Garaga was even more resilient and tenacious than Itachi had anticipated.
By the time Itachi slowly made his way near the mission target, Garaga still showed no signs of surrendering.
The lone remaining eye, bloodshot and fierce, gave off a menacing aura.
At times, Itachi even felt like letting the guy go. Look at how tormented he'd been—it was almost pitiful.
But for now, Itachi didn't know how to undo the technique. He figured that as soon as Garaga's mindset shifted, the technique's true nature would be revealed.
---
"This guy… where could he possibly be hiding? If he's tucked away in the mountains, it'll be a pain," Itachi muttered, staring at the endless stretch of mountains ahead.
This was the direction the mission target had fled.
After some thought, Itachi continued forward. If he couldn't find this one, he could always go after the others.
He had memorized the appearances of three individuals. Their general locations were all in this area, and the bounties for each were around five million ryo—not too high, but not low either.
There wasn't much competition. For Itachi, completing a single mission would give him enough money to take a decent amount of time off.
---
Half a month later, Itachi finally had the money. He had only completed one mission, and the exchange office had taken a hefty cut, but he was still left with a decent sum of silver.
With the money in hand, Itachi felt a little lost. He realized he'd been drifting aimlessly.
When he had some downtime, he remembered his original goal: to mess with Obito. He couldn't just take all their missions and leave them broke, right?
Besides, Konan managed Akatsuki's finances, and most of the money ended up funding explosive tags—six trillion of them, to be exact.
This showed that maintaining Akatsuki's operations didn't require vast amounts of money.
"Whatever," Itachi sighed. "I'll look for some stronger opponents to spar with first."
Since Orochimaru hadn't finished his experiments, Itachi made his way to the nearby exchange office to find higher-bounty targets to take on for fun.
---
"Massive discounts at the shop! The boss ran off with his mistress, so we're liquidating everything in tears!"
Itachi walked into a nearby city.
Now that he had money, he planned to buy a few outfits.
His previous cloaks were all oversized, which is why they still fit after a year in Ryūchi Cave. They were comfortable, too.
But Itachi wasn't a fan of the style. He preferred his old look—slipping his hands into wide sleeves to discreetly make hand signs.
As for the clothing underneath his cloak, those were supplied by Kushinada-hime. He couldn't just wear a single outer layer, after all.
Hearing the distinctly modern shouting from nearby, Itachi felt a little out of place.
But when he glanced at the store's name, he lost interest.
After all, he was still too young for that sort of thing.
---
After ordering a few tailored outfits, Itachi strolled down the street, satisfied. He planned to book a luxurious hotel suite for a proper rest.
Since the custom outfits wouldn't be ready until the next day, he'd have to stay in the city for a night.
---
The next day, after picking up his new clothes, Itachi donned his custom-made robe.
If Minato Namikaze were to see him, he might've cursed aloud.
The robe Itachi had designed was none other than a divine ceremonial robe.
However, his version was long-sleeved—extremely long sleeves, in fact. The overall color was black, with red patterns of a blood moon, clouds, and crows on the back.
It was custom-made to perfectly reflect Itachi's vision.
He also wore a silver oni mask over his face. Since the sage's mask he had seen was silver, he had developed a preference for that color.
The mask was a trophy from a previous battle.
Dressed in his new outfit, Itachi casually put on the mask and set off.
---
"Garaga, have you had enough yet? It's been over a month. How are you feeling?"
Leaving the city behind, Itachi's figure vanished into the forest, reappearing in the Tsukuyomi world. His tone was laced with mild exasperation.
Garaga, hearing the irritating noise of the space finally go quiet, looked up at the masked figure floating in midair. The vertical pupils in his eyes contracted as he took a deep breath of the now-silent air. A trace of fear flickered in his gaze.
"Kid, what do you want from me? I give up, okay? Just let me out!"
Garaga's voice was bitter as he pleaded. He didn't dare to act cocky anymore.
It felt like his head was about to explode.
This kid was just… unbearable.
Hearing Garaga's words, Itachi felt a glimmer of hope. But then, he looked at him strangely.
"You're lying. If you'd truly given up, there should've been some change by now…"
---
"How am I lying? I already said I surrendered the last time you asked! I swear I'm not lying! Kill me or torture me however you want, but stop messing with me!"
Frustrated by Itachi's accusations, Garaga snapped.
He'd already declared his surrender last time, but this kid didn't believe him. Instead, he'd left him hanging here for another half month. How was he supposed to prove himself?
Watching Garaga's agitated reaction, Itachi froze for a moment. Why wasn't the space showing any signs of change?
"How about this—you call me 'Master' and swear to obey me from now on?" Itachi suggested awkwardly, rubbing his hands together.
