Abciluvpie: Itachi doesn't kill because he doesn't need to and he's always hated unnecessary violence. He doesn't like owing Artemis because he knows she's still an immature girl with immature ideas.

Anime hotty lover.18: Thanks I truly appreciate the support you've given me. You're the best!

Brave2000: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Pain definitely is a factor in this chapter in more ways than one.

Djberneman: The only person who knows that is Itachi though. Nobody else knows who Ms Yumi really is so there would be no way for her to either contact them or assist in retrieving Itachi.

502nickster: How have you been, my friend? Yeah, I understand that criticism but I just wanted to make the world have Narutoverse stakes since it is a Narutoverse fight. When this arch is over it will start to become more like the Young Justice Universe again, at least until the final arc.

Rio Skyron: I'm glad you liked that. I wanted to show that Itachi isn't the only character that can grow with development in this story.

Andresskorskiruiz: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the read.

Guest: I got chill just by writing so I know how you feel.

Devingo1999: Thank you! That's one of the best compliments I've ever received. I've always hated how in these great calamites/disasters how everyone seemed to move on just like that. I wanted this loss to feel real. I enjoy a fun story just as much as the next fan, but loss has to have meaning behind, or else it's not really a loss in my opinion. Thanks again.

The Real Hell Fire: Itachi didn't use the perfect Susanoo because they were fighting in a city full of people and that would have done even more damage. It's why Wrath wanted to fight him there so badly. He wanted to limit just how hard Itachi could fight him and he won because of it.

Guest: Okay?

Guest: I won't spoil the Itachi/Wrath final fight but his future with Carson will hit a major roadblock as you will read in this chapter when Itachi makes a life changing decision.

Matthew5641: I'm happy to see that you're so excited. The plot with pain will be explained by the end of the next chapter after this so stay tuned.

Help I have No Social Life: Hey, no harm no foul on me. I'm a big boy and I can take criticism. That's how you feel and I respect and appreciate that. It's why I love being a fellow fan like yourself. Now with that being said, I don't think I've underpowered Itachi. In fact, I've given him more power than he had back in the Narutoverse. I just chose not to make him this senseless murderer because we've already seen that before and he doesn't even have to do that in this world. He hates unnecessary violence so having him kill every bad guy seemed silly to me and having him crush everyone is just a bad story. It is how WB/DC got into the mess they're in now with Superman in their DCEU thanks to bad storytelling. Though I LOVE Man of Steel, the majority of people were iffy on it which led to a movie that should have made a billion dollars only making under 700 million. I will always prefer a great story over a powerful character. But hey, like I said before it's your opinion and I appreciate you for sharing it with me. I'll definitely take into account on future chapter like how I do with every review. (Except for the reviewer who told me to go f$#! myself. I don't know what to do with that, lol.)

Darkness. That was all Itachi saw as he sunk deeper and deeper into a pit of despair. Time seemed to be obsolete in this world. Itachi didn't know how much time he's been in this hell. It felt like eternity to him. And despite that feeling of constant loneliness and doom, Itachi still felt that this was better than being alive.

'I can't hurt anyone while trapped in here. I can just disappear.' Itachi stoically thought as he continued to sink. One of the side effects to Itachi being in this genjutsu hell was that it was slowly sucking out his will to live and fight. Good thing for Itachi, he had an ally here who was willing to help bring him out of the darkness.

"Universal Pull!"

Itachi found himself being propelled upwards. The force pulling him felt divine in nature as a glimmer of light could finally be seen by Itachi. That glimmer soon became a giant ray as Itachi flew out of the ocean of blood and landed on a new patch of land. The Uchiha noticed that he wasn't the only one on that patch of land. A hooded figure was there too. The ghosts of Itachi's past tried to follow him to bring him back to the darkness, but two more words kept them away as a figure held a hand out and used another jutsu.

"Almighty Push!" The vengeful spirits, along with the ocean of blood, were sent back down to the depths from which they came. Only Itachi's former lover Izumi remained. She held a hand out to Itachi while crying.

"Don't leave us. Itachi, we're your family. You belong with us. I love you." Izumi plead. Itachi began to reach out to her, but the hand of the hooded figure slapped it away and threw Itachi to the ground behind him. Izumi began to morph into her undead form as she glared at the person who dared to defy her wishes.

"Stay away from him! His fate belongs to us!" She screamed as she got ready to attack. The figure wasn't phased by her lash out. She lunged at him but his abilities far surpassed hers.

"Be gone foul spirit. You have no power of Itachi any longer. His story isn't over for there are still chapters in his life that are still yet to be revealed. But yours, on the other hand, is over. Summoning Jutsu: Gedo Statue!" A gigantic and demonic statue was summoned from the ground.

It roared in anger before the figure turned it towards the spirit that was taking the form of Izumi. The Gedo Statue unleashed a ferocious shriek as a purple chakra in the form of a dragon was emitted from the creature's mouth. The chakra dragon flew right through Izumi, taking her impure spirit with it, and flew right into the blood ocean. Itachi slowly got to his feet as the figure stepped forward.

"Make sure no other spirit interrupts us." The figure commanded as the Gedo Statue did what it was told. The chakra dragon began to act as a guard dog that attacked any spirit that got within close proximity of the pair above ground. Itachi knew who his savior was as there was only one person he knew that could be sealed inside the Totsuka Blade that possessed a true Rinnegan.

"Nagato, I see you're still here." Itachi commented. Nagato laughed at the bluntness of his Akatsuki brother and friend, "I see you're as blunt as always. Yes, I still dwell inside of the Totsuka Blade."

"But I released the Reanimation Jutsu that kept your spirit alive. You should have been released from this plain of existence." Itachi said.

"Yes, that is true, if I were on Earth when you released the Reanimation Jutsu. This place isn't held to the same standards as the rules of man. It seems my spirit must remain here for all eternity." Nagato revealed.

"How are you not in a genjutsu? You should have been trapped like how I was." Itachi surmised.

"It's a good thing that the rules of man don't apply to me either. My Rinnegan has protected me from the effects of this genjutsu world. I mostly wander here aimlessly with no goal in sight. Imagine my surprise when I saw you falling from the sky and then drowning in blood. I take it something otherworldly must have happened for you to get here since you did just say that you released the Reanimation Jutsu. Mind filling me in?" Nagato requested.

"It's a long story." Itachi vaguely said. Nagato looked around in an exaggerated to prove his next point, "Have you seen where we are? We have plenty of time."

They sat down as Itachi told his ally about everything that happened after his spirit was released. Nagato was shocked to hear that the Sage of Six Paths brought him back like that and also by just how much Itachi had gone through since being revived, "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, but now is not the time to quit. You must defeat your clone."

"What's the point? Wrath has already won. He exposed me for what I am. I am-" He was cut off by Nagato, "A liar, a murderer and a failure. All of the things I liked about you when I recruited you to the Akatsuki."

"You didn't recruit me, Madara did. If my memory serves me right, the deal was that if I joined the Akatsuki that my village would be spared. Imagine my surprise when my clone informed me that you wiped out my village shortly after my death. Is that true?" Itachi dangerously asked.

"Yes, I was a different man back then. I was wrong to do that to your village. But in my defense, your village attacked my home first and I made no such agreement to spare your village. Though, after realizing how wrong I was, I used my RinneRebirth to bring all of those that I killed from your village back to life. I am proof that we are not defined by our greatest defeats or failures." Nagato answered.

