"Half red, half yellow," he said, watching as Naruto observed carefully.
In the center of Naruto's Sharingan was a horizontal pupil, surrounded by three scythe-shaped patterns. His eyes were split—half red, half yellow—in a yin-yang pattern.
Because Naruto felt pressure from his lost or mutated Sharingan, it began spinning at that moment, including both the scythe-shaped patterns and the red-and-yellow yin-yang symbol within them.
"Whoa, what's going on?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock, then his natural chakra vanished, and his Sharingan reverted to its usual form with the three scythe-shaped patterns. "Wait, now it's back to normal again."
"Can you tell the difference?" Fukasaku asked curiously. After all, no one had ever combined a dojutsu with Sage Mode before. "Between your regular Sharingan and that other state?"
"I… I think so," Naruto replied, still somewhat shaken.
Truthfully, he'd been too focused on Jiraiya's words to pay attention to what his Sharingan was or wasn't capable of.
"What should we do now?" he asked.
Jiraiya shook his head.
"Now, you're going to have to tell me and Master Fukasaku exactly how you got a fully matured Sharingan in your right eye socket… Don't leave out any details."
Naruto groaned and sat down on the ground.
"Alright. It all started when I and my squad took on a mission to retrieve a blade from Kiri. Eventually, we ended up in the southern part of the Land of Fire…"
## Land of Wind – Dusk ##
Danzo and his Root subordinates came to an abrupt halt. Fu immediately activated a sensing seal technique and began scanning the surroundings for danger.
He detected an immense chakra signal, his eyes widening in shock.
"Danzo-sama, there's an enormous chakra presence charging straight toward us," Fu reported.
Danzo turned to face his subordinate, studied him carefully, and asked,
"How strong is this chakra presence?"
"Stronger than anyone I've ever felt in my entire life… Except for Naruto Uzumaki," Fu replied, prompting Torune to immediately assume a combat stance as they braced for the incoming threat. "Like I said, it's heading straight here. What do we do?"
Danzo replied in his usual calm, measured tone:
"We must prepare for battle. Which direction is this enemy coming from?"
Fu pointed toward the approaching figure. Over the sand dunes, they saw something resembling a shark's fin rising from the sand, moving rapidly toward them.
"What exactly is that?" he asked.
Danzo responded swiftly and accurately:
"It's the enemy. I trust both of you are prepared to face the Akatsuki."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kisame Hoshigaki erupted from the ground, Samehada swinging as he drove a wedge between Torune, Fu, and Danzo.
Kisame didn't go after Danzo, the leader among the three, instead focusing all his efforts on forcing Fu and Torune backward, completely bypassing Danzo.
"Sorry boys," Kisame said with a grin. "The little fish have to play with me first—the big prize isn't mine to claim."
Kisame said while chasing after the two fleeing Root agents.
Danzo narrowed his one functioning eye as he watched his subordinates struggle against Kisame, being driven back further and further. Only one man stood against them.
"'Akatsuki' always works in pairs. Kisame Hoshigaki's partner is—"
"Hello, Danzo."
Danzo didn't even turn to face his enemy because he already knew who stood there.
"Hello, Itachi. Long time no see, then."
They stood motionless. While speaking, Danzo secretly tried to loosen the bandages on his right arm.
"So it's come to this, huh? I thought even now, you were still working for Konoha's interests despite being part of Akatsuki."
"I am," replied Itachi. "That's exactly why I came here under the pretense of treating my eyes instead of going to Sunagakure to capture the Kazekage. But now, I want something. The situation has changed. Those men you trained stole my chance at redemption. You remember our agreement, right?"
Danzo almost sighed. Of course, he remembered—the agreement that had prevented him from dictating how Sasuke would suffer mentally after the Uchiha massacre.
What a pity. If Danzo had been able to reach Sasuke back then, perhaps he would've eventually become Naruto's teammate, just like Sai now.
"Root will stay away from your younger brother, or you'll be forced to reveal our secrets abroad."
Itachi let out a cold snort.
"But who interfered during our final battle? Naruto Uzumaki… a boy you clearly trained, a boy wearing your Root uniform. Tell me, does that sound like staying away from Sasuke?"
"You fool..." Danzo growled under his breath. "Naruto doesn't know what's truly happening. He only knows you're part of Akatsuki, an organization determined to take his life. When he saw Sasuke, he didn't see the person we agreed to protect—he saw a rogue ninja from Konoha. He saw both you and Sasuke as threats to Konoha. As a Konoha ninja, he did what he had to do to eliminate that threat… though I assumed he'd killed you by now."
"It wasn't me," Itachi said, finally opened his eyes. "It was my brother… Naruto killed Sasuke during our fight."
His Sharingan flared to life—its three-tomoe pinwheel spinning within a pattern of interlocking ellipses.
"Now, I carry his eyes and inherit his strength. I will not betray Konoha—I've lost far too much to risk losing anything else. But I can hate Naruto… I want him to die the same way he killed my brother. Killing him will end this once and for all, save Konoha, and avenge Sasuke."
A kunai materialized silently in Itachi's hand. "You should understand this is the right thing to do. I'll kill Naruto, increase my strength, become strong enough to defeat Pain alone."
"You must not do that, child."
Danzo shook his head, his tone laced with pity. "Pain has blinded you, whether you realize it or not. And you can't defeat Naruto either—he'll be stronger than all of us, even your so-called leader—Pain. He will be defeated sooner or later."
Itachi remained silent for a moment before speaking once more.
"Aren't we going to fight? Do you really think you can leave this place alive?"
"If it must come to that..." Danzo replied, already preparing to release the bolts on the heavy mechanical arm coiling around his right arm.
He wouldn't allow Itachi to end things here. If Itachi truly wanted to fight—if he truly intended to destroy Konoha's future—then he had to stop him—here and now.
"You really want to kill Naruto?" He received no answer from the quiet Uchiha. "Was that our agreement, Itachi!?"
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