Seeing that Uchiha Sasuke had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Itachi lowered his head, a faint smile curling at his lips as he spoke.
"Looks like you were right, Rorin."
Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke felt confused. Then he saw "Uzumaki Naruto," who should have already died beside Uchiha Itachi, slowly raise his head.
A swirl of smoke wrapped around "Uzumaki Naruto." When it cleared, the figure revealed was none other than Rorin.
"Hehe! I won this bet—you owe me a serving of dango!" Rorin grinned, then pulled the sword out of his body. The wound that had been pierced began to heal rapidly.
"Heh, no problem," Uchiha Itachi replied calmly.
The two of them turned to look at Uchiha Sasuke, who stood there stunned. His tears had already stopped, and he simply stared blankly at the two before him.
After a moment, Uchiha Sasuke clenched his teeth and asked coldly, "What the hell is going on?"
"As you can see, everything just now was an act. As for the purpose—you should already understand it," Rorin said indifferently.
Uchiha Sasuke frowned slightly and said coldly,
"You two joined forces and staged this to push me into awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, so you could take my eyes, right?"
At this, both Rorin and Uchiha Itachi froze briefly, then shook their heads.
Uchiha Sasuke regained his arrogant expression and sneered,
"Too bad your biggest mistake was letting me awaken these eyes as well. Your overconfidence will be your downfall!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Sasuke charged at them with the Kusanagi Sword, his Mangekyō Sharingan activated.
"You or me?" Rorin glanced at Uchiha Itachi and asked calmly.
Uchiha Itachi shook his head. "I'll handle it."
Focusing his mental energy, Uchiha Itachi activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Behind him, an orange-red Susanoo suddenly manifested.
The giant hand of Susanoo reached out toward Uchiha Sasuke. Facing the incoming hand, Sasuke was deeply shaken. He had only just awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and still understood far too little about its power.
Without any surprise, Uchiha Sasuke was seized by Susanoo's massive hand, completely immobilized. He glared at Uchiha Itachi with resentment.
"Calm down, Sasuke," Uchiha Itachi said.
Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke gradually calmed himself, as if accepting his fate. He said coldly,
"I didn't expect to end up in your hands after all. If that's the case, then kill me."
Uchiha Itachi and Rorin slowly walked up to him.
"Have you calmed down a bit? Are you willing to hear my explanation, Sasuke?" Uchiha Itachi asked gently.
This sudden change left Uchiha Sasuke puzzled, but he still nodded slightly.
"What do you want to say?"
Rorin and Uchiha Itachi exchanged a glance, then prepared to follow the explanation they had agreed on a few days earlier.
Looking at Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi smiled and said,
"First, I should congratulate you on awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke."
Uchiha Sasuke gave no response and simply stared at him.
"I called you here today for two reasons. One was to help you awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. The other was to tell you the truth."
"The truth?" Uchiha Sasuke frowned.
"That's right—the truth about the destruction of the Uchiha clan," Uchiha Itachi said softly.
Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke paused, then listened quietly as Uchiha Itachi continued.
"The origin of everything goes back to the Nine-Tails Incident around fifteen years ago. In truth, the Nine-Tails didn't attack the Hidden Leaf Village of its own will—it was being controlled. And the one controlling it used the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan."
"After that incident, the higher-ups of the Hidden Leaf Village gradually began to suspect the Uchiha clan. At the same time, during the Nine-Tails Incident, the Uchiha clan did not participate in the battle due to the Third Hokage's orders. However, afterward, the Third Hokage never came forward to clarify this, which only deepened the village's rejection of us."
"And among all this, the one who instigated the suspicion of the higher-ups toward the Uchiha clan was none other than the leader of Root at the time—Shimura Danzo."
"The higher-ups grew increasingly suspicious, believing the Uchiha clan would rebel. But at the time, the clan had no such intention—we only wanted to live peacefully alongside everyone else."
"For that reason, our father had Shisui and me join the Anbu to serve the Hokage, as a show of loyalty."
"At first, the Third Hokage did accept us and believed the Nine-Tails Incident had nothing to do with our clan. But later, driven by his own selfish desires, Shimura Danzo repeatedly suppressed our clan. Because the Uchiha suffered no casualties during the Nine-Tails Incident while other major clans did, the Third Hokage, wary of our strength, tacitly approved Danzo's actions."
"But Danzo showed no restraint at all—his suppression was endless. He even had our clan's prodigies assassinated, including my close friend, Uchiha Shisui."
"All of this finally caused the clan to lose hope completely. Discussions began about leaving the Hidden Leaf Village or rebelling. But since all of our foundation was rooted in the village, we ultimately chose to follow Danzo's wishes and prepare for a coup."
"At the time, as a member of the Anbu, I had access to information about the higher-ups and could relay it back to the clan. But we still weren't fully prepared."
"One day, Shimura Danzo approached me. He needed a scapegoat to take the blame for slaughtering the entire Uchiha clan. Because I was strong, he chose me. I lost to him, and with no other choice, I made a deal—he would spare you, and in return, I would accept his terms."
At this point, Uchiha Sasuke finally couldn't hold back and shouted,
"You're lying! That night, it was clearly you who killed the clan—even our father and mother were killed by your own hands!"
Uchiha Itachi slowly shook his head and said calmly,
"Sometimes what you see isn't the truth. Just like you said earlier—even if I were strong, I couldn't have wiped out the entire Uchiha Police Force alone."
Uchiha Sasuke froze for a moment, then said, "Didn't you say someone else helped you?"
"Do you really think just two people could accomplish all of that? In truth, the ones who carried out the massacre that night were Danzo's Root organization. I was only the scapegoat."
Uchiha Sasuke was stunned. Then he raised his head and asked, "What about our father and mother?"
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.
"They took their own lives. They didn't want to fight me as family… and they didn't want to die at Danzo's hands either. They chose to end it themselves so I wouldn't have to."
Uchiha Sasuke stood there in a daze, while Rorin glanced at Uchiha Itachi and couldn't help but sigh inwardly: What a smooth performance from start to finish—truly a masterful actor.