"It's not like there is a way out of here anyways. There's nothing left for me to do but mull on how I lost. It's over." Itachi stated.

"I see. Tell me, since there is no way out of this realm, where is that snake Orochimaru at then? When I was first sealed in here, that traitor was suffering along with me, but he hasn't been seen or heard of in months. In fact, I haven't sensed his presence at all." Nagato noted.

"But how can that be?" Itachi asked.

"Because…he escaped. This prison of a world that you are so resolved to perish in does have a doorway out. Remember, any door that can be closed can also be opened. Itachi, you can leave this place if you want, but what happens after that?" Nagato asked.

"I fight Wrath and beat him." Itachi simply said.

"No, that's not good enough. If you left as you were right now, Wrath would just defeat you again. The reason Orochimaru was able to escape wasn't simply because someone summoned him out of here. It was because that man changed, for the better, and decided that how he was living his life up to that point wasn't good enough. He decided to become his true self again. The self that Orochimaru discarded as a boy after the loss of his parents. It was only then that this world no longer held any power over him. You must do the same if you are to ever truly escape this world, Itachi." Nagato explained.

"This is not the Izanami. Finding my true self won't undo this hell of a world." Itachi argued.

"No, but it will prepare you for what happens when you eventually do leave this world. I believe that the reason you lost to Wrath is because you spent half of your effort between fighting Wrath and fighting yourself. Even now, I can still feel the conflict inside of you. Here in this world, you can finally hash things out with yourself like how you should have done years ago. That way when you fight Wrath this one last time, it will truly just be Itachi versus Wrath." Nagato wisely said.

"But how do I even begin to do that?" Itachi asked.

"The same way you were able to force yourself to massacre your entire clan and family; one step at a time." Just as Nagato said that, a giant portal in the sky opened. It revealed Itachi's teammates and Carson all looking through it. It looked like they were yelling something, but Itachi couldn't hear them. He was about to reach out for them when Nagato spoke a warning, "If you leave now, you will never get this opportunity again. I know your first instinct is always to stop and help others, but don't you think it's time for you to finally help yourself. No matter how many friends you make or people you save, none of them will be able to fix what's broken inside of you. Wrath fixed himself all on his own and so must you if you are to ever stop him." He warned.

After hearing that, Itachi thought hard and wound up put his arm back down. Outside in the real world, the others began panicking as they saw Itachi start to walk away from them.

"No you idiot! You're supposed to walk towards us." Artemis muttered.

"I don't think he can hear us. He looks confused and is talking to himself for some reason." M'gann commented.

"Zatanna, how much longer can you hold up the portal?" Robin asked.

"Not much longer. I only have a few minutes left before I have to close it." She frantically said as she struggled to keep the portal open. Carson began getting desperate after hearing that.

"Itachi, please listen to us! We're your friends! Itachi!" She shouted but he started walking away from them.

"I'm going in." Artemis declared. Aqualad emphatically shot that idea down, "No! We don't know what type of effects that world is having on him. We must not act without first establishing a plan."

"But Kaldur-"

"No, he's right. We don't even know how you'd get back if we did let you go inside. Itachi described that world as genjutsu hell. Itachi…might already be broken. We can't risk losing anyone else without having a plan first." Robin added.

"We are not giving up!" Artemis yelled as she got face-to-face with Robin. It was up to Aqualad to calm her down, "Nobody said that we are giving up on him. We just need to regroup and try this again at another time. The most important this is that we now know that there is a way we can get to him and Superman now. Zatanna, you can close the portal."

Carson gave one last sad look as the view of Itachi got smaller and smaller. Before the portal closed completely, she spoke some parting words to him, "We're getting you out of there. This isn't over yet so please, just hang on a little while longer."

The portal closed and Zatanna dropped to her knees in exhaustion. Opening portals to other universes was hard work. Eventually, they all decided to head upstairs to relay what they discovered to the others. They stared at the memorial of Itachi and finally had hope that they could bring their friend home eventually.

Itachi went towards Nagato after decided to try it his way. Nagato thanked him before disintegrating into dust, "Now, it is up to you. Itachi, you must find your true self just as Orochimaru once did. I cannot help you on this journey. This is something you must do on your own. But first,"

Itachi experienced great pain as he felt his eyes being ripped from his eye sockets. Blood started pouring as he dropped to a knee from the pain. He called out to Nagato, but the man was gone only his words were left, "If you want your eyes back, go back to where it all began."

"Where it all began? What does that even mean?" Itachi asked to himself as he started wandering off aimlessly since he had no vision or idea of where he was going. He knew he was on his own from here on out. He started this, so it only made sense that Itachi was the one to end this. The Uchiha found what he was looking for when he heard the screeching of multiple crows could be heard. Even though he had no vision, Itachi knew who he was standing in front of.

"I've been waiting a long time to meet you. It must be a shock for you, huh? You got rid of me years ago. I take it this must mean that my life is filled with even more pain and death than it is now. I'm sorry, where are my manners? I am Itachi Uchiha, or at least I should say that I am a version of Itachi Uchiha." Itachi was indeed in front of a younger version of himself. The boy looked just like Itachi did right after Sasuke was just born. It was like being haunted by a ghost for Itachi.

"Come on, let's go. I have a lot to show you." The boy said as he got a hold of Itachi's hand and led him to their next destination.

"Where are we going?" The adult Itachi asked.

"First, we're going to see when exactly you became so lost and angry at me. Then, we're going to meet the others." The boy said stoically. Itachi forgot what that felt like it had been so long. Itachi caught what the boy said at the end and decided to have that statement clarified.

"The others? What do you mean by that?" Adult Itachi asked.

"Yup, the others. And I don't want to ruin the surprise. I'm not the only one who's wanted to see you again so let's go." The boy said as they started running faster.

In the real world, a day had passed since the attempt to bring back Itachi and Superman from the Tsukuyomi world. Canary was not pleased when she found out just what they had attempted to do. Her argument was that because they didn't know what they were doing that they should have waited until one of the adults arrived. If something had went wrong, no one would have been able to save them. But after the stern lecture, Canary pulled them into a group hug. She knew it must have been heartbreaking to be so close to Itachi just to watch him walk away from them.

"Well, at least we know that there's a chance for us to save them. I just hope that we can hold down the fort here until we actually do. Wrath is going to be active pretty soon and we will have to be ready without the League's biggest powerhouse or the Team's for that matter. I'll go inform the other Leaguers about this but for now you all just rest up and stay vigilant. And good job for what it's worth." Canary said as she went to the communications room.

She left out of the room as the members of the Team all stewed in disappointment. They really wished that they could have brought their friend back. They didn't care about the abilities Itachi had that could help them with Wrath. They wanted Itachi back because he is their friend and they truly miss them.

"What do we do now?" M'gann asked. Kaldur looked up with a determined look, "We keep moving forward. Itachi would want us to keep fighting. Wrath needs to be brought down and that task is only something we can accomplish. We must prepare for when that time comes."

"But when are we going to try and get Itachi out again?" Carson asked desperately.

"Soon, but please give us time. I want him back just as much as you do, but it's gonna take time. Zatanna is still exhausted from yesterday, and she only held the portal open for a few minutes. We didn't even see Superman with Itachi. Maybe listening to Canary might be what's best for now." Artemis replied.

Carson put her head down in disappointment. Robin was about to speak before James came walking in. He had just gotten off the phone. He looked like he had some good news to deliver.

