Chapter 156: Sasuke and Naruto Arrive

“And I know your purpose as well,” Uchiha Itachi said calmly.

His pupils contracted. Kurosawa Shaosheng began to panic. “You think I’ll believe you?”

Uchiha Itachi did not answer him directly. Instead, he sat cross-legged high in the sky and said, “Your purpose was to test my current strength.”

He stretched out a hand, feeling the breeze, and continued, “You never intended to survive this visit, nor did you harbor any hope of killing me. You only wanted to test my strength, record it, and deliver the information to your brother. You planned to use your life to gather intelligence on me.”

Kurosawa Shaosheng could no longer maintain his expression. He had begun to panic the moment Itachi revealed that the illusion had started when he rose into the sky. He had been defeated utterly.

And now Itachi had directly exposed his true purpose, dragging every hidden thought into the light.

Since he could no longer keep up the pretense, he stopped trying to conceal anything.

He suddenly gritted his teeth, his face twisted with savagery and madness. “So what if you saw through me and outmaneuvered me? I may have lost to you, but that doesn’t mean my brother will lose. Once he sees this recording, he’ll naturally analyze your methods and make you helpless! My brother will kill you!”

Uchiha Itachi remained perfectly calm.

Would his brother kill him?

That outcome was destined to fail.

Kurosawa Shaosheng charged forward, unleashing his strongest technique, Blood Release: Blood Combustion, intending to burn Uchiha Itachi to death. Itachi did not move at all, and was burned alive.

Then the sound of shattering glass suddenly rang out around them, revealing the true world. Everything just now had indeed been an illusion.

Kurosawa Shaosheng had used his own strongest technique to burn himself to death. In the real world, Uchiha Itachi had never risen into the sky. He was still standing beside Orochimaru, speaking with him.

After taking one final look at Uchiha Itachi, Kurosawa Shaosheng was completely burned into ashes. Even in his last gaze, he remained certain that Itachi would die.

The ashes floated in the air without being scattered by the breeze. They were made of a special substance and glimmered faintly.

Every particle of ash contained a portion of Kurosawa Shaosheng’s power.

Uchiha Itachi raised his hand and crooked his fingers toward the ashes. They descended from the sky and merged into his eyes.

After closing his eyes and adapting for a moment, Uchiha Itachi opened them and looked toward Orochimaru. “This is the back door I left for the Blood Dragon Eyes. They will become nourishment for me and allow my Sharingan to advance further.”

Orochimaru nodded. He understood.

The evolution of the Sharingan had already reached its ultimate stage, making further advancement extremely difficult. The Kurosawa clan cultivated the Blood Dragon Eyes and stood opposed to Uchiha Itachi, so they had been turned into nourishment—a catalyst for the next evolution of his Sharingan.

Itachi continued, “I knew he would come, and I also knew what he had been doing lately. In fact, the reason he developed this plan was that I had an agent planted beside him suggest it. He was destined to fail.

“Furthermore, the crimson star cores created from the Blood Sea Planet were not limited to the portion Kurosawa Shaosheng used. He left an even greater quantity for his brother. His brother carries the grudge of his younger brother’s death, possesses so many star cores, and now has a recording of my battle. Once he grows stronger, he will certainly come to kill me again.

“When that happens, I will activate the hidden gate directly, absorb his brother, and evolve my Sharingan once more.”

This was the path to greater strength that Uchiha Itachi had arranged in advance, one of his trump cards for dealing with the Sage of Six Paths in the future. Originally, it would have taken a long time before it was activated.

But now, it no longer mattered. He had simply killed Kurosawa Shaosheng ahead of schedule.

Orochimaru yawned. “Oh, do as you please. Becoming a little stronger is always a good thing. I’ve had enough fresh air. I’m going back to continue my research.”

Without saying anything more, he turned and returned inside the building.

