Chapter 152 – “Blood in the Roots”

Chapter 152 – “Blood in the Roots”

The afternoon sun dipped low over Konoha’s skyline, casting golden light through the still-damaged Uchiha district. Dust lingered in the air as Sasuke came to a halt outside a half-collapsed compound.

He turned to his team.

“This is where we part,” Sasuke said.

Karin blinked. “What?”

Suigetsu raised a brow. “You serious?”

Jūgo was already quiet, but even he looked uneasy.

“This is my fight,” Sasuke continued, voice calm but firm. “No one else is getting involved. Wait here.”

Karin stepped forward. “But—”

Sasuke didn’t look at her. “There’s an abandoned Uchiha house at the edge of the district. Stay there. If I’m not back by dawn, leave.”

He didn’t wait for a reply. His sandals scraped over cracked stones as he walked away, hands at his sides, lightning already flickering faintly around his fingers.

The others watched him go in silence.

The path through the Uchiha compound was quiet.

Sasuke walked past houses once filled with voices, now hollow shells. Weeds clawed at old stone, and the red-and-white fans painted on wooden doors had faded with time.

He stopped at the house he once called home. The gate creaked as he pushed it open.

Inside… it was clean.

The floors were swept. A bowl of half-eaten soup sat on a table. Scrolls and ink brushes were laid out on a low desk.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. Someone had been living here.

A shift in the air. Footsteps, soft, deliberate.

He turned.

Itachi stood in the doorway, dressed in a loose black cloak, the symbol of the Uchiha clan sewn at the back. His face was pale, drawn, but his eyes were calm.

“I was wondering when you’d come,” Itachi said.

Sasuke didn’t speak. He moved.

A burst of lightning in his palm, Chidori, screamed as it surged forward.

Itachi vanished, the attack splitting the wooden wall apart.

Sasuke burst through the debris, chasing after him.

They tore through the forest outside Konoha, branches whipping past as dusk thickened into shadow. Sasuke leapt from trunk to trunk, his Sharingan locked onto the blurred outline ahead.

Itachi didn’t run like a fugitive. He guided the path, away from the village, away from people.

When they reached a wide clearing, Sasuke struck.

Flames roared from his mouth, Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu, twisting like serpents.

Itachi weaved through them, flipping across the scorched grass. He countered with shuriken, succession with genjutsu.

Sasuke dodge The shuriken and disrupting the illusion with his Sharingan.

“Stop holding back!” Sasuke roared, forming hand signs.

A wall of earth erupted beneath Itachi’s feet, Earth Style: Rising Boulder Spires, but Itachi kicked off one midair, flickering into the trees.

Then, crimson light flared.

Itachi’s eyes changed, his Mangekyō Sharingan spinning as his Susanoo formed around him, skeletal limbs thickening into armor.

“You’re not fighting to kill me,” Sasuke said, landing across from him. “Why?”

Itachi said nothing. He raised Susanoo’s arm and deflected another lightning spear with a single swipe.

Sasuke growled and surged forward, Chidori Spear in hand. It clashed against the Susanoo’s ribcage, grinding against the chakra wall.

It cracked.

Itachi flinched.

Sasuke shouted, pushing harder. The spear shattered through, piercing Itachi’s side.

Blood hit the grass.

Itachi staggered. The Susanoo flickered, unstable.

Still, his eyes never left Sasuke’s.

“This… is how it ends,” he whispered.

Itachi collapsed to his knees.

Sasuke stood over him, chest heaving.

“I don’t understand,” he said, voice raw. “You’re stronger than this. Why didn’t you stop me?”

Itachi looked up. His Sharingan dimmed.

“Because this was never your fault. And I… was never your enemy.”

Sasuke’s hands trembled. “What are you saying?”

Itachi’s voice was hoarse. “The clan… was planning a coup. The elders, Danzo, the council, they ordered me to stop it. They gave me one choice.”

Sasuke’s breath caught.

“I killed them all to protect the village. And to protect you.”

Flashbacks flickered, clan meetings, whispered plans, the silent approval of the Hokage’s advisors. Blood. The final night.

Sasuke fell back, eyes wide.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Itachi’s smile was faint. “Because you deserved to live free. Not as a pawn… not burdened by me, or the family's crime.”

Blood dripped from Sasuke’s eyes as his Sharingan twisted. Shapes within shapes, a pattern he’d never seen before.

“You let me hate you… all these years…”

Itachi leaned forward.

“Hajime told me… your eyes would awaken when the truth finally broke your heart, and my eyes are my last gift to you.”

He reached out, fingers brushing Sasuke’s forehead.

Just like when they were boys.

“Forgive me… little brother.”

Itachi collapsed. His hand slid away.

Still.

Sasuke didn’t move.

He didn’t know how long he sat there.

The wind rustled the trees. Shadows stretched long.

Then, a quiet footstep behind him.

Sasuke turned.

Hajime stood in the clearing, cloak fluttering, Silver eyes watching him with a calm that felt ancient.

He crouched beside Sasuke without a word and placed a hand over his chest. Warm energy pulsed, soothing the pain, slowing the bleeding.

Sasuke’s voice cracked. “You knew.”

“Yes,” Hajime said. “Itachi asked me not to intervene. This was his path, and yours.”

Sasuke looked away, jaw clenched. “He wanted me to kill him?”

“He wanted to give you the truth. And to atone from his sins by dying to your hands.”

Sasuke stared at the ground. “He said… his eyes were a gift.”

Hajime nodded. “If you take them, your vision will never fade. The Mangekyō’s price… can be avoided. It was his last gift to you.”

Sasuke didn’t reply. His eyes stayed on Itachi’s still form.

There was no anger now.

Only the ache of understanding.

And maybe, something close to peace.

End of Chapter 152 – “Blood in the Roots”