Itachi moved swiftly, weaving through the hail of arrows with sharp, calculated steps. But even at his best, all he could do was dodge the most fatal strikes. The rest tore into him without mercy—yet he never slowed down.
Thanks to his modified version of the Creation Rebirth Jutsu, once used by Tsunade, his body could regenerate rapidly. With lightning release coursing through him, even severe wounds vanished in less than a second. Severed flesh stitched itself together, blood flowed backward, and his skin sealed shut almost instantly.
"Just die already!" she screamed, her voice shrill with frustration. What rattled her wasn't the regeneration—it was the grin Itachi wore, completely unfazed as he danced through her barrage like it was a game.
Her instincts screamed danger. Panic flared in her chest. Gritting her teeth, she drew her bowstring tighter than ever before, releasing a rapid burst of arrows at speeds she had never reached. Twelve arrows per shot—each one deadly, each one aimed to kill.
To that, Itachi willed his senjutsu chakra to surge faster than ever before. Shadow clones burst into existence to intercept strikes or shove him out of harm's way. Beams of light fired from his fingers, searing through incoming arrows. His body twisted and contorted at unnatural angles, the Body Flicker pushed to its absolute limit.
He kicked off arrows mid-air to change direction, transformed into a swarm of insects to slip through a narrow gap, and used everything—speed, precision, and instinct—to survive. There was no time to breathe. No time to think. Only movement.
Every second, thousands of arrows raced toward him. His mind roared into overdrive, analyzing angles, predicting patterns, making split-second decisions that spelled life or death. Injuries piled up, blood streaking through the sky… but he healed fast—too fast.
And through the chaos, he grinned. Because his eyes burned.
With each lightning-fast heartbeat, his Sharingan was taking form. It was close. He could feel it. The next stage was coming.
'His eyes.' She froze, sensing the shift the moment Itachi's gaze deepened—his pupils drawing in energy like a whirlpool. Something was coming, something dangerous. Her instincts screamed at her, and with a roar, she pulled her bow back and fired with everything she had. But it was already too late.
In a flash of light, Itachi vanished. And when her arrow struck nothing but air, she turned sharply—only to find him standing calmly in the distance, his newly awakened 1-tomoe Sharingan spinning slowly in his eye.
"You can teleport?" she asked, stunned.
Itachi burst out laughing.
"Of course I can," Itachi said with a grin, his voice light as if the chaos moments ago had never happened. "Anywhere within eyesight, I can teleport. I just needed you to awaken these eyes… that pressure you gave me, that was exactly what I needed."
His words carried a strange calm, confident, but not arrogant tone. In a way, he was holding back. But in another way, he wasn't. He had simply chosen not to use the Flying Thunder God, avoided genjutsu, ignored the 8 Inner Gates, and limited how deeply he relied on his shadow clones.
What he had done was subtle—he'd deliberately pushed her into going all out, forcing him into a tight spot where even if he wanted to use some of those techniques, he wouldn't have the focus or room to execute them properly…And it worked.
"Don't mock me! You're nothing more than a human!" she roared, her voice cracking with rage as her eyes locked onto Itachi's beautiful golden Sharingan. Before she could act, everything shifted. The world around her bled red.
Time slowed. Her limbs refused to move. She stood frozen, locked in place in a space drenched in crimson, with no sense of up or down. It didn't take her long to realize—this was an illusion. A powerful one.
And worse, she could still see through it. Outside, in the real world, Itachi stood before her, perfectly relaxed, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he gazed into her helpless eyes.
She tried to speak, to scream, to move—but nothing happened. Her body refused to respond, locked in place by the overwhelming illusion.
Then, within the crimson void, a massive red spike formed before her. Without warning, it shot forward, driving itself deep into her chest.
Her pupils trembled violently. Pain tore through her soul. She wanted to cry out, but only a strained breath escaped her lips—no scream or defiance, just raw, helpless agony.
Itachi's voice echoed through the illusion, calm yet cutting.
"I don't like people who are more arrogant than me," he said, shaking his head slowly. "From the moment you saw me, you should've realized—you're nothing compared to me. Even when I was holding back, you somehow convinced yourself you stood above me… That's not confidence. That's blind arrogance."
"…" The elf could say nothing—her pupils trembled in horror, locked on the monster standing before her. Pain tore through her body like wildfire, overwhelming and relentless. She fought madly to break free from the genjutsu, pouring all her strength into resisting… but it was useless. The harder she struggled, the worse the pain became, as if the illusion fed on her desperation.
Itachi didn't spare her another glance. With the boost from awakening his Sharingan, she was no longer a threat. In fact, the Itachi standing here now could have one-shot the version of himself from just moments ago—even without relying on the Sharingan.
The elf collapsed behind him, her body falling limp to the ground. Her eyes were wide and lifeless—she had died from the sheer pain alone. No wounds or blood. Just overwhelming agony, like nothing she had ever known, claiming her life in silence.
"Snow," Itachi said calmly as he returned to the floating island.
