"What is this?"
Realizing that the other party didn't intend to make him experience endless cycles of death, Itachi looked at the enormous object and asked curiously.
Shinji's attention was entirely focused on the Gundam, so he answered casually, "Gundam. A giant robot. It's the romance of men, you wouldn't understand."
Itachi instantly felt offended.
But there was nothing he could do.
Because this was the other party's Tsukuyomi world, he simply couldn't break it.
One second in the outside world was stretched infinitely here. So even though they felt like they had been here for a long time, in reality, less than a thousandth of a second had probably passed.
Then he watched as the other party created one bizarre thing after another, having the time of his life, completely forgetting about him, the 'enemy'.
Honestly, was the Gundam not handsome enough, or the Transformers not cool enough?
Why would Shinji waste precious time dealing with this brother-con when he could be playing with mechs? Unless his head had been kicked by a B-Robo Kabutack!
"What is this thing now?"
"Kamen Rider... Ugh, like I said, you wouldn't understand. Stop asking so many questions, go sit over there."
Shinji impatiently waved Itachi away. To prevent him from being annoying, he even materialized a specific area for him, complete with tea to drink.
Itachi was dumbfounded. Strangely, after being dismissed, he actually felt a little upset.
Why wouldn't he understand?
It's just the romance of men!
Who isn't a man?
When they were kids, Sasuke loved the wooden kunai he carved so much, he'd play with them all day. Did he ever brag about it?
Hmph, men!
Only when Shinji finally had his fill did he remember there was someone else beside him.
So he walked over and asked again, "Are you sure you won't join?"
Itachi glanced at him, too lazy to even speak.
Seeing this attitude, Shinji immediately declared, "Fine. Just watch how I torture Sasuke later. If I let him eat a single piece of meat, I'll cut off my own head and kick it around like a ball."
"Do as you wish."
"Good, those are your words. Don't regret it. As soon as we get out, I'm going to dig out those red-eye disease eyes of his first."
"What exactly do you want?"
Itachi was completely exasperated. He realized this guy was utterly shameless and happened to have grasped his weakness perfectly.
Most importantly, he could sense that the man wasn't joking; he really dared to do it.
So where did the leak come from?
He hadn't even seen Sasuke face-to-face in years!
"I want you to join the Jashin Cult. Of course, if you really don't want to, that's fine too. Just be a triple spy for me. After all, your reasons for joining Akatsuki aren't pure anyway. It doesn't matter who you give the intelligence to, and Konoha won't trouble you for it."
Itachi frowned, "You even know about that..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen would never have told anyone.
He was starting to believe that this so-called Jashin Prophet might actually be real.
After all, when you eliminate all impossible answers, however bizarre the remaining truth is, you have no choice but to believe it.
"Believe me, I know far more than you think."
At this moment, the guy looked exactly like a con artist swindler.
Itachi thought for a moment and said, "Is it really just for information?"
"I only want to know things that interest me. That is all."
"It seems... I really don't have a choice."
"I'm glad you realize that. Actually, what I said earlier was just to scare you. How could I possibly abuse Sasuke like that? At most, I'll just tell him the truth you've been hiding, then train him hard and help him get revenge on the real killer. I imagine that's the very last thing you want to see, right?"
Itachi took a deep breath. "I swear, if you dare do that, even if it costs me everything, I will drag you straight down to hell with me."
"I believe you can do it. No, I know you will do it. But the fact is, you can't. Why don't you try using Amaterasu or Susanoo again later and see if you can kill me?"
Looking at the other party's confident appearance, Itachi's confidence began to waver.
"See? I didn't force you to join the Jashin Cult. The agreement we just made was before I said all that, which proves my sincerity."
"Of course, if you still want to continue 'sparring' afterwards, that's fine too. I'm game for anything."
"Alright, that's enough for now. Let's end this."
In the outside world, a single second passed almost unnoticed.
But for some, a great deal had happened.
Itachi immediately let out a groan of pain. Although he hadn't been killed infinitely within the illusion, the backlash from having his Tsukuyomi reflected still made his head throb as if pierced by needles.
In contrast, Shinji looked completely unchanged.
Then, gritting his teeth against the pain, a line of blood and tears streamed down from Itachi's right eye.
Amaterasu!
He didn't know how the man knew about his abilities, but he wouldn't be intimidated easily.
Furthermore, leaving Sasuke with someone like this was far too dangerous.
So Itachi forcefully activated Amaterasu, paying the price of further damaging his vision.
After all, genjutsu could be reflected, but the inextinguishable black flames of Amaterasu could not be reflected.
In an instant, intense black flames erupted over Shinji's body.
"It seems you're still not convinced. But it doesn't matter. I'm actually quite interested in this special flame."
As he spoke, Itachi watched in shock as the black flames on Shinji's body... were being extinguished?!
No, not extinguished. It looked more like they were being absorbed!
[Sharingan Specter] Effect 3: Absorb Amaterasu. Automatically activates when attacked by Amaterasu, lasts for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours.
It was the first time Itachi had ever seen anyone absorb Amaterasu. It was simply inconceivable.
By the end of today, Itachi's entire worldview would probably need to be rebuilt from scratch.
Amaterasu!!!
Unwilling to accept it, Itachi poured more chakra into his eye, summoning more black flames to burn the enemy.
But the result was the same; they were absorbed instantly.
"Ugh..."
The excruciating pain in his right eye forced Itachi to stop abruptly. He squeezed his eye shut and covered it with his hand.
Meanwhile, the calm Shinji let out a silent sigh of relief.
After all, he was only 'invincible' against Amaterasu for 10 seconds. If Itachi had persisted just a little longer, his cover would have been blown.
Fortunately, Itachi had already reached his limit.
By this point, Itachi's body and vision were already deteriorating severely.
Even though he tried to avoid using the Mangekyō Sharingan as much as possible, being in Akatsuki meant going on missions daily and inevitably encountering powerful foes.
Considering the years of constant battle, it was already remarkable that he hadn't gone completely blind yet.
In the original story, Sasuke nearly blinded himself in less than half a year after awakening his Mangekyō.
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