Facing Madara Uchiha's attack, Itachi's mind screamed at him to dodge, but he could only stand his ground and face Madara's relentless advance. The legendary Asura of the ninja world, a veteran of both the Warring States period and the era of the villages, easily shattered the fragile confidence in Itachi's heart.
"A person can't seize every opportunity!" Madara sneered at Itachi. "Brat, even with the Rinnegan, you haven't developed the heart of a true warrior to match it!"
"..."
Itachi's expression was grim. He had to admit, his combat experience was nothing compared to Madara's. Even his mental fortitude was far inferior to the man before him.
This was the Asura of the ninja world, after all. From the moment Madara was born, he was thrown into war by the cruelty of his era. He even had a fated rival to sharpen his skills against.
Itachi's life was very different. His father had placed high hopes on him, but his heart had developed an ideal of seeking peace through compromise. And throughout his life, the opponents Itachi had faced were hardly true powerhouses. To be blunt, he had never fought a truly strong person. Even his sparring matches with Naruto were just for show.
When he thought about it, the strongest enemy Itachi had ever faced was actually Sasuke after he had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Sasuke was the strongest enemy he had ever encountered? How ridiculous did that sound?
This history led Itachi to believe that in any battle, against any enemy, everything was under his control. He always wanted to fight according to his own rhythm. The problem was, some ninjas are simply born to break free from any restraint. They can unleash their minds and their power, drawing out one hundred and twenty percent of their strength in battle.
"Limbo: Border Jail! Wood Clone Technique!"
Madara formed a hand seal, and shadows flew from his body. Each shadow simultaneously formed another hand seal and released a Wood Clone. A blue light flared around each clone's body as twenty-five blue Susanoo materialized out of thin air, instantly surrounding Itachi's red Susanoo.
"..."
Itachi glanced at the grim situation. His red Susanoo suddenly drew the Sword of Totsuka and pierced one of the blue Susanoo. It wasn't a clone, but one of Madara's Limbo shadows. The sword was quickly withdrawn, sealing the shadow away.
However, Madara didn't seem to care at all. He even let out a soft laugh as the swarm of blue Susanoo charged forward, surrounding the red Susanoo and hacking at it wildly.
Itachi's expression grew darker. Under the protection of Susanoo, it was extremely difficult to destroy the Wood Clones. Fortunately, he still had the Yata Mirror for defense.
A great battle between Susanoo began.
The mountain-sized giants collided, the sound of their skeletal frames shattering echoing continuously. The slashes from their massive swords tore the entire Tsukuyomi Divine Realm apart. The battle continued in this space for three days and three nights.
By the time the great Susanoo battle ended, both the blue and red constructs had dissipated into nothing.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
But Madara didn't care. As long as he was alive, he could still fight—even if it was only with a sword, fists, or feet.
"..."
Itachi waved his hand, about to summon a red energy screen. He gritted his teeth and stopped. To maintain the advantage of his Tsukuyomi Divine Realm, he had to conserve his visual prowess. He couldn't be as reckless as Madara.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
A wall of water rose, barely blocking the fire attack. Steam began to fill the space. Madara's figure shot through the steam like a ghost, and he punched Itachi squarely in the chest.
"Brat, are you looking down on me?"
Itachi flew back, forming hand seals and spitting out a volley of fireballs. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
What answered him was Madara's disdainful laughter. "Is that the best you can do? Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Dragon-headed fireballs instantly dispersed the Phoenix Sage Fire and rushed toward Itachi.
"..."
Itachi could only helplessly summon a red energy screen to block the attack. When it came to Fire Style, he was simply outmatched. But he was very good at this level of combat. This was a battle between conventional ninjas.
Perhaps he could win?
However, Madara was a ninja blessed with both talent and diligence. The wars he had fought, the battles he had witnessed, the powerful enemies he had faced—a fraction of any one of these was more than Itachi had ever experienced.
When the two were forced into hand-to-hand combat, Madara's fist was about to smash into Itachi's temple, while the kunai in Itachi's hand was aimed to pierce Madara's throat.
"..."
Itachi gritted his teeth and dodged, protecting his vital point. He had once again backed down when faced with Madara's willingness to trade his life for a win.