"Thanks to Ms. Waller, I now have an in to the Argus secret facility that Wrath is holed up inside of. It's an entrance that not even Wrath could know about because it's not on the grid. At least now we can finally have the jump on him." James said.

Carson still could barely look at her brother without feeling rage so she said nothing. Robin got up and shook his hand, "Thank you. Despite everything that's transpired in the past, I'm thankful that you're here to help us. We will need it and more in order to bring Wrath to justice."

"Don't mention it. When you all decide to move in on Wrath, make sure you nail that bastard for all of the chaos that he has caused. I don't know how or why, but for some reason Wrath actually thinks that he is the good guy. The crazy bastard." James noted.

"You're wrong. I was in that cavern with you and Wrath. He openly admitted to being the bad guy and was honest about how he felt and what he planned on doing. You should try it some time, dearest brother." Carson said before angrily storming off.

The awkward exchange really showed how some wounds from E-Day still hadn't healed and it will be a miracle if they ever do heal.

Wrath was sharpening his sword when he felt a familiar presence, "Long time no see. Looks like you've been busy since we last met. What, blowing a hole in Gotham wasn't good enough so you decide to level it too? And redecorating? I'm no building expert, but even I know that the sticky stuff you used to fight Crow shouldn't be plastered all over the place. It's disturbing."

"What are you doing here, Cheshire?" Wrath asked as he turned towards his associate and got straight to the point. She started twirling her hair, "Oh, I brought you a visitor. She's been dying to see you."

This left Wrath confused until a young girl came running in and gave Wrath a strong, yet affectionate hug, "Cassandra? What are you doing here?"

"I want see you. I saw battle and was worried. Glad you okay." She said with a big smile on her face as she looked up at him.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. You should see the other guy. I'm glad you're okay too. How has your new family been treating you?" Wrath asked.

"They fine. Wish you were dad. Miss you." She answered. Wrath was grateful to hear that she was doing a lot better since they last saw each other, "Good. Always remember to always keep moving forward and never stop fighting. This world will finally be a better place."

"I glad. Please stay safe, Wrath. You my family." Cassandra warmly said.

"Off of one meeting? You know I'm a monster right? I'm the bad guy of this story." Wrath sadly said to her. She shook her head and pointed to her heart, "You bad guy, but you have good heart. You care about me. World make you this way. I just want see you smile again." Cassandra said as her words touched Wrath's heart.

"Th-thank you. You don't know how much hearing you say that means to me. I will smile, someday. But I still have work to do. A couple of supervillains in prison still need to die." Wrath darkly said.

"Which is why I'm here. Besides getting the brat to stop bugging me about checking in on you, my superiors want you to…tread cautiously. Maybe hold off on your plan to wipeout all of Arkham Asylum? My superiors still have allies that they need to break out, but after they do you can kill as many of them as you want." Cheshire said as she revealed the true reason for her visit. Wrath did not look amused.

"Do I look like I care? They all die. If your superiors have a problem with that, they know where I live. I'm done waiting for the world to change. On E-Day, I exposed the Justice League for the frauds that they are. Now no one can oppose me." Wrath declared as he got face to face with Cheshire. She was beginning to see what her bosses meant when they mention how frightening Wrath could be. But even then, she still held her ground, especially with her new pupil watching her.

"Don't cross the Light. It won't end well for you. I get that you and the Masked Stranger are close, but the Masked Stranger isn't going to be able to protect you if you keep poking the bear. So back off." She threatened.

"Cheshire, the only reason I haven't cut you down already is because of what you did for me when you agreed to adopt Cassandra and make her strong, but if you ever threaten me again, I promise you that 'poking the bear' will quickly turn into skinning the cat. Do I make myself clear?" Wrath threatened.

"Crystal." The villain replied. Wrath was glad to hear that, "Good, you can leave now. I still have preparations to make before I launch my assault on Arkham."

"Very well. A little word of advice; never wound what you can't kill. Later, for now. Cassandra, say goodbye. We will resume your training shortly. Don't expect another visit for quite some time so I suggest you make this one last. I'll be waiting outside." Cheshire said before walking out.

"Goodbye Wrath. Will miss you." Cassandra said as she hugged her friend again. Wrath reciprocated the hug. He really cares about Cassandra and wants her to be happy. It's why he knows he can't let her go down the same dark path he is on, "Don't let the darkness consume you. But don't let the light blind you either. Be your own person, Cassandra. Be free. I'll never stop thinking about you."

"We meet again?" Cassandra asked. Wrath didn't know the answer to that question. He truly hoped that he could see her grow up in the new world he planned on creating. There's only one person on this planet whose future he was more invested in than hers. So for now, Wrath decided to part her with this promise, "I promise that you'll see me again if you promise to smile for me one last time. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal." Cassandra answered as she smiled up at the Uchiha. He let her go as she ran outside to meet Cheshire. The villain was shocked at how human Wrath could be. He definitely was more than she expected. The same could be said for how close Cassandra and him were. In the end, Jade guessed that she shouldn't be too shocked.

'Two people that were cast aside from society that somehow found a way to each other. It's no wonder they're so close to one another. I wish they could both have a happy ending but that's just not how the world works. Once I tell the Light that Wrath won't back off, things will get ugly. I just have to make sure Cassandra is far away from the chaos. She's lost too much already. Christ, look at you Jade. You've gone soft like your dear little sister.' Jade thought as Cassandra came running out.

"You're late! That's going to be twenty extra sprints for the twenty seconds of my time that you wasted." Cheshire barked out.

"Yes sensei." Cassandra said as she bowed her head in respect. Jade shook her head before walking off, "Let's just go. Ra's will want to know how this meeting went. Time to return to Nanda Parbat."

The now blind Itachi was being led by his younger self to a scene that was all too familiar to Itachi. It was right after he had just murdered his mother and father. It was the moment when Itachi permanently casted aside his true self so that he could embody the Will of Fire and become exactly what his village needed him to be: a liar, murderer, traitor, terrorist, and spy. It was the moment Itachi became someone else, or more like when he became something else.

Even without his eyes, Itachi knew where he was at by the sound of the flesh being torn from his parents, the blood that splattered all over the room, and the loud thud his parents made as their corpses hit the ground. Itachi could die a thousand times and never forget that sequence of sounds.

Itachi knew at this point that he was wiping the tears from his eyes in preparation of his confrontation with his brother, Sasuke. He had to make his defection look authentic and scare Sasuke so badly that the boy would hate him for the rest of his life. Itachi turned towards the door as he expected his brother to show up. To his surprise, the next sound Itachi heard wasn't the sound of his brother walking in to see his parents dead on the floor. It was the sound of the now Itachi from this memory saying something that the real-time Itachi knows he didn't say when this originally happened.

"Who the hell are you?" The now rogue Itachi said. Itachi turned towards the younger self that led him here as the other Itachi aimed his bloody sword at both of them. The young boy stepped in between them to try and placate the situation, "He needs our help. He's trying to find his true self again."

The rogue Itachi sheathed his sword after hearing that and began to get a closer look at his older self. The current Itachi had no idea what was going on now. He had no idea whether this was caused by the Totsuka Blade's genjutsu or if something even more powerful was causing this. The rogue Itachi gave real Itachi a cold gaze. It was as if he was peeking into Itachi's very soul.

