Chapter 237: Two Pillars Get Dazed! (1833)

The Rain Country.

Uchiha Sasuke had never been to this rain-soaked little nation before.

No, it's a great nation now.

The black-haired boy looked up at the young man walking ahead and unconsciously touched his left eye.

A while back, Orochimaru suddenly found him and said there was a way to grant him power far exceeding the Cursed Seal, though it carried some small risk.

For revenge, he agreed.

And just as the man had said, he nearly lost his life.

But at that moment, an old man calling himself the Sage of Six Paths came to him and helped him successfully awaken this terrifying left eye.

This power is enough to easily kill that man, but he still hasn't found his trail.

Thinking of this, the boy rejected the silent summons and asked: "Are you certain he'll come for me?"

Hearing the voice, Li Ang slowed his pace slightly and turned to look at the cold-faced boy: "Don't worry, Young Master Sasuke. Maybe Uchiha Itachi will find us before we even reach Rain Village."

"."

Uchiha Sasuke said nothing, only clenched his fist slightly.

Father, mother.

After learning the full details of that night, the fire of hatred in his heart burned even hotter, because things should never have come to this.

'And you, Danzo.'

Thinking of the name of a certain Konoha elder, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes flickered with hatred.

The only thing he regretted was that the other killer had already been dealt with by his own clan—he couldn't kill him himself.

Li Ang sensed the killing intent radiating from the boy and silently shook his head.

He bore no ill will toward Uchiha Sasuke; after all, among the Uchiha's madmen, the boy was relatively sane.

And what he was doing now was merely to prevent the boy from interfering with his own plans.

'Too bad there's still Naruto Uzumaki—I wonder what's happening with him.'

Once the Sage of Six Paths notices something wrong with Uchiha Sasuke, he'll surely try to contact his other 'son.'

The worst thing about worlds with old foxes like this is that you always have to watch out for them when trying to do anything.

Thinking of this, Li Ang sighed.

Maybe this is the price he paid for fishing recklessly a while back.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru watched the scene before him with keen interest.

To be honest, after seeing the changes in Uchiha Sasuke—his intended vessel—he now fully believed the intelligence he'd received.

After all, Orochimaru had only ever seen such eyes on one of Jiraiya's disciples, and even then, the man had fewer six tomoe.

At first, Orochimaru was thrilled, thinking his vessel had been greatly enhanced—but soon he calmed down.

He realized he couldn't beat Uchiha Sasuke.

Helpless, Orochimaru could only choose to cooperate with his former vessel.

As the three of them each harbored different thoughts, a crow's cry suddenly reached Li Ang's ears.

He stopped walking and turned toward a tree nearby: "He's here."

Even without actively activating the Byakugan, Li Ang's perception was now several times stronger than that of an ordinary ninja.

Hearing Li Ang's voice, Uchiha Sasuke froze for a moment, then realized what it meant.

The next instant, a purple-armored giant far larger than Li Ang's Susano'o suddenly appeared upon the earth.

Seeing this, Li Ang raised an eyebrow.

Clearly, Sasuke—who had never heard Uchiha Obito's sanitized version of the clan massacre—had no chance of reconciling with Uchiha Itachi.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was witnessing the Third Power for the first time, and his eyes flickered with fanaticism.

Uchiha Sasuke didn't even bother with words—he simply directed Susano'o to swing his katana.

Zing—!

A terrifying slash wave split the earth in two, and the howling wind scattered the clouds above.

Just as Uchiha Sasuke believed his vengeance was complete, a voice suddenly sounded from a treetop nearby: "Sasuke…"

"Shut up!"

The boy cut off Uchiha Itachi's words coldly, but made no further move.

Uchiha Itachi stood atop the treetop, gazing at the boy encased in the purple-armored giant, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

This power—

His brother's growth had far exceeded his expectations.

And that eye—

Before he could think further, a voice interrupted his thoughts: "Long time no see, Itachi."

"The Leader and I have been searching for you."

It was Li Ang, expressionless as he stared at the young man with deep nasolabial folds nearby.

If not for him, the Akatsuki would never have been exposed so quickly.

If not for his cheat, he'd already be joining Deidara and Kisame.

Upon hearing the voice, Uchiha Itachi turned his gaze to Li Ang: "Ryu… I never thought anyone besides Sasuke could have survived that night."

"But I don't recall anyone like you in the clan."

A simple attempt at sowing discord—yet Sasuke instinctively glanced toward Li Ang's position.

Sensing the gaze of his intended enforcer, Li Ang couldn't help laughing: "Simple—I'm not just an Uchiha."

As he spoke, he activated his Byakugan, and fine blue veins appeared around his right eye.

?

Even the deeply calculating Uchiha Itachi could not help but freeze at the sight.

"My mother is Uchiha, my father is Hyuga; I was born with the Byakugan. To prevent me from being branded with the Caged Bird Seal, my mother hid me away."

"Thanks to that, I survived."

??

What a ridiculous plot.

Uchiha Itachi immediately frowned, beginning to recall whether any unmarried woman in the clan had ever given birth before marriage.

But before he could piece it together, Li Ang continued: "Don't bother. You weren't even a shadow when I was born."

Uchiha Itachi was only twenty-one when he died, while Li Ang is now twenty-three.

As soon as he spoke, the air fell silent.

"Forget it. Talking to you this much is pointless."

Li Ang had no intention of dragging this out further. Eliminating the unstable factor before him was what he must do now.

As he spoke, a green-and-red giant appeared beside Uchiha Sasuke.

Seeing this, Uchiha Itachi spoke with a complex tone: "Sasuke, you shouldn't be with him."

In his eyes, Li Ang was unquestionably a super-terrorist who threatened Konoha.

Yet now his own younger brother was mixing with the man—and fortunately, he still held a card capable of turning everything around.

The hoarse caw of a crow sounded again.

Suddenly, a green-and-red spear instantly obliterated the crow that had appeared beside Sasuke's Susano'o, erasing it from the air.

Watching the black feathers drifting through the air, Uchiha Itachi's pupils shrank sharply, and for once, his composure cracked.

"Shisui entrusted his eyes to you, and you planned to use them to control your own brother," Li Ang sneered, retracting the spear with his Susano'o. "What a wonderful brother."

As he spoke, he gave Sasuke a brief explanation of the effects of Tsukuyomi.

Tsukuyomi, a terrifying illusion capable of forcibly altering another's will.

After hearing Li Ang's explanation, Sasuke stared in disbelief at Uchiha Itachi: "Itachi, you—!?"

From his brother's reaction, Sasuke knew the truth about Tsukuyomi was real.