Madara stood off to the side, deep in thought.
Given his understanding of Itachi, the man was calm, composed, and rational—never one to engage in conflict lightly.
Sasuke, however, was acting purely out of emotion. He knew Yamato's strength—utterly monstrous by any standard.
He wanted to rush to the scene immediately, but with his body bandaged like a mummy, even the slightest movement was agony. There was no way he could leave the hospital room on his own.
This time, pride meant nothing. He turned directly to Madara, his eyes full of pleading.
Madara didn't bother with words. He simply hoisted Sasuke over his shoulder, opened the window, and leapt out into the night.
Of course, this method was excruciating for Sasuke, but he clenched his teeth and didn't utter a sound.
As they neared the Uchiha compound, a thunderous explosion echoed through the air.
Boom!
Several crimson tomoe streaked across the sky, chasing after a figure leaping high above—it was Yamato.
Yamato, hounded by the red orbs, was starting to grow impatient. He swung his spiked club backward, and the instant it made contact, a series of violent explosions erupted in succession.
When the smoke cleared, Yamato dropped back to the ground, the black coating around her body slowly fading.
Itachi's attack wasn't weak—at the very least, it had forced Yamato to activate her Armament Haki.
Right now, Itachi's situation was similar to Obito's. Both of them had some of Hashirama's cells implanted in their bodies, meaning the use of Susanoo no longer cost them their lives.
However, it still brought excruciating pain. Itachi's body trembled slightly, and Sasuke, just arriving on the scene, witnessed this moment. His heart seized, and he shouted in panic:
"Brother!"
At the sound of that word, Itachi's body quivered. That "Brother" hit him straight in the soul—so much that even his Susanoo flickered for a brief moment.
Seeing this, Sasuke thought Itachi was at his limit. He turned to Madara in desperation.
"Save him, Madara-sama! He can't hold on much longer!"
But Madara, landing on the ground, folded his arms and said coolly,
"Why should I listen to you? This is Itachi's battle. I won't interfere."
Though he said that, his eyes never left the fight.
Earlier, while Sasuke was speaking, Itachi had secretly given Madara a faint shake of the head. Madara understood immediately—this was a setup, a deliberate act.
A stratagem of self-sacrifice meant to provoke Sasuke's awakening.
To test his theory, Madara called out to the battlefield,
"Where's Kaito? Does he know what's happening here?"
Yamato already knew the general purpose of this battle before coming. She shouted back,
"Don't try to scare me with my teacher! He's not here! Hmph! So the brother wants to help his little brother get some payback? Let's see if you've got the strength for it!"
As she spoke, Yamato swung her spiked club with crushing force toward Susanoo's abdomen, shattering it with a web of crimson cracks.
Hearing that Kaito wasn't around and seeing Madara refuse to step in, Sasuke grew frantic.
When he saw Yamato's blow splinter Susanoo, his panic and helplessness boiled over. His frail body trembled, and in that moment of desperation, his Sharingan reawakened.
Of course—it was still useless.
Bang!
Yamato slammed her club down once more. Susanoo shattered completely, scattering into countless red motes of light.
Itachi's body went limp as he dropped to one knee.
Yet he didn't give up. Through clenched teeth, he hissed,
"I won't forgive anyone who harms Sasuke. Amaterasu!"
Afraid of burning Yamato, he deliberately feinted—sending the black flames of Amaterasu onto the ground beside her.
With her Observation Haki, Yamato could have easily dodged if he had aimed directly. She glanced at the black fire licking the ground beside her and clicked her tongue.
"Black flames, huh? Looks pretty intimidating. Let's see how you like this."
As she spoke, snowy-white fur began to sprout across her body, her hair fluffing out as her ears grew long and sharp.
She entered a half-beast form.
Seeing this transformation, not only Madara and Sasuke but even Itachi froze in shock.
Such a "jutsu" was unlike anything they had ever seen.
Sasuke muttered under his breath,
"She really is a monster..."
Yamato set aside her club, white frost curling from her lips. She opened her mouth toward Itachi and exhaled.
Whoosh!
A near-solid blast of freezing air erupted from her mouth, engulfing Itachi completely.
When the attack ended, Itachi had become an ice sculpture, a look of shock still frozen on his face.
"Brother!"
Sasuke's eyes widened in horror.
Madara saw his chance and added fuel to the fire.
"Do you see now? This happened because of you—because you're too weak! If you had real power, Itachi wouldn't have ended up like this!"
Those words pierced Sasuke's heart like daggers. Trembling, he knelt before the frozen Itachi.
"They're right... I'm too weak. If I had Itachi's Amaterasu... this kind of ice would be nothing!"
A chilling aura radiated from his body.
Not far away, Madara narrowed his eyes.
"So it begins. Finally opening his eyes... Took long enough. If I remember right, Obito jumped straight from two tomoe to Mangekyō, didn't he?"
Madara muttered to himself.
Sasuke suddenly looked up—his eyes now glowing with six-pointed stars.
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Amaterasu!"
The moment his eyes awakened, blood streamed down from his left eye. The black flames of Amaterasu erupted, consuming the ice around Itachi.
As the flames threatened to reach his brother, Sasuke activated his right eye's Kagutsuchi, extinguishing them instantly.
In truth, Itachi hadn't been fully frozen. Yamato had held back deliberately.
Inside the ice, Itachi had watched Sasuke's awakening unfold.
The moment the ice melted, he broke free and embraced his brother tightly.
"Sasuke... you did it."
Yamato jogged over, curiosity sparkling in her eyes as she studied the new Mangekyō pattern.
"Wow, it really changed! So cool! But still... I think my teacher's eyes look prettier. Mm!"
Madara appeared beside them in a flash.
He nodded slightly and said,
"So, like Itachi, you've awakened Amaterasu. Not bad. It seems Itachi's performance wasn't in vain."
Sasuke blinked in confusion.
"Performance...? You mean... this was all an act?"
Yamato shrugged.
"What else did you think? You thought anyone could just walk away fine after being frozen solid by me?"
"Then... all of this... was planned?"
Sasuke gave a faint, bitter laugh—then his vision went dark, and he collapsed unconscious.