Sasuke's eyes fully revealed the Three Tomoe.
That man in the distance—how could he forget? Even if he couldn't see him clearly, that kind of power was far too familiar.
Uchiha Itachi—the one who wiped out the entire Uchiha clan. He was also Uchiha Sasuke's older brother. His real brother.
At this moment, Sasuke was completely blinded by hate. He couldn't think straight anymore. All that was left in his mind was the need for revenge.
Kisame could feel Sasuke's killing intent, but he didn't care.
He stopped walking.
"Mr. Itachi was a true genius of the Uchiha. He carries more on his shoulders than you can imagine. He walks a steadier path than you, he's faster than you, and he works harder than you."
"Uchiha Sasuke—you lack talent. You're young and clueless. You're not even hardworking."
"Even with someone like Shisui looking out for you, you'll still end up a nobody."
"You're not even qualified to talk about revenge."
Kisame's voice was cold and sharp.
There are too many geniuses in this era, and too many people who work hard.
In this new age, countless pirates fight death every day on the seas. Those people work harder than Sasuke. They're crazier, too.
So what right does Sasuke have?
"Mr. Itachi is one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Army. He's more than just strong. Come talk to us about revenge when you're actually strong enough to stand in front of us."
Kisame gave his sword a small swing, tore off his cloak, and walked away without looking back.
Sasuke stared at the orange-red Susano'o in the distance. His eyes slowly lost focus. In the end, he coughed up blood and passed out again.
On the ship, Kiyosu and Mishima Gekkou stayed calm as if nothing had happened. The two of them quietly watched Kisame leave.
Kiyosu checked on Naruto and the others.
"No danger to their lives."
"But Sasuke's in bad shape. Looks like he got too worked up," Kiyosu said.
Mishima Gekkou sat nearby, drinking tea like nothing had happened.
"These young people... they can't even handle a few harsh words."
His eyes were mostly on Naruto.
"So this is Konohagakure's Uzumaki Naruto? A member of the Uzumaki clan?"
"He's got blonde hair though. How could he be from the Uzumaki clan? Don't tell me Gato really was part of the Uzumaki clan?"
Mishima Gekkou had dealt with Gato quite a lot. Back when the black market was buzzing with rumors, people said Gato might be from the Uzumaki clan.
And the proof was convincing.
Later, after Danzo kidnapped Gato, Gato came out and publicly denied it. He said he wasn't part of the Uzumaki clan and had nothing to do with them.
But now, seeing Naruto with his own eyes, Mishima Gekkou started to wonder—maybe Gato really was from the Uzumaki clan after all.
If nothing else, Gato's crazy life force was something only the Uzumaki clan was known for in the ninja world.
"Not sure, but if the Revolutionary Army found us, it probably has something to do with Gato."
Kiyosu thought about it. Among everyone there, Gato was the only one who might help them.
"I guess we're even now. I was the first to step up, and that wasn't cheap."
"Didn't expect those high and mighty sages to actually come after me."
A hint of sarcasm crossed Mishima Gekkou's face. He was low in rank and weak in power, but it turned out even sages could stoop that low.
"Looks like starting the world government isn't going to be easy."
Mishima Gekkou looked behind him. He wasn't a sage, so he couldn't sense the will of the world or nature energy.
He couldn't see the massive amount of nature energy now covering the ninja world, giving the land new life.
Still, Mishima Gekkou knew that starting the world government must come with big rewards for the sages.
Meanwhile, at the center of the battlefield—
The fight was over.
The sage had been pierced straight through the chest by Itachi's Totsuka Blade. The moment the blade went through, all of his life force vanished.
When Kisame arrived, he saw Itachi holding someone in his hand.
"Let's go. Kakashi will be here soon."
Itachi looked off into the distance.
Lately, he and Kisame had been active in the ninja world, and they had become familiar with many people.
"Mr. Itachi, aren't you going to check on Sasuke?"
"No need. One day, he'll stand in front of me himself."
"I hope that day will come."
Itachi actually smiled a little.
"The ninja world is getting more and more complicated. In times like this, even I can't see the full picture. As for Sasuke…"
"With all that hatred the Uchiha carry, he won't get far."
"When the day comes that he can stand before me, we'll talk then."
Itachi did feel guilty toward Sasuke — but not just Sasuke. He felt guilty toward the whole Uchiha clan.
Itachi never thought about clearing his name. He only hated that he wasn't strong enough back then — not strong enough, not smart enough to lead his clan out of that mess.
