XX-level Hokage

“Then you can go ahead,” Obito said. Kisame quickly disappeared from the spot.

"Sasuke probably can't beat Itachi, right?" Shingo asked after Kisame left.

“Logically speaking, he can’t win, but if Itachi is determined to die, then it’s hard to say,” Obito said softly.

On the other side, Xuefeng made an emergency landing next to the ancestral hall. She breathed a slight sigh of relief upon landing on the ground.

At this moment, Sasuke and the other two were already on high alert.

Sasuke drew his Kusanagi sword, Jugo activated his cursed seal, and Suigetsu drew a scythe. "Check the enemy's location and distance," Sasuke asked.

Upon hearing this, Yukikaze quickly closed her eyes, and nearby birds and beasts began to relay information to her.

"From the southeast, it's rapidly approaching. It looks like... um, a shark???" Xuefeng said, opening his eyes with some confusion. "A shark? How can a shark appear on land?" Shuiyue asked, looking at Xuefeng with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know either," a squirrel told me. "That's what Yukikaze said helplessly. "Here it comes," Sasuke said softly.

Shuiyue quickly turned her head away as well.

As Kisame approached and came before them, Suigetsu exclaimed in surprise, "It really is a shark!" "A shark? How rude, brat," Kisame said, baring his sharp teeth at Suigetsu's address. "Sasuke, you go. The three of us will deal with him," Jugo said.

Just as Sasuke was about to say something, Suigetsu spoke up, "Don't worry, even if we can't win, escaping won't be a problem." Hearing this, Sasuke nodded slightly and then rushed towards the shrine.

Kisame didn't stop him, watching Sasuke leave. "Then let's begin."

Jugo and Suigetsu exchanged a glance. "Explosive Smash!"

"Water Release: Water Gun Technique"

Meanwhile, Sasuke quickly arrived at the shrine, entered the underground arena, and saw Itachi sitting in his seat. He walked towards Itachi step by step.

Sasuke began to recall his memories of Itachi.

As Itachi watched Sasuke approach, his mind began to reminisce about Sasuke's past. Happy memories flashed by, and both of them couldn't help but recall the events of the night of the massacre.

"You're lying, my brother didn't do this, because..."

"I've always pretended to be the brother you've always dreamed of, in order to measure your capacity. You will become my rival in measuring my capacity. You have the potential to do so. You should hate me as a painful memory and make surpassing me your lifelong ambition. That's why I spared your life, also for my own sake."

You and I both have the potential to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, but there's a condition: you have to kill your closest friend, just like I did.

It was my brother, it was my brother who gave Shisui to…

Therefore, I obtained these eyes. In the main hall of Nanga Shrine, beneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right, lies the secret of our clan.

At the gathering place, the origin of the Uchiha clan's eye techniques is recorded. The truth behind this secret is revealed there. If you also awaken your eyes, there will be three people, including me, who can use the Mangekyou Sharingan.

In that case, haha, the meaning of keeping you alive is gone.

You're not even worth killing now, you foolish brother. If you want to kill me, then resent and hate me, and live an ugly life.

"Come back to me when you have eyes like mine." Sasuke walked up to Itachi.

"It seems you didn't come here with the same eyes as me, my foolish brother." Itachi, dressed in Akatsuki attire, sat slumped on a stone chair, his left hand tucked into his clothes, and said coldly.

"Itachi, are those eyes really enough for you to kill your family and friends?" Sasuke asked coldly. "Of course," Itachi replied.

"Then I'll defeat your arrogant eyes with my ordinary Sharingan," Sasuke said softly. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and threw it instantly.

Itachi vanished from his spot, dodging Sasuke's kunai, and reappeared beside Sasuke. He then drew his own kunai and lunged at Sasuke. Sasuke instantly drew his Kusanagi sword and blocked Itachi's attack.

Then Itachi grabbed Sasuke's arm, leaped forward, and kicked. Sasuke still used the Kusanagi sword to block, but only managed to block one kick; Itachi's other leg...

It hit Sasuke in the face, sending him flying.

Immediately afterward, Itachi leaped up and charged at Sasuke, who had just regained his footing. Sasuke parried with his Kusanagi sword, but Itachi jumped straight up, grabbed Sasuke by the back of his collar, and flung him to the ground.

