So fast!
Itachi used the recoil to flip backward, his fingers trembling slightly.
That slash wasn't just powerful—it carried a strange deflecting force that twisted his weapon off course. Just now, he had almost been hit.
No.
Not almost.
The other party had held back.
This junior—several years younger than him—had already surpassed him in taijutsu alone, and that was before revealing any other methods.
But one question lingered.
How did he know I'm an undercover agent?
Forget it.
Now wasn't the time to think about that.
Itachi's gaze sharpened.
The opponent's presence was concealed to an absurd degree. Trying to lock onto his aura and predict his position was nearly impossible. Even the Sharingan could only catch afterimages, and the surrounding forest provided too much cover.
This battlefield was bad.
He had to change locations.
Uchiha Itachi flashed toward the river. By the time Yagyū Souma caught up, twin pillars of water erupted from the river's surface.
Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!
Once they were in the river, it became a ninjutsu battlefield.
Souma decisively abandoned his aura-concealment technique. Instead, he switched to a chakra barrier that absorbed natural energy—
—and then—
Limit state. Sage Mode. Monster Strength Technique.
Chakra exploded from his body, whipping up violent currents of energy. Souma threw a punch from a distance.
Boom!
Water exploded sky-high. Waves surged violently.
Uchiha Itachi's body dissolved into liquid.
Beneath the water, Itachi rapidly analyzed what had just happened.
No wonder he couldn't sense it.
Souma's chakra had undergone a qualitative transformation in an instant—then was immediately suppressed and erased. If one wasn't observing from the shadows, the change would be impossible to detect.
What kind of power was that?
And more terrifying—
He could perfectly control such violent chakra.
That level of chakra control was absurd.
How was that even trained?
Itachi felt a surreal sense of disbelief.
At that moment, he finally understood the confusion his classmates must have felt back in the academy.
Even so, the fight wasn't over.
"In this mode, Souma's taijutsu is massively enhanced. Close combat is suicide. Ninjutsu and genjutsu are my best options."
A massive fireball burst out from the water, scorching the river until it boiled.
But the next instant—
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of footsteps on water.
Itachi spun and blocked with a kunai.
However—
The strange deflecting force was even stronger than before. His kunai was forcibly redirected, and in the next moment, overwhelming power surged through the blade.
Boom!
Chakra detonated, spiraling violently.
A sharp pain exploded in Itachi's abdomen.
He'd been hit.
It felt similar to Hyūga tenketsu strikes—his chakra pathways had been disrupted.
Just how many secret techniques does this guy know?
But—
The opening he needed had finally arrived.
Itachi's fingers twitched, releasing a genjutsu.
And yet—
"Itachi-senpai, your methods are very subtle—but many things can still be analyzed. Please don't transmit information so blatantly."
"…!"
The genjutsu didn't take?
Itachi frowned and quickly formed seals, replacing himself with a water clone.
But what Souma said wasn't wrong.
He was already under suspicion. If he transmitted information too openly, it would only invite trouble.
As he thought, his hands flew through seals at extreme speed.
Then—
A terrifying blade of chakra tore through the river, splitting the surface apart and striking "Itachi" again.
The body shattered into water.
The violent waves forced the real Itachi to surface.
If Might Guy's Eight Gates represented the extreme of physical speed, then Itachi's hand seals had reached another kind of extreme.
To be faster than him, one would need no seals at all.
Even the eyes couldn't capture the exact timing of his techniques.
Souma couldn't either.
But—
He had special perception.
"Do you need help, Itachi-san?"
Kisame was struggling two-on-one, restrained only because he hadn't gone all out. If he unleashed large-scale ninjutsu, he was confident Asuma and Kurenai wouldn't stop him.
Besides—
Itachi's opponent didn't seem particularly strong in ninjutsu. Switching targets might be easier.
Itachi's eyes narrowed.
"No need. I'll end this immediately."
Through the crashing waves, his gaze "accidentally" met Souma's.
The next second, his pupils spun violently, tomoe merging—
Mangekyō Sharingan.
Tsukuyomi.
In an instant—
Souma's vision shifted from the river to an empty, illusory world.
He was bound to a cross.
Yet the hand gripping his blade could still move freely.
Itachi narrowed his eyes.
The illusion hadn't fully taken hold?
He has genjutsu countermeasures?
This was the first time Itachi had encountered such a situation.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
What mattered was the exchange of information.
"This space allows me to stretch time at will," Itachi said calmly. "We have plenty of time. What do you know?"
"Danzō was killed by me," Souma replied. "Before he died, he gave me a special illusion-type dōjutsu…"
He explained everything from the beginning.
Itachi frowned.
Danzō… dead?
That genuinely surprised him.
And the Third Hokage had handed Root to a teenager?
Did Souma really have that much authority?
After a long silence, Itachi asked,
"How did you know I'm an undercover agent? Is there information in Root?"
"No," Souma said simply. "I just felt the Uchiha clan's destruction was too abnormal. Before that, you were firmly on the Hokage faction's side. I guessed there was more beneath the surface."
In short—
Analyze existing data.
Then test it in person.
Itachi was silent for several seconds.
He didn't dwell on his exposure. If Souma controlled Root, it meant he was deeply trusted by the Third Hokage—unlikely to betray him.
After a pause, Itachi asked quietly,
"How is Sasuke?"
"I originally planned to send him to Orochimaru for training," Souma sighed helplessly. "But unfortunately, Orochimaru was killed by the Second Hokage. So I'll have to teach him myself."
