Chapter 14: Mirror Eyes
"Itachi, rest for now." The masked man placed his hand on Itachi's shoulder, and with a spatial distortion, Itachi's figure instantly vanished.
How could Yu let this opportunity slip? He slashed with his fingertip, perfectly fusing magnetic field power with chakra to send a sharp cutting strike through the air.
However, the strike passed straight through the masked man's body as if he were merely a phantom.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Yu unleashed several more cutting attacks in succession, but they all struck nothing but air. The masked man seemed to exist outside this dimension entirely, rendering all attacks useless.
"Knowing your attacks are ineffective, yet you continue these pointless attempts?" The masked man's tone remained casual.
In Yu's perception, though the figure before him was clearly visible, he couldn't detect the slightest chakra or biological magnetic field fluctuation—as if the man existed in another dimension.
"Just a sewer rat hiding behind a mask, yet so talkative," Yu sneered coldly. "Someone like you probably doesn't even have anyone to talk to, right?"
"You're just like Itachi—trash who only picks on the weak!"
"A self-righteous fool."
Yu continued provoking and insulting from every angle.
It was hard to imagine that this normally refined and gentle youth could utter such harsh, crude words.
The masked man remained unmoved throughout, showing no intention to attack. Until Yu suddenly shifted his approach: "Garbage like you would never be liked by any woman, because you're just rotten goods."
"Shut up!" The masked man's voice turned instantly frigid.
"Oh, so you're a romantic fool after all." A glint flashed in Yu's eyes as if he'd found a breakthrough. "The woman you like probably isn't anything special either. To get involved with trash like you, she's probably playing around plenty behind your back."
"Maybe she's already gotten cozy with your friends while you remain oblivious. Am I right, garbage?"
"I told you to shut up!" The masked man roared in fury, assuming an attack stance.
In that instant, Yu finally captured his opponent's biological magnetic field. Without hesitation, he exploded with full power, using his hand like a blade to strike at the masked man's vital points with thunderous force.
"Damn it!"
The masked man's pupils contracted sharply, alarm bells ringing in his mind. He knew well the terrifying power and speed that exceeded even tailed beasts, which was why he'd maintained his intangible state to test his opponent's limits.
But this state could only last five minutes at most, and more critically—he had to become corporeal to attack.
"Wood Style: Thorn Kill!"
He hastily activated Wood Release, sharp wooden spikes instantly growing from his arms and torso, trying to block this deadly strike. If he could just hold out for a few seconds...
BOOM!
However, if even the supposedly absolute defense of Susanoo couldn't withstand it, how could mere Wood Release? The masked man's body was directly shattered under the violent force, blood and flesh scattering.
But the next second—
"Whew..."
The masked man appeared completely unharmed dozens of meters away, as if the previous carnage had been mere illusion. Yet the bloody smell lingering in the air proved it was no mirage.
"Izanagi?!"
Yu's eyes sharpened as he immediately recognized this forbidden Uchiha technique—sacrificing one Sharingan to rewrite the reality of death.
This time, the masked man dared not underestimate his opponent in the slightest. His Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly as he instantly vanished from the spot.
'Damn... what a massive loss today, running into such a monster...'
In an instant, the entire battlefield fell into deathly silence. Yu stood alone, no other presence within his sensing range.
His right Mangekyo Sharingan suddenly spun violently, its pattern gradually transforming to match the masked man's shuriken shape exactly! Space began distorting around him, and the next second, his figure similarly disappeared.
"Mirror Eyes"—this was his awakened Mangekyo ability. Any Mangekyo ocular technique displayed three times before him would be perfectly copied, while also reflecting any genjutsu like a mirror.
---
An endless gray dimension filled with countless regular cubic stone pillars floating in the void, forming this bizarre world.
Space rippled as the youth's slender figure appeared from nowhere. He immediately expanded his senses, chakra spreading like a tide in all directions.
"Found you!"
On a distant pillar, that familiar chakra signature made Yu's lips curve into a savage arc. He crouched slightly before shooting out like a cannonball, leaving only an afterimage in the void.
"This time, let's see where you can run."
---
Simultaneously, the masked man's pupils contracted violently beneath his mask as he clearly sensed a third person's chakra fluctuation entering Kamui's dimension.
This discovery made every hair on his body stand on end. For years, this had been his absolute domain where no one could easily trespass.
"Impossible! How could he..."
His earlier composure had completely vanished, replaced by unprecedented gravity.
He stared intently at the gradually clearing figure in the dust, his single Sharingan spinning wildly: "Could his Mangekyo also be Kamui? No... that's absolutely impossible..."
BOOM!
Through the scattering rubble, Yu's figure broke through the dust cloud. Those crimson Mangekyo eyes appeared especially striking in the dim space.
"Now, where can you run?" The youth's voice was ice-cold, each word seemingly squeezed through clenched teeth. "You two... damned bastards."
Itachi leaned against a stone pillar, his pale face showing a trace of bitterness.
The monster radiating terrifying aura before him was his own creation.
For Konoha, for the so-called "greater good," he had accepted Danzo's conditions and made that "necessary evil" decision. He never imagined it would ultimately spawn a monster that might even surpass the legendary Madara Uchiha.
"What have I done..." Itachi's fingertips dug deep into his palms as self-doubt consumed him. "Shisui, did I truly choose wrong?"
A flash of resolve appeared in Itachi's eyes as his parents' final expressions intertwined with Shisui's entrustment of his Sharingan in his mind.
No, every technique must have its weakness. If he could eliminate this threat, then his decision hadn't been wrong. He had to clear this final obstacle for Konoha, make one last struggle.
He took a deep breath, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning suddenly—
"Amaterasu!"
Black flames surged like a tide, but upon touching the magnetic barrier around Yu, they split around him like waves hitting an invisible reef. The youth simply walked through the black flames with steady steps, approaching relentlessly.
In Itachi's vision, his supposedly invincible Amaterasu now bowed like a subservient servant around Yu.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball !"
The masked man attacked simultaneously, a massive fireball over ten meters in diameter roaring forth. It intertwined with Amaterasu's black flames, forming a destructive tornado of black and red. The scorching heat distorted space itself while terrifying energy waves swept through the entire dimension.
"Knowing your attacks are ineffective, yet you continue these pointless attempts?" Yu's voice was ice-cold.
The fusion flames capable of incinerating everything crumbled inch by inch upon contact with his magnetic barrier, like foam hitting a transparent wall.
He maintained his steady pace, each step seeming to trample on both men's hearts.