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"What, are you worried?"
A hand suddenly appeared behind Itachi, patting his shoulder.
Instantly, the hairs on his body stood on end. Itachi hadn't detected anyone behind him. Subconsciously, he turned his head, intending to silently cast genjutsu on the newcomer. However, when Itachi turned, he saw a pair of blood-red eyes far brighter than his own.
Kagaya pointed at Sasuke lying on the ground. "Fortunately, Sasuke ran fast. Otherwise, I'd have had a hard time finding him so quickly."
After parting ways with Obito and Nagato, Kagaya's group easily crossed the Land of Fire's border into the Land of Rice Fields—the country containing Otogakure. Initially, Kagaya thought he'd have to search for Sasuke for a while. Unexpectedly, not long after entering the Land of Rice Fields, Karin sensed Sasuke and Itachi's chakra. All this was thanks to Sasuke's swift pace; he was already very close to Orochimaru's Otogakure. So Kagaya's group, heading towards Otogakure, easily found Sasuke.
Of course, another reason was the Land of Rice Fields' small size. At least compared to Konoha, it was really small. With Karin's sensory abilities fully active, her range could cover half the country's territory, even slightly beyond.
If Karin grew for a few more years, allowing her "Mind's Eye of the Kagura" to develop further, she could likely encompass the entire Land of Rice Fields within her sensory range.
With such an astonishing sensory range, coupled with Sasuke's proximity to Otogakure, it was natural Kagaya's group found him quickly.
Recognizing the newcomer, Itachi relaxed. "You've arrived. Did something happen on the way? I thought you wouldn't make it and was preparing to handle things myself."
Not seeing Kagaya enter the Land of Rice Fields for a long time, Itachi once thought Kagaya wasn't coming and prepared to handle Sasuke's situation himself.
"Ran into a little trouble on the road, got delayed a bit," Kagaya fabricated.
Although they did encounter Pain and the others, dealing with that took Kagaya less than an hour—hardly a delay. The real reason for the delay was Kagaya's leisurely, unhurried pace along the way.
After all, with Itachi watching, could Sasuke really be devoured by Orochimaru?
Impossible. Unless Itachi changed his mind and decided not to care about Sasuke, but that was also impossible. So Kagaya wasn't the least bit worried.
In contrast, Itachi was somewhat anxious. Although he had briefly fought Orochimaru and easily defeated him, Itachi was never arrogant. He clearly understood that anyone who could join the Akatsuki was no simple character. His understanding of Orochimaru wasn't complete. What if he miscalculated this time?
Itachi wasn't Kagaya, who clearly knew Orochimaru couldn't defeat Itachi. In Itachi's view, Orochimaru kept many things hidden deeply. Even the Living Corpse Reincarnation was something the Third Hokage told him. Beyond that, Itachi only knew of the Impure World Reincarnation Orochimaru used against Sasori previously. Other than that, Itachi didn't know much.
With such minimal intelligence, Itachi truly didn't dare claim he could certainly defeat Orochimaru.
After all, in the shinobi world of Naruto, when strength is comparable, victory often hinges on the amount of intelligence!
In the original story, Jiraiya was slaughtered by Pain due to extreme lack of intelligence. No matter how strong Naruto and his companions became, they couldn't harm Obito because they lacked intelligence on Kamui. Asuma was killed by Kakuzu and Hidan, again due to lack of intelligence.
In short, the number of people who died at their opponents' hands due to lack of intelligence was far from small.
Therefore, Itachi believed having Kagaya deal with Orochimaru was the safest option. These two had been in cahoots before; they should know each other's methods to some extent.
"Regardless, it's good you're here. I'll leave Sasuke to you now," Itachi said.
Kagaya couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Seriously? You're ditching me the moment I arrive?"
Itachi spoke helplessly, "This clone of mine just cast genjutsu on Sasuke. It can't last much longer anyway. Now that you're here, it's convenient for me to dispel it."
"Alright. Where are you now?"
"East of the Land of Rice Fields, in that uninhabited wilderness. If something unexpected happens here, I can arrive quickly. However..."
"However what?"
"I have Kisame with me. Meeting you openly would be problematic. Both you and Orochimaru are, nominally, targets pursued by the Akatsuki. If Kisame and I encounter you, we'd still need to put on a show of pursuit."
"Tch. True. Then you go handle your own matters. I'll take care of things here."
"Are you sure—"
"Relax, relax. The current me—Orochimaru stands no chance of winning."
"Alright. But I'll still try not to go too far from the Land of Rice Fields. If something happens, I'll come as soon as possible."
"Deal."
"See you then, Kagaya. Oh, and..."
Looking at the overly brilliant eyes in Kagaya's sockets, Itachi couldn't help but smile happily. The image of that little kid who used to follow Shisui around the training grounds learning ninjutsu still felt vivid.
"You've grown up. Now, you've surpassed both Shisui and me."
After speaking, the Itachi before them transformed into a flock of crows, flying off in all directions.
Kagaya was momentarily stunned, ultimately saying nothing. After a moment of silence, Kagaya walked to Sasuke's side, pulled open Sasuke's eyelid with his hand, and aligned his own eye with Sasuke's.
"Hey, time to wake up. No more sleeping."
******
"Seriously?"
"You saw it with your own eyes. Could it be fake?"
"What if it's genjutsu? The Uchiha clan's Sharingan genjutsu reputation—I will never forget them."
While fleeing at high speed, Sasori and Kakuzu discussed the events from not long ago.
Kagaya dismantled Pain within minutes?
That was utterly ridiculous. Sasori hadn't fought Pain, but Kakuzu had fought the Deva Path—result: complete defeat.
It was after being utterly defeated by the Deva Path's strength that Kakuzu joined the Akatsuki.
Now Kagaya was one-shotting Pain? That certainly scared Kakuzu. Back then, he fought with everything he had and still couldn't defeat the Deva Path alone. Now this kid is one-shotting them?
Fortunately, after dealing with Pain, Kagaya left without targeting him or Sasori.
Sasori spoke with a look of misfortune. "Really unlucky. Two major missions in a row, we run into this guy. Speaking of which, I didn't have any grudge against him initially. Why did I provoke him?"
Sasori thought about it; it was probably because he coveted Kagaya's body. If only he hadn't joined that pursuit back then.
But Sasori truly coveted Kagaya's body. Someone that powerful—if turned into a human puppet, how strong would it be? Honestly, Sasori was truly tempted. If not for being unable to defeat him, Sasori would absolutely try to obtain Kagaya's body.
Hearing Sasori's words, Kakuzu felt somewhat speechless. Sasori didn't have much history with Kagaya, but Kakuzu's history with Kagaya, in Kakuzu's view, was likely the greatest within the Akatsuki. Back then, he mocked Kagaya whenever possible—a little kid, he truly looked down on him.
Who knew, damn it, a few years later, this guy would become so terrifying? Fighting him was definitely impossible now. Need to think of a plan. Ah, right—Kagaya doesn't know the characteristics of my Earth Grudge Fear. If that guy comes after me, I can play dead! I have more than one heart anyway. Play dead after dying once. Even if he strikes again, I won't die. Mere two hearts—take them, take them!