Homura watched the shift in Itachi's expression and gave a faint, unreadable look.
"You guess?"
His tone was flat, offering nothing. He had no obligation to explain his abilities to Itachi. Now that he'd confirmed Itachi's Mangekyō powers matched what he remembered from the original timeline, Tsukuyomi in the left eye and Amaterasu in the right, there was no reason to drag this out.
Through the connection to his real body, he knew that Minato had already begun moving against Danzō.
The Mangekyō in his eyes flared with power. Chakra surged, and a figure identical to him materialized out of thin air at his side. For a split second, two Homuras stood there. Then both moved simultaneously, charging at Itachi.
Itachi's Sharingan tracked them both. In his vision, the two figures were completely identical. His instincts screamed that this wasn't a simple Shadow Clone Technique, but he couldn't pin down why.
He tightened his grip on the sword and struck at the Homura on his left. The blade drove forward in a clean thrust aimed at the center of its mass.
It passed straight through.
Realizing the attack had done nothing, he spun at once and slashed at the figure on his right. The result was the same. The blade swept through Homura's body as though it were made of air and caused no damage at all.
He started to scan the courtyard for the real body, searching for wherever Homura had hidden himself.
That's when the "illusion" on his left moved.
It passed through Itachi's body from behind, spun around, and drove a kunai straight at his throat.
CLANG!
Itachi reacted on reflex, bringing his sword up to block. Metal struck metal with a sharp ring and sparks flew.
The clone that should have been intangible had turned solid the instant it attacked.
Before he could process what was happening, the figure on his right moved as well. Its kunai stabbed toward his chest. He twisted desperately and threw himself backward, barely avoiding a fatal blow. But the kunai still carved a deep gash across his torso, cutting nearly to the bone. Blood immediately soaked through his clothes.
"Shisui's Body Flicker?"
He pressed a hand to the wound, trying to slow the bleeding. His eyes stayed locked on Homura, or the Homuras. He and Shisui had been close. He knew his friend's signature technique, using after-images and the Body Flicker to create confusion, switching positions at the moment of attack. But even against that, the Sharingan could identify the real body.
"No... this is a dōjutsu?"
He dismissed his own theory at once. Shisui's technique relied on speed and misdirection to deceive the eye, but the Sharingan could see through that. What he was seeing now was different. Both figures registered as real in his vision. They were like two shadow clones, except he knew they were not. One of them had to be the original.
"That's right. You guessed correctly. Unfortunately for you, guessing correctly won't save your life."
One of the Homuras charged forward again.
This was the Mangekyō ability he had gained, Kokū in his left eye. On the surface, it resembled Kamui, allowing the user to phase between tangible and intangible states. But the mechanics were completely different.
Kokū consumed ocular power to create a "non-corporeal clone." The real body and the clone could swap places instantly, unrestricted by distance or obstacles. Right now, both Homuras on the battlefield were real in their own way. One was the physical body, one was the projection. And Homura could switch between them at will.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Itachi's hands blurred through seals. A massive sphere of flame erupted from his mouth and shot toward the charging Homura.
The figure didn't dodge. It ran straight through the fireball and emerged on the other side completely unharmed, not even singed.
The fireball continued past, slamming into the courtyard wall behind Homura.
BOOM!
The flames melted a massive hole through the stone. Burning debris scattered across the ruins, small fires flickering in the wreckage.
"It's just like the masked man who calls himself Madara," Itachi muttered.
A sense of helplessness crept into his chest, though he wasn't surprised. The earlier probing attacks had already given him a rough idea of what Homura's ability could do. But understanding it and finding a counter for it were two different things.
"Susanoo!"
He didn't have any other options. The Mangekyō in his eyes spun wildly, faster than they ever had before. Red-orange chakra exploded from his body, rapidly condensing into skeletal form. Ribs appeared first, then a skull, then arms. The moment Susanoo finished materializing, it swung both fists down at the two Homuras charging from different angles.
Facing the attack, Homura made no attempt to dodge.
