Read 20+ Chapter's Ahead in Patreon
BOOOOM—
With a mighty swing, Jūzō Biwa's blade struck squarely at Kitagawa Gen.
Yet somehow, before he realized it, Kitagawa Gen had already transformed into a puddle of earth that splattered across the ground.
"A Mud Clone?"
Jūzō Biwa furrowed his brows. He truly hadn't noticed when this brat managed to cast such a technique.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH—
At that very moment, a rain of senbon and kunai came hurtling toward him from all directions, overwhelming the air with a deadly barrage.
"Tch, such cheap tricks."
Jūzō scoffed coldly. In the next instant, his massive executioner's blade spun into motion, carving a dazzling arc of steel through the air.
The harsh clang of metal echoed violently as he deftly deflected every incoming senbon and kunai. In the blink of an eye, not a single one found its mark.
As expected of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, his swordsmanship alone was enough to handle the vast majority of opponents.
And as he parried the flurry of hidden weapons, he had already locked onto Kitagawa Gen's real location.
"I've found you, brat."
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Kitagawa Gen showed no hesitation whatsoever. Without wasting a breath, he formed the hand seals, and an enormous fireball surged forward, roaring as it hurtled straight toward Jūzō Biwa.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
Jūzō dared not be careless. A true shinobi must never allow himself even the slightest lapse in vigilance.
Even a jonin can fall before a genin if caught unprepared.
Especially now, with Kitagawa Gen's earlier mention of ANBU reinforcements still gnawing at the edge of his mind, he had no intention of holding back in the slightest.
SIZZLE—
The blazing fireball collided with the towering water wall, erupting into a hiss of steam as heat and water clashed.
In an instant, a dense, scalding mist filled the battlefield, veiling everything in sight beneath a curtain of white.
Kitagawa Gen narrowed his eyes at the fog that now blanketed the area. Clearly troubled by the obscured vision, he swiftly formed another set of hand seals.
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
As the final seal fell into place, several sturdy earthen walls rose from the ground, quickly forming a tight enclosure around him. It was a defensive fortress, designed to shield him from whatever came next.
"That hand seal speed… it's faster than I expected."
Within the mist, Jūzō Biwa could see everything with perfect clarity. He was a Mist Ninja, after all. The heavy mists of the Land of Water were his natural domain. To him, this fog was nothing more than a second skin.
He soon shook his head in scorn, his expression laced with contempt. Without hesitation, he too began forming seals at lightning speed.
"How foolish... to think you could battle a Hidden Mist shinobi amidst the mist itself. In that case—"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Chakra surged violently within Jūzō, and then, with a thunderous roar, an immense dragon of water erupted from the swirling mist. The mighty creature coiled and surged, crashing forward like a tidal wave, aiming straight for Kitagawa Gen's defenses.
BOOOOOM—
In a single resounding strike, the great earthen walls crumbled before the overwhelming force of the water dragon, shattering into fragments. Kitagawa Gen himself dissolved into a cascade of water droplets scattered into the air.
At that very moment, Jūzō's figure flashed. In an instant, he lunged forward, as swift as a hawk in pursuit of its prey.
With the enemy's defenses shattered, he would not let this golden opportunity slip away.
"Huh?"
But just as he darted through the flying debris and splashing water, a sudden unease clenched at his chest.
A strange chakra surged in the air, growing stronger and more concentrated with each passing breath. The sensation sent an involuntary shiver racing down his spine.
"What… is this?"
Jūzō's eyes narrowed, and as he stared into the broken rubble and scattered droplets, he caught sight of Kitagawa Gen—still standing, eyes shut tightly.
Surrounding him, a force unlike anything Jūzō had ever seen before began to gather.
Strange, eerie bolts of violet lightning coiled and danced around Gen's body, radiating an unnatural energy that lit the mist like a storm of phantom fire.
The arcane lightning shone with a bizarre brilliance, casting flickering glows through the fog like neon against glass, scattering colors in every direction.
"I've been waiting for you," Gen murmured.
At that moment, he opened his eyes and lifted his head, a faint smile playing across his lips.
"And thank you… for giving me the perfect environment."
As his voice faded, the violet lightning flared outward with terrifying might, bursting from his body like a breached dam unleashing an unstoppable flood.
Jūzō Biwa's face paled. He stared wide-eyed as the electrified arcs rode the airborne water droplets, racing toward him with a deafening roar.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the fight between Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi had already begun.
Itachi's speed when forming hand seals was utterly astonishing—so fast that even Kakashi found himself struggling to keep up.
But then, that was to be expected. After all, Uchiha Itachi was a true prodigy in every sense of the word.
Mastering ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu alike, he had honed each of the ninja arts to frightening levels. His versatility made him an overwhelmingly unpredictable combatant.
And Kakashi knew full well—Itachi's intellect in combat was just as formidable.
No matter the opponent, strong or weak, Itachi always approached with precision and caution. He would analyze, dissect, and then counter with impeccable timing.
In truth, the two of them were not so different.
"I need to find a way to make him expose a weakness… only then can I break away to reinforce Gen."