"I see. So this is the fate that waits for me at the end of this path. So why are you seeking out your true self now? You had no problem living your lie to the bitter end last I checked. What's changed?" The rogue shinobi asked.

"I have to save my friends from this great threat." Itachi answered. The rogue scoffed at his answered, "You're Itachi Uchiha. You have no friends. Only people that you will leave behind eventually on your path to Hell. I know that because I just got done killing all of my friends. How was it?"

"How was what?" The real Itachi responded. The rogue ninja pointed to the dark side of the room where the light from outside couldn't reach, "How was it living that beautiful, dark lie. To commit sins so great that you could be brought back to life a hundred times and still never know peace again. How was it?"

"It was Hell," Itachi answered. He felt something wet touch his feet and looked towards where his parents' corpses lay. Their blood was already beginning to feel cold to him. Itachi looked back at both of his former selves, "But I'd do it again a thousand times over so that no one else would have to. I will do what the Sage asked of me and defeat both Wrath and the Masked Stranger. It's why I need to get out of here."

"What if that leads to you going back into Hell? What if you had to watch kill someone close to you again like how you had to kill mother and father? Could you do it? Can you embrace the darkness again now that you've felt the light? Even if it only leads to your death again in the end?" The rogue Itachi asked.

"I died with the Uchiha on that fateful night. You should know that." Itachi answered. The rogue Itachi cracked the smallest of smiles at his older self before tearing out his left eye to give to the real Itachi, "You will need this then. An eye that can remember the past even if it's shrouded in darkness. It will always remind you of who you are."

Itachi took the eye and implanted it into his left eye socket. Itachi's vision, or at least half of it, had been restored. He immediately activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. And just in time because the environment around him changed into a new setting. Itachi now found himself into a blank, all white void of a space. He also was surrounded by a handful of people; himself or at least several alternate versions of himself.

All formed in a circle around the real Itachi were the young Itachi that he had originally met at the beginning of this trip, a slightly older version of that Itachi that look about the age Itachi was when his team was slaughtered and he first awoke his sharingan, the rogue Itachi who had just given his eye to him, the Itachi that was a member of the Akatsuki, the Itachi was on the verge of death from his disease, the Itachi that had been brought back because of Kabuto's Reanimation Jutsu, the Crow, and the last, being biggest surprise of all, was Wrath.

Itachi glared at Wrath as the clone smirked back at him. Itachi had no idea what was going on, but he had had enough of this, "Tell me what this is right now before I burn away everything in sight."

Itachi's youngest side stepped forward and explained what was happening, "This is it. This is where you choose what path your future will take you towards. This is every version of you that has ever been called Itachi Uchiha. You got here when you accepted the darkness back into your heart. You are where your true self has been hiding ever since you cast him out. Now here we all are. You must now choose which of us is the real you and depending on your choice; you can either gain a new power that will help you save the world or choose wrong and never be heard from again. Your body and soul will never be found. You will simply vanish. I ask you, Itachi Uchiha, have you learned the truth about yourself? Will you truly embrace what you always have been? For if you do not, this void will forever be your tomb, and the legacy that you see in this circle around you will permanently be yours. Succeed or fail, make our choice."

The young shinobi then returned to his spot in the circle as Itachi was left with an impossible question that not even he knew the answer too; who is the real Itachi?

Today was the day that the Team would launch an assault on Wrath. It was decided that Zatanna and Artemis would be left behind to watch over Carson while the others left with James to sneak into the abandoned Argus facility to attack Wrath. They needed James' clearance to get into the secret entrance which is why he was coming along. Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Miss Martian were all slated for the mission that was led by Aqualad. Artemis, at first, was adamantly against the idea of being left behind on guard duty. But that was until they told her the real reason; in case the failed and needed cavalry to arrive.

"The League is already on their way to Arkham to keep the facility secure so they won't be able to back us up should trouble arise. You will be our only hope. If we fail, you and Zatanna need to try and summon Itachi and Superman back from that genjutsu world." Aqualad explained.

"But I don't understand. Why not all of us just do it to begin with before going to confront Wrath? Why is it a last ditch effort?" Artemis asked.

"Because we still do not know enough about that world to be trifling with it on just a hunch and a whim. It's dangerous and we were lucky nothing went wrong the first time that we tried. Besides, you and Carson are the closest to Itachi. If anyone will be able to reach him in that world, it will be the two of you." The Atlantean explained.

Artemis got on board with the plan after hearing that. She, Zatanna, and Carson were all there to give their final goodbyes as the others were about to board M'gann's bioship. They all wished each other luck and gave each other hugs for support. The only two that were off to themselves were Carson and James who were having their own heart to heart conversation.

"Carson, look. I know what I did was evil and wrong but-" James was cut off by Carson, "But nothing. There is no excuse for what you did to him. You treated him the same way mom treated you back when we were kids. I hated it back then just like how I hate it now."

"…I'm sorry. I just wanted to keep you safe." James explained as he was starting to let his emotions show. Carson saw this and softened her voice, "I know you had good intention because you are a good person, James. But this is my life to risk. I get to choose who I love and in what way and that choice has already been made. I love Itachi. I will never see you as more than my brother. I know how complicated it's been since E-Day, but that is the simplest and straightforward thing that I know for sure."

"I know. I feel so bad for all of the grief that I have caused. I just want to make it right again and be someone you can be proud of." James whispered.

"You always have been someone I've been proud of. After all, you're my brother. You need let go of this prejudice and hatred in your heart for metahumans. It'll only lead to more pain for both of us." Carson said before pulling her brother into a hug.

James embraced his sister back as they shared their first touching moment since Wrath tore them apart on E-Day. They pulled apart after a while as James got ready to depart. Carson made sure to call out to her brother, "You better not die. If you really want to make up for what you did, you will live through this and spend your life making it up to the family of all of the people who died that day. That's how you truly show how sorry you are. I'll always love you, brother. So please, come back to me."

James nodded at his sister before getting on the bioship. It took off towards Wrath's hideout so that the heroes could finally end this madness. Artemis and Zatanna both went up to Carson as the three of them watched the ship fade into the distance. They could only hope that destiny was on their side.

"I'm glad you were able to patch things up with your brother. I don't like him much for what he did to my friend, but I know Itachi never would have held it against him, so why should I? Plus, it gives me hope that one day I'll be able to reconcile with my own family one day." Artemis said.

"It's still a work in progress, but I'm sure me and James will get there eventually. I just hope that after this nightmare with Wrath we will be able to move on from this." Carson sadly said.

"I'm sure you will. It'll just take time and a good group of friend to help out from time to time. And good thing for you that you have both." Zatanna responded.

"So what do we do now?" Carson asked. They all looked at each other before Artemis spoke next, "We wait. That's about all we can do. We can't even check in on Billy now that he's back with his foster family for the rest of his recovery. They were worried sick about him and were glad to finally have him home again. But you should have heard the tongue lashing he got from his uncle. Just brutal." Artemis joked as the three of them laughed.

"Oh I can imagine it'll be worse for Itachi once we finally get him back home." Zatanna joked. The other girls completely agreed with that statement.

"Oh yeah, he's definitely gonna get a piece of my mind." Artemis threatened.

"Me too. That dork I going to learn to stop leaving his friends behind one day. I just know for sure that I miss him like crazy. I hope he isn't suffering too much in that world he's in." Carson pondered.

"We all miss him. He won't be in that world for long, I promise." Zatanna said as they all went to the living area to wait. It was all up to destiny now.

