Uchiha Itachi collapsed to the ground in defeat.
This man, who had once massacred his clan, finally died on the land that once belonged to his family. His eyes seemed to still show some unwillingness before he died.
"Did he die with his eyes open?"
Akihara Kagura glanced at Uchiha Itachi's wide-open eyes, shook his head, and sighed, "It seems he still regrets not being able to take Sasuke's eyes..."
"This guy..."
"Was it really all for his brother?"
Uchiha Madara stood in front of Akihara Kagura, having listened to their entire conversation, and roughly understood the truth about Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi.
"You knew all of this..."
Uchiha Madara looked at Akihara Kagura with a strange expression and said, "But you deliberately trained his brother to kill him? For the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"No..."
A smile appeared at the corner of Akihara Kagura's mouth as he said something that even Uchiha Madara found somewhat shameless: "I did it for fairness and justice..."
"Huh?"
Uchiha Madara looked at Akihara Kagura with a hint of confusion in his eyes, seemingly unable to understand why someone like Akihara Kagura existed in the ninja world.
"You are truly despicable and shameless in your methods..."
Uchiha Madara sneered and directly issued a regional insult to Akihara Kagura: "No wonder you are an advisor to the Hokage of Konoha..."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Akihara Kagura was not bothered by Uchiha Madara's insults toward the Hokage advisor.
"Alright."
Uchiha Madara snorted coldly and said, "Now that this amusement is almost over, it's time to drag out that kid Nagato..."
"Understood."
Akihara Kagura nodded and brought up a problem to Uchiha Madara: "But there are still four previous Hokages I resurrected with Edo Tensei running rampant in Konoha. Lord Madara should be able to handle them, right?"
"Four..."
A look of interest immediately appeared on Uchiha Madara's face. He was only concerned about one of the four Hokages: "Hashirama... Did you also resurrect him?"
"Yes."
Akihara Kagura nodded.
"Hahahaha..."
Uchiha Madara suddenly burst into laughter, even sounding somewhat delighted: "Hashirama was resurrected too? This resurrection is truly interesting, hahaha..."
At this point, Uchiha Madara even clenched his fist, grinning: "I thought this resurrection would be boring, just following the plan step by step, but now it seems this world is more interesting than I imagined!"
Uchiha Madara's excitement surged again. This war-loving ambitionist found his opponent: "Let's first attack Konoha to find Nagato's whereabouts, and in the meantime, have a fight with Hashirama to show him my strength..."
To be honest.
After awakening the Rinnegan before his death, Uchiha Madara's other wish besides completing the Eye of the Moon Plan was to show off in front of his old teammate and friend, Senju Hashirama, to let him know how strong he had become!
This was something...
Uchiha Madara had wanted to do for a long time!
Unfortunately, by then, Senju Hashirama was already dead, and Uchiha Madara was old, unable to fight Senju Hashirama anymore.
Now...
Uchiha Madara was in his prime!
As far as he remembered, Senju Hashirama had also died in his prime!
Uchiha Madara, being a complete battle maniac, immediately wanted to take action. His figure instantly leaped several times, heading towards Konoha!
"Madara..."
Black Zetsu wanted to remind Uchiha Madara that it had seen Senju Hashirama's strength when he chased Uchiha Obito: "Senju Hashirama's power is also nearly at his peak..."
"Huh? Isn't that perfect for me?"
Uchiha Madara's excitement only grew!
There was nothing more exhilarating than this!
He originally thought he would just be slightly beating up juniors, but now Senju Hashirama was also resurrected, making this extremely interesting for him!
"This time, it's my turn to attack Konoha..."
Uchiha Madara smirked, recalling his past, his smile turning somewhat sinister: "Hashirama, can you protect Konoha this time?"
In the old Uchiha clan territory.
A group of Uchiha members stood there, some still stunned as they watched Uchiha Madara leave to attack Konoha. They looked at Akihara Kagura in surprise.
"That guy is going to attack Konoha..."
Uchiha Sasuke stood beside Akihara Kagura and took the initiative to ask: "Shouldn't we stop him?"
"Let the First Hokage deal with him."
