Chapter 390: "Final Jutsu...!!

" - Amaterasu burns out Sasuke's

flame and Zetsu comments on its ability to totally burn up its target,
even flame itself. Itachi unleashes wave after wave of Amaterasu
bursts and Sasuke moves to dodge. With each burst more blood
begins to trickle down Itachi's eye. Sasuke avoids the flames as some
catch the surrounding trees below on fire. One burst connects with
Sasuke's wing and he goes to the ground. The wing burns off and the
flames are subdued by Itachi. Itachi moves to take Sasuke's eye but
the body disperses, revealing a crack underneath. We then see that
Sasuke waited until the right moment of Amaterasu's use, to sever the
roof with Chidori and use his replacement technique to generate a new
body and fall back to the original room below. Sasuke goes level two
and Itachi grabs his eye in pain. Sasuke then begins to unleash wave
after wave of Grand Dragon Fireballs. They begin to destroy the roof
and Itachi moves to avoid them. One connects with his arm, burning
his cloak away. Sasuke looks up, winded, and tells his brother that
Amaterasu appears to have weakened him. Sasuke collapses to his
knees and Zetsu considers that both brothers look weak and about out
of chakra. Sasuke then states the next jutsu will be his last. Itachi
replies that his Sharingan reveals Sasuke is almost out of chakra. He
offers that Sasuke used Orochimaru's special replacement technique,
which consumes a lot of chakra. Zetsu recognizes Sasuke's absorption
of Orochimaru and the young man acknowledges that he is indeed
almost out of chakra. However, he didn't come to this battle
unprepared. As it begins to rain Sasuke offers that this next jutsu will
be impossible to avoid, just like Amaterasu. And with it, he will
reproduce his vision of Itachi's death...

Chapter 391: "With the Thunder...!!" -Lightning crackles in the sky

above as the men look to the heavens. Zetsu determines Sasuke's
earlier dragon Katons set up the attack. They were actually used to
blast a hole in the ceiling and also warm up the atmosphere to
generate thunder clouds. This allows Sasuke to channel the surge from
the sky, rather than use his own chakra to create it, which would have
taken an unbelievable amount of chakra. Sasuke jumps to the roof and
states the jutsu's power comes lightning itself, and all he has to do is
guide it. Zetsu then thinks that what Sasuke said was true, no one
could dodge something faster than the speed of sound. Sasuke
reaches his Chidori charged hand to the heavens and states he calls it
Kirin, which is a mythological beast. In an instant the lightning
creature flies from the sky and obliterates Itachi and the tower they
stood on. As the dust settles a cloakless Itachi lays face down in the
rubble. Zetsu wonders if Itachi is dead and Sasuke collapses to his
knees, stating it's finally over. Suddenly a voice states, was that the
vision of death he had seen? A shocked Sasuke sees Itachi rise to his
feet. Sasuke goes level two in a rage, while also showing one of
Orochimaru's eye marks over his left eye. A phantom skeletal chest
surrounds Itachi, and he states without this he would have been dead.
Zetsu wonders what that it is and Itachi congratulates Sasuke on
becoming strong. And now, he will show Sasuke the last of his
arsenal... Susanoo.

Chapter 392: "Susanoo!" -Itachi explains that Susanoo is the third

and final Mangekyou technique. He then offers that if Sasuke has any
more techniques, now is the time to use them. Zetsu sees the sky
clear and figures Kirin was a onetime jutsu. Spectral muscle and armor
begins to take form around Itachi. Sasuke suddenly winces and hears
a voice in his head. The voice offers to lend Sasuke his power. And if
he is unleashed, Sasuke can finally find his revenge. Sasuke goes to
his knees in pain and suddenly a gigantic white, eight-headed snake
grows out of his cursed seal. Itachi recognizes Orochimaru's technique
and Zetsu figures Orochimaru broke free since Sasuke didn't have the
chakra to hold him back any longer. The snakes strike out against the
spectral form, but a sword takes shape out of the sake gourd it holds.
Quickly all eight heads are severed from the main body. From one of
the mouths of these heads emerges Orochimaru. Orochimaru opens
his own mouth to withdraw Kusanagi. Orochimaru gloats that his time
to take Sasuke's body has finally come. In an instant Susanoo's sword
impales Orochimaru and Itachi asks his brother if he has anything
else. Orochimaru begins to gloat that the sword cannot harm him...
but he is suddenly frozen and begins to be sealed away into the sword.
He states Itachi couldn't have had the Sword of Totsuka, could he?
Zetsu comments that the sword has no physical form; it's a legendary
blade with sealing powers. Anyone stabbed by the sword is sealed
away into a dreamlike Genjutsu for the rest of time. Orochimaru had
long coveted it but Itachi acquired it first. The snake head continues to
be absorbed by the sword and Sasuke returns to his normal form. A
weary looking Itachi then offers to Sasuke that it's time to end it...

