Naruto 400

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Naruto
#400: The Depths Of Hell
[side text: Even to the edge of despair... those eyes kept on reflecting one single hope.]

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[insert text: A struggle between clan and village... and there stood Itachi, in the middle of it all...]
Sasuke: ......... // The Uchiha planned... a coup d'état...? / Itachi... was a spy...?
Tobi: Though an Uchiha yourself, you were never informed of this. / You were still too young. // However, I speak but the truth.

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Tobi: Your father, Fugaku, was the ringleader behind the entire plot. // And Itachi was a spy; he had joined the ANBU under his father's orders.
Flashback!Fugaku: Itachi... // You are a key figure forming a link between our clan and the village... // I trust you understand this?
Tobi: However... it was the other way around. // Itachi was leaking information about the Uchiha to the village. / He was what they call a "double agent".

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Tobi: What a heavy burden this must have been... // I doubt you can even begin to imagine it.
Sasuke: ...Why? // Why would Itachi betray the Uchiha?
Tobi: One such as yourself, who has never known war... / ...may well be unable to understand.
Sasuke: ?
Tobi: The Third Ninja World War... // At the tender age of four, Itachi had already witnessed the deaths of many. // He was far too young for that experience. / War is hell. // It was that trauma that gave Itachi his hatred of conflict and his deep love of peace.

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Tobi: He valued the stability of the village above all else, and worked to maintain the peace... / That was the kind of man he was. // A shinobi who loved his village, unfettered by ties of blood. // And the higher-ups in the village made use of that. // They gave Itachi a top-secret mission. // An eye for an eye... / To combat the Uchiha, they needed their own Sharingan. // ......... // That's right. // His mission...

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Tobi: ...was to slaughter every one of the Uchiha. // ......... // How Itachi must have felt, back then... // ...is beyond our ability to imagine. // Itachi was faced with the most terrible of choices. // How could he possibly do a thing like that to his own brethren?

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Tobi: Yet, if a clan as powerful as the Uchiha were to start a civil war... // Both the village of Konoha and the Country of Fire itself would be thrown into chaos... // Other countries would surely take advantage of this and attack... // Why, it could be the trigger for a Fourth Ninja World War. // Thanks to the selfish desires of the Uchiha clan... / ...so many people would die... some even innocent civilians, with no connection whatsoever to the ninja world...
Sasuke: .........
Tobi: If you had been in Itachi's position... what would you have done?
Sasuke: .........

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Tobi: Itachi made his decision. // The decision to bring an end to the long history of his clan, with his own two hands. // He did not betray the Uchiha out of hatred... / He had no other choice. // The discrimination that had existed since the very formation of the village... the discord without end. / He chose to take it all upon himself, a lone sacrifice; and who can condemn him for that?
Sasuke: .........
Tobi: In truth, back then... // ...I too was observing the brewing war. // I bore resentment, you see, towards both the Senju village of Konoha and the Uchiha clan. // But Itachi had even realised that I was watching. // He was the only one ever to uncover my existence.

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Tobi: Itachi sought me out, confronted me... / ...and he made me an offer. // He offered to help me take revenge upon the Uchiha clan... // ...in return for my word that I would not lay a finger upon the village. // He wanted my help in the slaughter of his brethren... // The Third Hokage alone still had distinctly different ideas. // He wanted to negotiate with the Uchiha on fair terms, and made to approach them. // But time was short... // And his attempts failed...

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Tobi: And thus, we reach the events of that night. // It was a mission...

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Tobi: Becoming the murderer of his entire clan... / ...Abandoning his village and becoming a missing-nin, with that crime besmirching his name... // It was all part of his mission. // And Itachi carried out that mission splendidly. // Except for one tiny little point. // His younger brother...

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Tobi: ...he could not kill.

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Tobi: Afterwards, Itachi came to the Third Hokage and appealed to him... / ...to protect you from Danzou and his ilk. // He threatened Danzou before he left the village. // If he were ever to lay a finger upon you... / ...then Itachi would leak all the information he knew about Konoha to all of its rival nations. // He was worried about you, more than anything. // But he could not tell you his true feelings towards you. // So all he could do was tell you what he did.

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Flashback!Sasuke: No... this isn't my brother...!
Flashback!Itachi: The only reason I played the role of the brother you wanted me to be... // ...was to understand your ability, your capacity, for myself. // You can become a rival against whom I can test my own "capacity". // You hold that possibility within you. // You always resented me, hated me, even. You always longed for the day when you might surpass me. // And that is why I leave you alive... for my own sake. // ...Foolish brother of mine...... // If you wish to kill me... // Curse me! Hate me! // And keep on living an accursed life...... // Running... running... // Always clinging to that life you hold...

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Flashback!Itachi: And one day, once you have obtained these same eyes as I... // Find me once more.
Sasuke: .........
Tobi: He entrusted you with the goal of taking revenge against him. // For he wished that you might become strong. // The Uchiha were a proud clan of the village of Konoha... // He wanted you, at least, to believe that. // He begged the Hokage most profusely... / ...never to tell you the truth.

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Tobi: From the moment he left the village, he had decided in his heart that he would fight you, and he would die at your hands. // And when he did, he would grant you a new power... // That is the truth of Itachi.
Sasuke: ......lie... // ...It's a lie...

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Tobi: ......
Sasuke: That's got to be... a lie......
[side text: Even in the depths of hell... he held on to his feelings for his precious younger brother. How will Sasuke react to the shocking "truth"...?]
[bottom text: What decision will Sasuke reach about the true Itachi?! Next issue, "The Long-Planned Battle"!!]