---
"Never! Serpents will never be slaves! I've already gone above and beyond by agreeing to fight for you, and you haven't even taken my reverse scale!"
The moment Garaga heard Itachi's outrageous request, he flatly refused.
If he gave in now, how would he ever show his face in Ryūchi Cave again?
---
"Reverse scale?" Itachi was slightly taken aback when he heard Garaga's words. Landing gracefully on the ground, he began walking slowly toward Garaga.
"You're as slippery as a drop of water. How am I supposed to pluck off your reverse scale?"
Itachi reached out his hand toward Garaga, then froze for a moment. His hand had touched Garaga...
"What's going on now?"
"Is it because Garaga stopped resisting that I can touch him, or is it because the creature I created has limitations?"
Itachi paused, deep in thought.
"Read the correct version only at Book Bar, 6-9 edition!"
He then controlled a large, bald-headed creation, wielding a drumstick-like hammer, and struck at Garaga.
To his surprise, he managed to land the hit…
"Could it be that Garaga's will has already been altered or brainwashed by me? But it doesn't really seem like it…"
Itachi felt stumped once again.
If this was the effect of Kotoamatsukami, it felt far from reliable. Perhaps Garaga was only temporarily coerced into submission…
Even so, Itachi found Garaga's reverse scale, grabbed it, and, channeling chakra, yanked it off.
Regardless of the reasoning, he didn't want to torment this unlucky, lost little snake any further.
It was pitiful enough that even he couldn't bear to watch anymore.
For more than a month, Garaga endured an inescapable mix of incessant noise and the grotesque visage of the bald-headed figure looming over him, tirelessly moving 24 hours a day. It was maddening.
To make matters worse, Garaga was completely immobilized, forced to watch helplessly, his mind remaining constantly active.
...
After the reverse scale was removed, Garaga's form gradually faded from the space.
"I'm free! Finally free! Aaaaaah!"
Sensing the growing surge of Sage energy within him, Garaga roared in excitement…
By the time he regained his composure, he found himself back in his lair, precisely where he had been originally.
Itachi glanced at the now-empty space and smiled faintly.
The drum corps dissolved into glimmers of light and vanished.
The scene shifted. Itachi returned to reality and assessed his Tsukuyomi.
He discovered that his ocular jutsu had entered a cooldown state, preventing him from reactivating it or binding someone else for reconditioning.
Still, he could sense that the space remained accessible to him, indicating it hadn't been completely closed off.
"I wonder how long the cooldown will last. Hopefully not as ridiculously long as Kotoamatsukami, where it's over a decade between uses..." Itachi clicked his tongue, muttering curiously to himself.
"But come to think of it, Shisui never used Kotoamatsukami again before his death. How did he know the cooldown period was so long? Did he have some kind of built-in auto-broadcast assistant? Tsk, tsk..."
...
"Kid, you've got some nerve coming after me!"
A few days later, Itachi tracked down his target, a man with a bounty of 20 million ryō.
This man was audacious—he knew his worth and yet roamed freely without bothering to hide.
"A walking 20 million ryō, how cocky can you be!"
Standing atop a massive boulder with arms crossed, Itachi stared down at his target.
"Heh, I like your mask, boy. Hand it over, bow down, and kowtow, and maybe I'll let you live."
The man wielded a long sword, his appearance refined, standing about 5'11". However, his words were sharp and brash.
"If you're so bold, why did you run earlier? Were you just luring me to this isolated spot?"
Itachi asked curiously from behind his mask.
Hearing this, the man's expression grew tense. If this person had seen through his intentions and still acted so confidently, he was likely no ordinary opponent.
...
"Scorpion, it seems someone else has already beaten us to the target."
From the distance, two figures approached slowly.
One had a hideous appearance, wearing a black cloak adorned with red clouds. His left arm was a mechanical device, and his back bore a grimacing demon mask, with a scorpion-like metal tail extending from its mouth.
The other had a shark-like face, dressed in the same black cloak with red clouds. He carried a massive weapon wrapped in bandages on his back.
The shark-faced man was the one who spoke.
"Let them fight first. They're just small fry. Their corpses might still be useful later," Scorpion replied flatly, his tone devoid of emotion. His gaze, like a still pond, betrayed no interest.
Still, his eyes lingered on the two figures in the arena, as if evaluating their potential value.
...
Behind his mask, Itachi's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan spun briefly. He had intended to test the ability of his right eye but instead sensed two approaching chakras.
Recognizing one of them, an idea formed in his mind. His eyes reverted to normal.
"Before the blood moon bounty hunter, do you have any last words?"
Standing over the 20-million-ryō target, Itachi improvised a code name and announced it aloud.
Everything was unfolding just as he envisioned.
---