Madara's right leg swept across Itachi's abdomen, sending him flying. He said coldly, "Brat, are you playing a game of ninja house? With such weak power, who are you trying to impress?"
"..."
Itachi silently pushed himself back to his feet.
Madara looked down at his descendant and said coldly, "Has the Uchiha clan fallen this far? Have they become this cowardly?"
"It is because I am still a ninja, and the mission comes first," Itachi replied coldly. His figure suddenly dissipated, and the blood-red moon in the sky quietly vanished into the clouds.
"Do you think you can escape the Rinnegan's sight?" Madara suddenly raised his head, looking at the clouds. "Just as you can see my Limbo shadows, I can see the exit to this space!"
But there was no reply. Itachi seemed to have already given up the battle.
After Madara's vision recovered, he clasped his hands together, and the towering Susanoo lit up once more. "Shattered Heaven!"
A meteorite fell from the sky, slamming into the blood moon hidden in the clouds. However, the moon didn't move an inch, as if it had been hit by a small pebble.
Madara wasn't discouraged. He summoned meteorite after meteorite, continuously smashing them against the blood moon. Only when his visual prowess was nearly exhausted did he finally manage to create a small crack in the moon above.
"This brat's dōjutsu… it really can't be underestimated," the Asura of the ninja world praised, before picking up Black Zetsu and leaving the Tsukuyomi Divine Realm through the crack. As for Obito, who was still imprisoned, Madara seemed to have no interest in wasting his power to save such a useless person.
In a corner of the Tsukuyomi Divine Realm, all the members of Akatsuki were locked away. The moment the realm was deployed, it had pulled everyone within a radius of dozens of kilometers inside, which naturally included Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, and Hidan.
Itachi stood before the Akatsuki's cage, his hands clasped. Kisame and Konan were beside him, waiting for his answer. Suddenly, Itachi, who had been covered in injuries, spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Mr. Itachi!" Kisame cried, supporting him with one hand.
Itachi grabbed Kisame's sleeve, gritted his teeth, and ordered, "Konan, Kisame, in a little while, I will open this space. You two go find the Fifth Hokage and tell him that Madara has escaped..."
-----
Konoha Village, Hokage's Office
Ever since Naruto Uzumaki defeated Sasuke with world-altering power, all the ninja clans of Konoha had witnessed his strength, and his prestige had soared.
As Naruto was handling official business, an origami butterfly flew into his office and stopped in front of him.
"This is..." The young Hokage's expression changed. He thought of a certain origami user from the Akatsuki. He slowly extended his finger, letting the butterfly land on his fingertip.
The origami instantly split into countless pieces of paper, which swirled together to form a woman in a red-clouded black robe.
Naruto's brow furrowed, then relaxed into a smile. "So it's you, Konan. Why did you sneak into Konoha?" What was going on? Why would Konan's paper clone sneak into the village and dare to approach him alone? Was she looking for a fight?
"Itachi Uchiha told me how to get past the barrier," Konan said, a deep sorrow still on her face. "Itachi is seriously injured. He wants to see you."
Naruto's face changed abruptly. He grabbed the Hokage robe from his chair, threw it on, and said coldly, "Take me to him! What happened? If Itachi dies, I'll make the entire Akatsuki be buried with him!"
Konan was speechless. Seriously, what does this have to do with the Akatsuki? A bunch of Konoha rogue ninja fight on our territory, kill our leader, and steal our members… and when one of them gets into trouble, they blame us! Konoha has no shame!
On the way to see Itachi, Naruto learned the whole story from Konan's paper clone. His words were full of complaints about the situation. This was understandable; after all, the Akatsuki had truly suffered an undeserved disaster. Nagato had just wanted the organization to lay low for a while to see what changes the Fifth Hokage's unification would bring.
In the end, one Konoha rogue ninja used him to revive Madara, and another tried to take over the Akatsuki for himself—a good-for-nothing who wouldn't even save a dying comrade. In all this, Nagato seemed particularly innocent.
"Please accept my condolences," Naruto said, lowering his head. What else could he say? Although the Akatsuki and Nagato were strong, in the eyes of a true powerhouse, they were ultimately just pawns. If Nagato had sought refuge with Konoha earlier, after his fallout with Madara's group, Naruto, for Jiraiya's sake, would never have stood by and watched this happen.
