Yamato stood nervously in front of Kaito, her head lowered slightly as she stammered,
"Sensei… I think I might've caused some trouble today…"
Kaito raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
Of course, Kaito didn't actually worry much about what kind of trouble Yamato could possibly cause. With him around, one use of Gyakunen could fix almost anything.
"I… hit one of your clansmen today…"
"My clansman? Oh, was it Sasuke?"
"Eh?! Sensei, you already knew?"
"Heh, I didn't even have to guess to figure it was him."
Among the few Uchiha still around, Itachi would never pick a fight with Yamato. Obito, ever since Rin's resurrection, had completely reverted to his old personality—always clinging to Rin, never leaving her side.
As for Madara, that guy was basically a full-blown shut-in these days, holed up in the clan compound.
So that only left Sasuke. Honestly, anyone who's ever watched Naruto was used to seeing Sasuke get beaten up.
Black Zetsu, standing nearby, quickly chimed in to defend her.
"It really wasn't Yamato's fault! Sasuke insisted on challenging her! She was about to leave before he picked a fight!"
"Mm, I see. And how is he now? Not… dead, right?"
"Should be fine. Naruto took him to the hospital."
Kaito nodded. Then he looked up at Yamato.
After returning to Konoha, Kaito had reverted to a normal human height, so now he had to look up to speak to Yamato.
"All right, it's no big deal. Why are you drooping your head like that?"
The moment Yamato heard it wasn't serious, her expression brightened. She grinned, rubbed her shoulder playfully against Kaito, and said,
"I knew Sensei wouldn't be mad! You're the best!"
"Tch, you little rascal."
Kaito shook his head helplessly—when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Yamato hurried to open it, revealing Itachi standing there.
Itachi froze for a second upon seeing Yamato's towering frame.
So this is the Yamato Sasuke challenged… he thought.
He gave a polite smile and said,
"You must be Yamato. I'm Uchiha Itachi. I came to see Kaito-sama."
"Another one of Sensei's clansmen, huh? Come in!"
Yamato stepped aside, her massive shadow falling over Itachi as he walked past, making him look almost delicate by comparison.
When Itachi reached Kaito, Kaito spoke before he could even say a word.
"It's you, Itachi. You're here about Sasuke, right?"
"Yes, Kaito-sama. But please don't misunderstand—he brought this upon himself. I'm just here to talk about… his desire to awaken the Mangekyō."
"Oh? So he's finally losing patience?"
Itachi nodded and explained Madara's plan to "help" Sasuke awaken his eyes. From Itachi's expression, it was clear he was worried—worried Madara might break Sasuke in the process.
After all, with Obito as a precedent, who knew what kind of extreme measures Madara might take?
Itachi mentioned that Madara planned to use Tsukuyomi to emotionally stimulate Sasuke into awakening the Mangekyō—but that method's success rate was low. Sasuke's subconscious would recognize it as genjutsu, and his Sharingan was already near its limit. His resistance to illusions was too strong for that to work.
Black Zetsu listened from the side and pouted slightly. She had witnessed countless Uchiha awaken their eyes, and to her, the key to Sasuke's awakening boiled down to two people—Naruto, and the man standing right before her: Itachi.
But knowing that was one thing. Actually manipulating those two into triggering it? That was an entirely different level of difficulty.
Kaito suddenly chuckled, then flicked Itachi on the forehead.
"You came here to make sure Sasuke had a safety net, didn't you?"
Caught off guard, Itachi's cheeks flushed slightly.
Both Yomi Reincarnation and Gyakunen were absurdly overpowered—basically cheat-tier abilities. As long as Kaito was around, there was always a way to fix things, no matter what went wrong.
If Madara went too far and either Sasuke or Naruto got hurt, there'd be no need to rely on Rinne Rebirth and sacrifice someone else.
Kaito smiled warmly—but there was something about his expression that made Itachi's heart skip a beat.
"K–Kaito-sama?"
"Hehe, don't be nervous. Tell me, does Sasuke know you came here today?"
"I… think so?"
"Perfect. Then everything lines up nicely. Go fight Yamato."
"Eh?"
Yamato blinked in confusion.
"Sensei, are you sure that's a good idea?"
She'd just beaten up his younger brother—sent him to the hospital, no less. Even if it wasn't entirely her fault, it still felt… awkward.
And now she was supposed to fight the older brother? Yamato glanced at Itachi, thinking,
"He looks even frailer than Sasuke… is this really okay?"
Kaito chuckled.
"It's fine. Go all out. The harder you hit, the better. If anything happens, I'll cover for you."
"Oh, then that's no problem!"
Since Kaito said so, Yamato didn't hesitate. Her trust in him was absolute.
Itachi quickly realized Kaito's intention—he wanted to stage a believable conflict, one that would injure Itachi and emotionally shock Sasuke, pushing him toward awakening the Mangekyō.
With a serious expression, Itachi nodded.
"In that case, please go all out. Don't hold back."
"Uh, sure! No problem!"
After they discussed the plan briefly, Kaito transported both of them straight to the Uchiha training grounds—setting the stage for this carefully crafted "tragedy."
...
In the training field, Yamato and Itachi stood facing each other.
Itachi was the first to move, immediately activating his Susanoo in its skeletal form. The massive construct swung a bone-arm down toward Yamato with immense force.
Yamato's eyes lit up in excitement. It was her first time seeing a Susanoo up close.
"Now this feels like Sensei's clansman! I've never fought a Susanoo before!"
With that, she threw a punch straight into its palm. Even without Haki, Yamato's raw physical strength sent the entire Susanoo staggering backward.
The sheer power behind that strike stunned Itachi—and made him silently grateful that Sasuke was still lying safely in a hospital bed.
After that brief exchange, Itachi quickly realized the first form of Susanoo wasn't enough. With a thought, he strengthened it—armor plating formed over the skeletal frame.
He didn't draw the Totsuka Blade but instead raised the Yata Mirror, pushing it toward Yamato.
Yamato drew her spiked club and charged forward head-on.
Their clash shook the entire training ground.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, a member of the ANBU burst into Sasuke's room, shouting,
"Sasuke! The Captain and Yamato are fighting—it's already started!"
"What!?"