Forged Beyond

The Hokage Summit Act - 4

The grand stone table—the very symbol of alliance and power—was now reduced to shattered rubble.

Cracks slithered across the floor like veins of anger. Smoke still curled in the air. Dust danced like ghosts in the light.

Sasuke Uchiha stood at the center of it all.

The Kage stared at him like he was a phantom—a dead man walking.
Mei's lips parted in disbelief.
The Raikage growled, readying himself.
Gaara narrowed his eyes, calm but wary.

His black hair fell over his forehead, damp with sweat and rage.
His Mangekyō Sharingan burned like red comets—spiraling, pulsing, alive with fury.

And for one long second...
his gaze met Tobi's.

Two Mangekyōs locked across the smoke.
Tobi's was a bottomless spiral.
Sasuke's?
A storm. Unforgiving, howling, divine.

Anger.
Grief.
Revenge.

Then...
His eyes slid—slow, deliberate—to Danzo.

And his lips curled into a smile. Not kind. Not amused.
A smirk born in hellfire.

He stepped forward, dragging his blade across the stone floor. It sang, metallic and sharp.

"Guess who's back from the grave..."
His voice was low.
Deadly.
Cold enough to freeze blood.

Danzo's fists clenched, chakra bubbling under his skin. He turned, snarling at the other ghost beside Sasuke:

"You LIED to me, Itachi! You said he was DEAD! You told me he was gone! You fed me false intelligence—"

Itachi didn't flinch.
He turned his head slowly, the same death-still calm that made gods uneasy.
Then... he spoke.

"I was simply giving you a taste of your own medicine."
His voice was flat, emotionless.
Each word a needle beneath the skin.

Danzo's expression cracked—shock giving way to fury.
"You manipulative little—"

He took a step forward, trying to twist his tone, dripping it in old guilt, old memories.

"I raised you like a son, Itachi. Everything I did... was for the village. For you."

Itachi tilted his head, almost curious.

Then spoke—soft, brutal.
"You raised a puppet. And now the strings are cut."

With that, he slid off his ANBU cloak.
It hit the floor with a dull thud, revealing the black underclothing and his own Mangekyō blazing in quiet judgment.

He moved beside Sasuke, no longer a shadow.
But a flame.

Tobi's gaze narrowed beneath his mask. He didn't speak—but his mind was racing.

He needed Danzo alive.
This wasn't the time.
Not yet. Not now.

He couldn't lose the Foundation's core. Not before extracting the secrets... not before his plan was whole.

He scanned the battlefield, a thousand routes playing in his head—escape, distraction, manipulation—but the Uchiha stood between them all.

And Sasuke?

Sasuke had already taken another step forward.

He stood taller now. Older. Sharper.
Power crackled from him like lightning in a cage.
The Mangekyō in his eyes didn't just glow—they threatened to burn through time itself.

"You thought you could bury me, Danzo," he said, voice quiet like the wind before a storm.
"Bury the truth.
Bury the clan.
Bury him."