Land of Whirlpools.
Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki walked across the ruins, silently following footprints on the ground.
Kisame Hoshigaki carried his large sword Samehada over his shoulder and asked, "Itachi-san, is it really necessary to be this cautious against someone like this? Why don't you just let me cut him down directly?"
Upon hearing this, Itachi Uchiha expressionlessly replied, "The organization specifically under investigation by Lord Mirai must not be underestimated."
"We still don't know their real intentions. Better to stay cautious."
Hearing Itachi's words, Kisame grinned.
He loved how he never had to think when working alongside Itachi.
After following the trail for a while, the footprints vanished at the entrance to a shrine.
Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki exchanged a glance before simultaneously dashing into the shrine.
As they entered, the first thing that caught their eyes was the Shinigami masks hanging all over the walls.
Underneath those masks stood a tall, muscular figure cloaked in shadow, motionless.
The figure turned upon seeing them: "Who are you?"
The man wore a sleek silver hawk-shaped mask, his piercing eyes framed by long white hair and beard. His towering frame radiated an inexplicable sense of pressure.
Itachi Uchiha responded coolly, "Aren't we the ones who should be asking that? Didn't you bring us here on purpose?"
Hearing Itachi's reply, the man offered a slight smile but said nothing more.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu]!
A massive fireball instantly surged toward Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki. Stepping forward confidently, Kisame declared, [Water Release: Water Shark Breakthrough]!
Boom!
The Fire Release and Water Release clashed violently, instantly sending up a massive cloud of steam.
[Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet]!
Hearing the low shout from within the steam, Kisame grinned widely: "Won't work."
[Water Release: Waterfall Flow]!
Once again, water clashed with flame—but unexpectedly, this time, Kisame's Water Release proved utterly ineffective.
Facing the overwhelming torrent of flame barreling toward him, Kisame gripped Samehada tightly and swung downward with all his might!
What he expected—a single strike splitting the fire wall—never happened. Instead, the searing flames engulfed Kisame completely.
At the critical moment, a layer of orange-red skeletal armor tightly encased Kisame's body.
"Itachi-san, thank you very much," Kisame muttered, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken.
He'd almost died in that inferno.
"That guy used Fire Release to ignite flammable oil—that's why Samehada couldn't absorb the flames."
"This guy isn't someone we can defeat easily. Be careful."
Kisame Hoshigaki nodded. "I understand."
As the two were speaking, the muscular man suddenly slammed both hands onto the ground. [Summoning Jutsu – Collapsing Stage Destruction!]
A giant steam-covered toad crashed down from midair. Itachi Uchiha quickly activated his Susanoo to Stage 3.
Boom!
The massive impact caused the shrine to collapse instantly, and the ground was now filled with a dense spiderweb-like pattern of cracks.
Taking advantage of the situation, Kisame rushed toward the man.
[Wild Lion's Mane Technique]
The man's hair extended rapidly, tightly entangling Kisame Hoshigaki.
[Sage Art – Super-Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan]
A Rasengan over ten meters in diameter smashed fiercely toward Kisame's body.
[Amaterasu]
Pitch-black flames engulfed the Rasengan and quickly spread toward the man's own body.
With no choice left, the man abandoned his attack, retreating backward to a safe distance.
"These jutsu and this fighting style..."
Could you possibly be Jiraiya?
Itachi Uchiha exclaimed in shock, then shook his head. "Impossible. Jiraiya would never attack us. Who exactly are you?"
Upon hearing this, the man sneered coldly. "Survive me first—then ask your questions."
Saying that, he resumed his offensive against Itachi and Kisame.
"Kisame, back off a bit."
After the previous battle, Itachi Uchiha had more or less figured things out.
This opponent fought in an unusual way and possessed Sage Chakra—an enemy type that Kisame wasn't particularly suited for dealing with.
With that thought, Itachi's ocular power surged wildly within his eyes.
In an instant, a massive winged Susanoo rose from the ground.
In the hands of this divine warrior were the Sword of Totsuka in one hand, and the Yata Mirror in the other.
Seeing the enormous Susanoo, the muscular man scoffed. "Kai!"
Immediately, the giant steam toad exploded, creating a rising mushroom cloud.
Using the Yata Mirror to shield himself from the explosion's aftershock, Itachi Uchiha wore a deeply serious expression.
This opponent was stronger than expected.
"Itachi-san, what happened?"
Itachi released his Susanoo and shook his head. "He escaped."
Kisame said gravely, "Where did this guy even come from? He possesses terrifying strength..."
"It seems Kara is not something we can underestimate."
Itachi didn't respond. Instead, he walked forward and picked up an intelligence scroll lying on the ground.
"What does it say?"
"I don't know. It's written in code. We'll need to return it to the village to decode it."
Itachi Uchiha had a grave expression.
Something about this incident felt strange all over.
Firstly, the enemy they had encountered was nearly identical to Jiraiya, both in appearance and fighting style. The opponent's true identity remained unclear and needed to be determined.
Secondly, why had the enemy lured them here? After all, Kara was an organization that had gone to great lengths to remain hidden—why would it suddenly reveal itself now?
Filled with enormous doubts, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki returned to Konoha.
After submitting the intelligence scroll to the decryption division, the two thoroughly explained everything that had happened to Neji Hyūga.
Upon hearing the report, Neji Hyūga immediately sought out Mirai Uchiha.
"Lord Mirai Uchiha, Kara is likely preparing for a major move. We must strengthen our defenses."
Since becoming Hokage, Neji Hyūga had discovered many of the village's most closely guarded secrets.
He naturally knew that Kara had been founded by Isshiki Otsutsuki. That knowledge made him take this matter extremely seriously.
Yet Mirai Uchiha merely waved a dismissive hand. "We'll talk more once the scroll's contents are deciphered."
"Don't worry. Those lurking in the shadows won't remain concealed for long."
As for the identity of the man who had fought against Itachi, Mirai Uchiha had already figured it out.
It could only be Koji Kashin. He was a clone created using Jiraiya's cells.
As for their goal...
The answer was simple—it simply wanted to expose Kara's existence.
After all, that clone had been created by Amado Sanzu specifically to kill Jigen.
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