Itachi Uchiha glared at Saitama with burning hatred, while the latter remained expressionless.
In his eyes, the three tomoe spun ceaselessly, eventually merging into a mysterious pattern filled with an eerie and sinister aura.
He never could have imagined that Saitama would truly kill Shisui—and after doing so, remain completely calm, showing not even a flicker of guilt.
Weren't Saitama and Shisui once close friends? Even after Saitama was labeled as a Rogue Ninja, both Shisui and himself had worked tirelessly behind the scenes, desperately seeking another way out.
But now, Saitama was no longer the person they once knew.
He really would kill fellow Konoha ninjas like Shisui and himself—former comrades who once fought side by side—without even a trace of mercy or regret!
Intense emotions caused Itachi's vision to momentarily slow before suddenly sharpening again, making the world seem clearer than ever before.
A powerful pressure surged into his eyes, accompanied by sharp pain. It felt like something was forming deep within them.
"Ahh!"
Unable to endure the pain, Itachi clutched his eyes and cried out, burying his head in a futile attempt to suppress the piercing discomfort.
Meanwhile, Saitama took a step forward—deliberate and unshakable, his intent unmistakable.
"Crack!" Just as he took his first step, something suddenly grabbed his ankle.
Looking down, Saitama saw a scarred face—the unconscious Might Guy, who had been lying on the ground moments ago, had awakened.
The first thing Guy saw upon waking was Saitama delivering a fatal blow to Shisui. Whether Shisui survived was unclear, but judging from the attack, he likely wouldn't survive.
Now seeing Saitama preparing to go after Itachi, Guy instinctively reached out and grabbed Saitama's passing ankle, hoping to buy his comrade some time to escape.
Guy thought simply, and acted just as straightforwardly. He understood how little resistance he could actually offer against Saitama, yet still held onto this intention firmly.
"Itachi! Run!"
Guy's voice was low and heavy, filled with unbearable pain and hardship.
His injuries were severe; even the grip on Saitama's ankle was weak, his knuckles bone-white.
"Boom!" Saitama kicked Guy in the waist. The tremendous force sent him soaring through the air before slamming into the ground, leaving a trail of blood.
"Ugh..."
Despite his wounds, Guy hit the ground hard and struggled to rise.
However, the combined effects of his injuries and the backlash from having previously opened the Six Gates overwhelmed him instantly. He collapsed again, slipping into unconsciousness, barely breathing.
Saitama looked at Guy lying motionless. Only after confirming there was no response did he turn his gaze back toward Itachi.
"Tak... tak... tak..."
He continued walking toward Itachi, whose head remained bowed, gripping his eyes tightly while groaning in pain, seemingly unaware of the approaching threat.
"Zizi!" White lightning surged from Saitama's body, crackling around his form as he drew closer.
With Shisui already dead, Itachi Uchiha had no reason to remain—especially since this version of him seemed to have awakened the Mangekyou.
His footsteps quickened. Soon, Saitama's speed reached an incredibly high level.
Taking advantage of Itachi's newly-awakened eyes and his brief period of adaptation, Saitama decided to finish him off directly to avoid further complications.
Thinking this, intense light shone forth from both of Saitama's hands, gradually enveloping his entire arms in radiant brilliance.
Two brilliant orbs of Lightning Ninjutsu appeared in his palms. Even from a distance, their immense power could be clearly felt.
"Swish!" Taking his final step, Saitama vanished from his spot, crossing over ten meters instantaneously, arriving right before Itachi.
Itachi remained kneeling in the same posture as before, his head buried toward the ground, not bothering to lift it at Saitama's arrival.
The newly-awakened Mangekyou had apparently overwhelmed him momentarily, its sudden surge of power causing him great pain.
"This is the choice laid out before everyone, and each person will make their own decision. Different positions lead to different choices!"
"My choice may not be accepted by most people—but I'm not discouraged. I'll show the entire world who was right!"