Chapter 393: "My Eyes...!!" -As the Yamata is sealed away into the
gourd, one small white snake slithers among the rubble to escape.
Itachi winces in pain and Zetsu figures Itachi has the battle in hand
finally. Itachi states that Sasuke's eyes are now his and he will savor
this moment. Suddenly he grabs his chest and doubles over, coughing
up blood. The armor of the Susanoo begins to fade and Sasuke takes
the opportunity to hurl a kunai tied to explosive notes. It explodes
against Susanoo's shield leaving Itachi undamaged. As Itachi begins to
slowly walk towards Sasuke, his younger brother hurls more kunai and
explosive tags in the hopes of stopping his advance. The shield
continues to deflect all the attacks and Zetsu comments that the shield
is Yata's Mirror, another legendary object said to counter any attack.
Together with the Sword of Totsuka, Itachi's unbeatable. Itachi reaches
out a bloody hand and Sasuke lunges at him with his Kusanagi. Sasuke
and the blade are knocked away and as he stands he suddenly finds
himself pinned between rubble and Susanoo. As he watches in fear,
Itachi reaches out to remove Sasuke's eyes. As his fingers draw near,
Itachi's mutters to himself. His bloody fingers draw near Sasuke's
eye... but instead poke him in the forehead and Itachi collapses to the
ground. Susanoo disperses and the white snake continues its journey.
A stunned Sasuke can only stand still as his bloody older brother lies
on the ground beside him, somehow defeated.

Chapter 394: "Sasuke's Victory" -As Amaterasu flames spread to

the forest, the white snake looks for a way to escape. Sasuke still
stands in shock and Zetsu tries to grasp if Itachi is actually dead. The
flames rage and the white snake is quickly consumed in the fire as
well. It begins to rain and Zetsu debates how Itachi could have lost. He
was slower than usual and appeared to have been injured before hand,
due to his coughing up blood throughout the fight. Zetsu figures Itachi
was either injured before the fight, or he overused the Sharingan. The
blood begins to wash off and run down Sasuke's face. It pools in his
left eye and then continues down. Sasuke looks down at his brother
and a grin forms; he then collapses to the ground as well. Elsewhere
the teams are having no luck against Tobi. Kiba yells to verify with
Naruto that they actually hit Tobi. Naruto says yes, it's like before
when his Rasengan passed right through him. Shino says it's no trick,
the jutsu really are passing through him. Sakura says it could be a
Bunshin or Genjutsu, but Hinata says no, she checked the area and
the only other chakra belongs to Tobi. Yamato asks Kakashi what he
thinks. Kakashi offers this strange ability could be a hidden technique,
so it's up to Shino. Shino says he's ready and his bugs rise from his
body. Tobi recognizes the Aburame Clan jutsu and offers that it's
gross. Kiba smiles and says he knows why Shino is so enthusiastic.
Shino says of course, because he missed the last mission involving
Sasuke...

Chapter 395: "The Mysterious Tobi" -Shino sends his bugs surging
towards Tobi. Tobi jumps away, offering his further disgust. Kakashi
states the Aburame fight by dispersing their bugs and taking control of
a wide area. The bugs spread to fill the air around Tobi. Kakashi offers
that their opponent is now trapped. Shino thinks that any movement
will be detected and he will learn how Tobi's jutsu works. He then
forms a bug sphere which moves towards Tobi. Shino offers that he'll
take care of him, because he's part of the mission and to make up for
missing out last time. The bugs engulf Tobi and Sakura marvels at
Shino's control. Hinata states Tobi is still within the bugs and Yamato
extends his wood. Shino states the bugs are sucking up Tobi's chakra
and Naruto yells for him to take it all. Suddenly the bugs disperse,
revealing a missing Tobi. The team looks on in surprise and Sakura
asks if it was Shunshin? Shino says no, as that's just fast movement
which he could detect. Kakashi considers if it was a space/time
technique, but decides that can't be true, as there were no hand seals
or summoning marks. Such a jutsu would surpass even the Fourth
Hokage's technique. Yamato wonders if he can simply cease to exist?
Sakura states that might be the case, it would explain how he avoided
Naruto's earlier attack as well, by simply removing portions of his
body. Hinata searches the area again and locates Tobi on a nearby tree
limb. Tobi greets the team and Kiba jumps to attack with his Tsuuga
technique. Tobi sidesteps the attack, causing Kiba to drill through the
limb and plant himself into the ground. A dizzy Kiba offers that he
slipped through Tobi, but Hinata states he simply dodged it. Zetsu
emerges beside Tobi and Sakura asks what that is. Kakashi states the
figure is in Kabuto's Akatsuki file. Zetsu states that Sasuke won the
battle and that Itachi died. The team is shocked and Tobi offers that
that was a big surprise!... but not really. He expected that. Zetsu
states Sasuke collapsed afterwards and is barely hanging on. Naruto
and Sakura are shocked and determined by the news. Naruto demands
Sasuke's location from "spiky aloe" man, which Zetsu takes offense to.
As Kakashi looks on he reacts in shock to the Sharingan visible in
Tobi's mask hole. Tobi as Madara states he'll deal with them some
other time...