The Justice League was currently on their way to Arkham to secure the facility in preparation for Wrath's arrival. The member's on deck included Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Aquaman, Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Green Arrow. The goal was to keep all the occupants detained so that Wrath couldn't get to them. They may be criminals, but they don't deserve to die. Plus, the entire world has seen how Wrath likes to kill people. He enjoys the brutality.

When the Javelin arrived to the facility, Manhunter immediately felt like something was off. He voiced that there was a major sense of panic throughout the facility, but Batman shot that down. He explained that this was a maximum security psychiatric ward for the worse of the worse of the criminally insane. Manhunter still felt like something was off despite the explanation.

"When we get inside, don't take what anyone says to heart. We aren't on many people's favorite person's list in here." Batman warned.

"Don't you mean you aren't on anyone's favorite person's list? You're the one who put all of these creeps away. All my villains go to Blackgate. This is on you, buddy." Green Arrow joked. Batman was in no mood for jokes though.

"This is serious. If we fail here, everyone in this asylum will die, including us. We don't have our big guns in Superman and Captain Marvel. Wonder Woman and Aquaman will have to lead the charge should the Team fail and Wrath makes it here." Batman said seriously.

"Why are we letting children fight a madman like Wrath? He could kill them." Wonder Woman asked.

"Because Wrath hasn't showed any interest in killing them before. He wants us dead, not them. Wrath has had multiple opportunities, but has for one reason or another always chosen to spare them. It is a hypothesis that he will spare them again should he win against them. The hope is that they can slow him down enough for us to be ready to finish him. Or at least, that is what we theorized." Red Tornado answered.

"That's one hell of a risk to be taking with their lives." Green Lantern commented.

"We are that desperate. Aqualad is a good leader and has their safety at the forefront at all times. I have faith in them. They are no longer just sidekicks. They are heroes now." Aquaman responded as the plane landed.

"Here we go." Canary said as they stepped out. The Leaguers knew that this would be hard, but it shouldn't be impossible. They waited for the gate watch to let them in but no one ever came. Batman found that odd since there is always supposed to be someone standing watch at the gate. He had Green Lantern scan the area with his ring for any signs of any foul play.

"It seems like whoever was on watch was knocked to the ground and dragged away based on these drag marks on the ground. Looks like Manhunter wasn't as paranoid as you thought, Batman." Stewart commented.

"Be on your guard." Batman responded as he pushed the gate open. The heroes walked inside of the asylum to see just what was going on. And they found out by the sight of seeing a guard being hung by bed sheets on the second floor. Batman threw a batarang at the sheets to release the guard as Wonder Woman flew up to knock out the inmates responsible. Green Lantern used his ring to bring the guard back to them safely so that they could ask what was going on. The entire asylum was marred in chaos as inmates were running wild and overrunning the guards.

"What happened?" Batman demanded. Guard was busy trying to catch his breath from almost being hung to death, "I-inmates got released. They…they overran us. I don't know how they got out. One second everything was normal, the next all the gates were opened. We couldn't even call for help. I-I think we were hacked from the outside."

"Has anyone escaped?" Flash asked.

"I don't know. We've just been trying to survive. You have to help-" The guard was interrupted when a knife was thrown at him. The man screamed as he thought he was about to be killed. Luckily for him, Flash used his super-speed to catch the knife. The person responsible for it being thrown was Victor Zsasz.

"Catch me if you can -" He was knocked out by Wonder Woman as she kneed him in his stomach and threw him against the wall. She put him in a cell and closed the doors, "You've been caught."

"Everyone split up. We need to secure this facility now! If Wrath gets here and this place is still like this, everyone dies! Move out!" Batman ordered as he grappled away. They saw him kick one prisoner through a window and ram another's head against the wall before moving into action themselves. The mission was off to a horrible start and the Leaguers hoped that the Team was having better luck then they were.

Wrath had just finished getting his gear on. He saw on the news how Arkham Asylum was currently facing a massive mutiny. Somehow, the inmates had escaped their cells and were running amok inside of the facility. Wrath had a pretty good idea how the riot started.

'Damn you, Cheshire. Because of you and your little organization, now my job just got a lot harder. Now these psychopaths are killing the guards and are about to be a threat to innocent people. This is why the ways of the old world have to die. And the League is already there to try and defuse the situation, thus making my job twice as hard. This is definitely a ploy to try and win back favor with the world's people after I embarrassed them on E-Day. I didn't plan on fighting them today, but I can still make this work. I guess losing Superman and Crow wasn't enough to break them. I'll just decapitate Wonder Woman in front of them then. Nothing breaks people faster than watching women they love die gruesomely.' Wrath dangerously thought.

He was getting ready to walk out when a sensor on the monitor activated. He knew that it could only mean one thing.

"Someone's in the training facility?! But how did they get this far deep inside without me knowing? Damn it all!" Wrath said as he sped towards the facility to confront whoever had invaded his home.

Inside of the training facility, the members of the Team were currently sprinting towards the entry to the next room. They wanted to get inside the control room because that was where Wrath frequented the most according to video feed acquired by Amanda Waller. Her intel on the underwater entrance, plus Kaldur's knowledge of the sea led to a successful infiltration that went off without a hitch. But getting in was the easy part, now they had to find a way to do what not even Itachi could; defeat Wrath.

"This way! It leads to the elevator that can take us right to the O-4 level, right where Wrath is!" James shouted as they almost made it to the entrance. But right before any of them could reach it a wall of Hedoro blocked the entrance and halted their charge. The entire training facility then illuminated as all of the lights were turned on. They all knew what that meant.

"Looks like Wrath knows we are in here! Everyone, get ready! Kid Flash, take James and get him to safety. Miss Martian, phase through and get the other side of that door open. Just because Wrath knows we're here does not mean we have to stay here like sitting ducks. Superboy, Robin, you're with me." Kaldur ordered.

As the leader Kaldur wanted to keep every member that was on this mission safe. Kid Flash did what he was ordered and took James away to hide him from the battle that was about to ensue. The last thing any of them wanted was to be too busy watching over him as an opponent as dangerous as Wrath was out there. Miss Martian used her powers to become intangible and was about to phase through it, but she stopped when something in the atmosphere started to change. It got really hot all of a sudden and she felt that the source of the heat was coming from the other side of the door.

She realized what was happening and shouted to warn her teammates, "Take cover!"

The door was blown open as Miss Martian was caught in the blast. Superboy, Aqualad, and Robin all looked as smoke emerged from where the fire blast occurred and in that smoke they all saw the eyes of the Sharingan piercing through. Wrath emerged from the smoke with a dark look on his face as he stared at the young heroes.

Superboy glared back at him after seeing his girlfriend be caught in that blast, "You are going to so pay for that!"

"You break into my home and now you threaten me. Not off to a good start today. What do you want?" Wrath asked with a look of indifference on his face.

"We want to bring you to justice for your crimes. You accuse us of breaking into your home, but you blew a freaking hole into mine! What, did you think we'd just let that go?!" Robin retorted.

"I have no desire to kill any of you. It's why the Martian girl still breaths. I only want to make this world a better place. Now go home. I have some psychopaths to kill." Wrath said as he dismissed them.

Wrath turned his back on them to block a punch by an invisible Miss Martian. She revealed herself as she struggled to get Wrath to release his grip on him, "You belong in that facility with the psychopaths. You murdered thousands of people on E-Day and back on the Cathedral Catastrophe. And worst of all, you murdered our friend!"

