Chapter 65: The Ailing Uchiha Itachi
Uchiha Itachi was stunned.
Though he had always hoped Sasuke would grow stronger—strong enough to protect himself—what he saw now had far surpassed his expectations.
Even as someone hailed a genius, Itachi hadn't been half as powerful as Sasuke at his current age.
Elite Jonin level.
That was Itachi's internal assessment. Whether it was Sasuke's combat awareness or the strange black flames he wielded, this was no ordinary ninja who could be dealt with easily.
Had he known Sasuke was already this strong, he wouldn't have come.
That thought crossed Itachi's mind.
"How surprising," he muttered.
Still, since he was acting, he had to commit to the role fully.
Itachi steadied himself, his face emotionless as he unleashed his signature genjutsu.
"You killed the entire clan for the Mangekyō, and this is all the strength you have?"
Seeing Itachi wounded, Sasuke felt a thrill of satisfaction—his killing intent surged.
With his purple accessory set boosting his resistance, he no longer feared genjutsu. Raising his longsword, he charged straight at Itachi.
Water Shark Bullet!
Thick currents surged upward, churning even the nearby pond as they blocked Sasuke's advance.
Kisame Hoshigaki clasped his hands into a seal, skillfully manipulating several water columns, trying to push Sasuke into the pond.
Shuriken!
Itachi, too, no longer held back. He began displaying his masterful shuriken techniques—once praised even by Orochimaru.
Dozens of shuriken flew from his hands, raining down like a storm.
They clashed midair and veered off at tricky angles, aiming straight at the airborne Sasuke, suspended by the water bullets.
Cursed Flame.
Sasuke spun midair, swinging his blade in a wide arc.
A black ring of fire slashed out in a perfect crescent moon, swatting away all the shuriken while cleaving the water pillars in half.
Zzzzzz.
The pond water instantly evaporated, shrouding the entire Nakano Shrine plaza in a heavy mist.
"I'm curious—where exactly did you acquire that power?" Itachi asked, frowning.
He keenly sensed something off about Sasuke's techniques.
While chakra was consumed to enhance power, this strange black flame wasn't powered by chakra at all—it carried a different, unfamiliar energy signature.
Sage arts?
Itachi had never seen Sage Techniques personally, but with the Uchiha clan's long lineage, he knew of the legendary energy once mastered by the Fourth Hokage.
But this was something else.
While he was pleased with Sasuke's growth, this unexpected development suggested the involvement of forces beyond his control.
He couldn't allow Sasuke to stray down a dangerous path.
"If I can kill you, that's all I need!"
Sasuke laughed wildly, seeing Itachi forced back under his assault. He surged forward again.
Yes, just like this—I'll kill you!
A man whose hands were drenched in the blood of their clan didn't deserve to live!
Boom!
Just as Sasuke reached striking distance, his sword poised to fall—
A burst of orange chakra erupted around Itachi, forming skeletal rib bones that deflected the sword's slash.
A skeletal arm swiped out swiftly, striking Sasuke and sending him flying.
Susanoo.
An advanced ocular technique of the Mangekyō Sharingan, ranked as a purple-tier high-level skill in the game.
In a critical moment, Itachi had activated it to block Sasuke's blow.
"Sasuke, right now you still can't kill me."
Itachi's voice was cold. Though his body was trembling from the chakra expenditure due to his illness, he concealed it flawlessly.
Sasuke was hurled backward, crashing into a building and bringing down most of it.
"Itachi-san..." Kisame looked at him with concern.
He didn't understand—
Sasuke was strong, sure, but Itachi didn't need to activate Susanoo to defeat him. The technique put extreme strain on the body.
Itachi shot him a look, signaling that he was fine.
He had activated Susanoo not out of necessity, but to remind Sasuke of the massive power gap between them—to urge him to mature, to not grow arrogant after gaining some strength.
He knew his little brother too well.
At the first sign of sunshine, Sasuke would want to run out and play—only to get caught in the rain.
Every time he made a bit of progress with his ninjutsu, he became conceited.
Since he couldn't stay by Sasuke's side for long, this time, he had to correct his bad habits once and for all.
"Damn it..."
Sasuke felt like every bone in his body had shattered as he struggled out of the rubble.
The longsword in his hand—crafted from rare Flame Iron Ore and certified as a blue-tier weapon for 5,000 reward points—was now riddled with fine cracks.
He stared at Susanoo, unwilling to accept defeat. He knew he couldn't kill Itachi just yet.
When he first joined the game, he had already experienced the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan. He understood how terrifying Susanoo was.
"If I could just certify all my in-game purple gear into the real world, even Susanoo wouldn't stand a chance!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth.
His Curseblade and Black Flame were also purple-tier skills—not inferior to Susanoo—but their massive mana costs made them impossible to use freely.
"I'll spare you. Preserve those eyes well, and continue living with hatred toward me."
Itachi looked coldly at the broken, motionless Sasuke. Dispersing Susanoo, he turned and walked away with Kisame.
With the Third Hokage's tacit approval and the Uchiha compound so isolated,
Even such a huge commotion failed to draw any ANBU—they left Konoha unchallenged.
Just outside the village—
Splurt.
Itachi suddenly collapsed, coughing up blood.
Kisame quickly caught him, scolding, "Itachi-san, you pushed yourself too far! Should I get a doctor?"
He knew Itachi suffered from a serious illness. Without constant chakra to suppress it, any heavy combat could trigger it.
Clearly, Itachi had gone all-out because he cared deeply for his brother.
That only made Kisame respect him more.
He hadn't known much about Itachi's past—only that he had slaughtered his entire clan and defected.
At first, Kisame had looked down on him.
Though he had voluntarily requested to team up with Itachi, seeing in him a fellow killer of comrades, deep inside, he never acknowledged him. They'd nearly come to blows several times on missions.
But the more time they spent together,
Kisame began to sense Itachi's emotions—always so lonely, so sorrowful.
Itachi's words often lifted Kisame out of confusion, giving him the will to press on. He was deeply curious: why would someone as thoughtful and far-seeing as Itachi do something as cruel as killing his own clan?
"Let's just find a place to rest."
Itachi forced himself upright, squeezing chakra from his cells despite his wrecked body.
Even academy students knew the dangers of over-refining chakra—Naruto being the exception.
But Itachi didn't care. His body was already riddled with scars. It was as if he had a mission—and once it was complete, he would accept death calmly.
"If you don't mind, you could rest for a while... in the Reincarnation Game."
A gentle voice echoed behind them—polite, yet sudden.
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