Naruto Immersive Replay, The Curse of the Sharingan

Page 307

You raised an eyebrow, mercilessly puncturing his pretense. "There clearly is. In that case... Kakashi-senpai, how about you hold someone off for me tonight?"

Kakashi looked up abruptly. "So you knew everything after all! Your joining the Anbu wasn't accidental; you came with a clear purpose: to seek his help."

A complex mix of emotions washed over him instantly: the embarrassment of being seen through, the astonishment at the situation spiraling out of control, but mostly the satisfaction of being needed.

At least, in this situation, you choose to seek his help because you believe he has some value.

In your airtight world, he occupies a usable position.

Kakashi knew he couldn't break free. He took a deep breath, his voice slightly hoarse and resigned, "...Who?"

A faint, pungent smell of blood permeated the air, mingling with the dampness of the night dew, creating a suffocating, sticky sensation.

The footsteps sounded exceptionally clear in the silence. Your dark eyes swept indifferently over this hell constructed of illusion before you, without the slightest ripple.

Hearing footsteps, the two figures who were dealing with the scene turned around at the same time. A complicated look flashed in Itachi Uchiha's eyes, while Obito, who was wearing a vortex mask, had a playful look in his single eye.

"Looks like he's very obedient." Your gaze falls on Obito, as if you're evaluating a tool that has efficiently completed its task.

Upon hearing this, Itachi's ears burned slightly, and he awkwardly looked away.

Obito's lips twitched violently beneath his mask. Obedient? The mastermind behind the Eye of the Moon plan was being told to be "obedient" by a little girl, as if she were talking about a pet?!

"It's getting late, let's stick to the plan." Itachi spoke up at the right moment, breaking the subtle awkwardness and also giving Obito a dismissal.

His gaze fell on Obito, the deeper meaning of which was self-evident: he had something to say to you alone.

Seeing Itachi's obvious focus on him, Obito couldn't help but think to himself, "Why didn't I realize sooner that Uchiha Itachi, this seemingly calm and rational genius, is actually just a hothead who can be blinded by emotions?"

Well, since Itachi has already spoken, he can't stay here any longer and be an eyesore as a third wheel.

Obito gave you a deep look. He will come to find you, about your relationship with Madara, about the secrets you hold.

Immediately, his figure sank slowly into the Divine Might Space as if merging into the water, and disappeared.

Only after confirming that Obito had truly left did Itachi slowly walk up to you.

Under the moonlight, his complexion was no better than yours, even appearing more tired and sickly pale.

His gaze fell on your shoulder. "Does it still hurt?" he asked, his voice hoarse with concern.

You calmly shook your head, as if the pain were insignificant. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

This may have been their last conversation before parting ways.

Just as Itachi was about to say something, an uncontrollable cough suddenly struck him. He bent over, covered his mouth with his hand, and coughed so hard it was heart-wrenching. His thin body trembled violently, as if he were coughing up his internal organs.

You immediately stepped forward, your movements not exactly gentle, but with a clear intention, and gently patted his back, asking, "Are you alright?"

Your voice carried a urgency you didn't even realize; you were worried about him.

This realization was like a warm current, instantly flowing through Itachi's entire body, even temporarily suppressing the pain of coughing up blood.

He reached out and hugged you tightly, burying his burning cheeks in your cool hair, inhaling the breath that brought him a brief moment of peace.

You are indeed worried, but what you're worried about is whether Itachi Uchiha, with his sickly health, will be able to live to adulthood, and whether the investment you made in him will be wasted because of his early death?

"...Although it's unreasonable," Itachi's voice sounded muffled, weak from coughing, yet unusually clear.

"But I still hope you can look after Sasuke for me, thank you..." He gently raised a hand and stroked your cheek, his fingertips trembling slightly.

Your explanation to him is not surprising. Ultimately, a large part of what Itachi Uchiha did was for his younger brother.

"I can only guarantee his life," you stated, drawing a clear line. "As for the rest, I'm not concerned with that."

All you need to do is ensure he doesn't die; whether he suffers or becomes twisted is none of your business.

Itachi lowered his head, his forehead gently touching yours, and their breaths mingled.

He can feel the coolness of your skin, and he can also feel the warmth of his own life slowly fading away.

“That’s enough, Nagi,” he said softly, his tone carrying a sense of relief mixed with sadness and complete trust.

You always felt that something was off about Itachi's state at this moment. His eyes were too deep and too resolute, as if he was burning with his last bit of energy.

Just as you were about to push him away and ask him for clarification, Itachi seemed to sense your intention and held you even tighter in his arms.

"After tonight, I will leave... and perhaps my whereabouts will be unknown." His voice carried a sense of farewell.

As he spoke, another uncontrollable fit of violent coughing struck. This time, Itachi did not try to avoid it, or rather, he was no longer able to perfectly conceal it.

