Itachi stepped one foot into Ryosuke's firing range.
Waited one second.
Nothing happened.
He turned his head and looked at Konan and Deidara ten meters away, using his gaze to signal, everything is under control.
When Itachi turned his head back again, a fist, bigger than his own head, had already slammed in front of him.
BOOM!
Itachi's body turned into countless crows and scattered, then regrouped a few steps away.
"I knew it."
Itachi pointed at Star Platinum, "I knew it. You definitely left a backup plan!"
Last time, Itachi underestimated Ryosuke, didn't activate his Sharingan, didn't use ninjutsu, got careless and let Ryosuke get the first move, almost lost his life in one combo.
On the surface, he didn't say anything, acted calm and indifferent like he forgot the whole thing, but secretly, every night before bed, he was reviewing it in his mind, wishing he could go back to the night of the clan's extermination.
Itachi had prepared a Substitution Jutsu early, he was waiting for this very moment. He would absolutely not...
'Something's wrong!' Itachi was suddenly alarmed.
The three tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, he snapped to awareness.
Only now did he realize, at some point, a candle-like liquid had appeared on his body. Looking ahead, where was Star Platinum?
There was only a white snake grinning sinisterly.
"So you noticed, huh… Your reaction really is fast." The white snake spoke sarcastically.
'Genjutsu?! When did Ryosuke learn genjutsu?!'
Itachi didn't have time to think further, because the white snake's fist had already slammed toward him.
Itachi had seen the consequences of being hit, he hurriedly raised his kunai to block.
'Huh?'
The strength was much weaker than he imagined.
Itachi quickly realized, not all evil spirits had the same terrifying pressure as Star Platinum. This one in front of him was more skilled in genjutsu.
He quickly analyzed, but then suddenly, he heard the wind whistle toward him.
Ryosuke, wielding the Ruin Greatsword, had already arrived in front of Itachi.
'So fast?!'
He had no time to form hand signs for ninjutsu.
'Genjutsu… With this thing present, it won't work on Ryosuke.'
In a hurry, Itachi could only kick the white snake away, and use the small kunai in his hand to take on the nearly two-meter-long Ruin Greatsword.
Clang!
The sound of the clash made all the scouts tremble in their hearts.
They saw Itachi hold for not even half a second, his arm bent unnaturally under the impact and, like a baseball, he was smashed flying.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Wasn't Itachi the one who cast genjutsu and controlled Ryosuke?
Why was it the other way around, Itachi using Substitution Jutsu, getting blasted away?
Who the hell was caught in genjutsu?
Only Itachi, who was sent flying, knew, the two of them had each fallen into the other's genjutsu and both broke free using their own strengths.
The only reason the outcome differed was because one side had prepared, the other hadn't.
When Itachi appeared, Ryosuke had indeed fallen under genjutsu. But relying on the white snake's power, he broke free, and saw the three Akatsuki members descend from the sky.
Ryosuke had seen the Akatsuki cloak before in Hayato Kamihara's intel.
Realizing they were enemies on par with Orochimaru, Ryosuke deliberately pretended to be trapped in genjutsu, luring the three into his firing range.
He didn't expect the other two to be overly cautious, only the old acquaintance, Itachi, recklessly stepped in.
But Ryosuke knew, ninjas had Substitution Jutsu as a life-saving technique. Especially Itachi, who had already taken a punch from Star Platinum before. The guy might've kept a trick up his sleeve.
So Ryosuke first lured him closer, then activated the white snake's illusion realm ability.
He knew Itachi was a genjutsu master, even the white snake couldn't trap him long.
But Ryosuke didn't need long. An instant was enough.
In that instant, he made Itachi think Star Platinum was punching him, burned his Substitution Jutsu, and ignored the real Ryosuke charging in.
Itachi had secretly sworn never to underestimate Ryosuke again, but…
'Just how many hidden abilities does this guy have?!'
Konan caught Itachi.
His right arm was broken. For a ninja of Itachi's level, this injury would heal in a few days.
But in today's battle, it would affect his hand-sign speed and taijutsu performance.
Konan stepped forward, "Wait a moment, we have no ill intent."
Ryosuke glanced at Itachi, who had stood back up again. "You brought him right in front of me, didn't even say hello, and ambushed me. Now you tell me you have no ill intent?"
Konan swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Ryosuke wasn't wrong. In the original plan, this line, "We have no ill intent", was supposed to be spoken after the three of them subdued Ryosuke, as a victor's statement.
From her experience in recruiting, usually at this stage, even the most unruly ninjas would quiet down.
But right now, Ryosuke had just defeated Orochimaru and repelled Itachi with one strike. His momentum was soaring.
'This is getting tricky…'
Konan took a deep breath and stated their purpose.
Ryosuke nodded, summarizing, "So, you want to drag me into your criminal group? And you want me to spare Orochimaru too?"
"…Yes."
"Why should I join Akatsuki?"
"Because of ideology."
Konan said seriously, "I can tell you're dissatisfied with the ninja world's rules. But your power is still too small. If you join us, you can realize your ideals."
Ryosuke shook his head, "I don't know what your ideology is, but..."
He looked at Orochimaru, then at Itachi.
A group that could accept these two, Ryosuke felt there had to be major ideological differences between them and him.
Deidara spoke bluntly, "Join Akatsuki, and you'll be super happy. You can kill whoever you want, do whatever you want."
Ryosuke chuckled.
Star Platinum appeared, and punched Orochimaru's head to pieces.
"You..."
Konan didn't expect Ryosuke to act so decisively.
Without chakra's protection and no automatic regeneration mechanism, Orochimaru collapsed with a thud.
"Right now, I'm doing exactly what I want, killing the people I want to kill. Why should I join you?"
The three Akatsuki members had no idea how to respond.
"R… Ryosuke…"
Orochimaru spoke, "I… don't want… to die…"
Those whose discs were taken by the white snake would enter a false-death state. Only when they birthed a truly powerful obsession could they briefly move again.
In JoJo, Jotaro did it for his daughter.
But right now, Orochimaru… it was for his desire to "live."
Ryosuke stared into Orochimaru's eyes, he had never seen such condensed obsession in anyone's gaze before.
"Yeah. You don't want to die, but who does?"
Ryosuke knelt slightly and spoke softly, "Relax. Feeling dizzy is normal. You will definitely die. No one who comes here today can save you."
"You have too many tricks. If you live, I'm worried that even with your discs in my hand, you'll still backstab me later."
"But don't worry, you seek immortality, right? You'll live on in others' memories, as a 'disc', forever."
"Immortality…"
Orochimaru reached out, trying to grab his own disc, but finally, his arm dropped heavily to the ground.
He died.
[Slayed Orochimaru. Gained 600 Soul Fragments.]
'So few?'
Ryosuke thought for a moment, then understood, because he had just defeated Orochimaru recently and gained fragments from that. So now, the actual kill resulted in reduced gain.
Otherwise, Ryosuke could just catch a poor guy who trained only regeneration, beat him repeatedly, wait for him to recover, beat him again… and endlessly farm soul fragments.
That would clearly be unreasonable.
Considering that Ryosuke's soul could be used as collateral, he guessed that each opponent had a fixed number of soul fragments they could yield in a period. Once squeezed dry, they wouldn't yield more.
Not until they experienced dramatic growth or transformation, would they generate new soul fragments.
Ryosuke held two discs between his fingers, the goal of this mission was now complete. Orochimaru was dead.
He looked again at the three in front of him, "The man, I've killed him. I'm also not going with you. So, what now?"
Deidara and Itachi turned their gazes to Konan.
Konan took a deep breath, "Attack!"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