[ Itachi doesn't seem much put out by the loss of his eye. That, with the lack of surprise or confusion, answers Sasuke's question well enough. ]

After about a month you'll start to change. There's really no way to guess into what, or how fast. The Fog God is fickle, or this place is, or both. [ Even if he numbers among Her followers now, he's not completely blind to Her insanities and faults. ]

When you were here last, [ he says, measuring words slowly, trying and perhaps not succeeding in indicating his certainty that Itachi is Itachi without being accusatory about the differences, ] you were already a shade before I arrived. Two winters ago, a demon or demigod in the lone mountain lured half the continent into a trap there and crushed its captors until their bodies and monster presentations warped and changed. You became a manticore, briefly. I was a naga. Others have been changed by other means.