Sasuke's sudden appearance completely shattered Uchiha Itachi's last line of defense, which was on the verge of collapse.
At this moment, he plunged into the deepest despair of his life.
His heart sank into endless shadows.
He had already prepared himself mentally before taking action, and after the coup faction was eliminated, the Uchiha Clan would integrate into Konoha, and Sasuke would live a carefree, non-discriminatory life.
He had even thought before today that he would ask Third Hokage to suppress this coup in the Village through public opinion, in exchange for their sacrifices, shaping his father and the others into heroes who died for the Village.
However, the moment Sasuke appeared, Uchiha Itachi saw the gradually appearing crimson in his eyes.
All these wishes were shattered.
"Why did it turn out like this?"
Uchiha Itachi tightly clutched the blood-soaked earth in his hand, and the intense emotions caused the Mangekyo in his eyes to spin continuously.
He looked at the Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes, wanting to say something, but his throat felt choked, unable to make a sound.
If everything he did could not be enjoyed by the most important person.
Then, what was the meaning of it all?
"Do you regret it?"
Just as he felt completely immersed in endless shadows, his heart almost entirely closed off.
A familiar, gentle voice suddenly rang in Uchiha Itachi's ear.
Aizen Sōsuke slowly stepped out of the shadows, came to Sasuke's side, and gently stroked his soft hair with his palm.
Sasuke, however, seemed oblivious, merely staring blankly at Itachi, as if he had lost consciousness.
"Your goal has been achieved."
"From today onwards, the Uchiha Clan will become the most important part of Konoha."
"No longer need to worry about the Village's peril or the clan's life and death."
"Such being the case, what exactly are you regretting?"
Aizen looked up, meeting Uchiha Itachi's crimson gaze.
His figure, set against the swaying tree shadows and the cool moonlight, stood like a solidified sculpture, unmoving.
That condescending gaze, even veiled by thick lenses, still exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.
Finally, his voice, like a sharp blade, easily cut through the deepest truth Uchiha Itachi dared not admit:
"Or rather, in your heart, do certain people weigh more heavily than the lives of everyone in the entire Village and clan combined?"
"All of this was merely for your selfish desires, wasn't it?"
"Uchiha Itachi."
These were just plain words, yet they made Uchiha Itachi, who was already on the verge of collapse, suddenly break down.
"Aizen—!"
The young man's voice suddenly rose, his hoarse cry filled with the hysteria of shattered hopes.
The extremely intense emotions deep within him found an outlet the moment Aizen appeared.
The crimson Mangekyo spun with a profound light in his eyes, and faint streaks of blood continuously flowed from his eye sockets.
"All of this, it was all because of you..."
Whether it was their initial encounter, their later interactions, or the prophecy of the future under that moonlit night.
If it weren't for him, perhaps he could have found a better path.
One that wouldn't require his father's sacrifice, and wouldn't be witnessed by Sasuke, allowing the clan and the Village to coexist.
The more he clung to this extreme thought, the stronger Uchiha Itachi's hatred grew, his gaze towards Aizen as if he wanted to devour him alive, as he reached for the ninja blade on the ground.
Watching his actions, Aizen Sōsuke showed no reaction, his tone gentle yet cold:
"A person's anger often stems from their own incompetence."
"Itachi-kun."
"Your goal, as I said, has been achieved."
"Such being the case, what reason do you have to draw your blade against me?"
"Or are you simply venting your anger?"
"Shut up!!!"
Uchiha Itachi let out a mournful howl like a wild beast, his sorrowful voice filled with trembles.
At this moment, overwhelmed by intense emotions, he was unable to think rationally.
At the same time, after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, the powerful, seemingly invincible strength that filled his entire body ignited a raging fire in his heart.
Bang—
In an instant, the ground beneath Uchiha Itachi's feet suddenly caved in, forming a pit, and he shot through the air like a shuttle through a forest, moving faster than his previous maximum, a speed that completely surpassed the perception of a normal Jonin, brushing past Aizen.
"Whoosh!"
When he reappeared, he was already holding Sasuke's young body in his arms, several dozen meters behind Aizen.
He put Sasuke down, straightened up again, and turned to look in Aizen's direction.
Aizen's expression, however, remained unchanged, he merely smiled and looked at him.
"Aizen!"
"Appearing before me is the biggest mistake you have made."
Uchiha Itachi's gaze was ferocious, a silent fire seemingly burning deep within his pupils.
"Let me show you."
"The true ultimate technique of the Uchiha Clan."
"Oh?"
Aizen's gaze towards him held a hint of playfulness, as if observing his own research results.
Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo's ability was Kotoamatsukami, primarily functioning to distort others' will.
If it was truly as he thought, that each Mangekyo's ability corresponded to the awakened person's intense emotions, then Uchiha Itachi, who he had gradually lured and ultimately brought to this point, his Dōjutsu function would be easy to guess.
The primary one should stem from false illusions of the inner world.
"Tsukuyomi!"
As if in response to his thoughts.
The next moment, the Mangekyo in Uchiha Itachi's eyes began to spin abruptly.
Immediately, drops of blood tears flowed down his eye sockets, bursting forth with incredible power in an instant.
In a daze, the dense forest at night where the two were originally located had already transformed into an endless battlefield covered in crimson.
Aizen's body was entangled with numerous chains, firmly locked in place.
Uchiha Itachi's gaze towards him grew colder, holding the ninja blade upside down, his voice gradually becoming silent:
"In the world of Tsukuyomi, whether it is time, space, or mass, everything is under my control."
"Of course, that includes you."
"Aizen Sōsuke."
"This is the power of the Uchiha Clan."
Aizen, locked by countless chains, merely quietly felt the cold iron chains connecting to the ground.
Touch, mass, friction, sense of time.
They were all indistinguishable from reality.
"Not bad."
Clearly, the creation of this world was entirely dependent on the caster's self-perception.
"However, is this all there is?"
Aizen Sōsuke looked down at him, his tone carrying a sense of entitlement: "Although Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan only has one ability, under the impact of different emotions, the power you wield shouldn't be just this much, should it?"
The first step was guessed correctly.
Then, following the previous line of thought, what followed Uchiha Itachi's despair, right after the false illusion, should be... his strongest wish, or rather, the desire to achieve impossible wishes.
Clearly, Aizen's contemptuous tone precisely seized Uchiha Itachi's agitated and violent emotions at that moment.
"That's right."
Uchiha Itachi looked at Aizen's calm and composed expression, staring fixedly at him, as if to make him understand his demise:
"The Dōjutsu of the other eye is called 'Ichigon Nushi' (Lord of a Single Word)."
"In this Tsukuyomi world controlled by me, all the pain you experience, whether it's severed limbs or a shattered heart, will be fed back to the real world one by one through 'Ichigon Nushi'."
"For the next seventy-two hours, you will endure continuous torture, and then, after one second in reality, you will die abruptly and despairingly."
"Aizen."
"Savor the pain I have experienced."
By the end of his words, Uchiha Itachi's voice was hoarse, almost a shriek.
A silent atmosphere lingered between the two for a few seconds, Uchiha Itachi just watched him, seemingly wanting to discern the emotions he hoped for on the man's face.
But, until the very end.
Aizen suddenly chuckled softly.
"Heh."
Uchiha Itachi's gaze involuntarily froze, looking directly at him.
Then, he saw him raise his hand.