"It's Tsunade… and Itachi!"
Genya's eyes peered through the barrier, looking toward the outskirts of the small town.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
He was genuinely a little surprised. Through his Sharingan, he could see that Itachi's body was barely holding up.
Did he come to this town seeking medical help from Tsunade?
From the very start of the battle, Genya knew that Itachi wouldn't last much longer. The fights over the past few years had severely drained his physical strength.
It seemed he wanted someone to extend his life. After all, his mission wasn't complete, and his beloved younger brother hadn't grown strong yet. He wasn't ready to die.
Unfortunately,
No matter how unwilling he was, there was nothing he could do. Itachi's illness was not ordinary and difficult to be treated with medical ninja's cure. At best, it could only buy him a little time.
"Huh? Itachi?" Kurenai and the others were surprised, looking at Genya with curiosity.
At that time, Itachi had slaughtered some members of the Uchiha clan. Now there was news of him. Didn't he want revenge? Surely, with Genya's current strength, Itachi wouldn't necessarily be a match.
"Since we've eaten our fill, let's go see this old friend," Genya said, a faint smile curling his lips, as he rose and started walking outside.
Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino quickly followed.
Kurenai looked at Genya, puzzled. "Don't you hate Itachi?"
She knew some of the behind-the-scenes details, especially Itachi leading ninja to massacre the Uchiha clan. Could Genya really want to let him go?
"I still have some things I need him to do," Genya said with a knowing smile, clearly aware of Kurenai's thoughts.
Kurenai's eyes flickered with surprise. It seemed there were things she didn't know, things that were involved behind the scenes.
Outside the town,
"Itachi, why are you stopping me?"
Kisame looked at Itachi blocking his path, his eyes filled with astonishment.
This Tsunade is far too hot-tempered. I must find a way to subdue her if I want her to treat Itachi!
But Itachi spoke slowly, "Leave this matter to me. You just watch from behind."
Itachi wanted to handle this himself. Naturally, there were things he couldn't let Kisame know.
Kisame had wanted to suggest that Itachi's body was too weak for this and that he should take over. But when he saw Itachi's serious expression, he didn't say a word.
He simply stepped back a few paces and quietly observed, separating the battlefield, leaving it between Itachi and Tsunade.
Itachi finally looked at Tsunade with seriousness. He spoke deliberately, "Lady Tsunade, must it come to this? I only wanted to ask you for a favor."
"Hmph. A traitor of Konoha coming to me is already your biggest mistake. Hmph. My duty is to tie you up and take you back to Konoha!" Tsunade looked at Itachi, her fists clenched tightly until they cracked. "You'd better not force my hand. Stand still and let me tie you up!"
"That's impossible. I still have a mission. I can't do this!" Itachi shook his head decisively. He couldn't return now.
"Since that's impossible, I have no choice but to act myself!" Tsunade said, leaping forward and swinging her fist at Itachi.
Itachi, for some reason, already had a kunai in hand, holding it up in front of him!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The battle was about to erupt. In sheer power, Tsunade had the upper hand. But Itachi, using his speed and Sharingan to see through every move, could still keep up with her!
For a moment, neither seemed likely to lose.
As the fight intensified, Tsunade suddenly felt her vision shift. She appeared in a dark, empty space, the sky blood-red.
The red sky unsettled her mind.
"This… a genjutsu space?" Seeing the empty, unreal place, Tsunade realized she had been pulled into a genjutsu. "When did this happen?"
Even now, her eyes were filled with surprise. She didn't even understand what kind of genjutsu this was.
To pull her into this illusion without her noticing required a truly special ability.
No wonder he's a wanted man.
Just as she was thinking about how to break free from the genjutsu, countless vines began to wrap around her.
At this moment, Tsunade wanted to dodge within the illusionary space, but she found her limbs stiff, unable to move at all.
What?
Before Tsunade could react, countless vines had already bound her!
No matter how she struggled, they wouldn't loosen!
"Genjutsu… is your technique only capable of restraining people?" Tsunade struggled, her heart filled with shock. "Itachi, come out!"
If it came to genjutsu, she wasn't Itachi's match. She couldn't even break free for the moment! This dream…
This time, she had truly fallen!
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
At the very beginning, she had already lost her necklace to Uchiha Genya, and now she had been drawn into a genjutsu by Uchiha Itachi!
Her life hung by a thread.
Was her entire fate going to be controlled by the Uchiha clan?
"Tsunade-sama, don't be so angry… cough, cough," Itachi's spiritual projection appeared in the genjutsu world, looking at her. "I've only come to ask you to heal my injuries."
"You…" Tsunade stubbornly turned her head in the illusion, her tone firm. "You're a traitor who abandoned Konoha, and you want me to heal your wounds… absurd! Impossible!"
"Even if you killed me, it would still be impossible!"
Tsunade's firm reply reflected her conviction. To heal Uchiha Itachi was, in her eyes, to create an enemy for Konoha.
"Cough, cough… it seems Tsunade-sama doesn't know the truth back then," Itachi coughed twice before continuing.
"At that time, I was ordered by Konoha's leadership to annihilate the Uchiha clan. I then defected from Konoha, but unfortunately, I did not complete my mission!"
Itachi Uchiha pulled Tsunade into his mental space, just to explain this matter.
"What…? You're saying the Konoha leadership ordered you to wipe out the Uchiha clan?" Tsunade's eyes widened sharply, her face full of disbelief.
"Impossible. You're a member of the Uchiha clan and the clan's heir. How could you do something like that?"
Tsunade shook her head decisively at Itachi's words.
She couldn't believe that Itachi would obey the Konoha leadership and destroy his own clan.
And why would the Konoha leadership want to wipe out the Uchiha clan?
That was almost impossible.
It had to be a lie fabricated by Itachi, meant to make her heal him!
She couldn't be fooled by him.
"Hehe… Lady Tsunade, as you said, I was the heir of the Uchiha clan, the future head of the clan," Itachi said, looking at Tsunade, giving a bitter smile before continuing.
"If it weren't for orders from the Konoha leadership, why would I ever destroy my own family?"
Itachi felt a bit helpless. Indeed… he had once been the heir of the Uchiha clan, yet in the end, he chose to side with Konoha.
****
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