Saitama lowered his head, slowly raising his hands high, aiming directly at Itachi's head.
Looking at Itachi's trembling figure, he spoke these words as his final explanation to the Uchiha.
This wasn't out of sentimentality or false emotion—it was just how he felt. The feeling of personally killing someone once considered a comrade and friend caused a brief moment of distraction and hesitation within Saitama.
But soon, those emotions were overcome with iron willpower. For a fleeting second, Saitama seemed to understand exactly how Madara Uchiha must have felt.
Strange lights flickered across the Sharingan patterns in his eyes. In the end, Saitama steeled his heart and pressed down on Itachi beside his feet.
Brilliant lightning shone fiercely. Just as Itachi seemed destined to share Shisui's fate, not even a flicker of emotion showed on Saitama's face.
This was the path he had chosen—it had to be walked. And in the shinobi world, sometimes death wasn't really death at all.
"Swish!" Just as his hands neared Itachi's head, Itachi abruptly lifted his face.
Both of his eyes continuously bled as his unique Mangekyou pattern fully formed, radiating a powerful malevolent aura.
"Hmm?"
A brief hesitation flashed across Saitama's actions, but he quickly recovered, continuing his downward strike straight into Itachi's face.
He wouldn't let anything unexpected interfere.
Now was the time to weaken Konoha's strength—this moment was critical preparation for future large-scale battles.
[Tsukuyomi!]
With extreme killing intent on his face, Itachi opened his left eye wide, glaring straight into Saitama's eyes at point-blank range.
Meanwhile, Saitama's attack was already less than five centimeters away from the top of Itachi's skull.
Life and death, an endless cycle! Faced with the choice between life and death, Itachi Uchiha chose what, to him, was life — at the crucial moment, he activated the Mangekyou Dojutsu sealed within his left eye!
Intense electric currents seemed to spread onto Itachi's hair, causing his jet-black strands to show signs of scorching.
Yet the timing of Itachi's technique was incredibly precise — so precise that Saitama even thought he had given up resistance.
"Boom!" Saitama widened his eyes, halting his movements mid-motion. The jutsu froze stiff just above Itachi's head.
And himself? He began trembling ever-so-slightly, as though confronted by something terrifying.
Itachi's genjutsu came completely out of Saitama's expectations. Before he could even react, the technique had already dragged him into a specific space.
This place was nothingness itself — beyond sight lay endless darkness and a strange void. Here, there seemed no distinction between up and down, left and right.
Crimson red and eerie stillness dominated this realm.
Saitama looked down at himself, only to find he was strapped to a cruciform device, completely immobilized.
The Sharingan ignited in his eyes as powerful ocular energy surged forth. He intended to break free from this illusory space using ocular energy that rivaled Itachi's.
"Whoosh!" In front of Saitama appeared the figure of Uchiha Itachi.
At this moment, he remained expressionless, looking at Saitama like one looks upon a corpse.
He had endured everything Saitama had done — every ounce of pain inflicted upon him. Now, he would make him pay it back, slowly.
"In the world of Tsukuyomi," Itachi spoke, "chamber, time, and matter are all under my command."
"So, Saitama, are you ready to accept my judgment?"
Itachi Uchiha took one step forward, approaching Saitama closely. Slowly, a blade materialized in his hand.
This feels all too familiar!
Yet Saitama didn't panic — even though he knew exactly what was coming.
[Tsukuyomi] was a formidable illusory technique capable of pulling the enemy's mind into a fabricated space. Within, the target would endure endless suffering.
Time moves differently here — what feels like a moment outside could stretch endlessly within.
In Saitama's memories, Kakashi had once fallen victim to [Tsukuyomi], taking several months for him to recover from its torment.
"This is Tsukuyomi, huh? Let me see just how powerful this eye technique is to be called the strongest mental attack!"
"Itachi, do your worst!"
Such calmness from Saitama surprised Itachi, leaving him momentarily speechless about how to describe his current emotions.
