Chapter 134: A Belated Arrival
If one were to exclude the so-called "Children of Destiny"—Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha—then among the still-living shinobi, there were only a handful across the entire ninja world who could rival Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi in raw talent. The number of those who could even be compared could be counted on one hand.
Kakashi's talent was beyond question. Though handicapped by Uchiha Obito's Sharingan, whether that turned out to be a blessing or curse remained debatable. But the fact that he had reached such heights of power despite a low chakra reserve was entirely due to his talent and relentless effort.
As for Uchiha Itachi—he was on another level altogether. Born into privilege, gifted with outstanding talent, nurtured by elite training, unwavering in effort, and possessing an iron will—these traits had forged him into a prodigy. A regular ninja might rise to greatness by having just one of those traits. Itachi had them all.
Before the massacre of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi had far more "destiny child" qualities than even Naruto or Sasuke. Burdened with the hope of restoring his clan, he did not disappoint. Even at a young age, his strength had become terrifying, earning the admiration of even then-ANBU Captain Kakashi.
Now, years later, bolstered by the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Itachi had become nearly without weakness. Especially his genjutsu—it was practically impossible to defend against. Only the deceased Shisui Uchiha could be said to have surpassed him in this art.
In this clash between Itachi and Kakashi, the former clearly had the upper hand. Until Kakashi fully mastered Obito's Sharingan, his path to the next level of strength was still riddled with obstacles.
The way the fight unfolded was as expected. With his limited chakra and the constant drain of maintaining the Sharingan, Kakashi simply couldn't afford to go blow-for-blow with Itachi using high-level ninjutsu. It was a losing game.
Seeing his Water Dragon Bullet effortlessly countered, Kakashi understood that Itachi's strength wasn't just in the Sharingan—his talent and dedication had made him who he was. Forced into a corner, Kakashi pulled out a kunai and swiftly closed the distance, initiating a close-range taijutsu exchange—the most fundamental form of combat for shinobi.
This form of battle, which tested a ninja's all-around ability, was where Kakashi held the advantage. Both were geniuses, but Kakashi, tempered by the baptism of the previous Great Ninja War, had deeper battlefield experience. And with both of them wielding Sharingan, Itachi's strongest suit—genjutsu—was somewhat neutralized. Despite Itachi's mature and weary expression, he was only seventeen—a newly minted adult. In a battle of stamina and endurance, he was actually at a disadvantage.
From the start, Itachi had been trying to end the fight swiftly with Tsukuyomi, yet had repeatedly failed to land it.
Tsukuyomi, a unique Mangekyō Sharingan ability, didn't deal physical damage directly, but inflicted devastating mental trauma. However, it came with strict requirements: the user had to maintain eye contact at close range to draw the target into their personal illusion world, where they could freely torment the victim's psyche.
Has Tsukuyomi's weakness been exposed?
Itachi grew anxious under Kakashi's relentless assault, constantly failing to find an opportunity to make eye contact.
Meanwhile, Kakashi sensed a subtle shift in Itachi's demeanor.
Looks like Mizuki was right—there's more to Itachi's eyes than meets the eye. Depending solely on Sharingan to counter Sharingan was indeed naïve…
Initially, Kakashi had only taken Mizuki's warning as cautious advice, but his tactic of avoiding direct eye contact was proving unexpectedly effective.
Just as the two were locked in fierce combat, a dense mist began to rise from the lake, slowly creeping outward until it enveloped everyone present.
"Hidden Mist Technique? Who cast that?"
…
Moments earlier, when Kisame was caught off guard and knocked into the lake, his duel with Guy had quickly escalated. Unlike Kakashi, Guy was actually quite effective against someone like Kisame.
With his overwhelming speed, devastating taijutsu, and abundant battle experience, Guy was the worst matchup for Kisame—a shinobi who relied more on ninjutsu and sheer power. That wasn't to say Kisame was lacking in taijutsu or speed—by normal standards, he was elite—but against someone like Guy, who had honed his body to its peak, the gap was glaring.
After being slammed underwater, Kisame immediately recognized the type of opponent he was facing—one of the rare kinds he found troublesome: fast, powerful, and relentless. His usual tactics were near useless. Thus, the only path to victory was leveraging his strengths.
"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!"
Kisame knew that if he let Guy dictate the tempo, his large-scale ninjutsu would never land. Worse, even a single opening could let Guy capitalize with terrifying efficiency. The Water Prison served as both a trap and a defensive shell, buying Kisame precious time.