"Foolish girl, you know nothing at all." Wrath said as he threw her towards her teammates. Before she could make impact with any of them, Kid Flash ran in to safely catch her. Wrath noted how Artemis and Zatanna were not among the young heroes, "What, I'm not good enough for the whole team? Or did Artemis and Zatanna become too frightened after our last personal encounter?"

"We don't need the whole Team to kick your sorry butt!" Robin said as he threw some explosive batarangs at Wrath. A wall of Hedoro sprouted from the ground to protect Wrath from the blast. When the blast subsided, the wall dropped down and revealed Wrath who was unscathed.

"If a fight is what you came here looking for, then a fight is what you will get. Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" Wrath weaved hand signs while he was behind the Hedoro shield as he aimed to end this fight quickly.

Superboy stepped forward and used his body as a shield to block the attack from hitting any of his teammates. Once the blast made impact with the Kryptonian clone, the other heroes used that as an opportunity to counterattack. Kid Flash sprinted forward to try and blitz Wrath with a flurry of attacks. Wrath easily dodged the attacks thanks to his Sharingan and caught Kid Flash with a roundhouse kick to the sternum. Wally was keeled over in pain from getting the wind kicked out of his chest. Wrath picked him and threw the speedster towards the ceiling here spikes of Hedoro were waiting to impale Wally.

Conner recovered from the fire blast and leapt up to catch his friend. Conner was able to reach him into before he was impaled, but Wrath knew this would happen. That's why he planted a paper bomb on Wally's back. Conner saw this and tore the bomb away from Wally and threw the speedster to safety as the bomb went off. Conner was sent through a wall as a result of the explosion. Aqualad was able to catch Wally before he hit the ground hard.

"Kid Flash, are you alright?" The Atlantean asked. Wally put a thumb up at to show that he was okay as he was still trying to catch his wind, "That guy…hits hard."

"You can't rush in like that. Wrath is like Itachi in terms of visual prowess so he can still read your movements. We can only do this together," Aqualad sat Wally down on his feet as he joined up with Robin and Miss Martian. He knew he needed to think of a plan fast, "Remember whenever we used to train with Itachi?"

"Yeah, he used to kick me in the chest just like Wrath did." Wally mentally commented.

"Focus, Itachi used to always say that the only way to defeat the Sharingan's visual prowess is with an attack that the user can't react to fast enough." Aqualad said.

"Yeah, but the problem with that is this jerk can use his Susanoo to block any attack his body isn't fast enough to counter. So what do we do about something that not even Itachi could take out?" Robin skeptically asked.

"Itachi used to say that the only way to get to a Susanoo user is by attack him at the base of the Susanoo. In other words, we have to focus on his feet." M'gann added.

"But what about is he uses its full body and crushes us like how he did with Green Lantern?" Wally asked.

"He can't use it in a place like this. Something of that size would collapse the entire facility. He wouldn't want to risk destroying this place just for us. If he does use the Susanoo, it'll definitely be its half-body state." Robin concluded.

"Good, and when we do get him out of that Susanoo, Miss Martian will incapacitate him with a psychic blast. He can't block that. Now, we just need something strong enough to initiate this plan."Aqualad said.

"Well, it's a good thing you guys got me then." They all looked up to see Superboy launch himself at Wrath a torpedo that was shot out of a submarine. Wrath flipped away to avoid the devastating attack. The Uchiha was met by Aqualad who had unleashed his hyrdokinesis to form water blades and attack the Uchiha clone. After a few minutes of blocking and parrying, Wrath summoned his Shinigami Scythe to destroy the hydro-weapons. Kid Flash sprinted into action and knocked Wrath back a few feet as Robin launched some batarangs at Wrath.

Wrath leapt into the air to block the attacks but was met by a flying Miss Martian who was ready to attack. Before they collided though, a giant spike of Hedoro sprouted from a nearby wall to block their paths. Wrath used the distraction to quickly maneuver himself behind M'gann and kick her right out of the sky as she fell to the ground hard.

'It's a good thing I had this entire facility incased with my Hedoro for situations like this. I can now use it to attack or defend at pretty much any angle I need. Now, it's my turn. Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!' Wrath thought as he launched the volley of fireballs.

Conner leapt towards his teammates and tried to use his body as a shield to block the attacks. Wrath predicted that this would happen and laced his jutsu with Katamarimasu armored shuriken that cut into Superboy and left him stunned.

"Combination Beta!" Aqualad commanded as he, Robin and Kid Flash ran at Wrath for a frontal attack while Miss Martian stayed behind. Wrath launched a projectile at them, but the trio of heroes all managed to evade the attack.

"Miss Martian, watch out!" M'gann looked up at the four of them when Wally shouted just in time to see Wrath throw his spear at her. She phased through the attack before retreating to the ground to wait for her moment.

'Good, now all I need to do is deal with them.' Wrath charged right back at them in what was going to be a three on one fight.

Robin used his staff to lunge himself forward with a soaring kick. Wrath ducked the attack and made a swipe for Aqualad with his scythe. The Atlantean used his hydro powers to form a shield to block the attack. It did its job as Wrath bounced off of it in a heap thanks to the recoil. Kid Flash acted fast and started sprinting in a circle around Wrath so fast that a cyclone was forming. Soon Wrath found that it was getting harder and harder to breath.

'They're trying to cut off my oxygen. Nice try, but it won't work. Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!' Wrath shot a fireball at Wally to try and halt his running pattern, but it had no affect on the speedster. Aqualad was protecting his friend by using his hyrdokinesis to shield Kid Flash from the flames so that he could keep running. Thinking fast, Wrath leapt high into the air to try to escape the cyclone. But that didn't work either because waiting for him towards the top of the cyclone were proximity batarangs that Robin threw in. They were set to go off the instant someone got too close to them and sent Wrath right back to the ground. The trio's combination was executed successfully and unless he acted quickly, Wrath would finally be subdued…or so they thought.

'Playtime is over. Susanoo!' Wrath conjured his Susanoo in its humanoid, half-body state to neutralize the attack. The beast roared ferociously and blew Wally away. When the cyclone subsided, all of the explosive batarangs inside of it fell right on top of Wrath's Susanoo and bombarded it with explosions. Robin used that distraction as an opportunity to grapple Wally to safety. As the acrobat zipped upwards the cold dark eyes of Wrath's Susanoo followed him. It then swatted him into a wall like he was a fly and completely rendered him unconscious thanks to the broken ribs he suffered coupled with the impact of the blow.

The Uchiha quickly turned his attention towards Aqualad. The leader of the Team soon found himself on the wrong end of a hammerfist by Wrath's Susanoo. He had to act quickly and form another hydroshield to protect himself. The result of the clash saw Aqualad pushed several feet into the ground as his shield barely hung on. Wrath raised a brow at this.

"That's an impressive shield you have there. Let's see how it does against my Katamarimasu." Wrath then hardened his Susanoo's hand and delivered a now armored hammerfist to Kaldur. This time, the shield did not hold up and Kaldur was pummeled into the ground. If it wasn't for Kaldur's Atlantean anatomy, he would have been killed from the attack.

"And then there were three." Wrath turned his attention towards Kid Flash as the speedster seemed to be talking to himself. Wrath just chucked that up to the pressure getting to him and decided to put the hero out of his misery. His Susanoo started to reach for Wally as the speedster charge right back at him. Just before his Susanoo could get to him, Kid Flash leapt as high as he could into the air.

