Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

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"Samehada, are you trembling?"

While the Uchiha brothers were staring at each other, Hoshigaki Kisame felt that his Samehada—which under normal circumstances would get more excited the stronger the opponent's chakra was, practically wanting to devour it—was now faintly quivering inside its bandages, making low whimpering sounds that only he could hear, urging Kisame to run away as quickly as possible.

Two years ago, when they encountered Izayoi, Samehada hadn't reacted this way. On the contrary, it was as excited as when facing a Jinchūriki, eager to consume Izayoi's chakra.

But now, aside from fear, Samehada felt no appetite at all.

Reflecting on the enormous chakra flare-up two years ago—almost rewriting the concept of "impossible" in this world—Kisame was unwilling to believe events could be so bizarre…

Clearly, two years ago, that guy had only been a genius skilled in the Dust Release secret arts, yet was still unable to merge them into a true Kekkei Tōta. Even if he was secretly hiding Wood Release (Mokuton), his combined strength could only have been Kage-level at best.

But in just two short years, he had become an existence like Uchiha Madara—beyond imagination.

By comparison, even the talents of someone like Uchiha Itachi, who annihilated the most powerful shinobi clan at age thirteen, looked unimpressive.

"You're in the way here, and out of respect for Nagato, scram."

Izayoi's voice suddenly echoed from behind Kisame, making him, already drenched in cold sweat, feel as if doused with more water.

Before he could make a Body Flicker to vanish, the scene before him swiftly rewound.

When his vision returned to normal, he found himself standing in the rocky, rain-shrouded terrain of the Land of Rain.

"Isn't this… the Flying Thunder God teleportation?"

Kisame took a few seconds to clear his head, then immediately formed seals to do a full-scale sensory check. Not long after, he shot away in a certain direction at high speed.

…

Scene returns to the desolate terrain.

The three-tomoe Sharingan stared at Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan. Meanwhile, Kisame had been sent away in an instant.

Across from Sasuke, Itachi also used a chakra-based X-ray sense, examining Sasuke's current chakra level.

In the next moment, Itachi's eyes revealed a trace of shock.

So powerful a chakra!

It wasn't just the Yin-nature chakra in Sasuke's brain; even the Yang-nature chakra in his body was far stronger compared to last time. This meant that not only his ocular power but also his Wood Release had grown significantly stronger?

Feeling delighted, Itachi inwardly gave thanks to Izayoi. Without even exchanging a blow, Itachi could feel a tremendous pressure from Sasuke. This younger brother of his had completely reached the same tier as he was.

Moreover, Sasuke awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan three years later than he did.

Possessing Hashirama cells, he could withstand the strain of the Mangekyō, and his ocular power easily surpassed Itachi's. Using his unique Mangekyō abilities repeatedly wouldn't degrade Sasuke's vision at all.

After a few more years, there was a good chance Sasuke would achieve Perfect Susanoo without needing to transplant Itachi's eyes. And if Sasuke did transplant Itachi's eyes, he might become the second coming of Uchiha Madara, perhaps even awakening the Rinnegan someday.

Calming his internal emotions, Itachi maintained his usual impassive expression, looking at Sasuke and saying coolly, "So you've just obtained the same eyes as mine, and you couldn't wait to come seek revenge?"

Watching Itachi's feigned coldness, Sasuke, in the past, would have flown into an uncontrollable rage. Now, however, recollections of his childhood spent with Itachi, together with the souls and memories gleaned from Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, stirred a new kind of anger in him.

He fixed his glare on Itachi and snarled through clenched teeth, "How long are you going to keep up that act?"

Itachi felt a throb in his heart, but outwardly kept feigning coldness. "What are you talking about?"

"I know everything now!" Sasuke bellowed in fury. "From the feud between the clan and the village, Shisui's death, your double-agent deal with Danzō—I know it all."

"Leaving me alive wasn't about me being a spare set of eyes; you wanted me to kill you personally, to transplant your eyes and get the Eternal Mangekyō, isn't that it?"

He wheezed out of rage, his features twisted in anger: "You arranged for me to step on your corpse and become a hero, right, Oniisan?! Who gave you the right to plan out my entire life? Am I just your puppet?!"

"You never considered my feelings! I would rather have died alongside Father and Mother than live on like this!"

Gazing at Sasuke's outburst, Itachi's own heart felt like it was being sliced apart.

In the past, he hadn't comprehended Sasuke's feelings; even if he understood Sasuke's pain, he would have pressed on with his plan. After all, his own body was failing, unable to hold on much longer.

But ever since that merciless beating from Uchiha Madara, Itachi himself had fallen into a lingering sense of confusion, tormented daily. Not merely by his physical deterioration, but by the mental agony which dwarfed any wound of the flesh. Because whenever he had a moment's calm, the scene of him murdering his parents and exterminating the clan replayed in his mind.

Only by dying at Sasuke's hand could he finally find release. So he endured the pain, waiting for Sasuke's vengeance.

Now, Sasuke had indeed come to him with the same eyes. Yet there was no immediate, ruthless assault, only a pointed denunciation, tearing open Itachi's disguise and spurning the grand design laid out for him.