Naruto sighed silently. "If it weren't for Sasuke, if I had gone to unify the Land of Rain earlier, maybe this wouldn't have happened..."
"..."
Konan's face immediately turned ugly. Obito and Madara's group plotted to take Nagato's life, while Naruto and Itachi's group wanted to take over the Hidden Rain Village, which Nagato had cherished. People from Konoha… there really aren't many good ones!
Along the way, Konan didn't want to talk to Naruto much. She just led him to where Itachi was hiding. Kisame was guarding the entrance to a cave.
Naruto walked inside and saw a weak, unconscious Itachi. He injected a stream of Yang Power into his body and quietly waited for him to wake up.
After a long time, Itachi slowly opened his eyes. When he saw Naruto, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
The young Hokage didn't hesitate. "What happened? Even if Madara was revived, you wouldn't necessarily lose to him, would you?"
According to Naruto's speculation, even a revived Madara with the Rinnegan shouldn't have had an advantage against Itachi. It was just Madara with the Rinnegan, not the Ten-Tails or the God Tree.
Itachi was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Madara and I both have the Rinnegan, so we can break each other's dōjutsu... but his power far exceeds my imagination."
To be honest, Itachi himself hadn't expected to be defeated. Facing a hot-headed Madara, Itachi couldn't suppress him. With their Rinnegan abilities canceling each other out, Madara was simply more daring, more willing to risk his life, and more skilled in combat. That man was a ninja born for battle. He had lost, but it felt both inexplicable and inevitable at the same time.
In a sense, it wasn't a total defeat. Both were seriously injured, but Madara had indeed escaped from his Tsukuyomi Divine Realm.
Naruto frowned. "Your body will recover soon. What's Madara's condition? And what about the Akatsuki?" He had originally thought Itachi could easily gather the entire Akatsuki. He hadn't expected him to fail. But if the opponent was Madara, failure seemed excusable. After all, that man was probably the strongest person Naruto had ever met. In terms of pure combat, even Kaguya Otsutsuki was less troublesome.
"Madara should also be seriously injured," Itachi said, recalling their battle. His Susanoo was broken, but the Yata Mirror had reflected a portion of the power, breaking Madara's Susanoo as well. After they had exhausted their visual prowess, they returned to primitive ninja combat. Madara was clearly superior and more willing to trade blows. Itachi, who always held back, could only rely on his home-field advantage to barely survive. Madara hadn't gone all-out to finish him, but had just taken Black Zetsu and escaped.
"As for the Akatsuki..." Itachi touched his Rinnegan and said softly, "This is probably the only good news. All of them have been imprisoned by me in the Tsukuyomi Divine Realm, including Obito Uchiha."
This was his final way of cutting his losses. Madara had also chosen not to rescue them. After his resurrection, everyone in Akatsuki, including Obito, was useless to him.
"Phew… that's not bad," the young Hokage said with a sigh of relief. For him, a Madara with a clear goal was less of a threat than a group of powerful rogue ninja causing chaos. Madara wouldn't persecute civilians or kill innocent ninja for no reason. What he wanted was to imprison all the ninjas in an eternal illusion. As long as there was a chance, Madara's threat could be dealt with.
The members of Akatsuki were different. These rogues were powerful. If they hid in the shadows, they could cause huge problems.
Naruto looked at Itachi and said softly, "Rest well. I will find a way to solve the trouble with Madara."
"Yes," Itachi nodded, then added in a low voice, "There is one thing I would like to ask your permission for, Lord Fifth. I want to go back to the village to pay respects to my parents..."
-----
Bonus:
Madara: Who wasn't a child prodigy!
Hashirama: ???
Naruto: Yeah, who wasn't a genius?
Sasuke: Naruto, what does this have to do with you? You think you're a genius?
Naruto: Am I not? Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson.
Sasuke: ...
Madara: Useless! Can't even beat a reincarnation of Asura!
Hashirama: ???
Sasuke: If you're so great, then you do it. If not, shut up!
Madara: Nah, I won't. I'll just talk.