The One Who Knows the Truth (volume)

Synopsis
To bring the battle to a swift end Sasuke conjures up a bolt of lightning to strike Itachi down. Itachi survives the attack, though, after removing Orochimaru from Sasuke's body and saying goodbye to his little brother, he dies from exhaustion. Tobi collects Sasuke to attend to his injuries and Naruto, having lost Sasuke's trail, is forced to return home. Once Sasuke regains consciousness Tobi tells him of the Uchiha's history: that after he, Madara Uchiha, helped to found Konoha, a mistrust between Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha was created. When years later the Uchiha began planning to overthrow this leadership, Itachi was ordered by Konoha to eliminate his own clan to prevent the Uchiha's rebellion. While Itachi did as instructed, he chose to spare Sasuke and lived as a criminal so that he could someday die by Sasuke's hands, effectively avenging the Uchiha. Realizing that Itachi was as much of a victim as he was, Sasuke heads out to destroy Konoha.