He had expected Saitama, after falling into his ocular technique, to reveal at least some sign of shock.
"What exactly goes through that mind of yours? Why did you kill Shisui!?"
With the Sharingan blazing, Itachi glared at Saitama — bound helplessly before him, still maintaining that unsettling calm.
After a long silence, he finally asked.
"You know what I said — we're enemies now. You need to come at me with the intent to kill."
"That was a choice. Don't you understand yet, Itachi?"
In the end, Saitama's response still made Itachi feel annoyed.
"Slash!" Itachi Uchiha extended his right hand, driving the blade straight into Saitama Uchiha's abdomen before piercing through his back.
"Then I'll show you no mercy!"
"This strike is for Shisui!"
"Hmph. Is that all you've got, Itachi Uchiha?"
Saitama Uchiha looked down at the sword protruding through his body, then shifted his gaze toward Itachi Uchiha mockingly.
"I told you, everything in this chamber is under my control. We still have plenty of time to talk!"
Itachi Uchiha didn't let Saitama Uchiha provoke him. Instead, he pulled the sword from his grasp and plunged it into another spot on Saitama Uchiha's body, aligning with the direction of Saitama Uchiha's gaze.
Letting out a stifled grunt, Saitama Uchiha noticed a flash of satisfaction in Itachi Uchiha's eyes.
This man who betrayed Shisui—I will personally ensure justice is served. He won't escape easily!
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
In Saitama Uchiha's vision, space began shifting, as if his consciousness had splintered into countless fragments, each one a version of himself.
At the same time, within the [[Tsukuyomi]] space, countless copies of both himself and Itachi Uchiha appeared—upside-down, reversed left and right, or distorted in other strange ways.
This was the power of Itachi Uchiha's ability—within this space, he *was* the god, possessing absolute dominion over all things!
"Slash!"
Countless simultaneous movements pierced through countless Saitamas' bodies.
Each was truly Saitama Uchiha himself, and every wound inflicted upon these clones eventually accumulated onto Saitama Uchiha's spirit.
Even someone with Saitama Uchiha's strong will still showed pain on his face.
"This strike… it's also for Shisui! Because you actually turned your blade against former comrades and friends!"
"We truly misjudged you, Saitama Uchiha! You're nothing but a self-centered, selfish fool who never cared about our clan, the village, or us!"
All the Itachi Uchihas simultaneously withdrew their blades from Saitama Uchiha's bodies, their voices ringing out together, merging into a single overwhelming sound wave reverberating endlessly through this space.
Saitama Uchiha narrowed his eyes, enduring the multiplying pain converging on his spirit—yet a faint smile crept onto his face.
"Belief isn't always the same as truth. There are always those who think they understand the essence of things!"
Ignoring the state of his own body, Saitama Uchiha gritted his teeth and spoke to Itachi Uchiha, his voice growing hoarse, as though suppressing something deep inside.
After hearing Saitama Uchiha's words, Itachi Uchiha paused silently for a moment, then continued his actions.
Even now, Saitama Uchiha still thought he was right. This realization caused a flicker of disappointment in Itachi Uchiha's eyes.
Saitama Uchiha had indeed begun walking a different path—he was no longer a comrade.
"Then so be it."
Itachi Uchiha's expression gradually hardened. The blade in his hand pierced Saitama Uchiha's body once more, drawing a deep groan of pain from him.
This was Saitama Uchiha's spiritual form dragged into the [[Tsukuyomi]] space. The injuries affected his soul directly.
Though his physical body wouldn't sustain damage, when your brain perceives injury, your actual body accepts the belief that it has been harmed, temporarily becoming paralyzed and unusable.
The terrifying aspect of [Tsukuyomi] lay precisely in this—it caused direct damage on the spiritual level, completely disregarding reason!
Inside this space, it seemed as if only the unchanging motions of drawing and sheathing a blade remained, occasionally accompanied by Saitama's pained cries.
