jutsu, also known as shedding skin. However, this technique consumed a great deal of chakra.
Sasuke below had almost no chakra left, but he was still making hand seals, determined to use all his chakra to eliminate Itachi.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Sasuke spat out over a dozen dragon-shaped flames, which broke through the ceiling and flew into the air. Itachi also dodged them repeatedly.
"As expected, it didn't injure you? But it doesn't matter, the main event is next!" Seeing that the Great Dragon Fire hadn't eliminated Itachi, Sasuke immediately jumped onto a high platform.
"The fire jutsu just now was deliberately directed towards the sky, to create thunderclouds. This ninjutsu is a lightning strike from the heavens. I am merely guiding this power towards you. You absolutely cannot dodge this technique. The name of the technique is Kirin!"
Sasuke raised his left hand on the high platform and swung it down forcefully. A lightning bolt descended from the sky, its shape indeed resembling a Kirin's head.
In an instant, the entire Uchiha ruins were destroyed by the lightning strike, becoming a complete ruin. The intense lightning flashed, making everyone unable to open their eyes. However, Lixing saw that Itachi had used Susanoo, and Itachi's Susanoo had a spiritual artifact in its left hand, the Yata Mirror, a shield that could block all attacks.
When the lightning completely dissipated, Sasuke collapsed amidst the ruins, thinking that Itachi had definitely turned to ashes. But...
"So, this is your Kirin? If it weren't for this move, I would have been killed by you. Then, let me show you my trump card!"
"Susanoo! This is the third power hidden by the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Itachi's voice echoed. Sasuke was immediately shocked. Itachi wasn't dead yet? Sasuke forcibly entered the Curse Mark state, but due to lack of chakra, his left eye had turned into Orochimaru's eye.
Sasuke had not killed Orochimaru before but had sealed him within his body. Now, the chakra used to seal Orochimaru was drained, and Orochimaru might truly possess Sasuke.
"Sasuke, if you have any hidden powers, use them! Don't hold back." After speaking, Itachi activated Susanoo, starting from the skeleton, then the meridians, then the body, and finally the armor.
Itachi walked towards Sasuke step by step, and Susanoo followed him. Sasuke was unwilling, pulled out several kunai, and threw them with attached explosive tags at Itachi, but they were easily blocked by Susanoo.
"Damn it!" Sasuke shouted angrily, drew his Kusanagi sword, jumped onto Susanoo, and stabbed it forcefully, but was repelled tens of meters away by the Yata Mirror.
"I can lend you my power. Didn't you want to gain the power to kill Itachi? Use my power!" Orochimaru was instigating Sasuke from within, urging him to release the seal.
Sasuke had no other choice and borrowed Orochimaru's power. Subsequently, from Sasuke's neck, white snakes flew out, forming a giant snake with eight heads.
"The thing that should come out has come out!" Itachi's objective was to lure Orochimaru out, and he had succeeded.
Then, Susanoo's right hand extended, and a gourd produced a long sword. Sword after sword, it chopped off the heads of the Yamata no Orochi, but the severed heads quickly grew back.
"Is this Orochimaru's Yamata no Jutsu? It feels like it's just bigger, nothing else is impressive!" Lixing watched Itachi chop at the giant snake as if it were cutting vegetables, feeling that Orochimaru's move was too weak and only for show.
Suddenly, one of the snake heads opened its mouth, and Orochimaru's figure slowly emerged, with an evil smile on his face: "Itachi! It's useless, you can't kill me!"
Itachi was too lazy to argue with Orochimaru and stabbed into Orochimaru's body with one sword. Just as Orochimaru was about to continue his taunts, his expression changed in shock. The entire being, along with the Yamata no Orochi, was sealed into the gourd of the Totsuka Blade.
The Totsuka Blade was also a spiritual artifact possessed by Itachi, a sealing sword. Those struck by it would be permanently sealed in genjutsu. Orochimaru was no exception.
After Orochimaru was completely sealed by Itachi, the Curse Mark of Heaven on Sasuke also disappeared. Itachi continued to walk towards Sasuke step by step.
Itachi could no longer see Sasuke's face clearly. He wanted to get closer to see his beloved younger brother well before his death. Sasuke, however, looked terrified, his legs trembling, thinking Itachi was going to kill him.
"Sasuke, forgive me, this is the last time!"
Itachi uttered his final words, extended two fingers, and lightly tapped Sasuke's forehead. Then, his consciousness gradually faded, and he fell headfirst onto the wall, completely dead.
Sasuke was startled. Seeing that Itachi had no signs of life, Sasuke also fainted on the ground.
"It's over, it's over, come out!" Seeing both of them fall to the ground, Lixing emerged from the void carrying Fū. Obito also appeared amidst a distortion, and Black Zetsu slowly crawled out from the ground.
"Lord Madara! Lixing! You were here too? Then who is blocking the Leaf ninja? Karin and Yugito?" White Zetsu had no idea Obito and Lixing were there, and was startled by Lixing's sudden appearance.
"The eyes are yours, the corpse is mine." Lixing was too lazy to waste words. He directly extracted Itachi's eyes, put them in a bottle, and threw them to Obito. Then, he used a scroll to seal Itachi's corpse.
Obito grabbed the bottle: "Take Sasuke with you to the Eastern Stronghold."
"You and Zetsu go. I have something to do. Don't look for me for a while." Lixing, after obtaining Itachi's corpse, prepared to leave, thinking that Jiraiya should have encountered Pain by now, and he needed to rush to Amegakure immediately, hoping he could make it in time.