Both figures turned phantom-like, phasing through Susanoo's bones as though they were walking through walls. The massive fists crashed into the ground, pulverizing stone and sending debris flying everywhere. But they didn't even graze Homura's clothes.
In the next instant, one of the Homuras slipped through Susanoo's ribcage and drove a punch straight at Itachi, who was protected in the center.
Itachi raised his arms to block, but Homura's fist passed through his guard. Then Homura's body became solid again and he spun, driving a vicious kick into Itachi's lower back.
The force launched Itachi out of his own Susanoo. His body flew through the air and the red-orange construct immediately dissipated behind him. Before Itachi could hit the ground, the other Homura manifested golden Susanoo around himself. The skeletal arm drew back and then hammered forward, slamming its fist into Itachi's airborne form.
BOOM!
The Itachi that got hit exploded into wooden chunks. The log was instantly pulverized by Susanoo's punch, splinters flying in all directions.
Seeing that Itachi had evaded using a last-second substitution, Homura expanded his chakra sensing. He located Itachi's signature underground, hiding in a crack in the earth.
The golden Susanoo slowly raised its fist and brought it down like a hammer, smashing into the ground.
CRACK!
The earth split open with a massive fissure. Itachi, exposed in his hiding spot, desperately manifested his own Susanoo's ribs around his body. The red-orange bones appeared just in time to block the golden fist.
The two techniques collided with a loud crash. Itachi's fragile, incomplete Susanoo held for a moment, then began to crack under the pressure.
"You're far too weak right now, Itachi," Homura said calmly. "Surrender."
At this point, after repeatedly using his Mangekyō techniques, Itachi's chakra was completely depleted. His body swayed from severe injuries, and even standing had become difficult. Blood loss was making him dizzy. His vision was starting to blur.
"You don't understand anything..."
Itachi let out a bitter laugh, coughing up a mouthful of blood. But he still forced himself upright, pure stubbornness keeping him on his feet.
"The Uchiha are arrogant and conceited. But you don't know what I'm capable of. I've been disappointed in this clan for a long time now."
He struggled to stand, and as he did, he started muttering to himself. The words came out disjointed and obsessive, like he was trying to justify something to himself more than explain it to Homura.
"The village... the clan... ninjas... conflict exists because existence itself creates conflict. Life is born, life dies, gathers together into villages..."
"Enough."
Homura's patience snapped. Listening to Itachi ramble incomprehensibly about philosophy while bleeding out was getting old. A brainwashed kid pretending to have deep insights, spouting nonsense about "capacity" and "resolve" while standing in a courtyard full of corpses he'd created.
The kid needed therapy, not a lecture platform.
Homura stopped listening. His chakra surged explosively. The golden Susanoo around him rapidly evolved, muscles forming over the bones, then thick armor plating covering the muscles. Within seconds, it had transformed into a half-bodied armored warrior, towering over the courtyard.
The armored warrior raised its fist. Then it brought that fist down, hammering toward Itachi's fragile Susanoo.
BOOM! CRACK!
The shockwave hurled shattered stone into the air. Itachi's Susanoo was barely held together by the last remnants of his chakra, and cracks spread across it. A moment later, it collapsed completely, breaking apart into countless points of light that faded into nothing.
His body was launched backward. He hit the ground and tumbled, leaving a smear of blood across the courtyard stones before coming to a stop.
The short sword in his hand flew from his grip. It spun through the air several times before plunging into the ground nearby.
"Cough... cough..."
Even after taking such a blow, Itachi somehow hadn't lost consciousness. His eyes were unfocused and glassy, but he was still aware. He began to crawl, dragging himself across the blood-soaked ground toward the sword. He hadn't completed his "mission" yet. So he couldn't die, not until it was finished.
But when he was half a meter from the blade, a hand reached down and pulled it from the ground.
He lifted his head. Homura stood before him, holding the short sword aloft, its tip aimed at his throat.
"No!"
Just as he closed his eyes, accepting the death he thought he deserved, his mother's cry shattered the moment.