"Do it now!" Wally shouted. Wrath looked at him in confusion. Then out of nowhere, Wrath found himself taking a pointblank, full-powered punch from Superboy who emerged from right under him. The attack was so strong that it sent Wrath out of his Susanoo and into the open air with Wally. Wrath had realized that he had been had.

'Damn it! That was what the cyclone was for. It was never to attack me. It was to block my field of vision on Superboy and keep my focus on just the other three. I got careless.' Superboy smirked as the plan went off without a hitch and now there was only one part left to do, "M'gann, hit him now!"

Wrath looked on as Miss Martian rose up from the ground and shot a psychic blast at her target. Wrath knew that if the attack hit him he would be done for, and he refused to let that happen.

"You're done for Wrath!" Miss Martian shouted as she fired her shot.

"This is not the end of me!" Wrath declared. Wally laughed at the clone, "You're done for, freak! This is for our friend!"

Wally waited for Wrath to be blasted out of the air, but to his and Superboy's surprise, it was Wally who got hit with the psychic blast. Wally was sent hurdling to the ground screaming before being rendered unconscious. Miss Martian jumped up in celebration from thinking that she had finally taken out Wrath.

"We did it! We won! Conner, it's finally over. We did it!" M'gann shouted. Conner's face became distressed when Wrath landed behind his girlfriend looking like a demon thanks to his Mangekyo Sharingan, "Oh, you did it alright."

"M'gann, behind you!" It was too late for her because Wrath delivered a Katamarimasu armored punch to her that knocked her out cold. Conner shouted in rage as he charged at Wrath, "You'll pay for that!"

"No, you will." Wrath's Susanoo started moving again just as Conner started running and crushed the Kryptonian right before he could reach the Uchiha. Wrath smiled at the broken heap Conner was in, "You all never stood a chance. I figured that you would try to attack me with a multilayered attack so I set a trap of my own. Back when your teammates first charged at me, I threw a spear at them. My target was never them though, it was always the Martian."

Conner had an idea of where Wrath was going with this, "Don't tell me-"

"That's correct. That spear was just a tactic I used to get the Martian to look into my eyes so I could place her under a genjutsu. The whole time we were fighting, she thought that Kid Flash was me and I was him. I made sure to start it right when she first went underground so that she wouldn't even notice it. Now Kid Flash over there will have a pretty bad headache when he wakes up. I have to admit that it was a good combination. I could feel Itachi's influence all over it. But like Itachi, it came crashing down. Now all I have to do is take you out and then I can do what I originally intended on and take out those superpowered psychopaths in Arkham. Thanks for the warm up though. I'm definitely in more of a mood to kill the Justice League because of it." Wrath stoically said as he conjured his Shinigami Scythe so that he could deliver the knockout blow.

"When I'm done killing all of them, I'll be back. Then we can have a long talk about what your roles will be in my new world. And trust me when I say that I have big plans for all of you." Wrath said before attacking.

Conner put a shield on at the last moment and used his heat vision to halt Wrath's attack. He then flew at the clone tackled him into a wall. Conner didn't let up after that and drug him across for several feet before throwing the Uchiha back to the ground. Wrath struggled to move as Superboy started flying down towards him, but was eventually able to back flip away just before Conner could crush him.

Wrath thought fast and had his Susanoo attack Superboy. Thanks to his ability to control Hedoro, he was able to make his Susanoo move without being near it. Superboy turned and saw the behemoth heading his way.

"I've had enough of that ugly monster." Superboy used his heat vision to melt the Susanoo's head off. It roared in pain as Superboy increase the power output and completely incinerated it. He smiled at his handiwork, "Good riddance."

"Behind you," Wrath had encased both of his arms in Katamarimasu and clotheslined Superboy in the chest. The attack took the wind out of Conner. Before Conner could recover, Wrath hit him with a pointblank Fireball Jutsu to keep him on his knees. When the attack subsided, Wrath conjured another scythe to try and cut down Conner with. Superboy felt himself getting angrier and angrier to the point where he pushed past the pain and exhaustion to explode faster than Wrath could react and grab the Uchiha by the throat.

Wrath could feel his throat slowly being crushed by the brute strength of Superboy. Conner's eyes began to exude smoking as they lit up into a dark red color just like his heat vision. Wrath knew that he'd have holes in his head if he didn't do something quickly.

"The reports say that you can heal from almost any wound. I wonder if you're brain can heal from being reduced to smoldering hot liquid." Superboy threatened as he got ready to unleash his rage.

Wrath had no idea how Conner could do any of this since all of the reports on him said that he couldn't use any of Superman's most dangerous powers. He felt his vision begin to fade and knew now was the time to act, 'If you want a real fight, I'll give you one!'

Wrath resorted to using the same tactic he used in order to defeat Itachi; a surprise attack from below. Conner felt the ground underneath him rumble and flew upwards to avoid it. The ground cracked open as a giant black hand emerged to try and grab Superboy. Wrath leapt up to attack Superboy from behind, but the Kryptonian countered by quickly turning in the air to catch the attack. He twirled Wrath several times before throwing him towards the ceiling.

"Game over!" Wrath said as he landed on the ceiling and used his chakra control to rebound like a speeding missile towards Superboy. Conner would have done the same thing if it weren't for the fact that he had been impaled from behind. Conner looked to see an armored blade emerge from the Susanoo hand in the ground. It pierced him near his sternum and had Conner pinned down on it. Conner coughed up blood as the large blade dug deeper into his body. Wrath made things worse when he landed a double drop kick on Conner that pushed him further down on the blade. Wrath landed on the ground and saw the patch Conner put on before he suddenly got twice as powerful. He removed the patch and dissolved his Susanoo so that Conner landed with a painful thud on the ground.

"You're done. Stay down. I made sure to avoid all of your major organs, but I can make the pain go up a lot higher if need be." Wrath warned. Every member of the Team was defeated. They had failed. But there was still a chance. James was hidden during the entire fight and saw them all go down. So he made his final contribution to try and stop the monster he created. He got on his radio and called for Artemis and Zatanna.

"Artemis…Zatanna, this is James. Wrath beat them. You're our last hope. Bring Itachi back now." James whispered in desperation.

"Copy that. Just try to hang on a little while longer." Artemis responded.

James was about to respond until a Hedoro spear pierced the wall behind him. It made a small cut on his cheek because of how close it was to his face. It didn't just reveal how much of a close call he just had. It revealed something even more deadly; Wrath knew he was there and it was only a matter of time before he was face to face with the monster again.

"James, I know you're there. Why don't you join in on all of the fun? I insist." James hoped for the life of him that Artemis and Zatanna moved fast because he wanted no parts of Wrath and after what happened the last time they were in a room together.

'Please, hurry.' James thought as he felt his heartbeat get faster from fear.

Itachi stood in the middle of a circle with the version of himself from throughout his entire life. They stood there while waiting for Itachi to answer the question posed to him; which of them were the real Itachi. He thought long and hard on that question. Every time he thought he had a resolute answer, a new aspect would show itself and make Itachi rethink his position again. In the end, Itachi had to be honest with himself for the first time in a very long time.

