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"It's time you learned why the Uchiha were once called the strongest clan."
Itachi's voice cut through the air like a razor.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. A chill crawled down his spine.
No…
"Don't look him in the eyes!" he shouted. "Whatever you do, don't open your eyes!"
Kurenai and Asuma instantly obeyed, snapping their eyes shut. Kakashi himself kept one eye sealed only his Sharingan exposed.
"Listen to me," he said lowly. "If you make eye contact now it's over. Only someone with a Sharingan might even stand a chance against what's coming."
Itachi gave a quiet nod.
"Correct. Only someone with the Sharingan might resist this… even slightly."
He stepped forward.
"But to break it? To escape Tsukuyomi? You would need to be like me Uchiha blood, and a Mangekyō Sharingan."
Kakashi's mind flicked to Sasuke. Before he could dwell, Itachi whispered the word:
"Tsukuyomi."
SLASH.
Kakashi blinked and the world twisted.
Suddenly he was suspended, arms and legs bound to a giant crucifix.
Around him, a sea of Itachis each with emotionless eyes and raised blades.
"In this world," Itachi's voice echoed, "I control everything. Time, space, and matter. For the next seventy-two hours… I can do whatever I want."
Kakashi clenched his jaw.
"...So?"
SHINK.
The first blade pierced his chest.
Agony exploded through his body. Sweat poured from his brow.
Itachi stared him down. "That girl earlier… was she Sasuke?"
"S-Sasuke?"
"Answer me."
Another blade plunged in. Kakashi gasped, trying to keep his composure. This wasn't pain it was personal.
"Was she Sasuke?!"
"Y-yeah… yeah! It was Sasuke!"
Itachi's expression didn't change but something in his gaze cracked.
A storm of blades erupted. Dozens stabbed into Kakashi's body his voice caught in a guttural groan.
"What happened?" Itachi demanded.
"You—!"
SLASH.
Another blade.
"Tell me what happened!"
Kakashi was furious. Let me talk first, damn it!
"It was Orochimaru!" he finally screamed. "Orochimaru did it!"
Everything halted for a moment.
Itachi's lips curled in silent rage.
SLASH.
"Argh—!" Kakashi's body twisted in anguish.
This wasn't just a genjutsu anymore.
It was Itachi losing control.
"Details," Itachi growled.
Kakashi could barely breathe. "Fine… I'll tell you."
Through gritted teeth, he recounted everything from the Chūnin Exams to the Forest of Death, to the curse mark and the transformation.
"You can forget about manipulating Sasuke," he hissed. "He'll never give in. He's stronger than that."
But Itachi wasn't listening anymore. His fingers twitched. His fists clenched.
"Orochimaru… Curse Seal… Total gender transformation…"
His Mangekyō spun violently.
The space around them cracked. Shadows warped. The entire world seemed to shudder.
Kakashi blinked—
Something felt wrong.
Not with Itachi… with himself.
He looked down at his hands his body was changing.
His limbs slimmed. His features softened.
"…No."
Kakashi was becoming a woman.
"ITACHI! What did you do?!"
He tried to shout—but his voice…
His voice was soft.
Feminine.
He swallowed hard.
"Oh no…"
SHINK.
Another blade plunged into his abdomen.
And now Itachi was laughing—manically.
"Hahaha… a woman. Sasuke's a woman. My brother has been turned into—"
"Itachi! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
The laughter was wild. Deranged. Broken.
"You couldn't stop it," he sneered. "So now, feel what Sasuke did. Feel his pain."
Kakashi's vision swam.
At that moment, Itachi, normally calm and composed, was unraveling.
In the depths of Tsukuyomi, where Itachi ruled absolutely, he poured out his fury, his shame, his guilt all of it on Kakashi.
"How could you let this happen?! You're his teacher! His protector!"
Kakashi couldn't respond anymore. His consciousness was dimming.
It was torture, mental, emotional, and existential.
---
Seventy-two hours passed in the span of a second.
---
Back in reality, Kakashi collapsed, falling like a marionette with its strings cut. His body slammed into the shallow river with a splash.
"Kakashi!" Asuma shouted, racing toward him.
Kurenai's eyes blinked open. "Can we look now?!"
"I'm… I'm fine…" Kakashi wheezed.
But he wasn't.
His voice was hoarse. His spirit… fractured.
"What the hell just happened?" Asuma asked.
Kakashi could barely speak. "He… did it in an instant…"
In Tsukuyomi, 72 hours had passed. But here?
A heartbeat.
He trembled.
Images of that warped genjutsu still haunted him. Itachi's fury. The endless stabbing. The shame…
The transformation.
And yet—Itachi hadn't killed him.
Why?
Why didn't he?
Why all that pain and then stop?
Kisame whistled from the riverbank, watching him with amusement.
"Still conscious? That's a first. I've seen seasoned Jonin go mad after ten seconds of Tsukuyomi."
He turned to Itachi.
"You good? I heard that overusing that eye comes with a price."
Itachi didn't answer right away. He glanced at Kakashi impressed, maybe, or just… silently calculating.
"…We're leaving."
"But—"
"No buts."
Kisame gave a shrug and retrieved Samehada.
As they turned to leave, Kakashi lifted his head, body still trembling.
"…You're looking for Sasuke, aren't you?"
Itachi paused.
"No," he said coldly. "I'm looking for the Fourth Hokage's legacy."
Kakashi's eyes widened.
Minato's legacy…?
"Wait you're talking about Naruto, aren't you?"
"The Nine-Tails sealed inside him…"
"You're part of that group Akatsuki."
Itachi didn't respond.
But the air around him shifted.
His silence said enough.
As he and Kisame disappeared into the mist, Kakashi shivered.
Not from pain but from something far worse.
Realization.
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