"Long time no see."
Uchiha Itachi nodded. His voice remained flat and rippleless, but his gaze settled on Yao's eyes.
"You have also awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. It seems you have experienced quite a lot in the years I have been away."
"No!"
Yao shook his head. "When it comes to the Sharingan, I have no talent whatsoever!"
"Up until recently, my Sharingan hadn't even awakened."
"This three-tomoe eye... was a recent transplant."
"A transplant?"
Itachi's brows furrowed. "Where did you get that Sharingan?"
For Uchiha eyes to be scattered fast externally and transplanted usually implied the misfortune of a clansman.
"Root!"
Yao smiled faintly, his tone carrying a trace of playfulness. "Elder Danzo accidentally provoked me a while back!"
"To express his apologies, he specifically 'gifted' me several pairs of Sharingan as a peace offering. I thought they were quite nice, so I accepted them and forgave him!"
Itachi fell silent.
A gift from Danzo?
As a peace offering?
The implications behind these words were massive and bizarre.
Given Danzo's methods and his greed for the Sharingan, how could he possibly give them away for free? And as an apology?
Danzo provoked Yao?
How exactly did he provoke him?
Danzo conspiring with Orochimaru to assassinate the Third Hokage and then defecting... could this matter be related to this brother of his?
Since childhood, Itachi had never been able to see through this brother. Now, he found him even more inscrutable.
"It seems a lot has happened to you during my absence," Itachi spoke slowly, testing the waters. "I wonder... what level has your strength reached now?"
Ever since killing his parents and clansmen and shouldering everything alone, Itachi had become a walking corpse.
His only goal in living was to wait for his two brothers to grow up, kill him, and become heroes of Konoha.
In the end, he would leave his eyes to them, helping them attain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan that would never go blind.
Then, he could finally be released.
Yao seemed to have anticipated this question, looking eager to try. "Talking is boring. Itachi, how about we... make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?"
"It's simple!"
Yao smiled. "If I can defeat you, you hand over Shisui Uchiha's left eye to me. How about it?"
The air instantly solidified.
Itachi's pupils constricted violently, waves crashing in his heart!
Shisui's left eye? How does Yao know about that?!
Did Danzo tell him?
No, impossible. Even Danzo doesn't know the whereabouts of Shisui's left eye! Where did Yao learn of this?!
Countless questions flooded his mind.
Itachi stared at Yao, trying to glean something from his face, but saw only a calm, abyssal depth.
After a silence, Itachi took a breath, suppressing all his shock and suspicion, and restored his superficial calm.
He returned Yao's gaze steadily and enunciated a single word:
"Fine!"
Just then.
A whirlwind-like green figure suddenly appeared on the scene.
"Kakashi! I'm late! Hmm? This is..."
Might Guy saw Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki opposite them. His thick eyebrows shot up, and he immediately assumed a combat stance.
At the same time, he lowered his head, avoiding Itachi's eyes and staring at his feet instead.
"Guy-sensei, your timing is perfect! Please look after Kakashi-sensei. Leave this to me!"
Guy looked at Yao, then at Uchiha Itachi, and nodded heavily.
"I leave it to you, Yao! Let these suspicious characters witness the Fire of Youth of Konoha!"
He hoisted Kakashi onto his back and quickly retreated to a distance, shielding Asuma and Kurenai while keeping a vigilant watch on the situation.
Yao turned back to face Uchiha Itachi, loosening his wrists.
"Alright, the bystanders have been cleared. Come on, Itachi!"
"Let me see just how much your strength has improved after betraying Konoha and running wild outside for these past few years!"
Uchiha Itachi: "..."
The natural order had been completely upended.
Normally, it should be him, the older brother who had been away for years, examining the growth of his younger brother.
How did it turn into the younger brother testing the older brother's strength?
Although he felt a slight urge to retort, Itachi's face remained expressionless.
He spoke no more. Raising his hand, he instantly threw several shuriken.
The angles were tricky, sealing off Yao's space to dodge left or right.
To test his brother's strength, naturally, he couldn't use Tsukuyomi right from the start.
Taijutsu, basic ninja tools, conventional ninjutsu, genjutsu resistance...
He had to test them one by one.
Seeing this, Yao also threw several kunai, which accurately collided with Itachi's shuriken, producing a series of crisp clangs.
However, Itachi's shuriken throwing skills were clearly superior.
The shuriken that had been knocked off course used the force of the impact to alter their trajectories slightly, continuing to arc toward Yao.
Yao didn't choose to continue the exchange with ninja tools; he knew that in this kind of technical skill, he was no match for Itachi.
With a blur of movement, he vanished from his spot, dodging all the incoming shuriken.
In the next instant.
He appeared to Itachi's front-left, driving a fist straight toward Itachi's ribs.
Itachi seemed to have anticipated this. He sidestepped, blocked, and countered, his movements flowing like water, without a single wasted motion.
Their figures crossed rapidly, the sounds of fists and feet colliding ringing out incessantly.
Yao's taijutsu was fierce and direct—simple, crude, and powerfully domineering.
Itachi's taijutsu was precise and efficient; every move was perfectly measured. He used the minimum amount of movement and strength to neutralize attacks and strike back.
In just a dozen seconds, they had exchanged dozens of blows. On the surface, they seemed evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand.
His taijutsu foundation is extremely solid. His speed and strength are terrifying. It seems Yao hasn't neglected his physical training!
Itachi evaluated silently. Then... let's try Genjutsu!
His Sharingan flashed slightly.
Genjutsu: Shackling Stakes Technique!
An invisible wave of spiritual energy quietly assaulted Yao.
This was one of the basic Sharingan genjutsu, capable of binding the opponent's mind and creating the illusion of their body being pierced by wedges.
However, the three tomoe in Yao's left eye also spun rapidly.
"A petty trick!"
Red light flared in Yao's eyes.
The genjutsu force invading his mind slammed into an iron wall, instantly scattered and neutralized by a more dominant ocular power.
The transplanted Sharingan also granted him powerful resistance and dispelling capabilities against ordinary genjutsu.
Of course, if it were a genjutsu on the level of Tsukuyomi, that would be a different story.
His genjutsu resistance is also strong. It seems Yao has grasped the usage of the Sharingan and is quite proficient!
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Naruto : I'm an Uchiha Who Can Use Wood (90 Chapters, Ongoing)
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Itachi's eyes flickered slightly, not surprised. Seizing the moment Yao broke the genjutsu, his hands flew through hand seals.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
A blazing fireball roared as it surged toward Yao.
Yao reacted with extreme speed, beginning his own hand seals the moment Itachi started his.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
BOOM!!!
Two massive fireballs collided violently above the lake surface, erupting with a deafening roar.
Blinding flames shot into the sky, and scorching waves of heat rolled outward, sending up vast amounts of white steam from the river.
When the flames subsided slightly.
The brothers stood facing each other from a distance.
Itachi looked at Yao, whose face remained calm in the glow of the fire, and finally, a trace of gravity appeared in his eyes.
That Fire Style just now...
Whether it was the speed of the hand seals, the chakra output, or the power of the jutsu, none of it was like that of a twelve-year-old boy.