Sasuke slid several meters on the ground, and the Kusanagi sword slipped from his hand, but he was not alarmed. He instantly adjusted his body, gripped his right hand, and lightning surged.

Itachi watched this scene expressionlessly.

Sasuke charged towards Itachi wielding Chidori, then struck the ground just before reaching it. "Chidori Stream"

The electric current started spreading from Sasuke's arm towards Itachi.

Itachi leaped up instantly, but Sasuke had already reached the ceiling. At this moment, Itachi had no way to dodge. Sasuke instantly used the Kusanagi Sword to pierce through Itachi's body and plunge it straight into the ground.

"You've gotten stronger," Itachi said softly.

"Itachi, there's one last thing I want to ask you," Sasuke said coldly, looking at Itachi.

But Itachi simply stretched out his hand and pointed to the left. Sasuke turned to look.

Itachi was sitting on the stone chair watching him.

Then Sasuke looked at Itachi lying beneath him, and Itachi instantly transformed into a flock of crows.

Chapter 150: Sasuke VS Itachi (Part 2)

"A crow exactly like the ones from before, is that your signature illusionary farce?" Sasuke said coldly, looking at Itachi sitting on the stone chair.

"Do you want to know the answer? Although it's not the end yet, I'll still listen." Itachi looked at Sasuke and spoke. "I'll say it again," Sasuke's cold voice came.

Then Sasuke instantly appeared behind Itachi and stabbed him with the Kusanagi Sword, piercing through the stone chair and Itachi's chest. Itachi's expression was one of shock, and blood flowed from his mouth.

Sasuke, who was staring at Itachi, turned into a bunch of black shadows.

"Illusion? There's another mysterious power." Blood trickled from the corner of Itachi's mouth as he spoke softly.

"Finally, I have one last question for you. Here's what I said: you bastard, answer my question. Until you answer, the pain in my chest will last..."

"Continue," Sasuke said, his eyes filled with cold indifference as he turned to look at the Kusanagi sword in his hand.

"Did they deliberately avoid important positions?" Itachi asked softly.

"You once said that if I could also awaken my Sharingan, there would be three people, including you, who could use the Mangekyou Sharingan. So, who in the Uchiha clan possessed the other Mangekyou Sharingan at that time?" Sasuke asked coldly.

"Why would you care about something like that?" she said softly.

“So that I can kill that guy after I kill you,” Sasuke said. “Kill him?” Itachi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"When you killed all your clansmen, you said there was another person with the Mangekyou Sharingan, and you didn't kill him."

In other words, that guy was your accomplice, because even you couldn't have wiped out the entire Uchiha Guard by yourself. Sasuke said calmly.

During his time at "Root", he realized that some things are not as they appear to be, and only through deep thinking can one discover the hidden truth.

"You noticed that?" Itachi's tone was somewhat wistful.

"Who is he?" Sasuke asked coldly. Itachi remained silent.

Sasuke pushed the Kusanagi sword, plunging the entire blade into Itachi's body.

Itachi said expressionlessly, "Uchiha Madara." Sasuke's eyes widened instantly.

He remembered what Mashiro had said to him not long ago.

"Sasuke, have you ever thought about why the Konoha higher-ups suspected the Uchiha clan after the Nine-Tails' attack?" "I don't know."

"Because the higher-ups saw that the Nine-Tails' eyes displayed the Uchiha pattern, indicating that it was controlled by the Uchiha clan to attack Konoha."

“Control? How is that possible? How much ocular power would it take to control the Nine-Tails?” “Then, Sasuke, in your memory, do you know any Uchiha clan members who could do such a thing?” “Perhaps only the legendary Uchiha Madara could do it.”

"Uchiha Madara?!" Upon realizing this, Sasuke's expression instantly turned panicked.

"One of the two founders of Konoha, and the first to awaken the Sharingan, Uchiha Madara," Itachi continued. "The founder?! Madara should have died long ago, are you kidding me?" Sasuke roared.

"Madara is still alive. Believe it or not, it's up to you," Itachi said softly. "Don't talk nonsense," Sasuke said, not believing Itachi's words.

