Chapter 259: When the World Finally Broke

Simply put, this was a process of beating everything until it cried. Many died. Some had once harmed Amegakure, others had not. Many survived as well, those who had inflicted pain, and those who never had.

Itachi picked up the sword that had fallen from Sasuke’s hand. Sasuke lay there, exhausted, his strength drained, blood streaming from his eyes. A battle between brothers, no matter who won or lost, was always one soaked in blood and tears.

Sasuke lay on the ground. Itachi remained standing. Only after that did Itachi bend down and retrieve the weapon. The last time he had seen Sasuke, he had wielded a famed blade, now, it was Karin’s sword.

“Sasuke, that sword belongs to Karin. It was a gift from Orochimaru.”

Sasuke panted, his vision blurred, but he could still see that black cloak patterned with red clouds, the figure of the brother he might never surpass in this lifetime. What kind of resolve did he have, when he raised his hand against our clan? And now, what kind of resolve does he carry, striking down the village he once protected with everything he had?

“So you’re here to lecture me?” Sasuke asked.

This was their first conversation after the truth had come to light, here, in the war-torn ruins of Konoha, in the very center of a battlefield where life and death played out endlessly.

Itachi shook his head. “I’m not a qualified older brother. I have no right to lecture you.”

Sasuke closed his eyes. “I see, so you all knew.” They all knew the truth. They knew what kind of lie this world had been built upon. They knew what darkness had been left behind, and what false “light” had covered it. They knew the twisted hatred fueling the people crying for blood. They knew just how ugly humanity could be.

“Yes. You’re no longer a child. Whatever you’ve chosen, you must have your reasons. I won’t stop you. None of us will. But, Sasuke, I preferred the you who is kind. So I’ll be returning this to Karin.”

“I see, sorry.”

“It’s nothing.”

The wind passed. Silence followed.

Sasuke had once imagined what he would say when they met again, I’m sorry for hating you, or I’m sorry I grew up too late and left you to bear everything alone. He had imagined many things. But reality never followed imagination. In the end, nothing more was said, beyond those few fragmented words.

Say something, before he leaves. Sasuke turned his head, watching the man walking away. He thought of a dust-covered photograph in the village, one with a smile so bright it almost didn’t belong to this world.

“Hey, bro.” The word slipped out. Not a title. Not his name. Just, bro.

Itachi stopped. The image of a small boy clinging to him, calling him big brother, that memory had already begun to fade. Now, what remained in his mind was a grown man. Dark eyes. A sharp face. Sasuke really has grown up.

“The cat, Kiki, it’s not dead. It’s with me.”

“I see. That’s good. Then it’s yours.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“I’m sorry. Forgive me. This will be the last time.”

“Yeah.”

And then, despair. The shinobi of Konoha finally understood what despair meant. Uzumaki Naruto understood it too. Despair was this: no matter how hard you tried, those you couldn’t save would still be lost. No matter how furious you were, enemies you couldn’t defeat would remain undefeated.

So when the first person cried out in surrender, it spread. One after another. They collapsed. They knelt. They begged.

“Stop!”

“Please!”

“Spare us!”

The defeated had no dignity. No composure.

Konan listened to those pleas and imagined, on the day her village was destroyed, had the others looked like this? Had they begged like this? A cool sensation touched her face. Only then did she realize, she was crying. Now you beg for mercy. Back then, when they begged, who answered them?

Her hand clenched. And in that instant, BOOM!!! Countless paper bombs erupted at the center of the battlefield. The explosions continued for five full minutes.

When it ended, nothing remained but ash. No one could lift a weapon anymore. No one could stand.

What kind of face Naruto made, what kind of pain twisted Sasuke’s expression, what expressions the countless nameless and named victims wore, Konan didn’t know. There were survivors. There were the dead. Those who had harmed her village. Those who hadn’t. Very few remained.

She raised her hand again, ready to erase everything that was left, and someone stopped her.

“That’s enough, Konan. It’s enough.” The voice was soft. Zaraki Kita looked at her, her gaze gentle, like clouds drifting across the sky.

Amid flames. Amid smoke. Amid ruins. Konan paused. Then asked quietly, “Back then, was there anyone who stopped them?”

No. When the killing began, no plea had ever stopped it.

Zaraki Kita shook her head. Sheathing her sword, she smiled, warmly. “So we’ll remain ourselves.”

Words she had once spoken, now returned to her. Perhaps that was the meaning of walking side by side, when one strayed toward darkness, another could pull them back, preserving that final trace of humanity. Konan, for Nagato. Zaraki Kita, for Konan.

Konan lowered her hand. The battle was over.

Nagato spoke. “First, Konoha will now fall under Akatsuki’s rule. Second, its leadership will restrain its people. You no longer have a voice. Third, Uzumaki Naruto, remember this, the lives of hundreds of thousands in the Land of Fire rest on Konoha’s choices. Defy me, and you condemn them.”

“They’re innocent!”

“Then understand what ‘innocent’ truly means, before you speak of it.”

Konoha was the first victim. But not the last. Obito’s Wood Release engulfed village after village. Nagato’s Shinra Tensei flattened forests into dust.

Iwagakure fell, its Tsuchikage slain. Kumogakure surrendered, and vanished from history. Kirigakure was reduced to ruins. By sunset, Akatsuki arrived at Kusagakure. By nightfall, it too had fallen.

The Fifth Great Ninja War ended, just like that. Within a single day, the Five Great Nations lost nearly everything. This was the third day since Akatsuki’s return.

That night, the Daimyo of every nation died in their homes. The next day, the world belonged to Akatsuki.