Crimson blood seeped from between his fingers, a few drops even splashing onto your fair cheeks, creating a poignant and cruel beauty.

When you faced Itachi's Sharingan, which seemed to hold endless pain, you didn't immediately wipe the blood off your face.

The warm liquid, as if bearing some kind of mark, stunned you.

Before you leave... I think you should know...

Itachi's voice was even hoarse from coughing up blood, yet it carried a desperate, resolute courage. He gazed at you, each word spoken as if making a vow.

"I've already fallen for you... I'm deeply locked in your eyes... I can no longer escape..."

The moment the words left your lips, as you stared in astonishment at the sudden confession, Itachi leaned down, his breath reeking of blood, and firmly pressed his lips to yours.

It was a brief yet profound kiss, tinged with the salty tang of blood, the bitterness of parting, and a burning passion.

Itachi, slightly out of breath, looked at the bloodstains on your face that belonged to him, and at your dark eyes that clearly reflected the astonishment for the first time, and a twisted sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart.

He left his mark on you.

"I will wait for you to come of age..." His voice carried a hint of humble pleading, as if this was the only thought that kept him walking in the darkness. "Don't forget me... okay?"

Chapter 289 Turning Against Each Other

Faced with Itachi's sudden confession, a mixture of bloodshed and desperate love, your reaction is an almost cruel calm.

There was neither shyness nor disgust, but rather an acceptance of a given fact.

“I understand.” You paused, your fingertips unconsciously brushing against the still-dry blood on your cheek, your tone carrying an objective assessment. “However, you’d better make sure you live to see that day.”

You didn't respond to his humble plea, as if it were unimportant. What you seemed to care about was whether his body, which carried value and promises, could hold on until the moment of fulfillment.

A low, hoarse laugh escaped Itachi's throat, tinged with bitterness and self-mockery. Though disappointed by your avoidance, a strange, faint warmth also rose within him.

At least you still care about his life or death, don't you? For him, that's already a precious act of charity.

He wanted to say something more, perhaps a deeper entrustment, or perhaps a more fervent outpouring. Just before he opened his mouth, you all keenly sensed a chakra filled with panic and unease rapidly approaching the core area of ​​the clan's territory from afar.

Sasuke was filled with anger at being deceived. In the evening, he received a message from Kakashi-senpai through a ninja dog, saying that he should wait for him at Nakagawa River and instruct him in swordsmanship.

He rushed over almost impatiently, waiting from sunset until nightfall. The wind by the river grew colder and colder, but he still couldn't see you.

He then realized that he had been stood up.

A wave of resentment washed over me, but even more so was an inexplicable panic. Why tonight of all times? Why you?

When he returned to the Uchiha clan's territory filled with doubts and a bad feeling, the solidified silence and darkness instantly poured over him like ice water.

It's too quiet... eerily quiet.

A sudden tightness gripped his heart, an unprecedented fear gripping him. Without thinking, he ran frantically toward home.

Then he saw it.

Corpses littered the ground, and the winding trails of blood transformed what was once a familiar ancestral homeland into a living hell.

In the center of that crimson expanse, in their familiar courtyard, two figures stood side by side, as if they had been waiting for a long time.

It was his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, and... you, with your face stained with glaring blood.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke cried out urgently, as if grasping at a straw, "What happened here? How are Mom and Dad?!"

He instinctively sought his brother's protection, an instinct he had developed since childhood.

Itachi didn't answer; he just stared at Sasuke quietly, his once gentle black eyes now as cold as ice.

Sasuke's gaze involuntarily turned to you beside him. In the moonlight, the bright red bloodstain on your pale face was particularly glaring, like some kind of ominous mark.

Why are you here? You stood him up in the Namaka River, and then mysteriously appeared in this bloody place...

A terrible thought crept into his mind, but he dared not think about it deeply, nor did he want to believe it.

“Sasuke,” Itachi finally spoke, his voice low and devoid of emotion, as if from the depths of the underworld, “haven’t you already seen it?”

"W-What do you mean...?" Sasuke's voice began to tremble, the ominous premonition almost swallowing him whole.

His response was Itachi's sudden activation of his Mangekyou Sharingan, and those chilling words that sounded like a final judgment: "My foolish little brother."

Sasuke felt as if the world before him was instantly covered in blood.

Countless gruesome images flooded his mind like a tidal wave!

He saw it... he saw his brother wielding a sharp blade, mercilessly reaping the lives of familiar members of his tribe! The uncles and aunts who had watched him grow up, the comrades he had trained with...

Finally, the scene freezes on the parents' room, where the father, Fugaku Uchiha, and the mother, Mikoto Uchiha, lie in pools of blood, their faces frozen in disbelief, terror, and despair.