"I…I think I figured out the answer. I have spent my entire life being whatever others needed me to be. Even if I thought it was just a mask for me to myself. So to meet all of you…all of me…and decide which of you is the real me is impossible. There is no one side to Itachi Uchiha. He can be whatever the world needs him to be and you all represent that." Itachi started as he went through each and every one of them.

"My youngest side represents the loss of my innocence. I stopped being a child and became Itachi of the Hidden Leaf Village that day. My eight year old self represents my pain. I learned what death felt like. The rogue Itachi represents my resolve to do what is necessary. I casted away my selfish desires and did what I thought was best for my village. Even if it meant killing my clan. I can walk in that darkness for the sake of my home. My time in the Akatsuki represents the lies I told. I was lost to the darkness. My future was already decided and all I could do was wait for the inevitable. The Itachi that I was before my brother killed me was someone who was relieved that my hell had ended. I could finally see the light again. I knew that my brother could take care of himself and was finally strong. But I still worried about him and so I kept trying to manipulate him even in death. In the end, I was wrong. The reincarnated Itachi represented my last chance. I could finally tell my truth and tell my brother what mattered most; that I love him and nothing he could do would ever change that. He needed to hear that from me. The Crow represents the hero I always wanted to be. I've always hated killing but I had to do it because a world as dark as mine only responds to more darkness. But as the Crow, I didn't have to kill anymore. The mask could fight the darkness not only in the world, but in myself as well. Even Wrath is a part of me. At first, I thought he was the rage I kept hidden in my heart my entire life. He was the ugliest part of myself and everything I resented about me. But now I know what he really is. He is the hurt I felt from willingly walking through hell for my entire life. He is what life without love looks like. He is me and I am him. You are all a side of me that at one point or another I had to become in my journey in life. In being the Crow, in trying to lock away my past I had almost forgotten that. I'll never do that again to you all. You shouldn't be punished because I'm ashamed of how my life turned out. I won't let you disappear. It's time we all healed." Itachi said to the circle.

Everyone, including Wrath, smiled at Itachi. The youngest version of him ran up to him in excitement, "You answered correctly."

A final version of Itachi appeared in the circle. It was an adult version of him that had two children in his arms and a woman that looked eerily similar to Izumi next to him. Itachi had no idea what that represented since he never once looked like that. He looked happy.

"Who is that? And what are they doing here?" Itachi asked. The child Itachi shed a tear, "That's everything you're giving up by choosing to walk back into hell. A wife, a family, and peace. You give all of that up if you choose to take on this responsibility."

Itachi saw the alternate version of himself hug adult Izumi and cradle their children and almost caved in, but Itachi knew what he had to do. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and did what the world needed him to do, "Amaterasu."

Itachi unleashed his black flame upon them and burned them all alive. Not even the children were spared from Itachi's ire. There was no look of pain or anguish like how he had when he killed his parents. Nor was there a look of regret like when he knew that he broke his brother's heart. Itachi only felt the resolve to keep moving forward into hell.

They all then removed their right eyes and each handed them to Itachi. Once the last one was in his hand, they fused together in a bright light that Itachi put into his right eye. When the light dimmed, all of the other Itachi's were gone and Nagato had finally returned with Superman in tow. The man of steel couldn't believe his eyes.

"Itachi, you're alive?!" Itachi nodded at him as Nagato smiled in content, "Yes, and it seems that you've finally healed from all of your wounds and found your true self. And you seem to have a new eye."

Superman noticed what Nagato said and saw that Itachi's right eye indeed was different from what he remembered it being. It was now purple with thin black circles. There were three tomoe on each of its two innermost circles. In short, Itachi had unlocked the Rinnegan.

"You now have the Rinnegan, Itachi. With it, you can finally be the hero that the Sage of Six Paths always envisioned you being." Itachi nodded with a look of determination as the air about him changed. He had one singular goal that he wanted to accomplish.

"Great, but we still need to get out of here somehow. Wrath and the Masked Stranger are still out there to unleash their rage onto the world. What do we do now?" Superman asked.

"Wrath was never the rage of the Uchiha…I am. Now, it's time for me to wake up and end this nightmare for good." Itachi declared.

Superman felt chills go down his spine from the sheer will that Itachi was exuding. Just as Itachi finished his sentence a vortex similar to earlier appeared in the sky. Only this time, two people were freefalling through the portal. Itachi could point them out from a mile away.

"Artemis and Carson. It's time for us to go." Itachi wasted no time as he sped towards the girls. It caught Superman by surprise as the hero flew after him.

"It's him! And Superman too! Zatanna, we found them!" Artemis shouted.

"Itachi! Please come with us!" Carson begged. She got her wish as both Itachi and Superman flew right towards them. Itachi had to admit that it felt good to hear their voices again and Clark was glad to finally be going home after having seen his home planet be blown up several times thanks to this genjutsu world. Superman took hold of Artemis while Itachi grabbed on to Carson as the four of them flew to the portal that was slowly closing.

"I don't know if we can make it!" Artemis shouted. Itachi refused to be stopped now. He pushed even further. And by the skin of their teeth, all four of them made it through. The portal closed and Superman, Artemis, and Carson all fell down in exhaustion. They were only in that world for a few seconds and felt like they were about to break. They could only imagine what Superman and Itachi felt from being there for practically a whole month.

Zatanna was breathing heavy from exhaustion, but was also filled with joy. The Earth had two of its greatest heroes back. Artemis wasted no time in popping back up to scold Itachi, but stopped halfway there when she felt how cold the air was around him. It felt like Hell had frozen over.

Itachi turned towards her and gave her scariest look she had ever seen. She wasn't the only one scared. Zatanna and Carson both felt it too. Superman was the only one immune to the dark vibe the others got. The girls all felt like they could barely breath and subconsciously they all began to tremble. Itachi slowly turned toward them and had only three words for them. It was just the way he said them that revealed to girls that the Itachi they brought back is not the Itachi that they first lost. Especially with the now purple right eye he now was sporting.

"Where…is…Wrath?"

Finally! This chapter is done! Yeah, it took an extremely long while to complete and for that I apologize. I just struggled to map out how I wanted Itachi's journey of discovery to go and the fight choreography for the chapter. I hope you all like it. I also hope giving Itachi the Rinnegan doesn't bother too many people, but for the overarching story, it will factor into how the final act plays out so I had to give it to him eventually. Hopefully, you all think the way he got it is satisfactory. But next chapter, man oh man it's gonna be good. I'm not going to spoil anything for you all, but Wrath has something coming his way that I'm pretty sure he wants no part of. If you want a hint, think Gohan's Awakening against Cell in DBZ. Thanks again for all of the love and support the last chapter got. I read all of the reviews and PMs and try to respond to them all so I appreciate every bit of feedback I get; both positive and negative. You are all amazing. It only makes me a better writer which is good for everyone. Don't forget to favorite, follow, review, or PM if you haven't already. I'm pretty open towards everything so don't be shy. Hopefully, this next chapter comes out faster than this one did, lol. Till next time guys and gals!

PS, Happy Holidays to everyone! And I saw Aquaman and boy did I love that movie. Is it perfect, no. Is it a little long, yes. But it is a darn good movie and a pretty good time. It is my second favorite DCEU franchise film even above Wonder Woman. I had to rewatch Man of Steel just to remind myself how great that film is to me. That's how much I enjoyed Aquaman. Good job DC, now when I finally go to film school to become a director make sure you hook me up with a good comic book character to make a great movie out of, lol. Till next time everyone!