A chilling cold swept through the hearts of everyone watching the Sky Screen.
Inside the Hokage's office, Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had completely lost his spirit—like a man who had aged decades in a single moment.
There was no longer anger in their eyes.
Only endless sorrow…
and a trace of unmistakable disgust.
The Collapse in the Academy
At the Ninja Academy, Sakura and the other students covered their mouths in horror.
They watched as Sasuke, slumped against the wall, slowly slid down to the floor—his face buried deep in his knees, shoulders shaking violently, yet unable to make a single sound.
Nearby, Naruto felt his beliefs being violently shaken.
"That can't be right…" he whispered hoarsely.
"No way… the Third Grandpa wouldn't do that…"
A Truth That Suffocates the World
The truth exposed by the masked man swept across the entire shinobi world, leaving behind a suffocating silence.
Every village had its darkness.
Sacrificing subordinates for missions.
Starting wars for利益.
Purging dissidents for "stability."
Everyone understood that much—even if no one said it out loud.
But Konoha…
To dress a political purge up as "protecting the village."
To force a thirteen-year-old child to personally slaughter his entire clan.
To then meticulously design a years-long script of fratricide—
All to cultivate a "clean," obedient bloodline heir,
while maintaining the village's image of righteousness—
This level of calculated cruelty, where humanity, ethics, and emotion were all reduced to chess pieces, made even the most hardened shinobi feel a physical wave of revulsion.
This wasn't just dark.
It was monstrous.
Truly…
Eye-opening.
The Silence of the Hokage's Office
Inside the Hokage's office—
Silence.
Tsunade and Jiraiya no longer looked at Hiruzen.
They asked no more questions.
What was the point?
To call him a hypocrite?
To condemn him as cruel?
At this stage, such words were laughably hollow.
To ask him to correct his mistakes now?
Could the Uchiha clan be revived?
Could Itachi's sins be erased?
Could Sasuke's shattered life be rewound?
And deep down, an icy voice whispered the truth:
It was impossible.
The roots of Konoha's great tree had already rotted black—
corroded by countless instances of so-called "necessary evil."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was not an exception.
He was part of that system.
Perhaps even one of its beneficiaries and guardians.
To expect him to dismantle it?
A fool's dream.
That realization brought not anger, but a deeper despair.
They stood there in silence, an invisible chasm forming between themselves and the man they once respected—a divide that could never again be crossed.
Akatsuki: A Different Kind of Distance
Within the Akatsuki base, the atmosphere turned deeply unsettling.
The members who once viewed Itachi Uchiha with caution, greed, or curiosity now looked at him with a single shared expression—
The wary distance reserved for a madman.
Even Zetsu, with his half-black, half-white face, wore a profoundly strange look.
Killing one's entire clan for the village?
Then orchestrating one's own death at the hands of a younger brother?
This went beyond coldness or extremism.
It was pathological.
Twisted to the extreme.
Konoha really was right, some thought grimly.
The Uchiha really are insane.
Itachi felt that silent alienation clearly.
He stood quietly, indifferent on the surface—but beneath his sleeves, his fingers curled slightly, nails biting into his palm.
He had long since chosen this path.
Yet now, seeing his "sacrifice" and "love" exposed so nakedly—so grotesquely—
and being stared at like a monster…
A faint sense of confusion crept in.
One he refused to acknowledge.
Sasuke's New Hatred
On the Sky Screen, Sasuke stood alone by a freezing riverbank.
The camera lingered on his violently trembling back.
Silent tears had long since overflowed, mixing with rain as they streamed down freely.
He was no longer a cold avenger.
He looked like a child utterly crushed by truth—lost, helpless.
He had never known…
That the brother he hated beyond all reason—
the demon who dragged him into hell—
Had borne such unbearable, crushing shackles.
"Itachi…" Sasuke sobbed hoarsely.
"He deserved it…"
He forced the words out, as if trying to convince himself.
That man chose his path.
He bore the consequences.
He was dead.
But—
The Uchiha clan's grudge was not settled.
The true enemies were still alive.
Those hiding beneath Konoha's radiant image.
Those who orchestrated everything.
Those who turned his brother into a devil and treated his clan like disposable pieces.
An even purer, fiercer killing intent than ever before erupted from Sasuke's heart—
Fueled by betrayal.
By manipulation.
By a twisted resolve to avenge his brother and clan.
"Konoha…"
He whispered the name—hoarse, yet overflowing with hatred.
Then—
He snapped his head up.
His eyes, blurred by tears and pain, contracted violently.
The tomoe spun wildly, distorting, merging—
A vast, chilling ocular power descended!
Mangekyō Sharingan — awakened!
An eerie pattern bloomed in his eyes—
a flower of power nourished by pain and hatred.
At the same moment, three figures appeared silently behind him—
Suigetsu. Karin. Jūgo.
The Taka Team.
Sasuke didn't turn around.
Tears still streaked his face—but only killing intent and resolve remained.
His voice was calm, yet unmistakably clear:
"Taka… our next objective—"
"Destroy Konoha."
With tear-stained cheeks, Sasuke spoke words saturated with absolute murderous intent.
And Then… Nothing
The Sky Screen slowly pulled back.
Sasuke and the Taka Team shrank in the frame, fading into the rain-soaked darkness—
until they vanished completely.
And then—
Just as the entire shinobi world held its breath, hearts pounding, desperate to know what would happen next—
The Sky Screen vanished.
Without warning.
The sky returned to its normal color, as if the apocalyptic revelation had been nothing more than a shared illusion.
...
Several seconds passed.
Then—
An immeasurable flood of question marks erupted across the entire shinobi world.
"What?!"
"That's it?!"
"It ends HERE?!"
"Sasuke's about to destroy Konoha—then what?!"
"Sky Screen! Get back here and finish your story!!"
"Cutting it off now is criminal!!"
"Last time you stopped before the world-ending conclusion, now this again?!"
Shinobi everywhere howled in frustration, stomped the ground, clutched their heads in agony.
Ending the story at its absolute climax—
Was worse than stabbing them outright.
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