When Uchiha Shisui entered the scene, the previously calm and composed Uchiha Itachi immediately became tense and alert.
Because he knew very well how strong his former close friend was.
And what surprised Uchiha even more was that Shisui had actually regained an eye!
Because he saw that Shisui's eye had the pattern of the Mangekyou Sharingan!
So, Shisui had already confronted Danzo before this?
Uchiha Itachi, holding a Ninja Sword, looked serious. He took a deep breath and slowly said, "Shisui, I believe I have never done anything wrong... You say I betrayed the village, but in fact, I did not! I did those things for the village, I went to such lengths for the village."
He caught between a rock and a hard place.
Realizing that he had no way to escape, Uchiha Itachi knew that there was no point in hiding some of the secrets he had kept in his heart.
He glanced at the distant figure that had been knocked away, then turned his gaze back to Shisui, who was holding a staff sword.
"That night, the Uchiha clan was ready to rebel... If no one had stepped in to stop them, the Uchiha would have completely turned against Konohagakure, and the entire village would have been plunged into a war with heavy casualties."
Only in front of this former close friend would Uchiha Itachi say so much.
He continued in a calm voice, "You know, all the actions of the Uchiha clan were under the scrutiny of the village higher-ups. They thought their coup plan was very secretive, but in fact, it had long been detected."
"In that situation, if they chose to rebel, they would definitely be annihilated by the village. Even all the clan members would be implicated and killed."
"And the Uchiha clan's desperate counterattack would also drag many other innocent ninjas and civilians in the village into it."
As he spoke, Uchiha Itachi recalled the bloody night.
A trace of sorrow flashed in his eyes but was quickly concealed.
What replaced it was determination and resolve.
"At that time, either someone would step in and kill everyone in the village, leaving only the Uchiha clan; or someone would step in and kill all the Uchiha clan members to maintain the village's peace."
As he spoke, his gaze became calm.
As if convincing himself.
"I chose the latter."
Uchiha Itachi said, "And this was also Shimura Danzo's order. Everything I did was with Hokage-sama's tacit approval."
"I chose to sacrifice 99.9% of the Uchiha clan members for peace. This is the path I chose."
He paused and looked at the injured Sasuke lying not far away, "This was also a deal I made with the village. I would help them kill everyone else, but they had to spare Sasuke."
"This way, the Uchiha coup will be halted, and the impending war will be stopped."
"At the same time, leaving Sasuke as the sole survivor will ensure the Uchiha clan is not completely wiped out."
He looked at him with a clear conscience.
Everything he said was a secret buried in his heart for many years.
This also revealed his identity—he, was a traitor to Konohagakure, but in reality, he had always maintained a relationship with the higher-ups of Konohagakure.
In essence, he willingly became a tool for the higher-ups.
Everything he did was for the so-called "peace."
However...
Shisui was not swayed by Uchiha Itachi's words in the slightest.
"Itachi, you are too naive." Shisui's cold expression made Uchiha Itachi pause slightly. Shisui, holding his staff sword, approached and said, "When you think there are only two choices for something... when you don't consider if there are other solutions, you have already made the worst choice in your heart."
"It's also my fault for not teaching you well." Shisui blamed himself, the killing intent in his eyes not diminishing: "It's also my fault for misjudging you. Your thinking is too extreme."
"At that time, Pops was in the village. Naruto and Sasuke are friends. If you had sought help from the Whitebeard Pirates, they would not have stood idly by."
"As long as the Whitebeard Pirates are in the ninja world, they can suppress the Uchiha clan and Konohagakure, preventing them from acting recklessly."
Shisui stared coldly at Uchiha Itachi: "And you could have spared the defenseless clan members, only killing those who incited the coup, as they indeed violated Konohagakure's laws."
"But you even killed innocent people..."
"Hah!" Shisui exhaled heavily: "I don't care about your stance, your past hardships, or any other reasons."
"I only know... you need to be buried with the innocent clan members."
"That's all!"
