Itachi fell silent.
He stood frozen, the moonlight accentuating the cold, rigid lines of his profile. Those Mangekyō Sharingan eyes lowered slightly, as if digesting this logic-shattering information.
In that alley, only the sound of the cold wind howling remained; each second felt like an entire century.
Seeing Itachi beginning to waver, a dim glimmer of hope ignited in Genki's heart. He immediately struck while the iron was hot, his speech becoming faster: "Then there's Uzumaki Naruto! You must know about him!"
"The Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan are close relatives. They're all descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's second son—Ōtsutsuki Asura—and inherited the Rikudō Sennin's Sage Body!"
"The Senju clan has long withered, so Asura's reincarnation in this generation is one of the last descendants of the Uzumaki clan—the son of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato—namely Uzumaki Naruto!"
He stared sharply into Itachi's eyes, afraid to miss even the slightest change in his opponent's emotions, "The battle between the Senju and Uchiha is fundamentally just a continuation of Asura and Indra's fate!"
This statement truly shattered Itachi's composure.
He suddenly looked up, the light from his Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly becoming sharp, piercing directly toward Genki: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"What I'm trying to say is, the so-called Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan is not the true endpoint at all!" Genki took a deep breath, throwing out an even more core secret, "It's merely a defect that appeared due to dilution of the Uchiha bloodline! The original Indra, from beginning to end, only had one pair of 'Indra's Eyes,' and that is the final form of the Sharingan!"
"Uchiha Madara seemed to awaken eternity by combining his brother Izuna's Mangekyō Sharingan. But in reality, it was because Indra's chakra and will awakened within his body! This is also one of the roots of his obsession to fight Hashirama!"
Genki's voice grew louder, carrying the madness of someone gambling with their life, "Moreover, after thousands of years of inheritance, Indra's will has become extremely weak. If he doesn't quickly find a suitable reincarnation vessel to take over, he'll completely vanish—and Sasuke is the last vessel he's chosen!"
Suffocating silence.
The air in the alley seemed to freeze; even the cold wind stopped howling.
Itachi stood there, the pressure around his body fluctuating between strong and weak; clearly his inner self was experiencing tremendous struggle.
What he cared about most was Sasuke, and Genki's words hit precisely at his weakest point.
After a moment, he finally spoke again. His voice was still cold, but carried a hint of barely detectable urgency: "Do you have a way to resolve this?"
Hearing this sentence, Genki's tense nerves suddenly relaxed. His face finally showed the joy of someone who had just escaped death, his eyes slightly reddening: "I know many secrets of the ninja world! As long as you let my mother and sister go, I can cooperate with you! With your strength plus my information, we can definitely completely erase Indra's soul from within Sasuke's body!"
Afraid Itachi wouldn't believe him, he immediately added in a tone of desperate resignation: "Don't think about using Tsukuyomi or Kotoamatsukami to search my soul! Let me tell you honestly, I'm also a transmigrator traveler!"
"My soul and memories from my past life are stored separately. Even if you search my entire soul, you won't find any useful information! Only if I speak voluntarily can you learn more!"
"No! Genki! We can't let you do this!"
Hazuki suddenly lunged forward, gripping Genki's arm. Her eyes were swollen red, her voice sobbing: "If we leave, we must leave together. I can't let you stay alone by his side and take this risk!"
Izumi also lifted her face from behind Hazuki's back. Tears had already soaked her cheeks, but she shook her head stubbornly: "Little brother, let's run together. There must be another way. I don't want you to use this method to trade for our lives!"
Genki turned around, looking at the faces of these two people full of worry yet determination. His heart felt as if squeezed tightly, painful to the point of difficulty breathing.
He gripped Hazuki's hand tightly, his gaze so resolute it couldn't be refuted: "Mother, Sister, it's too late. I can't run!"
"From the moment I revealed the secret about Indra, I've been bound to death with this matter. Besides Itachi, no one can protect me, and no one can protect Sasuke."
His voice contained a faint sob, "Only if you both stay alive does my existence have meaning."
This statement made Itachi's expression suddenly change.
He looked at the three people before him protecting each other. His gaze was complex and hard to read. After a long silence, he finally nodded slowly: "Alright. I accept your conditions."
The dawn of hope seemed already before their eyes. Genki's eyes instantly sparkled, even his breathing became slightly lighter.
However, at precisely that critical moment—
*PSHHH!*
Several sounds of objects penetrating earth suddenly rang out. Soon after, strange pale white figures burst out from underground. Their bodies were hunched, their skin white as paper, and their hands gripped sharp wooden spikes, directly targeting the defenseless Genki!
"White Zetsu?!" Genki's pupils contracted drastically, his heart instantly dropping to icy depths.
How could he have forgotten? To ensure the plan for Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's resurrection, Black Zetsu would never allow any variable to appear!
"Stop!"
Itachi's reaction was extremely fast. Seeing this happen, he exploded in fury. His blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan opened wide to their maximum limit, the pattern within his pupils spinning at high speed, and the chakra throughout his body surged instantly!
"Amaterasu!"
Along with that low shout, black flames as dark as ink erupted from his eyes, carrying extreme temperature capable of incinerating everything, sweeping toward those Zetsu.
Wherever the Amaterasu flames passed, the air burned until distorted, emitting hissing sounds.
However, those White Zetsu were like puppets without pain. Without hesitation they charged forward, using their own bodies to withstand Amaterasu. The black flames instantly consumed them, creating horrifying burning sounds, yet they still stood firm to buy time for their comrades!
"Damn it!" Itachi widened his eyes until the veins showed, the killing intent in his eyes nearly crystallizing into reality.
He suddenly leaped, running toward Genki while throwing several kunai at the remaining Zetsu.
Although Genki's earlier words had no direct evidence, these Zetsu's actions of trying to kill Genki by any means actually made Itachi completely certain that what Genki said was true!
This teenager's existence truly threatened a conspiracy hidden in darkness, and that conspiracy was related to Sasuke's life!
But he was still too late!
The position where the White Zetsu emerged from underground was too close to Genki, while the Zetsu blocking his path fought without fear of death to buy time.
The two remaining White Zetsu had already broken through the Amaterasu blockade. The wooden spikes in their hands carried sharp whistling air sounds, already approaching right before Genki's eyes!
The distance was too far... there was absolutely no time!
For the first time, Itachi's heart was enveloped in panic. He watched the two wooden spikes about to pierce Genki's body. The light in his eyes became extremely sharp, yet he still couldn't change the reality of distance.
Genki stared at those wooden spikes already so close. His mind went blank, and fear submerged him completely like a tidal wave.
He wanted to dodge, but his body seemed nailed in place, completely unable to move.