"Hey… you two seem awfully close. Are you on a date? Sakura and Hinata would be heartbroken if they saw this."
As Izayoi and Uchiha Sasuke shopped for ingredients and kitchenware, heading toward the next store, a teasing voice grated on their ears.
Following the sound, Sasuke's face darkened with irritation.
Izayoi, however, raised a hand in greeting. "Morning, Kakashi-sensei."
"Kakashi, what are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded, approaching.
"Waiting for someone."
Hatake Kakashi leaned against a pole, holding Make-Out Paradise, but his right eye subtly glanced at the dango shop nearby.
Through the curtain, two figures could be seen sipping tea and eating dango.
They wore black cloaks embroidered with red clouds, brazenly flaunting their presence.
After all, ninja from the Konoha Crush and those active in the black market were all too familiar with that uniform.
Noticing Kakashi's gaze, Sasuke started to look over.
At that moment, a female voice interrupted.
"Kakashi, Izayoi, Sasuke, what are you all doing here?"
Turning, they saw Yuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma approaching.
"Teacher Kurenai, Asuma-sensei," Izayoi greeted politely.
"Are you two on a date?" Kakashi quipped, his tone as infuriating as ever.
Asuma and Kurenai flushed slightly.
Before they could respond, a gust of wind swept past.
Glancing at the dango shop, the figures inside had vanished.
"I've got business to attend to. See you."
Kakashi tucked away his book, nodded to Asuma and Kurenai, and disappeared with a Body Flicker.
Catching his meaning and recognizing the gust, Asuma and Kurenai nodded, and without a word to Izayoi or Sasuke, they too vanished.
Sasuke, who'd caught everything, frowned. "What are those Jonin up to?"
"They're chasing your brother," Izayoi said helpfully. "Didn't you see him sitting there eating dango just now?"
"My brother?" Sasuke froze, then realization hit, his face twisting with rage. "Uchiha Itachi was here?!"
"Yeah, but he's gone now."
Without another word, Sasuke surged Lightning Release chakra to boost his speed and flickered off in the direction Asuma and Kurenai had taken.
Watching him vanish, Izayoi's lips curled slightly. "This blow should make you hungrier for power. Now you'll have the resolve to evolve and the will to bear the cost."
"My little leek is finally ripening for the harvest."
---
By the bank of a river cutting through a forest.
Two figures in black cloaks with red clouds, wearing bell-tied conical hats, were blocked by Asuma and Kurenai.
"Caught at last, huh?"
Kisame Hoshigaki removed his hat, grinning to reveal shark-like teeth. "The Leader's too extreme—secretly teaming up with Orochimaru, sneaking into Konoha to kill, and not even telling us. But Konoha's underestimating us, sending just two to stop us."
"'Monster of the Mist,' Kisame Hoshigaki, Kirigakure's S-rank rogue ninja," Kurenai identified instantly.
Asuma equipped his Flying Swallow knuckles, eyes brimming with killing intent. "Is that Rinnegan wielder your Leader? The Konoha Crush had Akatsuki's hand in it, and now you're here to answer our bounties? If so, you two aren't leaving today."
"Heh…"
Kisame grinned again, turning to his companion. "Itachi-san, are all Konoha ninja this arrogant?"
"Asuma-san, Kurenai-san, it's been a while."
Uchiha Itachi removed his hat, his scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan locking onto the stunned Asuma and Kurenai. "Please stay out of our way. I don't want to kill you."
"Hah…"
Asuma, recovering from shock, sneered. "That tone doesn't suit the man who wiped out his own clan."
"Uchiha Itachi!!"
As the four faced off, the tension thickening, a hate-filled roar pierced the air, accompanied by the chirping crackle of Chidori.
A flash of lightning appeared behind Itachi, a figure clutching a blue-white electric orb, his two-tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly, aiming for Itachi's heart with murderous intent. "Die, you monster!"
Facing Sasuke's lethal strike from behind, Itachi remained calm.
In the next instant, like dodging Temari's attacks daily, Itachi's body blurred, sidestepping to Sasuke's palm, letting Chidori miss.
Grabbing Sasuke's wrist, he flung him into the forest, crashing heavily into a tree.
Before Sasuke could groan, Itachi appeared, one hand choking his neck and lifting him, the other twisting his still-sparking wrist, dislocating it.
Sasuke, strangled, couldn't scream, his face flushing red.
Yet his eyes showed no surrender, burning with hatred and intent to kill, as if he could slay Itachi with his gaze alone.
"Sasuke!"
Asuma and Kurenai's faces changed, moving to rescue him.
A bandaged greatsword swept like a bludgeon, forcing them back.
Kisame gripped Samehada, grinning. "It's a brotherly reunion. Let's not interrupt! Sorry, this path's closed."
Asuma and Kurenai exchanged a glance and nodded.
In sync, Asuma charged Kisame with his Wind Release-infused Flying Swallow, while Kurenai rapidly formed seals, her body twisting like a mirage and vanishing.
Her upper body emerged above Sasuke, kunai aimed at Itachi, hoping to force him back with the illusion.
