I don't understand why there are those of you who find the latest events hard to believe and say Sasuke's character has been made pointless. Don't get me wrong I respect your opinion I just don't see your point of view.
The very thing that made Sasuke dive into darkness in the first place was Itachi. It wasn't Hashirama that took him out of the darkness, it was Sasuke finally understanding that in the end his brother died leaving behind the protection of the village as his legacy, the same legacy that the village was founded on in the first place. If you ask me, Sasuke's character was pointless BEFORE this chapter, because it never made sense for him to want to continue to destroy the leaf after knowing his brother fought so hard just to keep it safe. Sure he was angry that his brother was used like that, but it was Itachi's choice, and one he wanted to make. You can't destroy the village in your brother's name when your brother wanted nothing more than for the village to be protected.
Also, this wasn't some sudden change after hearing a story from Hashirama. This change in Sasuke's persona has been going on ever since he fought with Edo Itachi and spoke with him. Knowing that his brother inherited the will of the first Hokage, the same will that the other Hokage as well as some notable Uchiha inherited simply helped him see his brother's point of view. In the end, if it was Itachi that brought him out of darkness. It's only fitting that the understanding of Itachi's will would make him turn good since the lack of understanding of his brother made him turn evil.
As far as the pages you posted and the point you made about Naruto being the one to set Sasuke free, I do understand where you are coming from with that to an extent. These recent events make it highly unlikely that Sasuke will end up fighting Naruto now (although there are still some holding on to that battle by a thread) and really has changed everything we thought we knew of the ending. But at the same time it just goes to show you that Kishi is far from predictable and you never know what he might do. He changes what we know on a whim at times.
I think Sasuke's change is permanent. It obviously has changed the course of the story, and if you were stuck on the old path of the storyline this may be hard for you to accept. But if you really stop and think about it, for the first time in awhile Sasuke finally did something that made sense when it came to his brother
