Chapter 40 – A Rift in the Clouds
The cavernous hideout of Akatsuki was lit only by faint torches, shadows stretching long over the stone. The figures of the organization stood in silence, watching as Kisame strode in, his cloak torn, Samehada resting against his shoulder like dead weight. His shark-like grin was duller than usual.
At the highest seat, Pain's Rinnegan glowed. His gaze bore down like a judgment.
"Kisame." His voice reverberated across the cavern. "Report."
The swordsman stopped, letting the silence stretch before he chuckled darkly.
"The mission failed. Jiraiya of the Sannin interfered. And… things didn't go as planned."
Deidara scoffed. "Tch, always excuses. What could that old fool really do to you and Itachi?"
Kisame's grin widened, but his eyes were shadowed. "…It wasn't Jiraiya. It was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. He used the Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains on me. If I hadn't forced my way out with Samehada, I wouldn't be standing here."
The words hung heavy, though Pain's expression never changed.
"Chains or not, such things are irrelevant before the eyes of a god," Pain declared coldly. "Sealing techniques cannot bind divinity. But…" His gaze sharpened. "…you said things did not go as planned. Where is Itachi?"
The room stilled. The air thickened.
Kisame's grin faltered for the first time. His hand tightened on Samehada's bandage.
"…Itachi is gone."
Hidan barked, half in disbelief, half in anger. "Gone? What the hell does that mean, shark-face?"
Kisame's gaze lowered. His voice rumbled like a growl.
"It means… Sasuke killed him."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Even Deidara's mocking tongue stilled. Konan's paper wings fluttered faintly in the air, then went still.
Pain's Rinnegan never blinked, his expression unreadable. But the weight in the chamber deepened like a stormcloud pressing down on their chests.
"So…" Kisame muttered, his grin returning, hollow and sharp, "…the prodigy of the Uchiha, our ally, is now just another corpse — and his little brother holds a power we've never seen before. A power that bends space itself."
The torches crackled. No one spoke.
And in the silence, the first seeds of unease sprouted within the organization.
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Elsewhere — The Kaishin Dimension
Itachi's eyes opened to a horizon that did not exist. The world around him was endless — a void-like sky, rivers of light cutting across the darkness, and a glasslike ground that reflected infinity.
His Sharingan spun, searching for chakra, for exits, for anything. But there was no door, no seam in reality. Only emptiness.
He exhaled slowly.
"…So this is Sasuke's power."
He remembered the look in his brother's eyes: sorrow, rage, regret — and a resolve that went beyond vengeance. Sasuke's voice still echoed: Kaishin.
Now, here he stood. A prisoner in a world his brother had forged.
Itachi's gaze lifted to the endless sky. His calm cracked, just slightly.
"Sasuke… what path have you chosen?"
For the first time in many years, Uchiha Itachi felt something dangerously close to fear.
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End of Chapter 40
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