Naruto Volume 43 by Masashi Kishimoto

Sasuke and Itatchi finally finish their fight, complete with the sound of lightning, Black fire called the Amatseru, and the appearance of Orochimaru's many-serpents form. Unlike Sasuke, Itachi doesn't appear to be holding back, and even after Sasuke hits Itachi with everything he's got, Itachi still has the upper hand. But he's damaged inside, from since before their fight, and before he can take out Sasuke's eyes, he dies, having only been able to touch Sasuke on the forehead.

Sasuke has survived and killed his brother. He passes out next to his brother's body on the stones where they battled. Meanwhile, Naruto and the others from Konoha are battling the Shinobi called Madara, who wears a swirl-mask with a single small hole to see out of. But just when it seems that they may be getting the upper hand in their battles with him, he points out where Sasuke and Itachi are battling and disappears.

The other ninja run to the site, but Madara gets there before them and spirits the bodies away, leaving nothing but some blood trails to mark the site of the battle. Meanwhile, Sasuke wakes up, his wounds bandaged, to find Madara waiting for him. It seems that Madara is also a member of the Uchiha family who escaped Itachi's massacre, and he tells Sasuke a tale about why Itachi killed the members of the Uchiha family... it was an order from his superiors at Konoha. You see, the Uchiha family was one of the two families of Shinobi who came to rule the Fire Nation after the great Shinobi wars.

But the Uchiha had control of the Sharingan eye, an ocular jutsu that made them very powerful. When the wars ended, both clans decided to make peace and settle together. Madara was against this, but overruled by his clanmates. Over time, the other Shinobi managed to exclude the Uchiha clan from rulership and made them the clan's police, putting them in a position of ultimate weakness. This caused resentment in the clan, the Konohakagure's fears of an uprising came to pass at the hands of the ones trying their best to prevent it.

Itachi was supposedly spying on the Hokage and his advisors, but in actuality, he was a Double agent, and when he revealed that there was to be an uprising, he informed on his clan and was told to wipe them out. He killed everyone, except for Sasuke, his beloved little brother, who he couldn't bring himself to kill. Sasuke doesn't want to believe Madara, but eventually comes to believe his story. And now Sasuke's killed him, when Itachi only made a decision to do a hard mission forced on him by the Hokage and the village elders.

But what will Sasuke decide to do now that he's heard the story. We can't say it's the truth because it's told by an unreliable character. Does Madara have an ulterior motive for telling Sasuke this tale and making him believe Itachi really deserved to be a hero? And will Sasuke fall for it?

Should we believe Madara's tale of what supposedly really happened between Itachi and the Uchiha clan, or is he just spinning a tale of moonlight to get Sasuke to fight on his side and get him to turn against his former people in Konohakagure village? It's hard to tell. I mean, Sasuke believes it, but this could be a case of truth mixed with falsehood, and the truth is only there to make the falsehood parts more believeable.

Anyhow, what Sasuke decides makes it obvious that any plans to redeem the character should now be jettisoned permanently- he's crossed the idealogical rubicon, and he has no intention of turning back. But is his quest for vengeance well thought-out? He wants revenge on the Hokage (who is no longer alive at this point), and his advisors (no idea if they are alive or not), but if they are all dead by the time he gets back, will he take his revenge on people who had no part in that plot and are innocent of the knowledge of it?

I suppose what he does if that happens will truly tell us if Sasuke has become a villain or remained some kind of a hero character. But the fact that he wants revenge on the village is worrying for him to remain any kind of a sympathetic character. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Recommended.