Moonlight poured like water over the clearing; two figures faced each other from a distance.
Their gazes clashed midair, battle intent climbing.
The air seemed to stall; even the usual chorus of insects and birds fell silent before the killing chill.
Without warning, Eiya vanished where he stood, leaving not a trace.
Itachi's scarlet Sharingan spun, wary and searching.
A sharp hiss split the dark—Eiya seemed to appear from nothing ten meters behind Itachi.
Cold light flashed; a chill edge swept Itachi's neck.
An instant later, his head flew—then both head and body burst into a flock of black crows that scattered skyward.
"Testing me with a crow clone first? Cautious enough."
Eiya snorted. His three-tomoe Sharingan whirled, hunting the slightest motion.
He was about to press the trail when two piercing whistles cut the air.
Two kunai sprang from the dark—one for his throat, the other for his spine.
Eiya twisted, skimming past the vitals.
As he slipped them, his brows knotted.
"Not two—three!"
The second and third had launched almost together; he'd heard only two cuts of air.
Hidden in the second's shadow, the third rode the night, almost undetectable.
With a bright clang, the front kunai's path jerked—then, as if guided, knifed toward Eiya's head.
His pupils tightened. "He pre-read my dodge?"
"Impressive."
In the spark between heartbeats, a dozen answers flashed through his mind.
Lightning burst across him; a cloak of crackling armor wrapped his body.
The incoming kunai struck and bounced with a ringing note, sparks spitting off the shroud of light.
Eiya traced its line back to a thicket in the dark and smiled thinly. "Found the real you."
Before the last word fell, he became a blue bolt and lanced for it.
Grass curled black along his wake under the savage current.
Itachi's fingers twitched; nearly invisible wires sprang from the brush, strung across Eiya's path.
At that speed, an ordinary man would be diced to ribbons.
But Lightning Release: Armor sheared the wires like string. Eiya barreled through unscathed and slammed down in front of Itachi.
The gale of his rush made Itachi squint. Lightning danced on Eiya's skin with a harsh crackle, branding tiny scorch-lines on Itachi's cheek before contact.
Itachi's eyes tightened.
At this distance and speed he had no time to weave a counter.
In the pinch, he wrenched his right arm up, barely getting a kunai before him.
Eiya's eyes flashed. Four fingers came together; blue lightning burst from his tips.
A crisp snap—steel met light and the kunai shattered.
The blow launched Itachi like a kite with a cut string, slamming him into a trunk.
Bark split with a crack.
Blood sprayed from his mouth; his right arm fell limp.
"Terrifying power…"
He forced himself up, disbelief stark in his eyes.
Eiya surged again in a blaze of thunder, clearly not done.
Wariness deepened in Itachi's gaze. Gritting through pain, his left hand flew through seals.
Then—
"Hey—both of you are clan. No need to go for the kill, right?"
A lazy, clear voice broke the night.
A youth stood in a nearby shadow, twin blades slung across his back.
He scratched his head and looked at them with a touch of helplessness.
Eiya cut his charge short, a hard warning pricking his gut.
Strange—he hadn't sensed the approach at all. No chakra ripple, no breath of wind. As if the newcomer had appeared from empty air.
He focused on the face and understood.
"Uchiha Shisui. Your Shunshin lives up to the name. A true clan prodigy," Eiya said, brows lifting.
Shisui shrugged with a small smile. "You flatter me. In your place, I wouldn't have the nerve to kill a village jōnin in front of the clan head and the Hokage—or draw a blade on kin for nothing."
His smile faded; his eyes sharpened.
"Itachi's right," he said, tone turning grave. "War brings pain to countless people. You're strong… but I hope you'll change your view and stand with us."
Eiya was silent a moment, then slowly shook his head, a cold smile showing. "No. This one's a monster without a heart. For the Uchiha's future, I have to kill him here."
"Shisui, don't interfere."
Shisui snorted, his right hand settling on a hilt. "You'll be disappointed. If you move on Itachi, I won't stand by."
Eiya held quiet for a long beat, then gave a rueful smile. "Shame. I don't want to fight you—yet."
Not only because Shisui's Body Flicker was ghostly, but because he had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He held the most broken power in the shinobi world—Kotoamatsukami, the strongest genjutsu.
It could slip into a mind without notice and rewrite will in secret.
Without a sure path to victory, Eiya wouldn't gamble against Shisui.
Failing to kill Itachi tonight was a pity. At this stage Itachi hadn't awakened the Mangekyō; at three tomoe each, the edge had been Eiya's.
But the clash had clarified his own limits.
And there was time. He would have chances to erase the clan's greatest threat—the rewards would come.
[Ding! Indulgence successful.]
[Unknown in the clan, you challenged a prodigy with steady confidence, yet refused a short-term win before a true opponent, advancing and retreating at will. Indulgence level: B.]
[Issuing reward…]
[Obtained: physique strength +20%.]
[Obtained: chakra capacity +20%.]
Late night settled over the Uchiha estate.
Itachi eased open his gate; the wood gave a small creak.
"So late?" a low voice sounded in the darkened sitting room.
His steps paused. He looked toward it.
Uchiha Fugaku sat at a low table in the gloom.
"Father," Itachi said, bowing.
Fugaku rose and stepped close. In the faint light, his face darkened. "What happened to you?"
Itachi instinctively tucked his bandaged right hand behind him. "I ran into Eiya. We exchanged a few blows."
Fugaku's tension eased a hair. "Who won?"
"I lost," Itachi said softly.
"I see." Fugaku frowned, as if to say more; the scene in the Hokage's office at dusk crossed his mind, and he swallowed the words.
"And badly," Itachi went on. "If Shisui hadn't come, he would have killed me."
Fugaku narrowed his eyes. "You two rarely cross paths. He bears you no grudge. No reason to go that far."
"Father, he's a complete warmonger. His existence is a grave risk for Konoha as a whole."
"Is that so." Fugaku's face showed little.
War itself didn't trouble him, no matter the foe.
But Itachi's words stirred an idea.
For the Uchiha, war might not be a bad thing.
With merit in war, they might change the leadership's view of the clan.
Like Uchiha Kagami—praised even by Tobirama and Danzō, who both bore bias against the Uchiha.
Perhaps war could be a chance to shift the clan's fate.
"It's late. Rest," Fugaku said, voice back to its steady calm. "Tomorrow, I'll speak to him myself."