In the forest not far from the Uchiha Clan Estate.
Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui faced the mysterious Blood Release Ninja.
"Itachi, I'll take the lead, you cover me."
"Shisui, are you sure?" Itachi asked in a deep voice, looking at Shisui, who only had one arm left.
"Yes! No problem!"
As he finished speaking, Shisui charged towards the Blood Release Ninja.
Seeing this, the Blood Release Ninja said mockingly, "Your arm is broken, yet you're not stopping the bleeding. You must be looking down on my Blood Release!"
As he spoke, the Blood Release Ninja casually formed a hand seal, and then Shisui, who was charging forward, felt a sharp pain in his severed arm. Gushing blood flowed from the wound, forming a dagger that stabbed towards Shisui's neck.
Shisui was also startled. Before the blood dagger could pierce his neck, he used his other hand to draw a kunai and shattered the blood dagger.
However, even though it was shattered, the flowing blood was still controlled by the Blood Release Ninja and gradually reformed.
Shisui knew that if he didn't stop the bleeding, he might very well be killed by his own blood.
Thinking this, Shisui no longer rushed to attack. After shattering the re-coalescing blood, he formed a hand seal with one hand and directly unleashed a small Fire Release blast onto his severed arm.
A heart-wrenching pain came from the severed arm, causing Shisui to let out a muffled groan instinctively.
The flames quickly seared the wound on the severed arm, even causing slight carbonization.
At the same time, his wound stopped bleeding.
The Blood Release Ninja gave Shisui a thumbs-up and said, "As expected of the Uchiha's top genius, truly bold!"
Shisui didn't reply, but secretly formed hand seals with his hand behind his back.
Once the hand seals were complete, Shisui's figure vanished from his original spot, reappearing behind the Blood Release Ninja, delivering a knee strike towards the back of the Blood Release Ninja's head.
The moment the knee strike hit the back of the Blood Release Ninja's head, the Blood Release Ninja's figure dissolved into a puddle of blood.
The blood not only splattered all over the ground but also landed on Shisui.
Waves of a bloody smell entered Shisui's nostrils, making him feel a sense of unease.
"Damn it," Shisui cursed under his breath, then tried to wash off the blood on him with Water Release.
He knew that blood was the Blood Release Ninja's weapon of attack, and he absolutely had to wash it off immediately.
But because Shisui only had one hand left, his hand seal speed was a bit slower, and it was this slight delay that allowed the Blood Release Ninja to attack again.
Shisui had strong perception. Seeing that he didn't have enough time to form hand seals for Water Release, he immediately used Susanoo, intending to block the Blood Release Ninja's attack.
But he forgot that while Susanoo was absolute defense, its interior was an absolute weakness.
The blood clinging to Shisui instantly transformed into thousands of fine needles, directly piercing into Shisui's body. Susanoo, one could say, didn't defend against it at all.
This single strike instantly rendered Shisui unable to fight.
This confrontation happened in an instant.
Uchiha Itachi, standing not far away, had just pulled out a shuriken when Shisui already collapsed in a pool of blood.
"Bastard."
Itachi roared, then dozens of shuriken flew towards the Blood Release Ninja at extremely tricky angles.
Seeing this, the Blood Release Ninja waved his hand, and all the blood on the ground coalesced around him, forming a shield that blocked the shuriken attacks from all angles.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Itachi rushed to Shisui's side and picked him up.
Itachi knew that it was very difficult, almost impossible, to defeat an enemy stronger than himself when he completely lacked information about them.
Just like Shisui, even though Shisui had activated his Mangekyo and reached Kage-level strength, it was precisely because he lacked information about the Blood Release Ninja that he was ambushed and severely wounded by the Blood Release Ninja.
Shisui slowly opened his eyes and saw Itachi, whose Mangekyo flickered on and off.
He estimated that with a little more stimulation, Itachi would be able to fully activate his Mangekyo.
"Itachi, you won't be able to escape with me!"
Shisui said weakly.
"I don't know why, but I feel completely drained of strength just from these injuries! I think it must be because those blood contain toxins."
"So… Itachi…"
Before Shisui could finish his sentence, Itachi interrupted him directly, "I will not abandon my comrades, especially not my only best friend!"
Just as Itachi's words fell, a teasing voice sounded above his head.
"Heh heh… how touching!"
Uchiha Itachi looked up and saw that the Blood Release Ninja had grown a pair of blood-formed wings on his back and was flying in mid-air.
Seeing this, Itachi knew that the chances of escaping to call for help were slim to none!
"Sigh, I'm tired of playing too! I'll send you two on your way now!"
As he spoke, the Blood Release Ninja in mid-air raised a hand, and a spear condensed from blood appeared in his hand.
The Blood Release Ninja merely aimed for a moment, then shot the blood-colored spear towards Itachi's position.
The spear was very fast, and Itachi, carrying Shisui, couldn't dodge it at all.
At this critical moment, Shisui pushed Itachi again.
It was this push that caused the spear to directly pierce through Shisui's chest, saving Itachi.
The spear piercing through Shisui's chest wasn't the end; with a "boom," the spear exploded, tearing Shisui into pieces.
Seeing his best friend tragically die in front of him, Uchiha Itachi immediately went berserk. His Mangekyo, which had been flickering, now fully manifested.
At the same time, his eyes began to bleed.
The Blood Release Ninja saw this and a smile appeared on his lips. "Heh heh… it seems the plan was very successful!"
Just as Itachi, who had activated his Mangekyo, was about to fight the Blood Release Ninja to the death, the Blood Release Ninja suddenly transformed, turning into Naruto.
And Shisui, who had been blown into pieces on the ground, also returned to his original state.
Itachi, who had been filled with anger, first froze at this sight, then immediately realized what was happening.
"I… I never exited the virtual world?"
Not only was Itachi a bit stunned, but Shisui was also a bit dazed.
The Shisui from before was the real Shisui, and he thought he was truly going to die.
It wasn't until he was actually blown into pieces and a system panel, which only appeared in the virtual world, appeared before him, that he realized he and Itachi had never exited the virtual world.
Naruto shrugged with a smile and said, "Of course… Since the previous plot couldn't make you awaken, I could only resort to this last measure. It seems this method is quite effective!"
As Naruto finished speaking, Itachi sat on the ground with a sigh of relief.
"Phew… it's fake, that's good, it's fake, that's good…"