Outside the Exchange building.
"As expected of Itachi, long time no see!"
A figure materialized from thin air in front of them, and Satoru looked at Itachi with a smile.
He had grown up, become a teenager.
But the tear troughs under his eyes still made his image less sunny!
Indeed, with such experiences, he couldn't be sunny.
He then looked at Kisame, and in reality... well... he also had a shark face.
At the same time, he truly deserved to be called a Tailed Beast without a tail; his Chakra was immense.
In his perception, Kisame's Chakra was more than ten times his own current amount.
Is this a special constitution?
The Ninja World always had some outrageous constitutions!
And the Samehada in his hand also contained a large amount of Chakra, seemingly ready to replenish him at any time.
"Long time no see, Senior Satoru.
Are you here to pursue me?" Facing Satoru, Itachi was very cautious.
He had already formed hand signs, ready to react at any moment.
Kisame also sensed Itachi's tension and looked at the butler-like fellow: "Satoru? Konoha's Captain Satoru, I've heard much about him.
Mr. Itachi, even if it's him, you don't need to be this cautious, do you?"
He had heard stories of Captain Satoru.
The legendary Konoha Genjutsu master, a guy who even made their organization's leader suffer a setback.
But with the intelligence they had, he didn't believe Satoru could deal with both of them simultaneously.
"No, we need to be more cautious. He is more terrifying than imagined."
Itachi's eyes changed, becoming pinwheel-shaped.
"Hmm, the encounters between people are always unpredictable.
We were once teammates and colleagues.
I even sparred with you, and I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, years have passed.
You are a rogue Ninja of Konoha, and I am the captain of the pursuit squad.
The world is truly wonderful!"
Satoru exclaimed.
Swish swish~
Countless Shuriken rained down from Itachi's hands like pear blossoms in a storm, covering the area around Satoru.
Kisame was bewildered: "Mr. Itachi, aim before you throw!"
Release~
It was then that Itachi placed his hand on him, dispelling the Genjutsu on him.
When he looked again, the Shuriken hadn't missed at all; he had been caught in a Genjutsu, making him think they missed.
"Be careful, it's an area-of-effect Genjutsu. We were already caught the moment we noticed him."
Itachi warned.
"Tch, as expected of someone even our leader is wary of. To be caught so silently...
Fortunately, I also have a Genjutsu-type Ninja on my side."
Kisame knew he had been careless and said gravely, looking at Satoru.
He quickly formed hand signs.
Satoru used Instantaneous Body Technique to evade the attack and praised: "Itachi, you've made great progress these past years. You actually saw through my Genjutsu so quickly.
Amazing!"
He had been hoping to complete the Third's mission without anyone knowing, but Itachi didn't fall for it at all.
It was broken before it even invaded his mental space.
It seems he had improved a lot over the years!
Boom!
Just then, Kisame's Ninjutsu arrived, Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
It rushed towards him like a tsunami.
Whoosh!
Boom!
Swish swish!
Satoru formed hand signs, and a giant whale appeared. He stood on the whale's back, enduring Kisame's tsunami-like assault.
Then he rode the whale and charged forward quickly, swinging its tail.
Bang!
Kisame blocked with Samehada, and his entire body slid backward across the water.
Boom!
Itachi also launched a Great Fireball towards Satoru.
And gave Kisame a signal to retreat.
"No, let me have some fun."
Kisame still wanted to spar with him and see what abilities this guy, who even made their leader troublesome, possessed.
He used Instantaneous Body Technique, rapidly approaching and swinging Samehada.
His speed was incredibly fast.
Slash!
He missed. Kisame's eyes narrowed.
Again.
Still missed.
Once,
Twice,
Thrice... Release~
Kisame dispelled the Genjutsu and looked at the smiling Satoru.
"When?"
"Anytime."
Thump!
Another Satoru appeared behind Kisame, long sword in hand, and stabbed downwards.
Clang!
At the critical moment, Itachi struck the side of the sword with a Kunai, deflecting it.
Even so, the blade still grazed Kisame's chest.
The black cloak with red clouds instantly tore, revealing specks of blood.
In the blind spot of the sword hilt, where Itachi couldn't see, tree-branch-like nerves extended from the hilt to the tip of the blade, spreading onto Kisame's body.
Without Kisame or Itachi noticing, tree-branch-like patterns appeared on Kisame's back.
And Satoru, having achieved his goal, smiled faintly and retreated several steps with the force of Itachi's strike.
"Itachi, where's your Sharingan Genjutsu? With those eyes, you're not going to try to fight me with Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, are you?
Let me tell you now,
You couldn't do it back then, and you still can't do it now!"
Satoru chuckled.
Itachi's expression was grave.
With those eyes, over the years, he had found a way to break through Satoru's anti-scrying Ninjutsu, allowing him to see the opponent's Chakra flow and thus predict their actions.
But... "His hand sign speed is faster than mine, he has more Chakra than me, and his Mirror Heaven and Earth Change Genjutsu rebound didn't cause him the slightest hindrance.
His Taijutsu is also first-rate. He's truly troublesome!"
Itachi had already realized that without using his true abilities, it would be impossible to escape from Satoru.
"Mr. Itachi, this guy's Genjutsu is even more annoying than yours."
Kisame looked at the wound on his chest, baring his shark teeth.
Itachi placed his hand on him: "Yes, his Genjutsu can be activated through eye contact, Chakra coating, hearing, and touch. It seems we'll have to pay a price this time."
Just now, he discovered a seed-like, Xenomorph Chakra reaction on Kisame's body, which would react when Kisame refined Chakra.
It only appeared when the sword grazed his chest.
Release!
He dispelled the Xenomorph Chakra from Kisame.
"Moreover, the opponent's Genjutsu can form something like a seed. If you refine Chakra, you'll fall into a Genjutsu. Be careful."
Kisame heard this: "Tch, what a troublesome guy. Even Mr. Itachi finds him so difficult. It seems I'll have to use my trump card."
He thrust Samehada into the ground below him and formed hand signs.
Itachi and Satoru both raised an eyebrow.
He saw his body merge with Samehada, transforming into a bizarre monster.
Kisame took off his Akatsuki uniform, revealing his blue skin.
The tree-branch-like patterns on his back also merged in during the transformation, disappearing from the surface.
"With Samehada's help, I can now ignore the opponent's Genjutsu.
Just watch me beat this guy who's been toying with me."
Kisame said to Itachi.
Samehada has the ability to absorb Chakra, and once it merges with the body, any foreign Chakra will be absorbed.
This way, he wouldn't fall for others' Genjutsu.
This was his best method against powerful Genjutsu-type Ninja.
Under normal circumstances, he was unwilling to reveal his trump card.
But there was no choice. Faced with an outrageous Genjutsu-type Ninja who could make him fall into Genjutsu no matter what, he could only do this.
After all, Mr. Itachi couldn't help him break Genjutsu every moment.