With the Chakra from Mai's Strength of a Hundred Seal, Logan had resolved the final crisis.
Thud.
With the danger gone, the weight pressing down on them finally lifted. Logan collapsed onto his back, utterly spent.
Beside him, Mai also deactivated her Strength of a Hundred Seal, slumping to the ground with no strength left to move.
"Haah… haah…"
Exhausted beyond measure, their strained nerves finally allowed them to relax. All four lay on the ground, gazing at the blue sky.
True silence settled in. The brutal battles felt distant now. The faint scent of scorched grass and earth drifted past, free from the sudden appearance of enemies, the deafening explosions, or the piercing shrieks that once filled the air.
For a moment, only the sound of their breathing filled the space.
"…"
But this hard-won peace was slowly overshadowed by the lingering tension and awkwardness between them. They remembered that they weren't a group of harmonious friends.
Just moments ago, they had been trying to kill each other.
'Why can't I move yet?' Two of them thought secretly.
Logan sighed. Turning his head slightly, he spoke to the heavily injured girl beside him.
"Thank you, Mai. If you hadn't come to turn the tide… I don't know how things would've ended."
"I-It's nothing, Hattori-nii," Mai stammered in response.
She winced as she tended to her more severe wounds, rewrapping tattered bandages. A faint green glow of Medical Ninjutsu flickered over her injuries before she stopped.
Wiping her face, she blushed slightly and mumbled, "Um… let me heal you too."
She reached for her medical kit, but Logan stopped her, "Treat your own injuries first."
"Seriously, you're still bleeding. Doesn't it hurt? My wounds aren't urgent, and normal methods won't work on them anyway."
"…Fine."
His tone left no room for argument. Mai pouted but obediently complied.
Treating injuries was a tedious and lengthy process. Mai worked slowly, the faint sounds of medical tools the only noise in the quiet.
"…"
"Why aren't you two saying anything?"
Logan turned to the silent Uchiha brothers, deliberately stirring the pot.
Both siblings turned their heads away, ignoring him.
"Hey, face reality. Stop pretending the other doesn't exist," Logan pressed.
The stubborn silence made him raise an eyebrow. Seeing that Mai had mostly finished treating herself, he instructed, "Mai, help me up."
"Okay."
Under the watchful eyes of Itachi and Sasuke, Mai obediently came over to assist.
With great effort, she helped Logan move to a spot between the two brothers. The short distance left her pale and trembling.
"Rest for now. I need to talk to these two." Logan said gently, noticing her exhaustion. He smiled before plopping down between them.
Mai nodded and withdrew to the side, hugging her knees as she quietly recovered her Chakra, her curious gaze lingering on the trio.
Her intuition and perception were sharp. She could tell Logan had an unusual relationship with these two Uchiha targets.
"Itachi, even now, you still won't say anything?"
Sasuke's expression flickered. After a long pause, he finally turned his head, meeting his brother's gaze directly.
Seeing this man, whose crimes were too numerous to count, he wondered what else was there to say besides his obsession with stealing his kin's eyes to achieve the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan?
Sasuke recalled how, during their battle, Itachi had tirelessly explained the origins and usage of the Mangekyo. Just a blind fool drowning in his own greed for power.
'Why does Hattori-sensei defend him?' Sasuke glanced at Logan's serious expression, 'What could possibly be hidden? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.'
He had witnessed the slaughter with his own eyes. There was no room for argument.
"You've killed so many people… There's no way to speak as if you have any right to justify yourself. Even if it was a choice forced upon you by circumstances."
Logan's voice softened. Itachi had silently protected the village from the shadows, unknown and unacknowledged.
Perhaps he didn't care, but at the very least, he shouldn't have died like that. He shouldn't have died at the hands of the person he cared about most.
Sasuke had the right to know the truth. He had seen the surface, the massacre, but he also needed to see the conflicts hidden beneath.
"Deliberately hiding the truth and acting on your own… You took responsibility to the point of selfishness."
Itachi's expression shifted slightly. His eyes, hollow from overusing his Mangekyo, locked onto Logan's, his brow furrowing.
He clearly disagreed.
Logan met his gaze, "You're right. You can ignore the opinions of ignorant outsiders. You can hide the truth from a young Sasuke… All of that is right."
Itachi's eyes seemed to ask, 'Then why bring it up?'
"But Sasuke isn't that Sasuke anymore."
Sasuke had grown up. He was no longer the clueless child who only knew how to cry and cause trouble. He had defeated Orochimaru, fought Deidara to a standstill… his wings had spread. He was like an adult now.
"He's become someone as exceptional as you."
"…"
Itachi fell silent. After a moment, he muttered, "Senpai, you've said too much."
Calm, resignation, emotion, numbness… Sasuke saw all these emotions flicker across his brother's face, so close yet so distant.
'What is this?'
Logan's voice reached his ears.
"Sasuke, back then, when I told you 'it's all for your sake'… I'm sorry. I couldn't consider things as calmly as I can now. You…"
He paused.
Sasuke was staring at him intently.
"Are you willing to hear it again?"
Too many memories flooded Sasuke's mind… his warm childhood home, the Great Fireball by the river, his father, his mother, then the soulless days after the massacre, mechanically repeating each day in pursuit of power.