He paused, then casually touched the cross beside him.
"Could you let me down first?"
"..."
After a moment's hesitation, Itachi dissolved the cross.
"Next, I'll arrange for Sasuke to enter the Anbu training unit. He'll undergo a round of training before officially taking missions."
"…You know about the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"I've heard of it. Madara once possessed that power."
Souma looked thoughtful.
"So Danzō's special illusion eye really was a Mangekyō?"
"Yes. It belonged to my closest friend—Shisui."
"Shisui the Body Flicker… what a waste," Souma sighed.
"That's why I say—Danzō dying was his greatest contribution to Konoha."
"…Thank you."
After another silence, Itachi continued.
"Let's talk about Akatsuki. Our organization's goal is to collect the tailed beasts. The members I know include…"
He listed them one by one.
After finishing, Itachi looked at Souma.
"Do you need me to repeat it?"
"No," Souma shook his head. "Four or five people is easy to remember in one go."
Itachi fell silent again.
"…That's all I know. I only know their codenames. There's not much more intelligence."
"That's more than enough," Souma said calmly.
"I'll use it carefully. I won't put you at risk. But honestly—compared to intelligence, living longer is what matters most for you."
"..."
Itachi narrowed his eyes.
No one should know about his illness.
"Your mental state is extremely unstable," Souma continued.
"You likely have neurological issues. Genjutsu and ocular power directly strain the brain and精神力. Excessive use leads to unpredictable consequences."
Regardless of who Itachi was—
The burden he carried was immense. Combined with constant Mangekyō usage, a bloodline-related illness was almost inevitable.
This was Souma's personal inference.
Itachi was silent.
This kid… even understands medical theory?
"If there's nothing else, let's end it here," Souma said.
"Before you leave, though—"
"If you're planning to stab me with a genjutsu, I won't cooperate. You'd better dispel it yourself."
Souma had no interest in self-torture.
Kakashi might have gained mental strength from trauma, but that also meant days in bed.
Not worth it.
Itachi was quiet.
To be honest, he had great confidence in Tsukuyomi—but the earlier restraints hadn't fully worked.
Perhaps Souma truly had countermeasures.
"Make it convincing."
"Relax," Souma smiled. "You can trust my acting."
The illusion shattered.
Itachi clutched his eye as blood seeped through his fingers.
The strain of casting Tsukuyomi on Souma had exceeded expectations.
As for Souma—
His face was deathly pale. Veins bulged on his forehead, cold sweat pouring down, as if he'd truly been devastated by the illusion.
Perfect.
Itachi flashed back to the shore.
"Withdraw."
"Killing him now would be safer," Kisame muttered, frowning.
"That kid's only fourteen or fifteen, and he's already this strong."
Given time, he could become a major threat.
"No," Itachi said, covering his eye.
"His mental strength is too high. My genjutsu didn't fully work."
"…Then I'll try with ninjutsu."
"You won't leave!"
Kurenai gasped for breath.
They had pressured Kisame, but Samehada's chakra absorption was rapidly draining them.
Asuma narrowed his eyes.
In this situation—
He had no choice.
He was about to activate Sage Mode—
When suddenly—
The river exploded upward, forming a colossal wave that swallowed everything.
Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave!
Immediately after, Kisame slammed his palm into the water.
Four sharks burst out, charging straight at the submerged Souma.
Asuma entered Sage Mode.
He flashed in front of Kisame, his chakra blades slashing like an eagle's wings.
Samehada blocked, absorbing one chakra blade—
But the next instant, Kisame felt his body spiral out of control.
And—
Asuma's second blade swept across.
A long gash tore open Kisame's abdomen.
"Retreat!"
Itachi had already noticed the strange chakra erupting from Asuma. He knew Kisame would suffer—but sometimes, lessons had to be learned the hard way.
Before Asuma could strike again, Itachi released a weaker genjutsu and pulled Kisame away in a flash.
Asuma wasn't affected.
But—
The river—
"Asuma!"
"Coming!"
He turned to see sharks thrashing violently in the water.
Kurenai had no way to stop them—she lacked elemental ninjutsu beyond genjutsu and chakra scalpels.
Asuma flashed over, full-body protection activated, unleashing invisible chakra fists.
Boom! Boom!
Under senjutsu chakra, the sharks' chakra rapidly dispersed.
After dispersing part of the attack, Asuma used Fire Release to block the rest.
"Where's Souma?"
"I don't know, just now I—"
"It's fine. He's unconscious. I'll take him to the hospital."
A familiar voice sounded.
Asuma let out a breath of relief.
"Kakashi, you're late. If you'd come earlier, we might've kept them."
"Sorry. My side was just as critical."
Kakashi sighed regretfully.
Failing to capture them was unfortunate—but what puzzled him was that Souma didn't seem seriously injured at all.
Something was off.
But since Souma didn't explain, it meant this was classified.
Kakashi lifted Souma, exchanged a glance with Asuma and Kurenai, and vanished.
Only at Konoha Hospital did Souma slowly "wake up."
"I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei."
"..."
Kakashi blinked, then said nothing—choosing to pretend he hadn't noticed anything.
He simply nodded.
"What happened? How did you end up injured like that?"
"I was hit by Uchiha Itachi's special genjutsu," Souma replied calmly.
Then he looked at Kakashi.
"Sensei… do you know about the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
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