"At this point, Yu Feng-senpai, what's the point of asking that?"
Yu Feng let out a light chuckle.
"In this world, the easiest people to deceive are those who think too highly of themselves."
"You just need to keep telling them, 'It's all thanks to you,' 'You think like a Hokage,' over and over again."
"And then they'll arrogantly believe that if they can't solve a problem, no one else possibly can."
Itachi naturally understood that Yu Feng was talking about him.
But at this moment, he was already completely lost, living inside a fabricated world.
When Shisui died, he placed the burden called "peace" onto Itachi's shoulders.
Yet Itachi had no one to guide him.
Under the Third Hokage's repeated indoctrination, he could not accept the fact that he had already failed.
He lied to others.
He lied to himself.
He could not acknowledge the self who had failed to save the clan.
Under relentless pressure, the only choice he could accept was to take on the mission of annihilating the Uchiha.
The current Itachi could not possibly be persuaded with just a few words.
Itachi remained silent—not because he was listening to Yu Feng, but because he was waiting for Yu Feng to come closer.
But Yu Feng was thinking the same thing.
As a master of genjutsu, Itachi's first instinct was to subdue Yu Feng with illusion.
After all, even with preparation, under the ocular power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Yu Feng would surely not be his match!
"Ah—!"
A young, piercing scream rang out.
Itachi was instantly distracted—it was Sasuke's voice!
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yusuke emerge from the shadows, throwing the unconscious Sasuke to the ground and stepping on him!
In that very instant, Yu Feng did not meet Itachi's gaze at all. Instead, he directly charged into Itachi's attack range.
With a single strike, he knocked aside Itachi's weapon, the blade pressing straight toward Itachi's face.
Itachi never imagined that Yu Feng would dare abduct Sasuke right under Konoha's nose.
This Itachi was far from the composed man of eight years later.
Seeing his beloved brother captured, his weapon knocked away, and Yu Feng's blade already at his face—he could even feel the sting as his cheek was cut—
"Susanoo!"
Having just used a crow clone, Itachi could only summon Susanoo for defense.
The skeletal Susanoo appeared, instantly knocking Yu Feng's long blade away.
Itachi showed no mercy—Susanoo's massive hand grabbed straight toward Yu Feng.
Yu Feng answered in kind as the cries of crows rang out.
"Caw… caw… caw…"
Like Itachi, Yu Feng's body also exploded into countless crows.
In midair, the crows reassembled into Yu Feng's upper body.
"You clearly already failed Shisui's expectations—why won't you admit your own failure?!"
Itachi glanced at Sasuke again. Seeing that Yusuke made no further move, he relaxed slightly.
He didn't respond to Yu Feng at all.
Instead, his eyes snapped shut and reopened, blood tears streaming down as he activated his ocular technique.
"Amaterasu!"
Boom!
Black flames instantly engulfed the swarm of crows.
No matter where Yu Feng's real body was, it should have been burned out.
But instead, a black Susanoo appeared in midair, blocking Amaterasu completely.
"Mangekyō Sharingan?!"
Shock flashed through Itachi's eyes.
He never imagined that aside from his father, Yu Feng also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The moment Yu Feng landed, his Susanoo threw a punch at Itachi.
Even as Itachi reeled in shock, his own orange-red Susanoo answered with a punch of its own.
The collision was violent—under Yu Feng's overwhelming force, both Susanoo shattered simultaneously.
Seeing Itachi remain silent and refuse to answer, Yu Feng waved his hand.
"Don't want to answer? Yusuke—kill Sasuke."
"Yes! Fourth Elder!"
Yusuke threw Sasuke to the ground and stomped down.
"Ah—!"
The young scream rang out again.
Itachi froze for a moment—this scene felt eerily familiar, as though he had seen it before.
Yu Feng had already closed in, his blade slicing across Itachi's face once more, that same burning pain on his cheek.
This time, Itachi didn't use Susanoo.
He twisted his body, letting the blade scrape past his face, slapped the flat of Yu Feng's sword away, knocking it flying.
Then he kicked toward Yu Feng's lower body. Yu Feng blocked with his arm and retreated.
In an instant, Itachi completed his hand seals, throwing shuriken while exhaling fire.
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!
Massive flames, mixed with shuriken, shot toward the now unarmed Yu Feng.
Yu Feng curled his lips into a smile and continued questioning:
"Shisui used his death to buy two years of time—what did you do during those two years?!"
"You did nothing!"
Boom!
A black Susanoo emerged again, firmly blocking the Phoenix Sage Flower attack.
A trace of barely concealed panic appeared in Itachi's eyes, yet he still said nothing.
"Still don't want to answer? Yusuke—kill Sasuke."
"Yes! Fourth Elder!"
The same scene repeated once more.
Yusuke threw Sasuke to the ground and stomped down.
"Ah—!"
The young scream echoed again.
In the next instant, Yu Feng's blade once again cut across Itachi's cheek.
This time, Itachi fully erupted with Susanoo, blasting Yu Feng away.
"How is this possible…?!"
As a genjutsu specialist, how could Itachi not realize it?
He was already trapped inside an illusion.
"The Third Hokage keeps telling you every time that he'll come up with a perfect solution—so what did he actually do?"
Yu Feng questioned him again.
This time, Itachi's expression finally wavered.
"Could this technique be…?!"
Seeing Itachi still not answering, Yu Feng spoke once more:
"Still won't answer? Yusuke—kill Sasuke."
"Yes! Fourth Elder!"
The same scene played out yet again.
Yusuke threw Sasuke to the ground and stomped down.
"Ah—!"
The young scream rang out.
In the next moment, Yu Feng's blade once again sliced through Itachi's cheek.
…
In reality, Yu Feng had already sheathed his blade.
His left eye had turned completely gray.
Izanami.
This forbidden technique records a sequence of actions between the user and the target, then forces that same sequence to repeat.
The victim is imprisoned within the span of time between the first and second occurrence of those actions, trapped in an infinite loop.
To break free from Izanami, the target must accept their original fate and sincerely repent.
Otherwise, they will never wake up.
At this moment, Itachi stood motionless like a wooden statue, eyes closed.
Unless he faced his own failure and stopped deceiving himself—
Unless he understood what was within his power, and what was beyond it—
He would never escape this cycle.
The conditions to use Izanami are extremely harsh.
And to pull Itachi, a Mangekyō Sharingan user, into the loop—
It required the sacrifice of an equally powerful Mangekyō Sharingan.