Aburame Ryoma was extremely cautious when facing Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi's name was practically a household word in Konoha.
For a genius who had already made a name for himself in the village, Ryoma felt that no amount of caution was too much.
"Senior Aburame Ryoma, you're being overly cautious."
Itachi's gaze was calm as he swept over the eyes behind the mask, which refused to meet his.
At this moment, he was still thinking about how to get information about the Root organization from his opponent.
Specifically, what had happened to Root after Shimura Danzo's defection?
The arrival of these two Root members made Itachi instinctively feel that the organization had not disbanded.
Itachi suddenly had a new theory.
Perhaps Danzo's defection was just a facade, meant to deceive the entire ninja world so that Root could secretly continue its operations.
But it was only a guess.
Toward Danzo, who had threatened his brother, and this Root organization, Itachi was desperate to find out what had truly happened.
With that thought, Itachi decisively made his move.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Three shuriken flew out in graceful arcs, all heading toward Aburame Ryoma.
Ryoma was no slouch. He used the Body Flicker Technique to instantly dodge them.
"Destructive Insects!"
Buzz!
Countless black insects swarmed out, like a black cloud, enveloping Itachi.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
Hoo!
Itachi swiftly performed hand signs, then covered his mouth with his right hand. The next second, a fire dragon erupted, instantly incinerating the cloud of black insects.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
A scorching sound immediately filled the air, followed by the smell of burnt protein.
The two's battle had officially begun!
On the other side.
Shigaraki Tanuki and Hoshigaki Kisame's battle had also started.
The two were still in their original stances, but Kisame put more force into his swing.
Under the immense weight of Samehada, Tanuki could only struggle to resist.
Samehada continued to press down, about to completely overwhelm him.
Tanuki's mouth went dry. This force was too strong!
He wasn't a taijutsu ninja; he had only been granted a lot of ninjutsu and experience after receiving the blessing of Lord Naruto.
How could he possibly withstand this humanoid monster?
Tanuki realized that he had to get away to be able to use his strengths.
After making up his mind, he intended to strike and retreat, using the force from his opponent to instantly dodge backward. But who was Kisame?
His combat experience was not only extensive, but his Samehada was an extension of his arm.
Kisame seized an opportunity and suddenly pulled!
Bang!
The bandages wrapped around Samehada completely unraveled, revealing the blade's original dark blue, barbed, and thorn-like surface.
"Argh!"
In a moment of carelessness, Tanuki was hooked by the barbs, and blood instantly splattered from his arm.
Tanuki initially didn't care about the minor wound.
However, he suddenly realized that he had lost more than half of his chakra!
"You!"
He stared at his opponent in shock.
What kind of monster was this shark-like man, that he could devour his chakra?
"My Samehada isn't for cutting!"
Kisame's small eyes glinted. "It's for flaying!"
"You... you're a real freak!"
Tanuki said weakly.
That strange sword was indeed a monster; it had devoured most of his chakra in just one hit.
He cautiously observed his opponent, his gaze finally settling on the bizarre blade.
It must be that sword that stole his chakra, right?
Battles between ninjas were essentially battles of information.
If you weren't familiar with your enemy's abilities, you were in for a world of hurt.
Just like Tanuki, who had been defeated in a single strike!
"Good thing!"
Tanuki thought to himself. Lord Naruto's blessing was incredibly powerful. His chakra used to be inexhaustible, and even after losing most of it, he still had the chakra level of a Jonin.
Besides...
Tanuki took a blue pill from his ninja tool pouch.
Gulp!
He swallowed it in one go.
The blue Xiaoyao Pill melted in his mouth, turning into surging physical and mental energy that could be converted into chakra in just a few moments.
"This is a bit troublesome."
Kisame paused for a moment as he watched his opponent's actions.
The Xiaoyao Pill?
He felt both love and hate for it!
In previous battles, once his enemies were drained of chakra by Samehada, they would become lambs to the slaughter.
But ever since the Xiaoyao Pill became widely available, everything had changed.
The battle resumed.
This time, Tanuki would not fall into his opponent's rhythm again.
He rapidly performed hand signs. In just a moment, a ninjutsu was complete.