Chapter 396: "Introduction" -Kakashi is surprised by Tobi's

Sharingan and wonders who the man could be. Tobi waves bye and
then vanishes. Zetsu also disappears, leaving Kakashi frantic to find
Sasuke before the two Akatsuki do. Kakashi jumps to a tree to scan
the horizon. Noticing dark clouds, he asks Hinata to scan that area.
She reports a powerful chakra and an area covered in flames. Kakashi
tells everyone to follow him and Naruto tells everyone to move as
quickly as they can. In the Uchiha Compound rubble, Tobi stands over
the Uchiha brothers. He chides Zetsu for being too slow and Zetsu
apologizes, saying unlike someone else he can't simply zip around in
an instant. Tobi asks if the recording was made and Zetsu says yes.
Tobi answers that he'll watch it later, for now they'll take Itachi's
corpse and leave. As the Leaf ninja rush on, Kiba reports they found
Sasuke's scent but the Akatsuki got to him first. Naruto is angry and
the group's path is suddenly blocked by a wall of Amaterasu fire.
Sakura asks what it is and Naruto says it's one of Itachi's jutsu.
Yamato uses a Doton to raise and split the earth, causing a path for
the teams to go through. Yamato stays behind to hold the jutsu and
the rest continue on. Kakashi forms his Mangekyou and the teams
arrive to see Itachi and Sasuke already gone. Kiba states there's still
some scent but Kakashi reports they're too late. Naruto looks down
angry and dejected while elsewhere Sasuke awakens in a cave. From
the shadows Sasuke is told he was given first aid and that he won.
Sasuke says nothing and the voice says the young man shouldn't be so
reckless. Tobi emerges from the darkness and states that they met in
the past as enemies, but it doesn't matter about what happened with
Deidara, as it stands they are no longer foes. He offers that he brought
Sasuke along to tell him something important. Sasuke looks away
uninterested. Tobi states then perhaps if he reveals it's about Itachi.
Sasuke looks at him again and Tobi says Sasuke knew both a lot and
very little about his brother. Tobi says perhaps he should introduce
himself. Reaching to remove his mask he says they're alike, he's an
Uchiha as well. Showing his right Sharingan and part of his face, Tobi
says he's the man who knows the truth about Itachi. He removes his
mask to show the Sharingan in his right eye and Sasuke's left eye
forms Sharingan in response.

Chapter 397: "The Man Who Knows the Truth" -As Tobi keeps his
mask over a portion of his face, Sasuke's Sharingan eye begins to
bleed. Suddenly the tomoe combine into a Mangekyou resembling
Itachi's. Tobi is surprised and suddenly his right shoulder bursts into
Amaterasu flames. He stumbles back into the darkness, dropping his
mask. Sasuke grabs his eye in pain and it quickly returns to normal.
Sasuke asks what that was and Tobi states it was the Amaterasu Itachi
planted within him. He picks his mask up from the darkness and places
it back on. A surprised Sasuke looks on in confusion. Tobi explains that
Itachi must have planned ahead, as he equipped his little brother with
his own jutsu either to kill or protect him from Madara. Madara
explains that it appears to be activated by being within site of his
Sharingan. He then considers that he's fortunate to have kept his own
secrets from Itachi as well. Sasuke says he has no idea what Madara is
talking about. Madara then asks if Itachi did anything before he died.
Sasuke thinks back to the bloody tap his brother made on his
forehead. Madara explains that Itachi somehow transferred his power
into his brother. Sasuke says that makes no sense. Madara says it
should be apparent... it was all to protect you Sasuke. Sasuke is
stunned but then asks if that's supposed to be a sick joke. Madara
explains that it's like he said, Sasuke did not truly know his brother.
Sasuke offers that he's tired of the lies, if they don't stop he'll kill him.
Madara says he understands Sasuke's feelings but they're the truth.
The person who helped Itachi that night was he himself, so he knows
the truth of his brother. Sasuke becomes angry and tells Madara to get
the hell away from him. Madara says that's not the right path, it's his
duty to ask questions. He should know about the man who risked
everything to protect Konoha and his little brother. Sasuke should
know how Uchiha Itachi lived!

