As Sōkaku's casually spoken words faded.
His fingertip gently brushed against the raging Great Fireball.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
There was no deafening roar.
The massive fireball, over three meters in diameter, seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand, violently collapsing inward and solidifying.
Under extreme compression, the scorching orange-red flames changed color from red to white, and then from white to a deep point of blue.
Finally, it transformed into an insignificant spark.
With a sound like "poof."
It went out.
As if it had never existed.
Deadly silence.
A silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.
The savagery and cruelty on Uchiha Inabi's face completely froze, turning him into a comical statue.
His mouth was slightly open, and strange, rattling sounds came from his throat, yet he couldn't utter a single word.
His brain had completely shut down.
The Patrol Division member whose wrist was broken even forgot to scream, staring intently at Sōkaku with the gaze one reserves for a ghost or a god.
That look contained pure, unadulterated terror.
"Is that it?"
Sōkaku yawned, slightly bored.
He withdrew his finger, not even bothering to look at the two men again.
"Now get out."
"Don't interrupt me while I'm spending time with my sister."
His voice was as flat as if he were shooing away two flies.
"Gulp."
Uchiha Inabi swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.
He felt his legs shaking uncontrollably, barely able to stand steady.
Monster!
This wasn't a person at all!
He dared not stay for another second, not even pausing to help his still-wailing companion.
He scrambled and crawled, fleeing in utter panic from the room he would never forget.
Seeing this, the other Patrol Division member endured the sharp pain, used his remaining left hand to push off the ground, and awkwardly fled as well.
Threats?
Revenge?
Challenging the dignity of the Uchiha?
In the face of such unbelievable and incomprehensible power, everything became a joke.
They only wanted to get as far away from this monster as possible.
"Brother..."
Hanako peeked her small head out from behind Sōkaku, her little hand still tightly gripping his sleeve.
The indifference on Sōkaku's face instantly melted away, and he turned, revealing a gentle smile.
"It's alright now."
Just then.
A stern voice drifted from the shadows by the doorway.
"What was that just now?"
"It wasn't Ninjutsu, nor was it Genjutsu."
Sōkaku's gaze shifted over.
From the shadows, a figure slowly emerged.
Black short hair, a handsome yet cold face, dressed in Uchiha casual wear, yet unable to conceal his innate genius aura.
Uchiha Itachi.
His expression was heavier than ever before, his eyes like two bottomless ancient wells, locked firmly onto Sōkaku.
He had witnessed everything that had just occurred.
From sending Uchiha Tekka flying, to disabling the Patrol Division member's wrist, and then... annihilating the Great Fireball out of thin air.
Every scene was violently challenging the knowledge he prided himself on.
"Oh?"
Sōkaku glanced at him, a familiar, playful smirk curving his lips.
"It's Itachi."
"What's wrong? Can't those pretty eyes of yours figure it out either?"
Uchiha Itachi frowned slightly.
He ignored Sōkaku's teasing; this was the first time he had truly looked at this clan member who had previously been utterly unremarkable.
The next instant.
In his dark pupils, two tomoe slowly surfaced, beginning to spin.
Sharingan, activate!
His powerful insight instantly took in Sōkaku's figure.
However, Itachi's expression grew even more uncertain and astonished.
In the field of view of his Sharingan.
Sōkaku's body was completely empty.
There was no sign of Chakra flow whatsoever!
The strange energy that had just disabled the Patrol Division member's wrist was nowhere to be found.
The invisible barrier that had stopped the Great Fireball was even more untraceable.
He simply stood there, appearing like the most ordinary civilian.
But the more ordinary he looked, the more abnormal it was!
This meant that the opponent's power had already exceeded the scope of the Sharingan's understanding!
"Don't stare at me so intensely with those eyes, I'll get shy."
Sōkaku stretched lazily.
Uchiha Itachi remained silent, pushing the insight of his Sharingan to the limit, yet still finding nothing.
The feeling was like a mortal attempting to glimpse a deity; everything within his sight was void.
"You want to know?"
Sōkaku noticed the confusion and persistence in his eyes, and the smile on his face grew more playful.
He extended a finger toward Uchiha Itachi and lightly beckoned him.
The gesture was frivolous, yet full of undeniable provocation.
"Defeat me."
"And I'll tell you."
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath.
He didn't speak.
He simply lowered his body slightly, placing his hands at his sides in a standard Uchiha-style Taijutsu starting stance.
With his actions, he gave his answer.
Fight!
The instant Uchiha Itachi adopted his fighting posture.
His figure moved.
"Shwa!"
There was no smoke from the Body Flicker Technique, only speed erupted purely from his physical body.
Only a faint afterimage was left behind.
The next moment, he had appeared phantom-like behind Sōkaku.
The Kunai in his hand traced a cold, silent flash through the dim room, stabbing silently toward the vital point of Sōkaku's back.
Fast!
Extremely fast!
This was a killing blow fast enough to prevent even the most experienced Jonin from reacting.
However.
"Clink."
A crisp sound, so faint it was almost inaudible.
The sharp Kunai suddenly stopped less than a millimeter from Sōkaku's skin.
It was as if it had struck a transparent, diamond-hard surface.
Uchiha Itachi's two-tomoe Sharingan sharply contracted to the size of a needle point.
He saw it clearly.
Absolutely clearly.
There was nothing in front of the Kunai.
Yet, there was an incomprehensible, absolute "Domain" blocking his attack.
"Sneak attacks aren't a good habit, Itachi."
Sōkaku didn't even turn around.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he reversed his stance and kicked towards Itachi's abdomen at a tricky angle, the movement tearing through the air with a whistle.
Uchiha Itachi's battle instinct was terrifyingly strong.
His Sharingan predicted the trajectory of the strike, and he twisted his body, narrowly dodging it by mere millimeters.
The sharp wind from the kick stung his cheek.
Failing to land the blow, Itachi showed no desire to linger in combat.
He used the momentum to retreat, his hands moving so quickly in the air that they almost left afterimages.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three puffs of smoke exploded.
Three Shadow Clones, identical to Itachi, surrounded Sōkaku in a triangular formation from different directions.
"shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The original body and the Shadow Clones attacked simultaneously.
An overwhelming barrage of shuriken and Kunai, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, flew from all directions, sealing off all of Sōkaku's escape routes.
They formed a net of death woven from steel.
Facing this impenetrable attack.
Sōkaku remained standing in place.
He didn't even take his hands out of his pockets.
Then, a sight Uchiha Itachi would never forget appeared.
Hundreds of shuriken and Kunai, the instant they approached within half a meter of Sōkaku's body, uniformly... stopped.
It was as if a movie had been paused.
Countless cold, gleaming weapons hung densely suspended in the air, encasing Sōkaku like a metal hedgehog.
But not a single one could advance another inch.
That half-meter distance was absolute "Infinity."
It was the Domain of a God.