A ripple quickly surged from the nearby river, instantly forming a dragon.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
To Tanuki's surprise, his opponent's voice sounded at the exact same time as his.
Kisame had already guessed his opponent's technique when he saw his familiar hand sign sequence, and he instantly performed the corresponding jutsu.
However...
"You also know my Hidden Mist's jutsu."
Kisame couldn't wrap his head around how his opponent had learned the Water Dragon Jutsu.
"Hidden Mist Village?"
From that sentence, Tanuki quickly extracted the key information.
He hadn't expected his opponent to be a rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist. No wonder he was so skilled with water ninjutsu.
No wonder he wielded that strange tool.
"Is it one of the Seven Blades?"
Tanuki thought for a moment. That strange tool that could steal other people's chakra must be one of the seven famous blades of the Hidden Mist Village!
With that blade, his opponent's identity was obvious.
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
Tanuki's heart immediately grew heavy. Even as a scientific ninja, he didn't know much about the famous people of the ninja world, but he had heard the name of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
"Oh? You seem to have figured it out!"
Kisame stretched out his voice, his small eyes glinting with interest.
"What?"
Suddenly, a gasp came from the other battlefield.
During the exchange between Tanuki and Kisame, the other two had already gone through several rounds of fighting.
Because of his fighting style, Aburame Ryoma's insects were completely countered by Itachi, causing him to lose a large number of them.
The losses made Ryoma's heart ache, despite his now-vast chakra reserves, so he switched to fighting Itachi with ninjutsu.
However, after several back-and-forth rounds, after Ryoma had finally "defeated" his opponent, he discovered that what he had defeated was nothing more than a crow clone!
"When?"
Ryoma felt his opponent was incredibly fast.
During their intense battle, Itachi had found a window to perform hand signs and create a clone, and he hadn't even noticed.
He truly lived up to his reputation as a genius Uchiha!
He was indeed very strong!
Beside him, Tanuki looked over when he heard the shout.
But with that one glance, he was caught.
Caw caw caw!
Countless crows soared. Inadvertently, Tanuki's eyes met one of them.
But strangely, the eyes of that crow weren't a crow's eyes at all. They were a pair of Sharingan?
"Oh no!"
Tanuki yelled, instantly realizing he had been tricked.
But when he reacted, it was already too late.
He had already fallen for a genjutsu!
Domain Expansion—Tsukuyomi!
This was a strange space. The sky was an endless crimson, as if a blood-red pool had been inverted above, filled with a sense of desolation.
"Where... is this?"
Regaining consciousness, Tanuki found himself tied tightly to a stake, unable to move.
He looked up. The blood-red sky made his heart grow cold, and the black sun hanging above filled him with dread.
"This is my Tsukuyomi space."
A familiar voice rang out, sending a cold sweat down Tanuki's spine.
It was Uchiha Itachi's voice.
He looked down, and the man's figure appeared before him.
The silhouette was identical to the one in reality.
At this moment, Itachi was holding a sword.
"Tsukuyomi space?"
Even though he was panicked by this name and the bizarre place, Tanuki's composure as a ninja and curiosity as a researcher made him focus on the key point.
"Is this your Mangekyo Sharingan ability?"
Itachi nodded in approval. "You guessed correctly."
"Alright. Now, I have a lot of questions. Give me the answers I want, quickly!"
"What?"
From the posture before him, the first thing Tanuki thought of was interrogation.
But he had more questions.
How had he gotten into this space? What about reality? What about time?
These questions were buried deep in his heart.
Then, Itachi began his questioning.
"Tell me, who is the current leader of the Root organization?"
"Heh!"
Tanuki let out a cold sigh. His loyalty to Lord Naruto was as clear as the sun and moon.
Did this simple interrogation really make him think he could make him betray the great and supreme Lord Naruto?
What a pipe dream!
Seeing his silence, Itachi raised his sword and directly stabbed him.
Pfft!
"Aaaarghh!"
Tanuki let out a miserable scream!
Pain! It was too painful!
For some reason, the pain seemed to be magnified infinitely!
This feeling was absolutely bizarre!
Huff huff huff!
Tanuki was drenched in a cold sweat, gasping for air. When he looked up again, there were now two Uchiha Itachis in front of him.
"This..."
