Chapter 101: Itachi's End: Blood, Tears, and the Final "I'm Sorry"
Fugaku closed his eyes, and 2 lines of murky tears silently streamed down his aged cheeks.
"If Akira hadn't… returned in time to stop him… I… I would have already died by my own son's hand. The Uchiha Clan… would also have been completely annihilated in that conspiracy."
As his voice fell, there was no longer any sound of doubt throughout the Naka Shrine. Only an anger that erupted like a volcano remained.
"Beast!"
"He wants to kill us and even lay such a vicious hand on his own father!"
"He doesn't deserve to be an Uchiha at all!"
"No… that's not it!"
"Father is lying! You are all lying!"
Sasuke struggled desperately, his tender young face flushed red, and tears streamed down like broken pearls.
"Itachi… he wouldn't do that! He absolutely wouldn't!"
He looked at his father in the wheelchair, at the ferocious faces of the clan members around him, and finally, at Uchiha Akira, who was as indifferent as a god on the high platform. He didn't believe it. He truly didn't believe a single word.
This must be a dream. It must be a nightmare where everyone conspired to bully him and Itachi.
"Release Sasuke."
Akira's calm voice suddenly rang out. The 2 Jōnin holding Sasuke were slightly startled but immediately released him. No Uchiha dared to disobey the Clan Head's command.
Freed, Sasuke rushed onto the high platform, disregarding everything. He wanted to clarify. He wanted to hear the answer directly from Itachi's mouth.
Uchiha Akira quietly watched this scene. Only by personally tearing open the false warmth and brutally presenting the cruelest truth would it be the most complete destruction. He wanted Uchiha Itachi to witness firsthand how the last shred of light he protected with his life was extinguished by his own hands. He wanted Itachi to completely lose his most beloved younger brother.
"Itachi!"
Sasuke stumbled and rushed to the wooden stake. Looking at Itachi's bloody and disfigured face, looking at those 2 hollow eye sockets constantly oozing dark red blood, Sasuke felt an unspeakable sorrow in his heart.
"Itachi… tell them… this isn't true!" Sasuke's voice was choked with sobs; he stretched out his trembling small hand, wanting to touch Itachi's face, but then fearfully recoiled in mid-air.
"Why don't you speak up! Why don't you explain! Tell them you didn't betray the clan! You didn't lay a hand on Father!"
On the wooden stake, that lifeless figure seemed to be awakened by these heart-wrenching cries, regaining a shred of consciousness. Itachi's head slowly turned towards the direction of the voice.
Itachi couldn't "see." But Itachi could feel that it was his most cherished, foolish younger brother. His cracked lips slightly parted. Everyone thought Itachi would argue, would roar.
However, he didn't.
"I'm sorry…" A hoarse, almost inaudible syllable squeezed out from Itachi's throat.
"…Sasuke."
Sasuke froze. The tears on his face seemed to solidify.
Not "I didn't." Not "That's false."
But… I'm sorry?
"Why…" Sasuke's voice trembled.
"Why are you saying sorry… what exactly did you do…"
"I'm sorry…" Itachi seemed to have exhausted all his strength, only unconsciously repeating these 2 words.
"I'm sorry… Sasuke…"
This powerless apology, at this moment, became the most fatal, undeniable proof of his guilt.
"I know you still harbor illusions." A cold voice sounded behind Sasuke.
Uchiha Akira slowly walked over, looking down at the brothers from above.
"You might think he just made a mistake, that he was just momentarily confused. Then I'll show you what he originally planned to do."
Akira's gaze passed over Sasuke and landed on Itachi's painfully distorted face.
"Sasuke, do you know? Last night's invasion was just the beginning. Your good brother, his true plan was to collude with that masked man to slaughter our Uchiha Clan, from top to bottom, from old to young, completely."
"Not a single one would be left."
Sasuke suddenly turned around, looking at Akira in disbelief.
"No… impossible…"
"Your father, your mother, your uncles and aunts, and your companions you played with…" Akira's voice was cold.
"He intended to kill them all with his own hands."
Sasuke's mind went blank. He felt as if the whole world was spinning and collapsing.
"Of course."
"In this massacre, there was one person he planned to spare. He wanted to personally bury the entire clan, bear all the sins and hatred, just to let that one person survive. To let that person grow stronger in their hatred for him."
Akira's gaze was full of pity and mockery.
"That sole survivor… is you."
"Sasuke."
Silence.
Sasuke stiffly turned his head back. He looked at Itachi on the wooden stake, who was still silently shedding bloody tears.
So that's how it was. Itachi was going to kill everyone, leaving only himself. Using the blood of his father, mother, and all clan members to pave a path for Uchiha Sasuke alone to survive.
What arrogance. And what cruelty. That love was too heavy. So heavy that it could crush everything. That so-called "protection" was, in fact, the most selfish.
"Ah…"
Sasuke looked at Itachi. He no longer saw a brother. But a monster who had destroyed his entire world.
Tears once again surged forth. But this time, it was no longer sadness. It was pure, deep-seated hatred.
"I hate Itachi the most!"
Sasuke screamed out these words with all his might. Then, he suddenly turned and ran crying down the high platform, out of the crowd.
On the high platform, the moment he heard that phrase, "I hate you the most," Uchiha Itachi's broken body trembled violently. A drop of dark red blood tear rolled from his hollow right eye socket.
Itachi parted his lips, seemingly wanting to say something. But in the end, he only powerlessly lowered his head.
The world was completely dark. There was no longer a single trace of light.