But...
It's okay even if Nagato doesn't agree.
Because the sensible Konan WILL agree.
"Tsk tsk! Why do I feel that I'm a bit despicable?' Ryosuke thought to himself.
But...
It's okay to be mean.
Bullying is better than being bullied, right?
If Ryosuke had to choose one, he would definitely choose to be the bully.
Moreover, is Ryosuke really despicable?
Think about what happened to Konan in the original story.
If Konan follows Ryosuke, it will naturally prevent her from dying at the hands of Obito like in the original story.
If this isn't redemption, then what is?
If you think about it this way...
Ryosuke thought he's quite great.
He's not saving people, but he's on the way to saving people.
Hey~!
I'm such a nice guy!
Ryosuke was filled with emotion.
"Huh?"
Sasuke, who had just returned to his room, suddenly had a cold look in his eyes.
A letter was on his bedside table right now.
Sasuke clearly remembered that such a letter wasn't there when he had gone out.
"Who left it for me?"
Sasuke frowned and went to open the letter.
There were only a few words on it, but after reading it, Sasuke's face turned ugly as he crumpled the paper into a ball.
[At 8:00 p.m, see you outside the base.]
Signed by Itachi!
"I didn't look for you, but you came to me."
Sasuke clenched his fists.
Although he knew that it would be dangerous for him to meet Itachi alone, considering his current strength, even if there was danger, he was confident he could protect himself.
Thinking of this, Sasuke decided to meet Itachi tonight.
What is the purpose of this bastard?
'This guy... does he want to kill me while Menma-sensei is away?' Sasuke thought to himself.
8:00 p.m. was fast approaching.
Sasuke arrived at the open space outside the Akatsuki base.
At this time—
A crow's cry in the sky caught his attention.
When Sasuke looked over, he saw a crow flying into the distance.
Swish!
Sasuke followed immediately.
Needless to say, the only crows that appear in Amegakure are those raised by Itachi.
Following the crow in the sky, Sasuke unknowingly ran out of Amegakure's range.
Outside the village, the drizzle had stopped.
Sasuke ran another fifty or sixty kilometers.
At this time, the crow in the sky landed on a tree.
Sasuke stopped and looked over.
On a branch of the big tree, a figure stood in the shadows. The crow landed on the figure's shoulder.
"Itachi, here I come!" Sasuke said coldly.
"My stupid little brother! You are still so easily fooled."
Itachi, standing in the shadows, looked at his younger brother with complicated emotions.
After tonight, one of them is destined to die.
And that person—
If nothing unexpected happens, it will be him. After all, this was all part of Itachi's plan.
"You bastard! Don't call me little brother!" Sasuke shouted angrily.
Before he knew it, his Mangekyō had activated automatically due to his rage.
The sinister Mangekyō glowed coldly, glaring at Itachi in the shadows, eager to tear him apart.
"You want to kill me to avenge our parents and clan?"
Itachi said coldly, "I also want to kill you. I'll gouge out your eyes, and let my Mangekyō gain eternal light."
"That's exactly what I thought!" Sasuke said coldly.
Sasuke had heard a detailed explanation from Menma about the Eternal Mangekyō, a higher level of the Mangekyō.
He knew that overuse of Mangekyō's abilities would eventually lead to blindness.
Only by evolving to Eternal Mangekyō could one obtain eternal light.
And the way to evolve the Mangekyo was to fuse one's eyes with those of a blood relative, using the power of the same bloodline to gain immense chakra and undergo a qualitative transformation.
Therefore, Sasuke had long set his sights on Itachi's Mangekyō.
Anyway, Itachi was doomed.
Before he dies, the greatest contribution he can make is leaving his eyes to Sasuke.
This was the fate Itachi, the sinner of their clan, deserved. Thus, Sasuke felt no guilt.
And...
Didn't Itachi think the same way?
The two brothers locked eyes, their gazes colliding mid-air, as if sparks could fly from the tension.
The next second—
Both figures disappeared at the same time.
Immediately afterward, a strong shockwave burst out in midair and swept the surroundings.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Fists and kicks clashed relentlessly.
Shurikens gleamed under the moonlight, slicing through the dark like ghostly wraiths.
Both Itachi and Sasuke were masters of the Uchiha clan's Taijutsu and shuriken throwing techniques.
But in these aspects, Itachi was clearly superior.
Yet at this moment—
The battle seemed evenly matched.
"Lightning release: Raikiri!"
A flash of lightning pierced straight through Itachi's body.
But in the next second—
The Itachi that was hit dissolved into a swarm of crows and scattered into the air.
Sasuke frowned, his expression grim.
"My stupid little brother."
Itachi's voice came from behind.
A sharp kunai was already at Sasuke's neck.
Itachi said, "Give me your eyes obediently!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth and said, "Don't even think about it!"
The next second...
Bang!
The Sasuke in front of Itachi vanished. It was just a Shadow Clone.
Meanwhile, as the two Uchiha brothers clashed fiercely—
On a cliff a few kilometers away
A lone figure stood at the top, facing the biting night wind, watching the battle unfold from afar.
"A wonderful duel, but the holding back is obvious."
Ryosuke watched the battle and commented.
From Konoha in the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain, the distance was about two thousand kilometers.