In truth, the moment Saitama saw Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyou, he sensed trouble and immediately prepared to activate his own Dojutsu as an extra safeguard.
Although he had just recently used the power within his right eye, the implanted Hashirama's cells ensured his ocular energy remained plentiful, allowing him to use Dojutsu consecutively.
Yet here again emerged the overwhelming strength of Tsukuyomi.
Saitama's Dojutsu failed to activate—his spirit was dragged by Itachi into the Tsukuyomi Chamber, trapped in an endless cycle of torment.
The never-ending sound of blades piercing flesh began to blur Saitama's consciousness.
He wasn't some numb puppet—just someone with way more tolerance for pain than average people.
While the pain from Tsukuyomi could be tolerated momentarily, continuous suffering akin to time-stopped repetition proved insurmountable even for him.
No one could say how long had passed, but Saitama's eyes were starting to glaze over. Meanwhile, fatigue began showing on Itachi's face.
Though the Tsukuyomi Chamber remained under his control, maintaining everything demanded immense expenditure of ocular energy.
Even pulled into such a space, Saitama didn't stop struggling despite the enormous pressure exerted by Itachi.
Or more accurately, the Dojutsu Tsukuyomi itself was just too powerful. Even someone like Saitama, whose ocular ability exceeded Itachi's, couldn't quickly break free from Itachi's suppression.
However, these struggles from Saitama still greatly drained Itachi.
Therefore, lasting this long already proved that Itachi was indeed a remarkably skilled Sharingan ninja.
Immediately after awakening his Mangekyou, he managed to forcibly pull Saitama into Genjutsu, then continued attacking with illusions while resisting Saitama's counterforce.
"It's time!"
A pale expression crossed Itachi's face, his eyes never leaving Saitama's body.
From his perspective, Saitama appeared nearly broken mentally after enduring countless repetitions of pain and consistent injury.
"Haa!"
A sharp pain shot through his eyes. Itachi covered them with his hand and let out a cry of pain.
The entire Tsukuyomi Chamber slowly dissolved, vanishing like a mirage.
"Thump!"
Saitama knelt before Itachi, both men facing each other in identical postures.
Itachi remained silent for quite some time. He had just awakened his eyes and used the Dojutsu within the Mangekyou against a ninja whose ocular power surpassed his own. The strain showed—he was completely drenched in sweat.
After a long pause, the first voice didn't come from Itachi, who had held the advantage, but from Saitama himself—the one forcefully pulled into the Tsukuyomi Chamber and tormented endlessly inside.
"You're really amazing, Itachi!"
Saitama squinted, his body still echoing with lingering pain. A feeling of weakness and emptiness overwhelmed him.
Gasping for breath, Saitama slowly raised his head and said to Itachi.
And Itachi was panting as well, though he appeared to be in much better condition than Saitama, his face just a bit pale and clearly drained from the effort.
"But do you really think this means you've won? Still so cocky, Itachi!"
Saitama suppressed his nearly collapsing mindset. A twisted, tormented smirk appeared on his face.
Although his eyes were unfocused at first, gradually they began to sharpen. Facing off with Itachi, who stared back at him, Saitama spoke slowly.
After escaping the Tsukuyomi Chamber, Saitama realized he could now activate the Dojutsu in his right eye.
In other words, he had returned to his domain.
He also sensed that his earlier use of Izanagi during his encounter with [Tsukuyomi] had indeed succeeded. However, since his spirit had been dragged directly into Itachi's Tsukuyomi, it hadn't manifested any visible effect.
Now that he was out, he could feel part of his ocular power had vanished—it must have been consumed by that previous activation of Izanagi.
"Hmm?" Itachi was slightly confused by Saitama's meaning.
In his opinion, after enduring so long under his torment and endless suffering, Saitama should no longer possess any ability to retaliate.
Mental damage would directly prevent him from controlling his body, leaving him unable to fight.
Though thinking this, Itachi still heightened his alertness. His current condition was far superior to Saitama's, so he decided to strike first and completely crush whatever confidence remained in his opponent!