Chapter 398: "The Origin of Konoha" - Madara asks Sasuke is he

understands that Itachi implanted Amaterasu to ensure they never
met? And the only ones to know the truth of matters were Danzou,
Sandaime Hokage and his two advisors. And with the Third's death,
the other three dare not reveal the truth, it will be forgotten with time,
just how Itachi wanted. Sasuke doubles over and Madara offers that
he knew the truth also, but Itachi didn't realize it. He explains that
Itachi implanted Amaterasu just in case Madara himself did in fact
know. Sasuke asks in confusion what he means, it was to protect me?
Madara asks Sasuke to remember his friendly older brother. Sasuke
remembers how Itachi's murderous moves conflicted with his early
compassion. Sasuke begins to cough and Madara moves to calm him.
Sasuke slaps Madara away and struggles to make sense of Itachi's
conflicting nature. He passes out and awakes to find himself bound by
Madara. Sasuke states Itachi murdered their parents and clan and
joined Akatsuki, he hated him, and he was his goal. Madara says yes,
Itachi did kill the clan and flee. And he did it all on orders from
Konoha. Sasuke is shaken and Madara explains that revelation is the
first step in understanding what happened. Itachi gave up his self-
worth to complete his mission and to understand everything, one has
to learn of Konoha's founding. Itachi was a sacrifice for a problem
which arose long ago. Sasuke asks what that means and Madara
states the following story is all true, whether Sasuke believes him or
not. Sasuke says fine and Madara recounts of a warring time 80 years
previously. During that time countries hired clans to fight, and the two
most powerful were the Uchiha and the Senju of the Forest. The
Uchiha were a warrior clan who possessed the Sharingan and high
chakra. Madara offers that was especially so with himself; the fact he's
still around proves such. Everything back then was battle and strength
determined everything, so he killed his friend and brother to become
stronger. Sasuke calls him a bastard but Madara ignores him, stating
that path granted him Eternal Mangekyou and made him leader of his
clan. It was in this position he fought the Senju and their leader, Senju
Hashirama, the man who would become Shodai Hokage. The man who
was at the top of the ninja world, the man Madara himself admired the
most...

Chapter 399: "The Origin of Everything!!" -Madara explains how

everyone feared Hashirama and when the Senju were hired to fight,
the Uchiha were hired in response. They were rivals and the conflict
helped him become better known. Sasuke asks if that's why he took
his brother's eyes, for the fame. Madara it was for the strength to
protect his clan as the battles grew more dangerous over time. In any
case, he didn't take his brother's eyes, he gave them up willingly.
Some time later the Senju offered peace, and the Uchiha accepted
against his wishes. Madara felt the bloodshed and sacrifice of those
who died was being betrayed by a truce. And that the Senju would
seek to wipe out the Uchiha if they got the chance. Madara says he
eventually relented and the truce held, causing the creation of Konoha.
Other countries then took on the one country/village model and the
world stabilized for a time. But then things changed when a leadership
dispute arose. Everyone chose Hashirama to lead, but Madara states
he knew that would be dangerous to the Uchiha. He alone chose to
oppose Hashirama as the Uchiha abandoned him, saying he killed his
brother to save himself and that his greed for power would lead to war.
Madara asks what type of man would harm his brother? He only did it
to save his people. For that reason he left the village and chose to
challenge it. That lead to the epic battle involving himself, Hashirama
and the Kyuubi, marked at the Valley of the End. Everyone thought he
died there, but that wasn't the case. He was left to history while the
Uchiha were made the police force as a sign of trust by the Second
Hokage. In truth it was to keep an eye on the Uchiha. The clan soon
began to understand their misfortune and over time they were made
second class compared to the Senju. Some time later the Kyuubi
attacked. The village leaders knew that the Uchiha could control the
Kyuubi, and felt they were to blame. However the Kyuubi is a natural
disaster, they had nothing to do with it. Following their suspicions, the
village leaders moved the clan to one corner of the village. The Third
Hokage voiced his dissent but he was overruled by his advisors and
Danzou. In the end their mistrust gave rise to the thing they feared, as
the discrimination of the Uchiha lead them to plot to overthrow the
village. Sasuke is surprised and Madara goes on to state that in
response the village planted a spy within the Uchiha... Sasuke’s
brother. And that he says, is when Itachi’s life turned for the worse.