Upon hearing that, Obito raised his brow behind the mask.
The details of that rescue were known only to:
Madara, Obito, White Zetsu, and Black Zetsu.
The one standing before him was clearly neither White Zetsu nor Black Zetsu, nor an impersonator.
Because the Eye of the Moon Plan—its true details—
were known only to him and Madara.
And for all these years, Obito had been carrying it out in Madara's name.
Besides that, Obito finally noticed another detail: just as he was about to speak to Madara about the Tailed Beasts, Madara had already brought it up first.
And the Tailed Beasts were the most indispensable resource in the Eye of the Moon Plan.
This could only mean one thing—
The other party knew all of his secrets.
Uchiha Yu saw that Obito had been completely intimidated by him, and felt that this guy really was perfectly suited to play the role of the cold, aloof, stiff-faced "Madara."
After all, that was exactly the kind of person Yu himself was.
Right now, Obito was definitely dumbfounded.
Not that it could be helped.
He was facing the nearly all-knowing, all-capable Uchiha Yu of this ninja world.
Yu pulled back his drifting thoughts and suddenly said,
"Give me a report on the current situation in the ninja world."
If he was bored anyway, he might as well toy with Obito a little.
"Yes—"
Obito kept his head down.
Before Madara, he once again became the same insecure, timid kid at heart, though now masked by extremism and impulsiveness.
Uchiha Yu walked to the window, lifted the bamboo blinds, and his eyes lit up.
In front of the inn, Hikari's figure had already vanished, leaping away in Itachi's direction.
Also, all the nearby Konoha shinobi were currently under the control of the Yachimo Imprint, turned into Hikari's combat puppets.
Obito saw this as well.
He wanted to say something, but Madara's cold voice cut him off:
"Just keep talking."
"…"
Obito reorganized the words in his mind and continued.
Outside the inn, on the rooftops, countless shadows darted after Itachi.
These shinobi were originally brought here by Itachi himself.
So, to the ordinary people secretly watching, Itachi being chased by his own subordinates looked rather bizarre.
"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!!!"
Once she had shortened the distance, Hikari formed hand seals in mid-air and released her jutsu.
Her small frame hung in the air for a brief second, skirt fluttering—
The next moment, a massive sea of flames poured down like a waterfall, surging toward the swiftly retreating Itachi.
He felt the intense heat rising behind him.
Clang—
Itachi's eyes flashed scarlet as he activated the Mangekyō Sharingan he had inherited from Fugaku.
Flames were everywhere.
He had no way to escape.
Itachi rapidly formed hand seals:
"Water Fang Bullet!!!"
Splash—
Two streams of water swirled into existence around him, spiraling upward to block the waves of fire. Their tips sharpened into spinning drills that shot upward toward Hikari descending from the sky.
BOOM—
Water and fire collided, erupting into dense steam that quickly turned into thick fog.
Using the water flow to delay the flames, Itachi sprinted forward again. Without looking back, he kept forming hand seals:
"Water Dragon Bullet Technique!!!"
Forty-four hand signs fluttered through his fingers like butterflies weaving through flowers.
Even though he could not see through the fog, he still launched the Water Release directly into it.
ROAR—!
The water that had nearly evaporated under the flames surged anew, reforming into a swift, serpentine water dragon. Its red eyes glimmered as it howled toward the sky. Its coiled body twisted, gathering momentum—then it lunged straight into the fog.
This water dragon was wild and domineering, as if it intended to swallow the entire mist in one go.
Among the Uchiha, Itachi was one of the very few who could wield other elemental jutsu with such mastery.
In his hands, Water Release was nearly as strong as his famed Fire Release.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Thick fog billowed behind them as the Water Fang Bullets spun in the sky, like two water tornadoes capable of shredding a human body to pieces.
Those water-dragons already resembled fearsome mythical beasts, terrifying to behold.
Now, both blasts tore through the steam and came crashing forward in succession, their range enormous—
as though they intended to swallow the young girl and her Fire Release technique whole.
Just as the two Water Releases pierced through the Great Fire Annihilation, the Mangekyō pattern in Itachi's eyes suddenly spun.
It was Fugaku's Mangekyō left-eye ability. Its name was unknown, but its effect was clear:
to amplify the range and chakra output of a jutsu.
In the next instant—
The two water tornadoes expanded to ten times their original size, their volume nearly rivaling that of Garaga, the serpent king of Ryūchidō.
In a heartbeat, the ocean of flames was submerged beneath an ocean of water.
Even Itachi's presence seemed momentarily stronger than the girl's.
The steam dispersed.
Behind the mist—
"So you're using ocular powers?" the girl murmured, disdain flashing across her face.
"Then let me show you—what real ocular power looks like."
Within Itachi's massively boosted Water Releases, the Mangekyō clearly sensed a trace of Yin Release chakra hidden inside.
When two Mangekyō users clash, they can easily perceive the tricks hidden within the other's jutsu.
As she finished speaking, the girl's left eye widened as she stared at the incoming twin tsunamis of water crashing toward her.
Her voice was low and calm:
"Amaterasu."
"Kagutsuchi."
A faint distortion twisted her beautiful features. A thin stream of blood trickled from her left eye, sliding down her cheek—
adding an eerie, almost ethereal beauty to her expression.
FWOOOM—
The world changed color.
Before her—
A violent gust howled.
A surge of pure Yin Release chakra ignited before the girl, erupting into a mass of scorching black flames.
The ground cracked open with pitted holes, glowing with molten lava inside.
Wisps of smoke curled upward—
As if the black flames were burning the earth itself, melting it like fire consuming paper.
Then, under Kagutsuchi's control, the black flames condensed into a column, twisting into a raging fire tornado—
its surface blindingly hot, its core glowing like molten magma as red light surged skyward.
In the next breath, the Amaterasu fire tornado expanded as well—
growing just as massive as the two enlarged Water Releases.
And unlike them, this was a jutsu born from the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan itself.
Although Itachi had released two Water Releases, both were only B-ranked mid-to-high-level techniques in terms of power and learning difficulty.
The next moment, every eye was focused on the three colossal jutsu exploding into existence—
watching as they collided head-on.
But when they hit, the massive explosion everyone expected never came.
Wherever the Amaterasu fire tornado passed, all was reduced to ash.
The two Water Releases didn't even have the qualification to trigger an explosion—
they were instantly vaporized by the overwhelming heat.
Streets, roofs, ground, trees—
everything was swallowed as the Amaterasu tornado tore toward Itachi's location.
"…"
Itachi's face twisted in shock.
Standing atop a wooden house, he stared directly at the oncoming inferno, his face illuminated blood-red, his cloak whipping violently.
Like an insect facing a natural disaster—like the end of the world descending upon him.
Once again, Itachi was crushed in a clash of ocular powers.
And now he could confirm it for certain:
the girl was not Uchiha Yu—
because Uchiha Yu could not manipulate Amaterasu's shape with Kagutsuchi.
Without hesitation, Itachi glanced around, noticed Obito hadn't returned yet, and immediately used Body Flicker to flee.
And the direction Itachi fled toward—
was exactly where Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were located.
"Itachi, DON'T COME TOWARD US!!!"
Koharu shrieked.
°°°
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