Kurosawa Shaosheng’s death was enough to send shock waves throughout the universe. He had been one of the Sage of Six Paths’ Ten Great Subordinates, yet he had died at the hands of Uchiha Itachi, who was also one of the Ten Great Subordinates.

It seemed that Itachi’s betrayal was now a certainty.

The news was not deliberately suppressed. Someone who happened to be nearby at the time spread it, and the illusion network immediately erupted.

The most obvious sign was that people on the Uchiha homeworld began evacuating.

They feared that when the Sage of Six Paths dealt with Uchiha Itachi, they too would be caught in the crossfire.

Regardless of what was happening outside, peace reigned around Uchiha Itachi’s residence. The building’s guard had originally intended to resign and leave, but for some inexplicable reason, he remained, continuing to stand watch at the entrance.

He could see the man whom Lord Itachi called Lord Orochimaru. The man usually kept to himself, occasionally coming outside to tend the flowers or care for the plants, living a life of remarkable ease.

It was as though the turmoil raging across the illusion network had nothing to do with him.

The guard admired him.

He himself preferred cheerfully browsing forums and posts, getting into arguments with people whenever he had nothing better to do.

A month passed in this manner.

Then two people arrived together at Uchiha Itachi’s residence.

Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.

According to the original plan, the two of them would have parted ways with Itachi and infiltrated the Sage of Six Paths’ side. But now they had no time to worry about that.

They had both seen the recording and knew that Uchiha Itachi had killed Kurosawa Shaosheng.

That was undeniable proof of betrayal. The “Six Paths Assassination Plan” devised by Shikamaru was nowhere near this stage yet.

The plan had been disrupted.

They had come for two reasons. First, they carried Shikamaru’s questions—and their own. Second, they wanted to see whether anything unexpected had happened at Itachi’s residence, and whether there was anything they could do to help.

After all, Uchiha Itachi had never before taken the initiative to disrupt the plan.

The building guard knew Sasuke and Naruto. Seeing the two of them return together, he quickly lowered his head and greeted them. “Lord Sasuke. Lord Naruto.”

Sasuke and Naruto were also two of the Sage of Six Paths’ Ten Great Subordinates.

Sasuke asked directly, “What happened? Why would my brother recklessly kill Kurosawa Shaosheng?”

It clearly was not yet time to kill Kurosawa Shaosheng.

Naruto pulled Sasuke back. “Sasuke, don’t be so impatient. We should ask Big Brother Itachi directly.”

He did not believe that the building guard could know the truth behind the matter.

Yet the guard actually did know.

Seeing Naruto pull Sasuke toward the residential area, the guard hurriedly called out, “Please wait, my lords! I know what happened!”

Sasuke and Naruto stopped and turned back toward him.

The building guard declared with absolute certainty, “It’s because of a man. Ever since that man arrived, Lord Itachi has changed so much…”

He poured out everything he knew, describing all of Uchiha Itachi’s recent changes.

In summary, Uchiha Itachi had become more emotional. He was no longer as deep and cold as he had once been.

“Because of a man?” Naruto asked in disbelief.

Sasuke’s eyes widened as well.

So that was why his brother had never found him a sister-in-law!

There were countless people in the universe who admired Uchiha Itachi: princesses of prominent clans, queens of entire realms, daring female wanderers…

Every one of them was extraordinary.

Yet Uchiha Itachi had never spared any of them so much as a proper glance. Although they all carried the grudge of Earth’s destruction in their hearts, Itachi alone seemed to bear it more deeply, as though he had endured the most.

They had hoped that Uchiha Itachi would start a family and wear a little more joy upon his face.

But they had never imagined that it would be a man…

That was something they had absolutely never anticipated.

“You’re certain?” Sasuke still could not believe it and questioned the building guard again.

The guard nodded firmly. “Of course I’m certain!”

He had not said anything wrong, had he?

Sasuke abruptly seized Naruto and spoke urgently. “Come on. Let’s find my brother and get a clear explanation!”