Within the safety of the water sphere, Kisame took a breath and began casting large-scale jutsu, relying on his monstrous chakra reserves to turn the tide.
Exploit my strengths. That's the only way to win… Now then, bizarrely-dressed strong guy, how will you deal with this?
Having lost momentum, Guy found himself staring at the massive water sphere, frustrated. He wanted to press the advantage, but Kisame had gone fully on the defensive and was lobbing powerful water-based jutsu from within his shell.
"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"
A massive shark-shaped blast of water soared into the sky, charging at Guy with deadly intent. Before he could fully dodge, Kisame had already created a swarm of water clones across the surface of the lake.
And then, Kisame made his next move.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu."
A thick fog began to billow out from Kisame's position, quickly spreading.
This isn't good. Kakashi's still managing on his end, but I've got no real counters for Kisame right now…
Even though he had fought Akatsuki members before, Guy still felt pressure. Kisame's colossal chakra and jutsu power were terrifying. If this weren't home turf, Guy might've considered retreat.
Suddenly—
"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb!"
Another aquatic beast charged at Guy.
Then came Kisame's mist and clones—a deadly combo.
Back on the sidelines, Mizuki's pseudo-jinchūriki observed it all and frowned.
This is becoming problematic. Kakashi's doing okay, but Guy clearly doesn't have the upper hand.
And what about Jiraiya?
Mizuki had been counting on the Toad Sage to crush Itachi and Kisame like last time. After all, Jiraiya had received detailed intel from both Kakashi and Mizuki.
So why hasn't he shown up yet?
The delay was puzzling, but the battlefield was reaching a critical moment. Mizuki's clone—already exposed—wasn't worth much anymore. Though its loss would sting, it was time to act.
With a thought, chakra surged through the battlefield.
A hidden array Mizuki had prepared in advance came to life, activating a powerful genjutsu barrier that flooded the area with an even denser mist than Kisame's.
You're not the only one who can play the mist game. Let's turn this into a hide-and-seek match…
As the second wave of fog spread, it enveloped both battlefields.
"Be careful, Itachi," Kisame warned. "That second mist wasn't mine…"
Despite his savage nature, Kisame got along well with Itachi—perhaps due to their shared experience of killing comrades. They were one of Akatsuki's most harmonious pairs.
"I know. This isn't a simple mist—it's a genjutsu-infused barrier. If necessary, we'll retreat."
"I get it. But I'd hate to leave before settling the score with that green freak…"
Still sore over getting manhandled by Guy, Kisame drew his sword with a grin.
"Samehada: Flying Chain Slash!"
His already massive sword began to transform, elongating and twisting into a chain-like whip nearly ten meters long. With his water clones in support, Kisame began his counterattack.
This technique fully exploited Kisame's overwhelming chakra and Samehada's devastating power. At this point, if Guy didn't open the Eight Gates, he was clearly outmatched.
…
Meanwhile, while Kakashi and Guy clashed with Itachi and Kisame respectively, Jiraiya had not gone drinking and slacking as Mizuki feared. He had been ambushed.
Staring down two figures cloaked in Akatsuki robes, Jiraiya's face turned grim.
"Who are you?" he demanded, eyes narrowing in irritation. "Just missed the fight by a step, and now you two want to get in my way? Naruto's basically unguarded right now. If another Akatsuki member slips in…"
He could only hope Danzo would be decent enough to protect the boy.
"Jiraiya of the Sannin, we mean you no harm. But due to certain reasons, we must ask you to remain here… for a while."
Hearing that, Jiraiya dropped all pretense.
These two were clearly Akatsuki. Whatever they had to say was irrelevant.
He bit his thumb and slapped it to the ground.
Summoning Jutsu!
With a puff of smoke, a massive toad appeared in Konoha.
Up on the hospital rooftop, Mizuki's main body was monitoring the situation—only to be startled by the sudden surge of chakra.
What the hell?! That's a full summoning? And not from Kakashi's side?
This is bad… more enemies must have infiltrated the village.
If even Jiraiya had to summon a giant toad to deal with them, it meant the threat level was sky-high. And the fact that neither Mizuki nor the rest of Konoha sensed anything until now meant these intruders were on a completely different level.
Looks like I was wrong—before Yagura's death, Akatsuki won't stop for anything…
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