"Don't interfere, Kurenai-san."
Itachi merely glanced up, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning, unleashing intangible Yin Release chakra. Kurenai froze, her illusion collapsing.
Her real body appeared nearby, paralyzed.
Dispatching Kurenai instantly, Itachi looked at the struggling Sasuke, saying coldly, "Only two tomoe? Your hatred for me is still too weak, foolish little brother. Let me help you."
Itachi's three tomoe morphed into a shuriken pattern, preparing to burn the rare Mangekyo pupil power to cast Tsukuyomi, forcing Sasuke to relive the clan massacre and deepen his hatred.
"Hey…"
A voice cut in. "Uchiha Itachi, what are you doing to my little brother?"
Whoosh—
Before he could release the pupil power, a piercing whistle and lethal threat forced Itachi to drop Sasuke and flicker away.
The moment he vanished, a white laser shot through his former position.
The beam arced toward Asuma and Kisame, still fighting.
They leaped into the air to dodge, Asuma landing on a tree, Kisame on the river where Itachi reappeared, sheathing Samehada and forming quick seals. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
The river surged, forming a dragon that clashed with the laser.
Though the dragon was sliced like paper, it weakened the beam's force.
As if knowing the laser couldn't finish them, the caster ceased expending chakra.
Crushing the Storm Release light orb in his hand, Izayoi approached Sasuke, who sat gasping on the ground. "You okay?"
"I… I'm fine," Sasuke rasped, then glared at Itachi on the river, losing control again. "Izayoi, help me kill him!"
"That's tough, but I'll try while they don't know my full capabilities."
Izayoi turned to Itachi and Kisame, swiftly forming a basketball-sized energy sphere.
"Is that… Rasengan? Why's it so big?!" Kisame exclaimed. "And that Storm Release earlier… Itachi-san, this kid seems close to your brother—maybe his boss. Know him?"
"He was the top graduate of Sasuke's class, an orphan civilian, I think," Itachi said, recalling Izayoi, though inwardly surprised by his strength.
"Civilian orphan?"
Kisame paused, eyeing the trembling Samehada, smirking. "Chakra that excites Samehada isn't something a civilian orphan has. Looks like he's one of the 'lost Senju.'"
"Itachi-san, let me play with him a bit," Kisame said, intrigued.
Itachi replied flatly, "No. Your techniques are too loud. Our identities and organization are exposed. More ninja are probably heading here now."
The next second, both tensed.
From Izayoi's energy sphere, three smaller orbs emerged.
A plain chakra sphere wouldn't alarm two Kage-level elites.
But these orbs instantly took on colors: translucent white for Wind, yellowish-brown for Earth, and orange-red for Fire.
The colored orbs spun clockwise rapidly, then one defiantly reversed, colliding with the others.
In an instant, the colors merged, not exploding the sphere but turning its blue walls transparent like glass, encasing a fist-sized white light.
Those with sensory skills could feel the terrifying energy within the white glow.
Itachi and Sasuke, with Sharingan active, saw the chakra inside radiating pure destruction.
Kisame and Itachi, well-versed in top-tier shinobi intel, recognized the technique, despite its unique form.
Before Kisame could speak, Izayoi hurled the translucent sphere at them.
"Are you kidding? Dust Release can be thrown?!" Kisame dropped his playful demeanor, cursing.
"Run!"
Itachi flickered away, Kisame right behind.
On the shore, Asuma and Kurenai, freed from the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes, didn't pursue, instead fleeing into the forest.
"Overdid it!"
Having succeeded on the first try without naming the move, Izayoi's expression shifted, and he hoisted Sasuke to run.
Boom—
The sphere hit the river, its white core shattering like fragile glass.
The white light erupted like volcanic magma, filling the sphere and rapidly expanding it.
The transparent walls held, showing the light didn't break the sphere, only stretched it.
But the sphere grew too fast, like a Tailed Beast Bomb detonating.
Glancing back at the silent, explosive light wall overtaking their Body Flicker speed, Itachi's eye bled a tear, and he glared. "Amaterasu!"
Black, inextinguishable flames appeared, coating the light wall.
Yet, the flames, nearly unstoppable except by sealing, visibly disintegrated.
More precisely, they were decomposed by a superior force.
"Itachi-san, buy me two seconds," Kisame said, forming seals rapidly.
Itachi didn't reply, instead unleashing immense pupil power, forming an orange-red giant's arm wielding a shield that clashed with the light wall.
This time, the wall's advance slowed.
Then Kisame roared, "Water Release: Shark Bullet Technique!"
A massive water shark leaped from the river, swallowing Itachi and Kisame, diving deep and swimming away at breakneck speed.
BOOM—
Far off, still underwater, they heard a delayed, earth-shaking explosion.
From a bird's-eye view, a colossal light sphere appeared in the river dividing the forest.
Like a growing lid, it engulfed surrounding trees and water, its size staggering.
The explosion was loud but contained, with no energy leakage or shockwaves.
The sphere vanished quickly.
When it did, a perfectly smooth, debris-free crater remained.
As water filled it, Konoha would soon have a new lake.
---
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