Seeing Tanuki's state, the two Itachis stabbed him at the same time.
Pfft! x2
"Aaaargh!"
The screams of pain rang out again.
The next moment, the number of Itachis increased.
More swords stabbed him.
"Aaaarghh!!"
For a time, only Tanuki's screams echoed in the space.
"In the world of Tsukuyomi, I control everything—time, space, and mass."
Itachi's voice was ice cold. "For the next seventy-two hours, I will continuously stab you with this sword."
"Only one second has passed just now. There are still 71 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds left."
"Seventy-two hours?"
Tanuki was in so much pain his eyes felt like they would pop out.
Had all that time only been one second?
The Mangekyo Sharingan was truly terrifying!!!
Tanuki felt his consciousness growing foggy. He spoke with determination, "My will is as firm as a rock! My loyalty to Lord Naruto is unbreakable and as clear as the sun and moon! This pain is nothing at all!"
"Lord... Naruto?"
Itachi's eyes moved slightly.
"Oh no!"
Tanuki knew he had made a slip-up and cursed himself.
He had been so focused on showing his loyalty that he had kept saying Lord Naruto's name, and now his enemy had used it against him!
Uchiha Itachi, you cunning scoundrel!
Itachi was deep in thought.
Naruto?
Was it the same Naruto he knew?
Itachi knew that, if he remembered correctly, wasn't Naruto Uzumaki the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?
How could he also be the leader of Root?
Itachi fell silent, his mind racing through the information he had on Naruto.
When he was in Konoha, due to his lack of time and the constant struggle between the village and his clan, he knew very little about Naruto.
He had only started paying some attention to him after joining the Akatsuki, due to his status as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
His continued attention was because of the Ninja World Daily News.
Among the countless reports, besides the one that had left a deep impression on him about the "God of Shinobi," was the magazine that had to be purchased with the Xiaoyao Pill—Man's Attire.
The first issue's featured person was, naturally, Naruto Uzumaki!
Itachi remembered that magazine vividly because it contained news about Sasuke!
That issue had a small subtitle, "Konoha's Genius is This Humble! A Front-Page Star and a Thoughtful Student Buys a Prized Possession for His Teacher!" The article was about Naruto lining up to buy the book Romance of the Five Nations for his teacher Kakashi.
Through that report, Itachi had learned that Naruto was a student of Team 7, led by Senior Kakashi.
And Team 7 had another member: his little brother, Uchiha Sasuke!
This was why Itachi felt so shocked and even unbelievable at this moment.
His little brother's teammate, a mere 12-year-old boy, had become the leader of Root?
The scene of Danzo, the former Root leader, threatening him with Sasuke's life felt like it had happened just yesterday.
And today, Sasuke's teammate had become the leader of Root?
Life was simply full of drama.
However...
Though his heart was full of turmoil, Itachi's expression remained calm, befitting an old spy.
In fact, after learning this piece of information, he became even more curious about the specific changes in Konoha and Root.
"Mr. Shigaraki, tell me more about Root... and about Naruto Uzumaki!"
Itachi continued his interrogation!
The long hours flew by in an instant!
Tanuki had lost count of the torment he had endured.
Finally, after exhausting all his suffering, he was released from that bizarre place.
Plop!
The moment he was out, Tanuki's spirit collapsed, and he fell limp to the ground.
"Hey! Tanuki, you idiot!"
Seeing this, Aburame Ryoma quickly moved over and helped him up.
Even if they didn't get along within the organization, they were still companions who could rely on each other in the face of an enemy.
After all, Lord Naruto's core philosophy of loving one another had to be fully implemented.
Kisame, who was across from them, glanced at the ramrod-straight Itachi and instantly understood what had happened.
He had seen this kind of situation many times during his years of partnership with Itachi.
"Perfect. Now we can take them out!"
Seeing that one of their opponents was completely incapacitated and the other was in no condition to resist them both.
Kisame raised his great sword Samehada, ready to attack. But the next second, the river surface surged, and a water dragon instantly formed.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A powerful water dragon charged forward. Kisame and Itachi could only leap away to avoid it!
After the attack passed, Itachi discovered that a familiar figure had appeared among the two opponents.
"Senior Kakashi, it's been a long time."