Kakashi's mind raced, weighing his options, desperately searching for a flaw. But in the space of that single, fleeting moment of distraction—
Uchiha Itachi had already appeared behind him, silent as a shadow.
"Kakashi-senpai, it's dangerous to lose focus during a battle."
Itachi's voice was utterly calm, nearly emotionless. The kunai in his hand had already pierced into Kakashi's back.
"As expected of you, Itachi."
Kakashi glanced back, his voice calm and steady.
"But… it seems you picked the wrong target."
CRACKLE—!
Electric arcs burst from his body, and in the next instant, the figure Itachi had struck unraveled into a mass of crackling lightning. The arcane energy surged along the blade, racing up Itachi's arm, binding his movements in a net of searing electricity.
And in that same heartbeat, the real Kakashi erupted from beneath the earth. In his right hand, the Chidori screamed—its blinding roar alive with deadly brilliance.
"So you fell for it?"
Yet Itachi remained unmoved, calm as still water. His expression did not shift, and his voice was as cool and quiet as ever.
"Then what about you, Kakashi-senpai?"
"What…?"
In that instant, Kakashi's face darkened. He realized with a jolt that the Itachi he had just ensnared was nothing more than a Shadow Clone.
Worse still, the chakra contained within it had begun to surge in erratic, unstable waves.
BOOOOOM!
With a thunderous roar, the Shadow Clone detonated, unleashing a violent shockwave that blasted through the surrounding forest. Trees splintered and snapped like brittle twigs, while the invisible force of the explosion surged straight toward Kakashi.
He reacted instantly. With all his might, he leapt back, narrowly evading the brunt of the explosion at point-blank range. Though the blast left him in a sorry state, he had managed to escape injury.
"That guy… he's terrifying."
Kakashi's Sharingan in his left eye slowly rotated, scanning the area as he sought any trace of Itachi's location.
At the same time, his heart was restless, pulled toward the distant tremors of chakra and thunder where Kitagawa Gen was still fighting. Yet with Itachi standing in his path, he had no chance to investigate.
"Kakashi-senpai," came Itachi's voice from the smoke and ash, calm and resolute. "That eye still doesn't suit you, does it?"
Through the thinning smoke, Itachi emerged unhurriedly, his figure poised and graceful as ever.
"Your chakra is running low," he said, his tone light, as if stating a simple fact.
"You're not wrong," Kakashi replied with a weary shake of his head. Of course he knew his condition.
"But it's enough. As long as I can keep you here, even for a little longer… once the ANBU reinforcement arrives, none of you will be able to leave."
"Oh?"
Itachi's reply was quiet and emotionless, but his thoughts were racing beneath the surface. After a moment of silent calculation, his eyes grew cold, and his voice dipped into a low and steady tone.
"But there's one thing you've misunderstood. You can't truly use the Sharingan. You can't unlock its power. But I can."
As he spoke, his eyes slowly shut, then opened once more—and in that instant, the tomoe within them had twisted into the dreadful form of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Let me show you what real power looks like."
In a flash, a strange and suffocating chakra surged from his gaze, warping the very fabric of the world.
"Not good!"
Kakashi's breath caught in his throat. The world itself seemed to twist and shudder around him, then dissolved into a swirling monochrome of black and white. When he regained his senses, he found himself bound to a towering crucifix, arms and legs outstretched, unable to move.
"This is the world of Tsukuyomi," Itachi's voice echoed, distant and dreadful. "In this world, space, time, and even matter all bend to my will."
With slow, deliberate steps, Itachi approached him, a short shinobi blade glinting coldly in his hand. The blade slid from its sheath with a chilling whisper, then plunged into Kakashi's abdomen. The surge of pain was so sudden and severe that his eyes widened in disbelief.
"And don't think this is just an illusion," Itachi murmured. "The pain you feel here is the same as in the real world. For the next seventy-two hours, I will continue to pierce you with this blade."
SHLUNK—!
SHLUNK—!
Two more slashes echoed through the void. The excruciating agony tore through Kakashi's nerves, threatening to overwhelm his consciousness.
"This genjutsu…"
He gritted his teeth and tried to endure, but Itachi's figure multiplied endlessly before his eyes. Countless copies of him, all holding identical blades, emerged from the darkness, their weapons gleaming with a cruel light as they raised them high.
Kakashi's eyes were bloodshot, his mind desperately trying to dispel the illusion, yet he found himself utterly powerless. He could do nothing but suffer.
"Don't worry," Itachi whispered, his voice layering over itself like a thousand echoes. "We have plenty of time."
He raised his blade once more.
But at that very moment, his form suddenly paused. The motion, though slight, did not escape Kakashi's notice. Even in this dreamscape of illusion, he saw it clearly.
A flicker of violet light shimmered somewhere deep within the shadows of the Tsukuyomi world.
**
**
[IMAGE]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Chapter End's]
🖤 Night_FrOst/ Patreon 🤍
Visit my Patreon for Early Chapter:
https://www.patreon.com/Night_FrOst
Extra Content Already Available