At his voice, the white cat appeared in a flash, landing softly beside him. But its expression was uneasy. Snow already knew what Itachi wanted… and it couldn't allow him to return to the Immortal Realm—not while his mother's orders still stood.
"You know I can't do that," Snow said quietly, ears twitching under the weight of tension.
Itachi's eyes sharpened. "Then tell me—what use does this lower realm hold for me, other than to slow me down? What is so important here?"
Snow opened her mouth to answer… but nothing came out. She shut it again, her silence saying more than any excuse ever could.
Itachi ignored Snow, turning his gaze to the heavens, arms crossed over his chest. Even before his birth, his mother stood among the strongest in the immortal realm. But after he was born, the heavenly phenomenon triggered by his arrival caused her power to soar. With her mastery of the Primordial Uchiha cultivation art and countless jutsus, she had likely become the strongest being in existence.
"If you have nothing to say," Itachi said coldly, "then I shall ignore you."
At those words, the heavens trembled. Snow flinched, her fur bristling in shock as the sky cracked open. The five elements—Fire, Water, Air, Lightning, and Earth—gathered high above. They twisted and danced together before merging as one, infused by Yin and Yang. In mere seconds, a radiant figure began to form in the sky, shaped from pure elemental force… and it stood before Itachi like a ghost made divine.
"My little baby is throwing his first tantrum!" she cried out in delight, appearing before Itachi in a blur and grabbing him before he could react. Without hesitation, she began rubbing her face against his cheek like an overly affectionate mother.
Itachi's expression went completely blank. He stood stiff, enduring the humiliation in silence.
"So," he said coldly, voice low and sharp, "after lying to me and manipulating me, you think I'd just forget and forgive?"
His words cut through the air like a blade, causing her to freeze in place, her joy draining as quickly as it had come.
"Mommy did no such thing," she said quickly, voice tinged with guilt as she stepped away from Itachi. "I just saw an opportunity for you to gain experience, and I took it."
"I spent four years thinking I might've killed you," Itachi snapped, his voice cold and laced with a deeper pain. "Four years blaming myself while you were doing what? Watching from a distance? You used me like a pawn—just like those other immortals, playing their little chess games."
His words hit her harder than any blow could have. She opened her mouth to respond… then closed it again, her lips trembling, eyes glistening. And then, in a sudden wave of emotion, she burst into tears and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry… Mommy thought she was doing it all for your good," she cried, her voice breaking under the weight of guilt. The pain in her chest wasn't from his words alone—it was from everything she had missed. His first real cultivation breakthrough. His first struggles. His growth. She had missed it all.
It hadn't been easy to send him away. She knew how many milestones she would lose by doing so. But as someone who had started from nothing, she understood the strength that came from walking the path alone, without a powerful backer at every step.
She didn't want her baby boy to turn into one of those arrogant young masters. She had crossed paths with too many of them in her life—spoiled, entitled, and cruel. Men who believed the world owed them something just for breathing. And she had suffered at their hands far too often.
She wanted better for him. But in trying to protect him, she had done exactly what those arrogant clans did. She had moved him like a chess piece, nudging him across the board, all while ignoring his thoughts. She had forgotten, if only for a moment, that this wasn't some pawn. This was her son.
"I'm sorry…" she wept, her voice trembling with genuine regret.
Itachi's hardened heart cracked at the sound. No matter how angry he was, no matter how betrayed he felt… how could he stay mad at his mother?
"It's alright," he said quietly, his tone softening. But she shook her head.
"No… It's not." Her voice was low, almost broken. "Come back home. I won't try to manipulate you again. I promise."
She looked up at him, eyes full of pain. "You're free now. Your future is limitless—and my interference, no matter how well-meaning, might only hold you back."
"Before I leave… I want to take care of a few things down here first." Itachi's voice was calm, but there was weight behind every word. He went on to outline his plans. As he spoke, his mother's mouth slowly fell open in shock, completely unprepared for the scale of what he intended.
But the surprise didn't last long. Without hesitation, she nodded firmly, her eyes shining with pride. "Of course. I'll help however I can," she said, already making silent promises to support him.
With their conversation concluded, Itachi left without another word. He had something else to do. He went straight to find Su Yan, wasting no time, and getting directly to the point.
"I'm returning home in one month. Do you want to come with me?" Itachi asked casually. Su Yan froze, caught off guard. She hadn't been expecting that, especially not so soon.
"I'm from the Immortal Realm," he continued, his tone even. "I came down here for experience… but I've realized I don't need it. So I've decided to return."
His words lingered in the air, and Su Yan fell silent. She lowered her eyes, lost in thought. A decision like this wasn't something she could make lightly.
"I think I should stay… and climb my way to you, step by step," Su Yan said, determination burning in her eyes. "I need all the experience I can get—if I want to win your heart."
"Really?" Itachi asked, looking at her with a speechless expression. Su Yan didn't flinch. She met his gaze without a hint of embarrassment, her resolve unshaken.