Yet with his current sensory abilities—
His Kagura Mind Eye could sense chakra fluctuations tens of thousands of kilometers away.
Therefore, even if he was still in Konoha a second ago.
In the next second, after sensing the intersection of Sasuke's Chakra and Itachi's Chakra, he arrived here with Yomotsu Hirasaka in an instant.
"It looks like Itachi is going to hand over his eyes to Sasuke tonight."
"That's good too. If Sasuke awakens the Eternal Mangekyō, he can reach Super Kage-level."
"Of course, he will probably be the weakest Super Kage."
Ryosuke saw through Itachi's thoughts at a glance.
Obviously, Itachi didn't want to hold on any longer and felt that Sasuke had grown enough to inherit his will.
As for whether Sasuke was willing to inherit his will?
Itachi apparently didn't think about it at all. After all, it's all for Sasuke's own good.
Thinking of this, Ryosuke sneered.
He knew Itachi would end up using Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.
It has been a long time since Ryosuke has used the plundering ability of his left eye.
It wasn't about cooldown or anything.
Ever since his physique had improved, the cooldown time of his left eye's ability had also been decreasing.
Now, this ability cools down in a few seconds. So, there was basically no waiting time at all.
The reason he didn't use it was simply because he didn't care to.
After all, with Ryosuke's current strength…
Let alone Mangekyō's pupil techniques, even if it were some normal Rinnegan's pupil techniques, he wouldn't even glance at them.
Therefore, he never took the initiative to plunder a certain pair of Mangekyō's pupil technique.
But since he saw the battle between the brothers today, Ryosuke didn't mind looting another Kotoamatsukami.
Ryosuke had previously plundered another Kotoamatsukami.
Now looting this one from Itachi, it would finally be a perfect pair.
As for Itachi's and Sasuke's pupil techniques?
Ryosuke found them unimpressive.
Whether it was Amaterasu or Tsukuyomi, none of it worked for him.
Any of his genjutsus, powered by the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan's pupil power, far exceeded an ordinary Tsukuyomi.
After all, it wasn't Infinite Tsukuyomi. So, it didn't matter whether he plundered them or not.
The reason for taking Kotoamatsukami was simply to satisfy Ryosuke's obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
He didn't like incomplete sets—whether it was weapons, skills, or even pupil techniques, he wanted a perfect pair.
In the battlefield in the distance
The fight between the two brothers turned into a contest of genjutsu.
In Ryosuke's sight, the two stood facing each other, suddenly frozen in place.
After a minute or two, Itachi suddenly coughed up blood. Then, his entire body collapsed backward, looking exhausted.
Ryosuke: "..."
This was blatant acting!
Itachi had probably realized that he had gone overboard with holding back.
After all, Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyō now, so he naturally understood its power.
So after pretending to be defeated, he didn't immediately collapse but instead roared in anger and activated Susanoo.
Tsk tsk!
With such a desperate look, anyone who didn't know better would think Itachi was truly at his limit.
Like Sasuke.
He really thought he had beaten Itachi.
This made Sasuke very excited. While thrilled, he also felt relieved.
"You're not the only one who knows Susanoo."
Sasuke sneered, summoning a massive purple Susanoo.
The two giants clashed repeatedly in the forest, their battle shaking the land.
Luckily, this place was far from Amegakure.
Otherwise, such a commotion would have drawn the attention of other Akatsuki members.
This was intentional on Itachi's part.
After all, he didn't want anyone interfering in his final farewell to his brother.
"It's about to end!"
Ryosuke watched the battle unfold in the distance.
As expected!
Two or three minutes later, the red Susanoo was overwhelmed by the purple one.
With a final devastating punch, the red Susanoo's glow faded instantly.
Then, its massive form completely vanished.
"It's so obvious that he's holding back."
Ryosuke shook his head.
But even though it was obvious to him, Sasuke didn't notice it.
This was probably what they meant by "bystanders see more clearly", right?
The other side
After breaking Itachi's Susanoo, Sasuke grabbed his collar with one hand, staring at him coldly.
Sasuke demanded, "Now, tell me why you massacred the entire clan."
Boom!
Sasuke punched Itachi hard in the face. The impact made Itachi cough up blood.
Sasuke asked, "Why did you kill Mom and Dad?!"
Boom!
Sasuke threw another punch—this one even harder than the last.
Sasuke roared, "Stop feeding me that nonsense about testing my strength. I'm not a child anymore."
Hearing this, Itachi smiled bitterly and said, "Yeah… you're not a child anymore."
"Some things… it's time for you to know!"
The next second—
Their eyes met, and Sasuke was momentarily stunned.
Though only seconds passed in the real world…
For Sasuke, it felt like an eternity.
Just now, Itachi had used a genjutsu to reveal the truth behind everything.
It turns out this was the real reason?
Sasuke staggered back a few steps, letting go of Itachi's collar.
Itachi asked, "Now that you know the truth, what will you do?"
Itachi, seated on the ground, gazed at his brother's tormented expression.
"Revenge!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth.
He had believed that killing Itachi would avenge his clan and parents.
But now…
Itachi had shown him the truth through the genjutsu.
It turned out his enemy wasn't just Itachi.
It was also the masked man!
That man named Shimura Danzō!
And even… Konoha itself!