His eyes snapped open. Mikoto was running toward him, tears streaming down her face. She threw herself between him and Homura's blade.
"Please..." She dropped to her knees on the blood-soaked ground, positioning herself directly in front of the short sword's path. "Please let him go..."
Even facing the weapon that would kill her, she kept herself planted firmly between Homura and her son.
"Let him go?" Homura's voice was cold, completely unmoved. "Those Uchiha he killed... I have no right to forgive him on their behalf. The only thing I can do is send him to join them and apologize for not stopping this sooner."
He reached out with his free hand and gently pushed Mikoto aside. She was already weak from grief and shock. The small force was enough to make her stumble and fall, landing on the ground a few meters away.
The short sword came up. Homura raised it high, then brought it down at Itachi's throat.
"Mother..."
In that instant before death, something strange happened in Itachi's mind.
The things he had always believed in did not surface. The convictions that had driven him this far, the village, the clan, and the so-called greater good all fell away. He did not even look at the blade falling toward him. Instead, he turned his head to look at his mother where she had fallen. Her eyes were locked on his.
For reasons he couldn't explain, a memory flashed through his mind. Earlier tonight, when he'd been about to kill that child, the child's mother had used her last strength to shield her son with her own body, just like Mikoto was doing now.
CLANG!
Another short sword had thrust in horizontally, intercepting Homura's blade less than thirty centimeters from Itachi's throat. Sparks flew from the point of impact as the two weapons locked together.
"Don't kill him."
A figure in ANBU uniform stood between Homura and Itachi, blocking the execution.
"I'll get him to surrender. Then we'll hand him over to the Hokage for judgment."
It was Shisui.
Seeing the newcomer, something that might have been a smile flickered in Homura's eyes. He lowered his blade and drove it point-first into the ground, leaving it standing upright.
"Fine. He's yours."
Cradled in Mikoto's arms now as she'd crawled back to him, Itachi felt like he'd been struck by lightning. He stared at the ANBU figure with wide eyes. Even with the mask on, there was no mistaking that voice. It couldn't be. It was impossible.
When Shisui reached up and pulled off his mask, revealing the face he had been told was dead, his entire world shattered.
"Shisui... You're alive? Danzō-sama said you were killed by the Fourth Hokage."
"He lied to you."
Shisui's expression was complicated.
"He ambushed me before all this started and stole one of my Sharingan. After that, Root ninjas hunted me down across the village. Kenji saved me and helped me get my eye back."
He crouched down so he was at eye level with Itachi.
"Why did you attack ordinary Uchiha civilians? They had nothing to do with any coup. Homura was sent by the Hokage specifically to stop you from doing this."
Itachi's eyes went vacant.
"Danzō-sama said that to maintain peace in the village, Konoha's leadership had decided to eliminate the Uchiha clan. He said it was the only way to prevent civil war. He said the Hokage had given the order and that I was chosen to carry it out because I understood the importance of sacrifice. Because I could make the hard choice that others couldn't..."
He trailed off, the words dying in his throat.
"You were deceived."
Shisui needed Itachi to understand this clearly, without any room for doubt or self-deception.
"Danzō wants the Sharingan for himself," Shisui said. "He covets that power and wants to claim it for his own use. Earlier tonight, he even used Izanagi just to steal my Mangekyō. It is a forbidden Sharingan technique that consumes an eye every time it is activated. That is how obsessed he is with collecting them."
His expression darkened.
"We are all shinobi of this village. The Fourth Hokage would never have ordered the Uchiha clan wiped out. That is not who he was. Danzō fed you lies and manipulated you into becoming his weapon, and you believed him."
"Then I..."
The words came out broken and confused. Itachi slowly raised his hands and stared at his palms. They were covered in blood. He had believed he was protecting the village and Sasuke. He had believed he was making a terrible sacrifice for the greater good and carrying a burden no one else could bear.
But it had all been a lie.