Akihara Kagura shook his head gently and said in a low voice, "There should be no one more suitable than the First Hokage. Let him test his own strength!"
A strange smile appeared on Akihara Kagura's lips: "If he still loses to the First Hokage, then he will understand his own weakness; if he wins against the First Hokage, I will make him realize that there is always someone stronger."
"Yes."
Uchiha Sasuke nodded, glanced at his brother's corpse, and said softly, "Can I bury Itachi's body before leading the team to hunt down Uchiha Obito?"
This was the wish of the surviving Uchiha.
Hunting down Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito was necessary because they were the ones who had exterminated the clan; they could not be forgiven under any circumstances.
"Karin."
Akihara Kagura beckoned to Karin and instructed, "Help take Uchiha Itachi's eyes and give them to Sasuke! When Sasuke awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan in the future, he can use Itachi's eyes to prevent blindness..."
"Yes."
Karin immediately complied.
"..."
Uchiha Sasuke fell into silence.
Because Uchiha Itachi wanted to kill the entire clan to obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke couldn't quite bring himself to appreciate its power...
"Power itself is not wrong."
Akihara Kagura, like an elder brother, patted Uchiha Sasuke's shoulder gently and consoled him: "The ones who make mistakes are always the people who wield the power."
While speaking, Akihara Kagura glanced at the people present: "If you want to revive the Uchiha clan, you need a pair of powerful eyes to gain recognition. The leader of the Root in the future must be as strong as possible, right?"
"..."
Uchiha Sasuke nodded, slowly reached out, and took the bottle containing the sealed eyes from Karin. He didn't want to dwell on these eyes and changed the subject: "Captain Kakashi and Naruto are still holding off Uchiha Obito..."
"Or perhaps they are the ones being held off by Uchiha Obito!"
Akihara Kagura chuckled and waved his hand: "Sasuke, you all should go. This time, finish off Uchiha Obito!"
"Yes."
Uchiha Sasuke agreed, and as he led a group of Root ninjas away, he suddenly said: "By the way, that guy Hoshigaki Kisame escaped..."
"It doesn't matter."
Akihara Kagura shook his head, unconcerned.
Since the Akatsuki base had been destroyed and these Root ninjas were going to eliminate Uchiha Obito, Hoshigaki Kisame was certainly homeless.
There was no need to worry about him...
Hoshigaki Kisame would eventually fall into their hands.
Just as the group of Root ninjas was about to leave, Akihara Kagura waved at them as if bidding them farewell.
"Sasuke."
Akihara Kagura called out to Uchiha Sasuke, smiling gently: "You've achieved your goal today. The path ahead is for you to decide..."
These Root ninjas had all had tragic lives.
Whether it was Uchiha Sasuke or the surviving Uchiha, they were victims of Konoha's internal conflicts. He had given them a home and the power to protect themselves. The future path no longer needed his guidance.
Now...
He had his own matters to attend to.
"..."
The Uchiha looked at Akihara Kagura in surprise.
"What?"
Uchiha Sasuke looked at Akihara Kagura in astonishment but seemed to understand his meaning. With a serious and determined expression, he nodded.
"Yes, I will not disappoint you."
Perhaps...
Akihara Kagura meant...
That with Uchiha Itachi dead, his desire for revenge was gone...
What remained...
Was the matter of the Root and Team 7?
Uchiha Sasuke quickly left with the Root ninjas, as he still needed to lead his clan to deal with the traitor Uchiha Obito, who had brought calamity to the Uchiha clan!
"Lord Kagura?"
After Uchiha Sasuke left, Karin looked at Akihara Kagura in surprise: "Lord Kagura, are you leaving the Root?"
Karin could sense Akihara Kagura's intention to leave the Root. She was uneasy, knowing about his collusion with the Akatsuki, and asked, "Or... are you leaving Konoha?"
"Wasn't this always going to happen?"
Akihara Kagura smiled, turned to look at Uchiha Itachi's burial site, and continued: "Karin, if you want to return to Konoha and live a peaceful life, you can follow them. I can appoint you as the third leader of the Root in advance..."