His hand reached behind his back, pulling out a kunai knife.
Without wasting words, he lunged directly at Saitama. The kunai blade shimmered with a thin layer of blue chakra, adding both intimidation and destructive power.
"Whoosh!" The kunai tore through the air, aimed straight for Saitama's throat.
"Hmph!"
Saitama scoffed coldly. Now outside the Tsukuyomi Chamber, he was back in control.
His dojutsu power was still abundant. He had used Izanagi once against Shisui, then again when Itachi activated Tsukuyomi—though it hadn't produced the desired effect.
Still, he could use it now!
Thanks to Hashirama's cells and his natural talent, his ocular power surpassed that of ordinary Sharingan users.
"Do you know why Shisui was ultimately killed by me? Because he placed too much confidence in his own Dojutsu."
"In the Shinobi World, especially among the Uchiha's Sharingan bloodline, no one can truly predict another's abilities. You will never know someone else's Mangekyou ability until you're staring it in the face!"
Saitama's right eye spun rapidly, its Mangekyou pattern glowing with sharp red light.
"Squelch!" Itachi ignored Saitama's words, his hands moving even faster.
The kunai struck true, piercing through Saitama's throat, abruptly silencing his voice.
Blood splattered instantly across the ground, easing Itachi's tension as he believed he had finally ended this battle.
No matter how much trash talk came from Saitama, if he killed him or took him out of the fight, the win would be his alone.
"Phew!"
Just like an illusion, Saitama, who seemed to have been pierced through the throat by a kunai, scattered into dispersing chakra, vanishing from Itachi Uchiha's sight like falling cherry blossoms.
"This is!!"
Itachi Uchiha's eyes narrowed sharply; his body reacted instinctively. He arched backward, his kneeling figure rapidly sliding away.
He hadn't expected Saitama to have this kind of ability!
"Is this another illusion or some other method?"
Though being the next generation inheritor of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi currently hadn't mastered many secret techniques of the clan. Techniques like Izanagi and Izanami, considered forbidden, had not yet been mastered by him.
"Swoosh!" Just like using the Shifting Body Technique, Saitama abruptly appeared on the nearby clearing.
Itachi Uchiha's eyes narrowed again. He noticed that Saitama, who had reappeared, seemed fully recovered, both mentally and physically much better than before.
Thinking he must have fallen into Saitama's genjutsu, his Sharingan rotated rapidly, attempting to break free from the illusion.
Yet even with his evolved Mangekyou eyes, he still couldn't detect any trace of an illusionary technique.
"Strange? You're wondering why I've recovered so quickly?"
Saitama stared at Itachi, his gaze lingering on the kunai stained with his own blood still clutched in Itachi's hand, a smile curling his lips.
Prolonged use of dojutsu had also begun to strain and swell his eyes.
"This is your dojutsu!"
Itachi's expression was complex but remained composed as a ninja.
Remembering Shisui's reaction before being attacked by Saitama and what he had just gone through, he quickly realized this was Saitama's own Mangekyou Dojutsu.
"How clever! Too bad there's no reward! A ninja's battle determines not only victory or defeat, but life or death as well!"
"Itachi Uchiha, are you ready now?"
Lightning crackled around Saitama, arcs of electricity swirling around him.
But looking at how much electricity gathered, it clearly wasn't as strong as before.
Even so, whether Itachi could withstand it remained a serious question.
...
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already left the village, moving swiftly based on the intel Minato provided.
Though already over sixty, he was considerably younger than when Saitama remembered the story beginning, and therefore possessed greater combat strength.
Not long after leaving the village, he sensed chakra fluctuations behind him.
Hiruzen knew the ninja trailing behind was the reconnaissance team sent by Minato out of concern.
He paid it no mind, his heart focused solely on reaching the battlefield as soon as possible.
According to the information Minato gave, he'd arrive shortly.
And his heart started pounding with anticipation.
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