If he could go back in time, Itachi wouldn't mind slapping himself. Actually, one slap probably wouldn't be enough.
But now, he had more important things to do.
Kisame was right — Itachi had more talent than Sasuke. He also worked harder than Sasuke. And the weight he carried was heavier too.
That's why Itachi kept getting stronger — in both strength and wisdom.
Right now, Itachi was basically the backbone of the entire Revolutionary Army. When it came to brainwork, Itachi was the one they all had to rely on.
Nagato didn't seem dumb, but he really wasn't capable of dealing with things this big.
"Did you find something?"
Kisame didn't press the issue with Sasuke anymore. He took the sage's body from Itachi. It was clear that Itachi had noticed something.
"I found a few things."
"So far, it looks like our direction is right. But forming a world government isn't as easy as we thought. And these sages… they might be even harder to deal with than we imagined."
"It's even possible…"
"The fall of the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans might be connected to the sages."
Itachi suddenly spoke.
At that moment, he also noticed that something wasn't right.
He hadn't thought of any solid proof linking the sages to the fall of the Uzumaki clan yet,
but as for the Uchiha clan, there was a good chance the sages were involved.
"..."
Kisame, after hearing Itachi's words, looked confused.
The Uchiha clan was wiped out by Itachi himself.
And only now, Itachi had realized who the real culprit behind the massacre might be.
"Both the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans were destroyed during the Third Hokage's rule.
That means the Third Hokage might've known something."
"But now that he's dead, there's no evidence left."
"And the way the Third Hokage died was strange too.
Orochimaru attacked to get revenge on the village.
The Third could've held out and waited—it wasn't like the situation was hopeless—
but he still chose to kill himself."
The Third Hokage's death had always been a mystery.
He hadn't been backed into a corner, but he used the Reaper Death Seal anyway,
giving up his life to completely seal Orochimaru's jutsu abilities.
"All we know is that the Third killed himself.
But the reason why? That's still unknown."
"Looking at it now, maybe the only reason is that the Third found out something Orochimaru was hiding.
To make sure that information never got out, he chose to end his life."
Itachi explained.
It made sense—nobody ever thought the Third had such a weak mind.
Only Orochimaru might know the real story.
The Third had lived in the shadow of the Second Hokage for too long.
Orochimaru knew how to use his mental weakness against him—
the weakness of someone who gave everything for the village.
But in the very end, he realized that all his so-called sacrifice
had only caused more harm than good.
He wanted to help the village,
but instead, he became its biggest mistake.
In that final moment, the Third lost his will to live.
Whether he lived or died no longer mattered to him.
But no one else knew what he was really thinking.
Now, from Itachi's point of view,
his death seemed to be hiding much more than anyone expected.
"So you're saying… Orochimaru might also know something?"
Kisame asked.
"He probably knows something, but maybe not a lot.
Otherwise, he would've said something by now."
"Then how did you figure this out?"
Kisame was puzzled. He didn't understand what had happened during the fight just now.
"My Susano'o's weapon has a natural ability to suppress sages.
It's really powerful.
This weapon doesn't seem like it's part of the Susano'o itself—
it looks more like a sacred tool that's been engraved onto it."
Itachi explained.
His Susano'o was special.
A normal Susano'o only has one weapon,
but his had two.
One was the Yata Mirror for defense,
and the other was the Totsuka Blade for offense.
"Orochimaru's Kusunagi Sword is also special. It doesn't belong to normal Ninja Tools. His weapon has the ability to stretch and shrink.
These weapons are different from regular Ninja Tools. You should understand that."
Hearing Itachi's words, Kisame nodded.
"The weapons of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen are all different. No one knows how these weapons were created."
"The weapons held by the Uchiha clan's Susano'o also have this special ability. This isn't part of Susano'o's powers, nor is it something normal weapons can do."
"If there's anyone in the ninja world who has such power, I can only think of one person."
Itachi's expression was very serious. The only one who could create so many weapons and make them combine with Susano'o was that legendary sage.
"Rikudou Sennin?"
Kisame's expression also became serious.
"Even if Rikudou Sennin didn't forge them, some things must still be from that era."
"And our Uchiha clan's history can be traced back to the time of Rikudou Sennin."
"When the Ninja religion was first founded, the Uchiha clan was already around."
After Itachi finished speaking, Kisame felt a chill rise in his heart.
Such methods... what terrifying methods.
The sages hid behind history, never appearing in the history books, yet they influenced the entire world with such methods.
"If it weren't for Shanks, the sages probably wouldn't have revealed themselves!!"
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