"No—!!!" The moment Tsukuyomi ended, Sasuke clutched his head, which felt like it was about to explode, and collapsed to his knees, letting out a heart-wrenching wail.

The intense mental shock made his eyes bloodshot, and two lines of bloody tears slid down from the corners of his eyes. Accompanied by extreme pain and hatred, a solitary black magatama spun around.

"Why! Nisan... why did you do this!" He raised his head and glared at his once most admired brother, his voice filled with despair and overwhelming hatred.

You, as an observer, calmly watched all of this unfold.

Itachi's acting was impeccable, perfectly portraying cruelty, indifference, and betrayal, but he paused for a moment when he saw the lone single tomoe in Sasuke's eyes.

His emotions... are too stable.

The massacre of his entire clan and the brutal murder of his parents at the hands of his most trusted brother—such extreme emotional trauma only awakened his single-tomoe Sharingan.

This seems to have nothing to do with talent. The awakening of the Sharingan in the Uchiha clan is closely related to intense emotional fluctuations. Sasuke's hatred and pain at this moment are beyond doubt.

You narrowed your eyes slightly, vaguely catching a...unusual pattern in the flow of chakra within Sasuke's body.

This isn't just ordinary chakra disorder; it's a stagnant feeling, as if bound by some invisible shackle. Could it be related to this? Is it a matter of constitution, or... something else?

You silently suppressed this doubt in your heart, your face remaining expressionless as you quietly watched the tragedy of blood relatives turning into enemies.

"I just thought it was interesting."

Itachi's answer echoed lightly in the deathly silent courtyard, like a cold, biting wind that instantly froze the last glimmer of hope in Sasuke's heart.

This reason doesn't even qualify as a perfunctory excuse; it's filled with condescending contempt and cruelty.

It was this extreme, callousness that treated life as worthless that forced Sasuke to believe that his seemingly perfect and powerful older brother might actually be a demon deep down.

“So… because it’s interesting,” Sasuke’s voice trembled, tears of blood mixed with endless pain sliding down from his slowly rotating single-tomoe Sharingan, “So you can kill everyone?!” Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a tearful accusation.

Itachi looked at his devastated younger brother, his voice carrying an almost cruel resolve, "You're too weak. You must become stronger. One day, you can come and kill me to take revenge."

These words completely ignited all the emotions that had been building up in Sasuke's heart: the grief over the destruction of his clan, the despair over the tragic deaths of his parents, and the overwhelming hatred for his brother's betrayal.

The crimson Sharingan with its single tomoe trembled violently due to extreme emotion.

"I will!" Sasuke roared with all his might, "I will kill you to avenge you! Uchiha Itachi!!"

Itachi gave Sasuke a deep look, and finally, his gaze passed over Sasuke and landed on you, who had been standing quietly to the side.

That one glance contained so many unspoken words and profound emotions. Then, without further hesitation, he turned around, his figure disappearing into the deep night.

In the courtyard, only Sasuke's heavy breathing and the nauseating smell of blood in the air remained.

Watching the direction Itachi disappeared in, until you could no longer sense his chakra, you slowly shifted your gaze back to Sasuke, who was slumped on the ground.

"It's very late," you said, your voice unusually clear in the silence, even carrying an untimely tenderness, "You should get some rest."

These simple words pierced through Sasuke's fragile facade. He abruptly raised his head, staring at you with his Sharingan eyes that were streaming with blood and tears, his voice distorted by extreme anger and a sense of betrayal.

"Why are you with Itachi?" he questioned, his gaze like a sharp blade, as if trying to peel you open and see what was hidden deep inside your heart.

"A farewell between friends." You say it honestly, in a tone as calm as if you were describing the weather, without feeling there's anything to hide.

To Sasuke, these words were the cruelest mockery and confirmation! Friend? Farewell? So, you knew all along! You knew what would happen tonight! You knew Itachi's plan!

He suddenly leaped up from the ground, grabbed your shoulders with both hands, shook you violently, and roared.

"So... you knew all along that Itachi would massacre the clan! And you chose to help him get rid of me! Uchiha Nagi, I hate you! I hate that you protected him! I hate that you are cold-blooded and ruthless!"

Faced with Sasuke's frantic roar and violent shaking, you frowned slightly. He gripped you tightly, his nails almost digging into your flesh.

You instinctively took two steps back, easily breaking free from Sasuke's hands with a deft movement. You rubbed your slightly aching shoulders, looked at the boy trembling with excitement and hatred, shrugged indifferently, and your dark eyes were filled with a calm indifference.

"If you want to hate, then hate. At least... I have a clear conscience."

Whether you send him away or stand by and watch, it's all based on your own judgment and plan. You don't feel you need to take responsibility for Sasuke's hatred.