He had been nothing more than a pawn. All those people he had killed, all that blood on his hands, it had been for nothing. Worse than nothing. He had murdered his own people based on the word of a manipulative man who just wanted to steal their eyes.
His breathing became ragged. His vision blurred as his mind struggled to process what he had become.
He started shaking. His whole body trembled. The Mangekyō in his eyes began to bleed, tears of blood running down his face as the strain became too much.
"I... what have I..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Mikoto's arms tightened around him. She was trembling as well and was barely holding herself together. The truth was just as devastating for her. Her son had raised a blade against his own people. He had killed his own father and had nearly killed her. All of it had been driven by a ridiculous lie told by a power-hungry man. But looking at Itachi now, seeing him mentally shattered and broken before her eyes, her heart softened. She patted his back, making soft comforting sounds like she had when he was a child waking from nightmares.
Homura paid no attention to the exchange between Shisui and Itachi.
The whole confrontation had been theater anyway. He'd never intended to kill Itachi. Through his real body's connection, he'd known exactly where Shisui was. He'd sensed Shisui driving off Obito and heading this way.
The whole reason he'd delayed, drawn things out instead of just executing Itachi immediately, was to give Shisui time to arrive and play the role of savior. Good cop, bad cop. Classic interrogation technique, just applied to a broader situation.
While Shisui dealt with the emotional breakdown, he walked over to Fugaku's corpse. He crouched down and removed Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan. The eyes were placed into a specially prepared container filled with nutrient solution.
As clan head, Fugaku bore significant responsibility for the coup attempt that had sparked all of this. He'd been marked for death regardless of how tonight played out. Taking his Sharingan carried no moral weight for him. The man was already gone. Better the eyes serve some purpose than rot in the ground.
"Alright," he said, standing up and sealing the container into a storage scroll. He walked back over to where Shisui was still crouched next to the broken Itachi. "Let's head to the Hokage Building. The Hokage can handle the aftermath from here."
By now, Shisui had finished explaining everything to Itachi. The full extent of Danzō's manipulation, the lies about the Hokage's orders, the truth about what had really been happening. Itachi had completely given up any thought of resistance. He just sat there in Mikoto's arms, staring at nothing.
"Oh," he added after a moment's pause. "I've already removed Fugaku's Sharingan for safekeeping. It'll be handed over later for the new Uchiha clan head to decide how to handle."
Neither Shisui nor Mikoto showed any surprise at this. The Uchiha had always maintained traditions around retrieving fallen clan members' Sharingan when possible. On battlefields where recovery wasn't feasible, dying ninjas would destroy their own eyes with chakra if they hadn't reached the three-tomoe stage. If they had reached it, they might even activate a forbidden technique to take enemies with them, both as a final act of vengeance and to prevent the Sharingan from being stolen.
When conditions allowed, clan members recovered the eyes and brought them home. Enma had done exactly that in the past, though he'd ultimately given those eyes directly to Homura rather than the clan.
"I want to wait for Sasuke to come back," Mikoto said quietly, looking at Fugaku's body. "He should be home soon."
"There's no need to wait," Shisui said. "He's already been taken home by Lady Kushina. She's keeping him safe. Let's all go together. Once everything's settled at the Hokage Building, Sasuke will be brought back to you."
"Is that so?" A flicker of relief passed through Mikoto's eyes before sorrow swallowed it again. "Thank you."
The group prepared to head for the Hokage Building.
Itachi hadn't spoken a single word since learning the truth. His mind was somewhere else entirely, lost in a maze of guilt and horror from which there might be no escape. Mikoto shifted him onto her back, carrying him like she had when he was small.
Though she was a housewife now, she was still a registered kunoichi on the active rolls. She was a jonin who had awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan in her youth, and she had simply chosen family over missions after Itachi was born.
From the moment Itachi turned his blade on the clan, she lost all will to fight and was ready to die. But now, with circumstances changed and the truth revealed, a fragile hope had returned to her heart.
Carrying her broken son, she followed behind the two men toward whatever judgment awaited them at the Hokage Building.