While Kaien and Sakumo locked in, Kagami shifted his gaze toward Itachi, closing the distance in an instant. "I can't believe the Uchiha clan has resorted to joining hands with the scums of Kumo," Kagami spat out with a hint of disappointment as he swung his blade down toward the Uchiha prodigy.
"What Tobirama-sensei said turned out to be true... the Uchiha's curse of hatred is precisely what stopped our bloodline from ever holding true political leadership roles. And now, the whole clan has turned out to be a pack of traitors. I will wash away that stain by killing you right here, the heir of Fugaku."
Itachi parried the strike with a sharp metallic ring as he maintained his posture remarkably steady despite the weight of the strike, his kenjutsu was nothing to scoff at but Kagami's experience and relentless pressure were slowly pushing him back.
"Kagami, you have overlooked the truth," Itachi replied. "It was Konoha's leadership that tried to turn me into a double agent. Hiruzen's administration allowed the rot, and the true catalyst was Danzo, who secretly plotted against the Uchiha for years behind closed doors, hoarding stolen Sharingan for his own twisted ambitions. And now he has done it openly after he became Hokage."
"You are wrong!" Kagami retorted as he pressed his attack his blade grinding against Itachi's. "Danzo-san had no choice in the matter. Everything he did was for the safety of the village!"
"If protecting the village means sanctioning the slaughter of my parents, my innocent little brother, and every man, woman, and child in our clan... then there is no point in having this conversation," Itachi said softly as darkness bled into the atmosphere. Itachi's eyes snapped open as an overwhelming surge of chakra flared into his blood-red Sharingan, distorting the air around them.
Kagami didn't flinch holding his ground with stubborn resilience. "That is simply what it means to be a ninja. To endure the unbearable and push forward no matter the cost... that is the duty of a shinobi." In the blink of an eye, Kagami retaliated with his own devastating illusion at Itachi.
A moment later, Itachi's body stiffened as Kagami's blade lunged forward piercing straight through his sternum with a sickening crunch. Kagami exhaled sharply staring down at the blade covered in blood. "It is over. I cannot allow the Uchiha name to be dragged any lower... I won't let you turn against Konoha."
For a split second, the battlefield seemed to hold its breath. Then, the body of the "Itachi" pinned to the ground dissolved into a murder of crows.
"Demonic Illusion: Mirage Crow"
"A genjutsu of that level doesn't work on me," a voice whispered softly right beside Kagami's ear. He spun around to strike at the sound but the space beside him was empty.
Itachi's gaze stayed on Kagami. "People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true. That is how they define 'reality'. But what does it mean to be 'correct' or 'true'? Merely vague concepts... Their 'reality' may be a mere illusion."
He paused, letting the words remind Kagami that every conviction he held was nothing more than a fragile cage built from his own limited perspective.
Kagami grunted. "You talk as if you know everything..." he shot back. "...only by sacrificing oneself for the greater good can one put an end to this illusion, so to speak!"
Itachi didn't raise his voice. When he spoke next, his stance was replaced by grief. "Every day I pray... no, I hope I don't see any war. It always turns out to be a dream." He looked down at his own hands, trembling slightly from the helplessness. "It saddens me to bear seeing everything while being incapable of doing anything."
Itachi's three tomoe sharingan spun as a powerful genjutsu locked onto Kagami's nervous system bypassing the frantic regenerative healing of his reanimated body.
The light vanished from Kagami's eyes as his posture slumped, and he stared blankly into the empty air, completely unaware that the Itachi standing before him was yet another illusion. The real Itachi stood completely unscathed, watching Kagami with eyes that held pity for not seeing the truth... and it reminded him of his past self.
Miles away, Danzo watching the interaction through his sensory link connected to Kagami, stared through his subordinate's eyes as the ocular illusion bled through the link, dragging him into a similar trance. Before he could initiate an emergency callback, his mind was still caught in same Genjutsu that numbed Kagami.
Back on the battlefield, Itachi reached up, his fingers brushing gently against his eyelids feeling the power radiating from his eyes.
"My genjutsu prowess has become powerful," Itachi murmured to himself, a mix of unease in his tone. "I feel like I can get even stronger... I have to talk to Shisui-san after this. The Mangekyou Sharingan, was it? I feel like I am close"
With a sigh, he turned his head toward the clash raging nearby. Kaien was fighting for his life against Sakumo Hatake... the legendary White Fang, a man rumored to be several times stronger than the legendary Sannin themselves.
Even from a distance, the pressure of Sakumo's blade was staggering. "True to his reputation," Itachi noted as he barely tracked Sakumo's blade but still all he saw was a blur even with his sharingan. "He is many times stronger than Kagami."
Raising a hand, Itachi gave a decisive signal. "Sealing unit... go ahead and seal him." gesturing towards Kagami.
~~
Kaien was running on fumes. He had spent the last several minutes spreading the battlefield with his polarity seals, as he made a desperate bid to repel or deflect Sakumo's blade. But technique and strategy meant little against overwhelming mastery. The White Fang cut through his white-hot chakra blade which stopped at nothing.
Before Kaien could complete his next evasion, a flicker of motion signaled Sakumo was right in front of him bringing his glowing white sabre down in an executioner's arc.
Reacting purely on adrenaline, Kaien threw his hands forward slamming a single-handed seal against the ground as an improvised stone wall surged upward to block the path. However, Sakumo cleaved through the rock like a hot knife slicing through butter, the dense stone shattered before the blade even lost momentum. The sabre plunged straight through Kaien's chest... or so it seemed.
With a soft poof, the body turned into gooey magma... it had been a lava clone.
Emerging from the broken earth wall behind Sakumo, Kaien sought to catch the legendary ninja off guard. In the same breath, he flicked his fingers, simultaneously tightening the pull, on polarity seal he placed earlier, to act as a sudden brake on Sakumo's footing while he attracted himself forward at breakneck speed.
"Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique!" Kaien roared, slamming his palm onto Sakumo's gut.
~~
A/N: Kagami is sealed, this dude is a follower of Tobirama and embodies his will even after death, some can never change.
Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0 [7-day free trial]