"Bastard! What kind of joke is this?!" Sasuke suddenly snapped at Logan, as if trying to prove something, "This man killed our family with his own hand! I saw it!"
The memory was vivid and agonizing. Itachi's eyes flickered. He recalled that night, his actions, the way his heart had been gripped by an invisible hand as he faced his younger brother's rage.
"Father said…"
Itachi stopped abruptly, realizing he had spoken carelessly.
Fugaku had said: "I understand your actions. Is this your choice? Your mother and I don't wish to see you fight your brother. Walk your own path, my son."
Sasuke froze, 'What did he say?'
Amid the flood of memories, most filled with hatred and suffering, with only fleeting moments of light, camaraderie, and the rare warmth of teammates and teachers, everything had been drowned out by the relentless tide of vengeance.
The three years in Orochimaru's hideout, the stumbling pursuit of power until now… Black Zetsu's cold smirk flashed in his mind.
'What was it?'
The deepest silence settled over them. Sasuke and Itachi said nothing more, each lost in their own monotonous, solitary lives, searching for their own answers.
Logan watched them. They were so close now, within arm's reach. The last time they had been this close, perhaps, was when they were still brothers, when Itachi had carried Sasuke home on his back. Yet despite their proximity, they remained worlds apart, stubbornly clinging to their own paths.
Even Logan felt a pang of bitterness in his chest.
Rubbing his temples, Logan fell silent as well. The three of them sank into the heavy quiet.
"…"
A few meters away, Mai, who had been secretly observing, blinked, 'Did they just… run out of things to say?'
"Sigh."
After what felt like an eternity, Logan exhaled. "Maybe I'm not the right person for this. As an outsider to the Uchiha Clan, forcing myself to mediate…"
"What's the story?"
Sasuke's voice cut in.
"Huh?"
"I said…" Sasuke's eyes remained fixed on some distant point, his teeth clenched, "What's the story? The one you wanted to tell."
He still couldn't bring himself to face Itachi directly. But listening, just listening… After everything that had happened today, he wanted to hear what Logan had to say.
"It's a long and complicated story, Sasuke."
Before Logan could react, Itachi closed his weary, hollow eyes and spoke softly.
"…"
Logan was momentarily stunned.
But then, Sasuke hesitated, a struggle flashing across his face before his expression hardened.
He turned to Logan, his tone cold but firm.
"Fine… I'll listen."
A second later, he added, "No matter how long it is."
'What the hell? You two can't even look at each other? Why are you both staring at me? I'm just the messenger here! We're literally sitting within arm's reach!'
Countless complaints rose in Logan's mind, only to be replaced by a wave of complicated emotions. He studied the brothers for a long moment before finally chuckling.
"So… you've made up?"
'Impossible. Unthinkable. Unacceptable.'
Sasuke and Itachi's eyes conveyed their refusal.
"Fine." Logan shrugged.
In this world, at least one cloud has purely whitened just for you.
In this autumn, at least one cobalt-blue car has stopped just for you.
And at least one person, especially for you, has sat in anguish, pointlessly, for a while.
The ice between them had cracked. Given time, the sunlight would eventually melt it away.
In this sudden moment of clarity, Logan recalled a poem. It fit the brothers before him perfectly.
And just like the poem's conclusion: You can't imagine how heavy the stone in my heart was, until it finally fell.
He clapped his hands together, wearing the most relaxed and content smile he'd had since returning to this world.
A lightbulb went off in his head.
"Alright, honestly, the story can wait. It's long anyway…"
He cleared his throat, "So, to commemorate this historic moment… how about the two of you shake hands?"
"What?!"
Sasuke was the first to protest, his eyes widening, "Are you kidding me?!"
"Tch."
Joy could make people forget their pain. Logan promptly smacked Sasuke on the head. "Don't want to? Fine, I'm a reasonable person. If you don't want to, then move away."
"You…"
Itachi also showed clear resistance.
But it was futile. Logan decided to force the issue. Using all his remaining strength, he grabbed both their hands and slowly, painstakingly, pulled them toward each other.
"We're Ninja…" Sasuke muttered stubbornly.
"Ninja my ass. Then let's make it the Seal of Reconciliation."
With a final tug, Logan pressed Sasuke's and Itachi's hands together, firmly clasped.
Seal of Reconciliation.
No matter what, this was a new beginning.
A distant, melodious cry echoed, Kotonami's joyful call as she explored the vast world.
Having accomplished his mission, Logan took two steps back and collapsed onto a rock.
He exhaled heavily, his gaze lingering on the brothers.
"Haah…"
Turning slowly, he caught sight of a fiery speck dancing among the clouds, soaring freely through the sky.
Squinting, Logan followed the figure's path. He knew exactly what kind of breathtaking sights Kotonami was witnessing below… the shattered trees, the battle-scarred earth, perhaps even Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and the others from Konoha and beyond.
She would fly over this vast forest, beyond the Land of Fire.
The scenery would stretch endlessly, as vast as the lives of the shinobi below.
Naruto and the others still had their Shippuden, their bonds and hot-blooded stories yet to unfold.
The tale was long… very, very long.
The lazy sunlight spilled down.
It fell on the ruins, on Logan's face, on the genuine relief he felt.
His Shippuden is over.