In response, Itachi said, "People rely on their own knowledge and understanding, and are bound by these things, even calling them reality, but..."

However, knowledge and cognition are often ambiguous, and the reality based on them may be an illusion. People live within their own perceptions; don't you think that's true?

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Sasuke sensed something was wrong.

"Madara is dead. That's just wishful thinking on your part, just like how you used to think I was a kind older brother." Itachi turned to Sasuke and said coldly.

Upon hearing this, Itachi's words from the night of the massacre began to echo in Sasuke's ears again.

“I have been playing the role of the older brother you expect me to be, in order to measure your capacity.”

"What happened that night, I could only think of as an illusion when I was young. Although I have tried to convince myself that it was just a cruel illusion all these years, it was all undoubtedly real," Sasuke said with hatred.

Then he stretched out his right hand, and lightning appeared, rushing in another direction and piercing through the stone chair.

“But my eyes are different now. My Sharingan can see through genjutsu.” Sasuke unleashed Chidori once more.

"Still as assertive as ever, huh? Well, I'll take that for now," Rong said, sitting on the stone chair.

Immediately afterward, Itachi, whose body had been pierced by Sasuke, vanished. It was still a genjutsu.

"Let's end this acting here," Sasuke said, looking directly at Itachi.

"While loving strength isn't a bad thing, Sasuke, it seems you haven't yet developed the same vision as me. Haven't you killed all the people important to you yet? Did you come to me with such naive thoughts?" Itachi said calmly.

"Then hurry up and kill me with your Mangekyou Sharingan, or is it that even I am not capable of letting you measure my own strength right now?" Sasuke said, having regained his composure.

"What remarkable confidence." Itachi smiled and stood up from the stone chair.

On the wall to the side, Jue was showing his face, watching everything that had happened. "Those two haven't moved an inch since just now," Bai Jue said.

"It's just a contest of illusion techniques," Black Zetsu explained. Rong walked down the steps and met Sasuke's gaze.

"The Mangekyou Sharingan is a special eye. From the moment it is awakened, these eyes begin to connect with darkness, and the more it is used, the more it is sealed away." Itachi said, activating his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, looking into Itachi's eyes. "The Mangekyou Sharingan will one day lose its light," Itachi said.

"Blindness, is this the price for gaining the power to tame the Nine-Tails?" Sasuke seemed unfazed by this.

"It seems you've already read that stone tablet." Itachi said, walking step by step towards Sasuke. "Madara, who exactly is he?" Sasuke asked.

"He was the first man to tame the Nine-Tails with the Mangekyou Sharingan. He was my partner and my teacher. He was a man who would never perish, and he was also the only one to uncover another secret of the Mangekyou Sharingan," Itachi said softly.

"Another secret of the Sharingan?" Sasuke said softly, unaware of this. "Besides the eye power that tamed the Nine-Tails, is there anything else?" Sasuke asked.

“That’s right, another secret, the most important secret,” Itachi said softly. “What is it? Answer me,” Sasuke asked, looking at Itachi.

"Then let's talk about the Uchiha's past..." (This part is too long, skip it. If you're interested, you can watch the series. In short, it's about Madara taking over his younger brother Izuna's Mangekyou Sharingan to achieve the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, and then being defeated.)

"In other words, Madara is a good-for-nothing now. The one who truly masters the Uchiha's peak isn't that guy. The one who will transcend that man, surpass Madara, and truly approach the peak will be me. And now, I can finally obtain the power to surpass Madara." As he spoke, Itachi clenched his fists tightly, and then his expression became incredibly crazed.

"Sass, you are the new light to me, you are my accessory. The Uchiha clan was originally a vile clan that would fight with their friends for the Mangekyou Sharingan and with their own brothers for the eyes of eternity, and then take pride in this power. From the moment you were born into this clan, you were dragged into this bloody fate. Come on, little brother, I will kill you, free you from the fate of your clan, and personally grasp true eternity."

The power to remove limitations and liberate oneself from one's own limitations.

Itachi spoke maniacally, and a monstrous orange chakra surged from behind him, beginning to emanate from Sasuke.

As Itachi continued speaking and the orange chakra drew closer, Sasuke's mind began to flood with past memories.