"Absolutely not!"
Karin clenched her fist, a trace of unwillingness still on her face: "I don't really care much about these things, but that idiot Sasuke always wants to compete with me for the future leader position!"
"I'm only twenty-one years old."
Akihara Kagura cracked his fingers and tapped Karin's forehead: "You two youngsters are still a bit early to be thinking about inheriting the leader's position..."
"Lord Kagura, you never really valued the leader position of the Root either..."
"This position was passed to me by Lord Danzo..."
"Danzo has long since become a sacrifice..."
"Show some respect to our first leader..."
Akihara Kagura shook his head, seemingly a bit dissatisfied with Karin's bluntness: "No matter what, he created a home for us, the homeless..."
"Yes..."
Karin sighed and continued: "To thank Lord Danzo, we first helped him with his arduous work, then helped him transcend the shackles of life. Saying it like this makes us sound like heinous criminals..."
Clearly...
Lord Kagura is the good person.
Karin looked at Akihara Kagura's figure, slightly lowering her head, not voicing her inner thoughts. Unfortunately, most people in the ninja world would not agree with what she wanted to say.
"Let's get to business."
Akihara Kagura's gaze fell on Uchiha Itachi's burial site.
From the shadow on the ground, a figure slowly emerged, it was Akihara Kagura's Tendo, Shisui. Evidently, everything that happened today had not escaped Shisui's notice.
"Itachi..."
Uchiha Shisui felt particularly complex, looking at Akihara Kagura: "What do we do now? Revive Itachi with Edo Tensei?"
"First, help me collect his body."
Akihara Kagura waved his hand and slowly spoke: "Next is just to wait, wait for a big news explosion, wait for the five great villages of the ninja world to unite and come after me..."
"And then..."
"Catch them all in one go."
Akihara Kagura lightly tapped his arm with his fingers.
The progress of collecting the chakra of the Ten Tails within Akihara Kagura's body had long surpassed seventy percent over the years. According to Akihara Kagura's judgment, he needed the opportunity of a great ninja world war to fully revive the Ten Tails within him!
"Let's go."
Akihara Kagura watched as Shisui collected Uchiha Itachi's body, and said to himself: "Before the real war starts, let's find a peaceful place to rest..."
"A peaceful place?"
"Let's go to the Valley of the End first!"
Akihara Kagura mentioned a nostalgic name, and slowly said: "It's a great place for fishing..."
Outside Konoha Village.
Chunin Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki were still guarding the gate.
Just as the two of them were feeling a bit bored, a group of toads appeared here, among them, a particularly huge toad.
This huge toad seemed to be just a bearer, carrying a cradle on its back, in which sat a toad wrapped in bandages.
It was none other than Fukasaku, the Sage of Mount Myoboku, and his son, Gamabunta.
Fukasaku had black bandages wrapped around his claws and arms, and his face showed a look of dejection and sadness, as if an important person had passed away: "We are from Mount Myoboku, here to visit the Fifth Hokage of Konoha to discuss some important matters..."
"Yes!"
Kotetsu Hagane dared not be careless.
This matter was quickly reported to the Hokage's office.
As the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade did not hesitate, swiftly ordering the Konoha ninja to clear the way and invite Fukasaku to the Hokage's office for a meeting.
While Fukasaku and Gamabunta were heading to the Hokage's office, a team of Rain ninjas rushed over, carrying a pile of stretchers, led by a person of seemingly significant status.
"I am Hanzo of the Salamander."
Hanzo's first words startled Kotetsu Hagane.
"That one... that one..."
Kotetsu Hagane's eyes widened in disbelief!
Hanzo of the Salamander was used to such reactions, and spoke in a deep voice: "Go inform your Fifth Hokage, I have come to Konoha for an important discussion with her..."
"Additionally..."
Hanzo pointed to one of the stretchers, on which lay a tall, white-haired man: "I also brought a ninja who needs her treatment…"
~~~
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— Ending + Extra Chapters!
Read upto Chapter 348: End! + Extra Chapters of Sasuke's Rebirth where the world Akihara Kagura is not around. Thank you!