Given Danzo's current state, Itachi and Kisame couldn't tell whether he was dead or alive.
However, judging by his breathing and heartbeat, he should still be alive.
"I just don't know what method Boss Ge used to keep this guy from waking up."
Two hours had passed since they left Ge Liang's Internet Cafe.
During this time, Itachi and Kisame successfully found a place to stay and tested many methods to see if Danzo could wake up.
To their surprise, no matter what method they used, Danzo showed no signs of waking up.
If he hadn't still been breathing and his heart hadn't been beating, the two of them would have genuinely thought this guy was dead.
"Speaking of which, if Danzo hasn't woken up, how is he maintaining his vital signs?"
"Looking at Boss Ge, he doesn't seem like the type to feed Danzo anything."
"So, how exactly is this guy surviving?"
Danzo's state seemed very strange in their eyes, but it wasn't a difficult operation inside Ge Liang's Internet Cafe.
With the existence of the System's functions, Danzo would have to ask Ge Liang for permission even if he wanted to die.
Just hit him directly with the 'Bigu' skill; even without eating or drinking, he can still 'bravely' survive.
However, once Danzo left the Internet Cafe, this skill became invalid. If they want him to stay alive now, they must honestly feed him or give him Nutrient Fluid.
Itachi and Kisame didn't know this, but they weren't too concerned. They would be returning to the Akatsuki Organization soon anyway, and a few days of starvation wouldn't kill him.
Once they hand Danzo over to the Leader, whether he lives or dies won't be their concern.
"Itachi, try putting Danzo into a scroll. Carrying him around Konoha like this is too conspicuous."
Generally speaking, living people cannot be placed inside Space Scrolls used for storing items.
But Danzo's state was too strange, so Kisame wanted Itachi to try.
It was just a test, and it wouldn't waste much time or effort.
"Alright, I'll try."
As he spoke, Itachi took out a thumb-sized scroll from his Ninjutsu Tool Pouch. After forming hand signs, the tiny scroll immediately transformed into a large, half-human-sized scroll.
After unrolling the large scroll and placing Danzo on top of it, Itachi began rapidly forming hand signs.
"Fūinjutsu: Store!"
Three seconds later, the hand signs were complete. Itachi slapped Danzo's body, and immediately numerous Tadpole Characters appeared on Danzo, which then slowly absorbed him into the scroll.
"It actually succeeded."
Storing a living person inside a scroll—this was a first in the entire Ninja World.
Kisame certainly hadn't heard of anyone being able to store a living person inside a scroll.
From this point alone, it proved that Danzo's condition was indeed quite bizarre.
"Alright, we don't have anything holding us back now. We'll proceed as planned tomorrow."
"Heh heh, I'll follow your lead."
What did "proceeding as planned" mean?
It was actually just going to see his foolish younger brother.
Itachi had learned from Ge Liang that Sasuke had grown stronger, but as a Brother Complex Sufferer, he needed to see Sasuke with his own eyes before he could be reassured.
He didn't know if it was fate's arrangement or just a coincidence.
Not long after he and Kisame left the Inn, they saw Sasuke, who was with Naruto.
"Uchiha Itachi!!!"
Sasuke thought he could talk to Itachi calmly when he saw him, but thoughts were just thoughts. Now that he actually saw Itachi in person, Sasuke immediately drew his Flying Sword and attacked Itachi without a word.
He still had some rationality left, as this was not a remote suburb, and there were Konoha residents' homes nearby. If he launched the Myriad Sword Art, it would definitely harm the innocent.
"Bang!"
Facing Sasuke's Flying Sword attack, Itachi chose not to meet it head-on and instead used Substitution Jutsu to evade.
"Our target is the Nine-Tailed. Don't get in the way."
The reappeared Itachi looked at the two people before him expressionlessly. Even though his main goal this time was to check on Sasuke, having Naruto right beside him made using Naruto as an excuse an excellent choice.
'Awkward brotherly love.'
Kisame knew Itachi's true purpose, so after seeing Itachi's current demeanor, he curled his lip and did not step forward to interfere with the pair.
At this moment, Sasuke suddenly calmed down. He stopped attacking Itachi and asked with a cold face, "Why did you come back?"
"I told you, my purpose for returning is the Nine-Tailed."
"Huh, are you talking about me?"
Naruto belatedly pointed to himself, then said with a wide grin, "Since I'm the target, I can't pretend I didn't see you."
"Hey, Shark Face, why don't we go play somewhere else?"
Naruto knew Sasuke had many questions for Itachi, so he wanted to take this opportunity to give the space to the two of them.
"Interesting. I'll play with you then."
Kisame felt the same way, so when Naruto challenged him, he agreed without hesitation.
Neither Sasuke nor Itachi stopped the two from leaving. At this moment, they only had eyes for each other.
"Let me see how much you've grown over the years."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
A fireball, neither very large nor very small, spewed from Itachi's mouth.
Facing the attack, Sasuke decisively chose to dodge, while simultaneously leading Itachi toward a deserted area.
Firstly, he didn't want to harm the innocent.
Secondly, he didn't want the Konoha Ninja to notice this location.
"Since you want to know my strength, I shall grant your wish."
"Aragami~"
...While Sasuke and Itachi clashed here, Naruto and Kisame also started fighting there.
Because he had witnessed Kisame's massive water output, and his Flying Sword was already on the verge of damage, he stopped using flashy moves and chose to fight Kisame bare-handed using Taijutsu.
Of course, relying on Taijutsu didn't mean Naruto wouldn't use Ninjutsu. He didn't neglect various Shadow Clone Jutsu or Rasengan.
Sometimes, when he was swept by Kisame's Samehada, forcing him to retreat some distance, he would also use Iori Yagami's Dark Thrust.
Kisame, who was unfamiliar with Naruto's fighting style, was nearly ambushed by the Dark Thrust.
"Kid, your strength is quite impressive."
Speaking of which, Naruto's strength truly surprised Kisame.
The fact that Naruto could fight him to a standstill—without using Tailed Beast Power and while Kisame himself wasn't going all out—was enough to astonish Kisame.
"Shark Face, you're not bad either."
After fighting for this period, Naruto had tested the waters and realized that even using Sword Control Technique and Tailed Beast Power, he still might not be able to defeat Kisame.
Of course, Eight Wine Cups would also work, but using that move requires a short charging period.
What normal people consider a short time can be infinitely extended when facing a powerful Ninja.
Therefore, without coordination from anyone else, Naruto was highly doubtful whether the Eight Wine Cups move could hit Kisame.