He could somewhat understand Uchiha Itachi's confusion and helpless choices back then.
Thinking of Shimura Danzo's despicable actions, perhaps Uchiha Itachi was used by him.
As Uchiha Itachi's former close friend, Shisui had a moment of softness.
He admitted it.
But soon, Shisui realized. He was not qualified to forgive Uchiha Itachi on behalf of the innocent clan members who were killed!
"Itachi, either you kill me, or I kill you."
Shisui's cold tone left Uchiha Itachi stunned.
He didn't expect that revealing the truth of the past would still not earn anyone's forgiveness for his helpless choices.
He looked back at his brother, Uchiha Sasuke.
Then he looked at Uchiha Izumi not far away.
Sasuke and Izumi's expressions were the same as Shisui's.
Their emotional changes were identical to Shisui's.
As Shisui said... they were not qualified to forgive Uchiha Itachi on behalf of the victims, and Uchiha Itachi was not qualified to earn their forgiveness.
Shisui lightly raised his staff sword and said expressionlessly: "There is some news that might be good for you. Shimura Danzo has been killed by Pops. One of the culprits behind the Uchiha clan's downfall is dead."
"Is that so..." Uchiha Itachi suddenly smiled with relief: "Good riddance."
"Now, it's your turn." Shisui's words were merciless.
In the next moment!
They moved!
Shisui's speed was so fast that even Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan couldn't catch his attack trajectory. Uchiha Itachi instinctively raised his sword to block and then thrust forward.
As soon as the tip of the sword touched Shisui's body, he realized it wasn't the real body, just a decoy from the Body Flicker Jutsu!
Uchiha Itachi quickly lowered his head, and the blade of the staff sword almost grazed the back of his head, cutting off a lock of hair.
Before he could catch his breath, Shisui's kick had already landed on him, forcing Uchiha Itachi to retreat several steps.
"Great Fireball Jutsu!!!" Uchiha Itachi formed six seals in a second and unleashed a massive fireball towards Shisui.
"Great Fireball Jutsu!!!" Shisui used the exact same Ninjutsu.
Now that Shisui was a Jinchuriki, the power of his Ninjutsu was much greater than that of Uchiha Itachi's!
The two fireballs, one large and one small, collided, and Uchiha Itachi's fireball was instantly swallowed on the spot.
Startled, he quickly leaped back to avoid it, and the giant fireball Shisui spewed out crashed into the ground, creating a huge crater.
Shisui took this opportunity to swiftly close in, holding his sword with both hands and thrusting forward!
The battle between the two Uchiha geniuses was dazzling.
Especially with Shisui regaining one of his eyes, his combat power had skyrocketed several levels!
For a moment, Uchiha Itachi was forced to retreat step by step, only able to defend.
"Your Taijutsu and swordsmanship have become so strong..." Uchiha Itachi hastily blocked Shisui's strike, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow.
Shisui said expressionlessly, "I specifically sought guidance from Vista."
"Vista?!"
"My family."
"I see..."
The intense clash of their swords sparked a shower of sparks, and they had already exchanged dozens of blows.
During this time, both had used several Fire Release Ninjutsu.
Suddenly, Uchiha Itachi noticed something strange about Shisui's sword.
His peripheral vision caught the blade turning pitch black!
When their swords clashed again, Uchiha Itachi instantly understood why he felt something was off.
Clang—
Uchiha Itachi's Sword was directly cut in half by Shisui's staff sword, which was covered in Armament Haki!
Seeing the staff sword aiming for his vital point, Uchiha Itachi's eyes narrowed.
"Susano'o!!!"
The sudden appearance of a skeletal structure acted like a solid shield, blocking Shisui's strike.
He didn't use "Tsukuyomi" because it seemed Shisui had already anticipated this move, and he wasn't sure if Tsukuyomi would work on Shisui instantly.
If it didn't, he would be dead in a second at Shisui's hands.
Although Danzo was already dead, Uchiha Itachi believed his mission was not yet complete.