His stomach churned as if retching; a hot gush surged up his throat. Forcing down that metallic tang of blood, Itachi swallowed it, struggling to control his emotions. He pressed his face back to its impassive mask, again switching subjects with cold detachment: "If you've obtained the Mangekyō, did you go see the tablet in our clan's underground shrine?"

"What?"

Sasuke paused briefly, confused at the abrupt shift.

Not far away, Izayoi stood atop a wooden stump he'd sprouted from the ground, quite amused. With Six Paths Sage Mode, Izayoi's sensory perception had reached a top-tier realm.

Just as in the original manga's final fight at the Valley of the End, Naruto and Sasuke during battle could be dragged into a spiritual dimension for communion, now Izayoi simply needed the slightest thought to link his chakra with someone else—even multiple people at once—allowing them a direct mind-to-mind exchange.

That was precisely the essence behind how the Sage of Six Paths could connect with the living, letting them share hearts and gather allies.

Now that Izayoi had gained it, his Kagura's Mind Eye had ascended as well, akin to Mito's negative/positive emotion detection when she became the Kyūbi Jinchūriki. He could perceive people's emotions and read their innermost intentions.

No matter how cold Itachi's face pretended to be, it didn't fool Izayoi, who saw the pain in Itachi's heart—and was enjoying the view.

That was why Izayoi had chosen to reveal the truth of the massacre to Sasuke. Had Izayoi not become Hokage so quickly, he might have let the two brothers follow the canon path without immediately enlightening Sasuke, letting the final brotherly battle unfold. Then, after Itachi's death, he would discreetly guide Sasuke from turning dark. But circumstances had changed. Izayoi needed Sasuke's loyalty secured well in advance.

For Sasuke, raw honesty was the most potent anchor. If Izayoi hadn't shown sincerity, Sasuke might've turned out like in the original story—plunging into blackened extremes.

As long as Sasuke didn't defect, Izayoi would support any decision he made regarding Itachi. If Sasuke chose to kill his brother to avenge their parents and clan, so be it. If he chose otherwise, so be it.

For Itachi, ironically, death was release. Living on was torment unending.

Itachi, seemingly perceiving Sasuke's readiness to speak, forced himself to remain cold. He sneered: "If you'd checked the shrine, you'd know you're being naive to imagine I did it all for you. You don't understand the Uchiha's origins, nor do you realize how essential your eyes are to me—they'd plunge me into eternal darkness as the second Madara, unlocking…"

But just then Itachi's speech halted. He clutched his chest in agony, face contorted.

Alarmed, Sasuke turned to Izayoi, forgetting the old grudge for an instant. "Wh-what's happening to him?"

"He mentioned some key phrases; his internal seal was triggered," Izayoi explained, then jumped from the stump to stand by Sasuke's side.

It took a while for Itachi's wave of pain to subside. With labored breathing and cold sweat, Itachi looked wretched.

At that moment, a fist-sized black vortex appeared beside him. From it emerged Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito.

"You!"

No sooner had the two touched down than Sasuke, eyes ablaze, recognized the masked man. His fury exploded: he formed and hurled a Scorch Release orb—a blazing column of white light—toward Obito.

During Izayoi's illusions and from Hiruzen and Danzō's souls, Sasuke had learned that if not for Obito's role in the Nine-Tails assault, the Uchiha downfall would never have transpired.

To Sasuke, Obito was even more culpable than Itachi.

But that beam of white light penetrated Obito's body, only to twist and redirect toward Madara.

The older Uchiha didn't move. Merely using Preta Path to absorb it, all while calmly gauging Sasuke with an appreciative, nostalgic look. "Young ones nowadays truly have short tempers."

He looked sidewise at Itachi with a mild sneer. "You seemed to be discussing how to get the Rinnegan, correct? I sensed the sealing jutsu. Are you guessing what I obtained at the Valley of the End, or do you still mean to use Kotoamatsukami to alter Sasuke's will, turning him into a 'defender of Konoha' puppet?

But that borrowed eye's Mangekyō no longer had enough chakra, didn't it? Without Hashirama cells, how did it recover so fast?"

"..."

Itachi said nothing. Moments ago, he had planned to spin a new lie, forgetting Madara's sealing curse placed on all members of Akatsuki to prevent them from revealing ten-tails or Rinnegan details. Now Madara's arrival had shattered Itachi's fallback.

Sasuke's expression froze for a second. Then he let out a mirthless laugh. "So stepping on my brother's corpse to become a hero was a 'good ending.' I really am a puppet, after all?"

Fresh tears streamed from his eyes.

Then, thick waves of ocular power poured forth. Space around Madara and Obito warped, forming a small black hole the size of a fist. But unlike Kamui, it started to expand, unleashing a massive gravitational pull that even startled Madara.

This was Uchiha Sasuke's Mangekyō secret technique—Ohirei-no-Muchi (Noble Spirit of the Great Sun)!

Ohirei (大日灵) is another version for Uchiha Sarada's Mangekyō Sharingan called Ohirume-no-Muchi (The Exalted Lady of the Great Sun)

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