Just after the Masked Man appeared, Uchiha Itachi realized that he could control his body again!
Uchiha Itachi first stretched his body, then looked at the third person who had suddenly appeared.
This person was wearing a black robe and a spiral mask, with only one eye visible beneath it.
"Who are you?"
Uchiha Itachi asked in a deep voice.
"I am Uchiha Madara!"
The spiral mask's self-introduction surprised Itachi; he hadn't expected the new figure to be Uchiha Madara.
However, considering this was a virtual world, anyone could appear.
The Masked Man, who called himself Uchiha Madara, placed Sasuke on the ground, then said in a low, hoarse voice, "Uchiha Itachi, it seems you can no longer be used by me! In that case, you shall die!"
With that, the spiral Masked Man charged at Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi naturally couldn't sit idly by, and so, the two began to fight.
But the Masked Man's ability was very strange; all of Itachi's attacks were like striking air, having no effect on him at all.
"It's useless, you cannot defeat me!"
Suddenly, the Masked Man's figure appeared behind Itachi, and just as Itachi turned his head, his eyes met the Masked Man's.
With that one gaze, Itachi felt his body unable to move, only able to watch helplessly as the kunai in the Masked Man's hand stabbed towards his heart.
However, just as the Masked Man was about to succeed, a smaller figure blocked Itachi, shielding him from the fatal blow.
Indeed, it was Sasuke who blocked the attack.
Sasuke's chest took the Masked Man's kunai.
The kunai pierced Sasuke's heart, and blood spurted from the wound as if it were free.
At the same time, Itachi also broke free from the genjutsu and caught Sasuke, who had fallen to the ground.
Before Itachi could speak, Sasuke grabbed his hand and said, "Brother! I have lied countless times, harmed countless people in this life, killed my father, mother, sister-in-law, master, and friends. What evil have I not done in this world!" At this point, Sasuke coughed up a mouthful of blood, then looked at Itachi with deep affection and uttered his last words, "But I never once thought of harming you!"
Naruto, hearing this classic line from mid-air, knew without a doubt that this line was definitely concocted by his mother.
"Looks like Mom has been reading a lot of BL novels recently."
Uchiha Itachi's eyes changed instantly upon seeing his younger brother die in his arms, gradually transforming into the Mangekyo Sharingan.
But... the Mangekyo Sharingan only appeared for a fleeting moment before vanishing!
Naruto, seeing this from mid-air, shook his head helplessly and said, "It seems it failed..."
"Indeed... for someone as extremely calm as Itachi, trying to awaken the Mangekyo in a virtual world is no simple task!"
"It failed?" Shisui also saw what had just happened, then looked at Naruto and asked, "What do we do next?"
Naruto shrugged and said, "Of course, we let nature take its course."
With that, Naruto swiped his right hand, and the operation interface appeared.
On the other side.
Itachi, realizing his awakening had failed, was also a bit disappointed.
However, very quickly, an interface appeared before him, prompting him that he could exit the virtual world.
Itachi clicked to confirm exit, and then, with a blur before his eyes, he exited the virtual world.
Itachi took off his helmet and said with some helplessness, "It seems it failed."
At the same time, Naruto and Shisui also took off their helmets.
"Sigh, there's no way around it; you're too calm! I can't really kill Shisui for real, can I?"
Naruto said, somewhat exasperated.
Shisui looked at the already darkening sky, then said to Itachi, "Itachi, it's getting late. Let's talk about awakening the Mangekyo tomorrow!"
Itachi nodded upon hearing this.
Just like that, the two left the forest and headed towards the Uchiha Clan Estate.
Naruto, standing in place, revealed a smile, then swiped his right hand, and the operation panel reappeared before him.
Itachi and Shisui walked on the road back to the Uchiha Clan Estate.
Shisui smiled, "Itachi, if I died, would you awaken the Mangekyo?"
Itachi nodded upon hearing this, "Probably! After all, you're my best friend!"
"Sigh, the Uchiha are truly a cursed clan. To gain power, one must lose love, and to protect that love in one's heart, one needs great power."
Shisui's words silenced Itachi.
After a long silence, he calmly said, "It's different now. At least there's another way to gain power: the virtual helmet!"
Shisui shrugged and said, "Yes... but you still failed!"
Just as Shisui's voice fell, a blood-red light shot towards the two from not far away.
Feeling the sharp gust of wind behind him, Shisui pushed Itachi aside, and at the same time, he also retreated backward.
However, because of his action of pushing Itachi away, that sharp gust of wind severed one of Shisui's arms at the shoulder.
"Shisui..." Itachi saw Shisui's arm fall to the ground, his face filled with worry.
"I'm fine, watch out for the enemy!"
Shisui shouted, then formed a hand seal with one hand, using the Body Flicker Technique to leave his spot.
At the same time, Itachi also used the Substitution Jutsu to evade the next wave of attacks.
The two looked in the direction of the attack and saw a person wearing a blood-red long robe and an oni mask walking towards them.
Arriving at Shisui's previous location, the mysterious person picked up Shisui's severed arm, and then the two saw that Shisui's severed arm was shrinking at a visible rate, turning into a dried corpse in a breath's time.
The blood in the arm had been extracted by the mysterious person.
The blood floated and spun continuously in the mysterious person's palm, looking very eerie.
"This... this couldn't be the legendary Blood Release?"
Shisui said with a shocked expression.
Hearing "Blood Release," Itachi also remembered the Blood Release Ninja who had recently caused panic among the Konoha higher-ups.
"Be careful, Itachi... This Blood Release Ninja has escaped from the Third Hokage multiple times and even managed to injure him."
Itachi nodded and said, "I heard that not only that, but Danzo also seems to have been seriously injured by this guy and his companions. It's been so long, and Danzo still hasn't appeared; it seems he must be quite badly hurt!"
The Blood Release Ninja heard the two's conversation, then laughed sinisterly, "Heh heh... I can assassinate the Third Hokage, you two little guys, just surrender!"