He knew that one day he would die, and if he didn't, he would end his own life.
But, not now.
He didn't want to die at Shisui's hands just yet.
He also didn't use "Amaterasu," because one of his Sharingan was Tsukuyomi, and the other eye was Shisui's Sharingan.
Uchiha Itachi's other eye, which had Amaterasu, was kept in reserve, but it couldn't be used in battle immediately.
So, the only technique he could use now was Susano'o!
"Susano'o!" Compared to the skeletal frame summoned by Uchiha Itachi, Shisui's Susano'o was almost complete.
The deep green color of Susano'o was even more profound than before!
"Itachi, you're not the only one who can use this technique." Shisui felt his eyes getting tired, and he sensed that his vision seemed to have worsened a bit.
When he didn't have his eye, he couldn't feel this while using Susano'o.
Now that he had his eye, this feeling was very noticeable.
Shisui's Susano'o attacked Itachi's Susano'o.
The two giants clashed.
Shisui's Susano'o stomped down on Uchiha Itachi's Susano'o, and Itachi's Susano'o quickly raised its skeletal arms to block. However, since it wasn't a complete Susano'o, it couldn't fully withstand Shisui's stomp.
Cracks began to appear on Susano'o's skeletal arms, and the entire skeleton frame was stomped several feet shorter.
"Hmmm, you are so strong, as always."
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath. He had never been able to defeat this close friend before, and now it seemed the gap between them remained.
A fierce look flashed in his eyes, and his pupil power and chakra surged into Susano'o.
Uchiha Itachi's complete Susano'o appeared!
"Huff... huff..."
"The consumption is huge..."
Cold sweat was already forming on Uchiha Itachi's forehead. The previous close combat with Shisui had already consumed some of his stamina and chakra.
Now, directly activating the complete Susano'o.
The consumption became even faster.
...
"They are much bigger than giants!" Meanwhile, on the Moby Dick, Smoothie remarked, "The giants of the sea, the tallest race, are only a few dozen meters tall. These two strange 'things' look nearly a hundred meters tall, don't they?"
Marco watched the scene before him, shook his head slightly, and said, "That one called Uchiha Itachi has already lost."
"Oh? Doesn't it look evenly matched?" Vista, standing nearby, asked in confusion.
Marco explained, "That boy called Uchiha Itachi doesn't look very healthy. His body seems to be sick."
"This means that in front of Shisui, he won't last long. The current balance is only temporary."
"Not healthy?" Jozu grumbled unhappily.
He had heard about everything Uchiha Itachi had done while on the ship.
He was very disgusted by the boy's actions.
"Maybe this is the punishment for hurting so many clan members," Jozu said disdainfully.
"Gurararararara..."
Whitebeard, holding Murakumogiri, stood calmly at the bow of the Moby Dick, quietly observing the two battles.
As long as he was there, neither the pitcher plant kid nor Uchiha Itachi could escape.
"These foolish sons are quite capable!"
Seeing the battered Zetsu and Itachi being suppressed by Shisui, Whitebeard was very satisfied.
Unknowingly...
So many foolish sons had already gained the strength to stand on their own.
How wonderful!
...
"Sasuke, can you still stand?" Naruto, who had somehow already jumped off the Moby Dick, ran over to Sasuke.
"Cough... Damn it..." Sasuke sat on the ground clutching his stomach, his back against a piece of rubble.
He looked up at Uchiha Itachi, who had activated his full-body Susano'o.
"I can!" Sasuke gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand up.
He stared intently at Uchiha Itachi: "Why is the gap still so big? I'm already a Jinchuriki..."
A strong sense of unwillingness lingered in Sasuke's heart.
His fists were tightly clenched, his nails digging into the flesh of his palms.
The two tomoe in his Sharingan were slowly rotating.
If someone noticed Sasuke's eyes, they would see a new tomoe faintly appearing outside the two tomoe!
...
...
(End of Chapter)
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