Landing softly from Susanoo's palm, Kisame looked up at the crow-formed clone of Itachi hovering above him.
"Itachi's chakra… stored inside me beforehand, triggering into a crow clone at the moment of death? But when?"
Kisame wracked his brain. A detail from yesterday surfaced—their parting in the rain, Itachi's hand resting casually on his shoulder.
"Ah… so that was it. He foresaw Sasuke would come for me."
Itachi's crow clone had witnessed the entire Third Bout through Kisame's eyes. Gazing at the familiar, yet utterly transformed, brother encased within his own Susanoo, a genuine sigh echoed in its thoughts. Sasuke… you've truly grown strong.
Sasuke's heart churned with a hundred feelings. After his rebirth, he'd imagined countless reunions with Itachi. Never this one. Never like this.
So much to say. Not now. Not to a clone.
His fist clenched, knuckles white, forcibly suppressing the storm inside. His voice, when it came, was a study in forced calm.
"Itachi. You went through the trouble of leaving this failsafe in Kisame. You didn't just come to sigh, did you?"
"You really have changed, Sasuke," the clone mused. "To restrain your killing intent even now… not lashing out at this mere shadow of me."
Sasuke's fist tightened further. "Talk. Or I will destroy this clone."
The clone's expression grew solemn. "One month from now. Come alone to the old Uchiha compound. There, we will settle our score for good. But… for me to be there, you must agree to one condition."
"What?"
"Until our matter is settled… cease all further action against the Akatsuki."
"And if I refuse?"
A faint, almost weary smile touched the clone's lips. "Then you'd be doing me a favor. You've grown strong enough to make me feel death's approach."
"Vague threats won't work, Itachi." Sasuke's voice was steel. "This time… I won't let you have your way."
The clone chuckled, a soft, hollow sound. "You've awakened the same eyes as me. That means you've truly tasted the bitterness of 'loss.' Yet even with the same eyes, the vistas we see can be worlds apart. How far can your Sharingan see now? In one month… I'll see for myself."
The words hung in the air. Then—the clone dissolved into a swirling curtain of black feathers.
Sasuke bowed his head.
A deep, silent sigh welled up from the depths of his soul.
Itachi… the path you chose, with what I know now… I can't accept it. But I've never denied it.
Because… you are my beloved brother. Itachi Uchiha.
I could confront you directly. Lay everything bare. But that would be spitting on everything you've endured in this life—for the world, for the village, for the clan, for me.
So… this time, I'll still fight you with everything I have. I'll defeat you fairly. I'll make you see that the eaglet you protected has become a shinobi who stands on his own. That everything you did, in your past life and this one… was not in vain.
And then… we'll sit and talk. Like brothers. I'll tell you the story of my past life.
And then, no matter what you choose… I'll smile and say it.
—"This time, big brother… it's your little brother's turn to protect you."
He raised his head, his gaze settling on the man before him.
"Kisame. Leave."
As Kisame stared, the wall of black flames behind him parted, opening a path.
Kisame finally spoke, his voice gravelly. "What… you think I, Kisame Hoshigaki, need my enemy's pity?"
"It's not pity," Sasuke said, his tone quiet, final. "I accept Itachi's challenge. That means I accept his condition. Until I settle things with him, I won't move against you, or any other Akatsuki member. Of course… if you come to me, I won't refuse."
Kisame wasn't a fool. He wasn't afraid to die. But he wouldn't seek death stupidly.
"Sasuke Uchiha, huh? You're not what I expected. I'll wait to see the result of your battle in one month. Until then."
He hoisted Samehada onto his back and walked, unhurried, towards the distant edge of the inferno.
Itachi-san… in the end, I owe you my life again.
Sasuke watched him go until he vanished into the heat haze. Then, his Susanoo dissolved. The White Cursed Seal's second state receded from his skin.
"Hah…"
He took a slow, steadying breath. A swirl of energy pulsed beside him—Futodama.
Kabuto, Orochimaru, and Karin appeared at his side.
Karin stepped forward, holding out the Kusanagi sword, which Sasuke had left embedded in the earth during the fight.
Sasuke took it. "Thanks."
Orochimaru's slit-pupiled eyes gleamed. "Thoughts?"
"The Third Bout wasn't intense enough to fully drain Stage Two," Sasuke said, flexing his hand. "But I'm more accustomed to it now. Against Itachi… maybe I can push further."
Orochimaru chuckled. "I meant your thoughts on seeing him."
Sasuke didn't answer. He simply slid the Kusanagi back into its sheath with a soft, definitive click.
"Let's go."
Whoosh!
The vortex of Futodama swallowed them, returning them to Azure Moon Island.
But just before vanishing, Orochimaru's gaze flickered—ever so slightly—towards the deepest heart of the Amaterasu blaze.
Some time later… a pitch-black figure oozed from the very heart of the black flames.
Black Zetsu.
"Sasuke Uchiha… his growth is terrifying. To use Deep Forest Emergence now? And this method of wielding the black flames… Orochimaru's 'White Cursed Seal' holds deeper secrets than I thought. Still… as he is now, he's not worth the trouble of eliminating."
He raised a hand.
Yin-Yang Release: Absorption!
SHWOOP!
The Amaterasu that had raged across Heaven's Gate Gorge—every last tongue of black fire—swirled violently, drawn like iron to a magnet, and vanished into Black Zetsu's form.
"Thanks for the meal. I'll be watching your little family drama in one month closely. Consider it… an entertaining sideshow before the final act of this thousand-year blood feud begins."
His form melted back into the scorched earth, leaving no trace.
In a land of perpetual mist and cloud, a lone figure stopped walking.
Before him, a pink slug nearly ten meters long undulated gently.
Itachi's gaze softened. "You've grown, Myōmyō."
The slug, Myōmyō, giggled. "Silly! If you hadn't saved me from that nasty snake two years ago, I wouldn't be here at all! Itachi, last time you had tea, you said you probably wouldn't come back?"
Itachi's expression grew solemn. "Yes. This time… circumstances leave me no choice. Please, take me deep into Shikkotsu Forest. I wish to pay my respects to your mother—the master of this land."
His voice was quiet, respectful, yet carried an unshakable resolve.
"The Slug Sage."
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