Itachi Uchiha held back further words.
Gato's recent moves…
Even he couldn't replicate them. It wasn't just the extreme physical prowess; crucially, during that brief burst of strength, Itachi detected no chakra flow.
"…" Kisame Hoshigaki stopped, stunned. "Mr. Itachi, you sure you saw right? That guy's taijutsu and punch force—you saw it."
If that was truly Gato, it was impossible.
An ordinary man, long controlled by their organization…
Bursting with strength surpassing most jōnin?
"I'm just stating what I saw," Itachi said calmly, though inwardly he found it absurd.
He hadn't met Gato but had researched him.
No intel suggested Gato had such power.
"Mr. Itachi," Kisame said suddenly, eyeing a spot under a tree.
Found him?
Itachi's gaze sharpened, his lips moving silently, but Kisame understood.
Capture alive if possible.
"Hmph, looks like he's tough to find. I really want to pay him back for that hit," Kisame said, feigning irritation while forming hand signs.
Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!
Though in a forest, the groundwater was rich. Kisame's strike shook the earth, a water dragon roaring up from below with a massive surge.
"Damn it!" Gato's short, stout body was blasted into the air.
Lacking ninja experience, he was too unprepared for ninjutsu.
The next instant…
Itachi appeared before him, his scarlet Sharingan's three tomoe spinning slowly.
Genjutsu: Shackle Stake Technique!
This powerful genjutsu could drag enemies into a mental world, pinning their limbs for brutal interrogation.
Itachi wanted the secret of Gato's strength.
But… it failed!
Itachi's expression flickered with shock. Then, Gato's form faded like a phantom.
A clone?
No!
An afterimage!
Itachi whipped around, spotting Gato's small frame fleeing rapidly.
"Kisame!"
"Got it!" Kisame had already charged, his scale-covered blade slashing at Gato.
Though Gato could produce an afterimage, his actual speed wasn't fast.
He gritted his teeth.
"Damn it, I'll take you out first!" Gato mustered all his strength and aura, his fists hammering Kisame like a machine gun.
Blazing Lightspeed Fist!
Kisame had been caught off-guard by this move before, nearly killed if not for his durability and recovery.
Now—
"Think I'll fall for the same trick?" Kisame decisively blocked with his blade.
After just two punches…
Gato screamed, retracting his hands, blood dripping from his fists.
Watching, Shen Mo shook his head in disappointment. Despite gaining power, Gato's combat sense was lacking.
He'd spent 30 million trading points on cans.
Shen Mo had even given him two powerful skills.
With strong combat experience, he could've neared Kage-level strength.
But this mistake left Gato trapped, flanked by Itachi and Kisame.
"Damn it! Bastards!"
Gato cursed, his face twisted, but his tension was obvious, sweat beading on his forehead.
This gave Itachi and Kisame an odd feeling.
They were battle-hardened.
Only rookie genin, fresh from the village, would show such fear.
"What grudge does the Akatsuki have with me?" Gato clenched his fists, his voice nearly hysterical. "You took all my money! Why won't you leave me alone?"
"What grudge did you have with those you oppressed?" Itachi said, noting Gato's balanced stance, probing for information. "It's all about profit. If you reveal how you gained this power, we might let you go."
Kisame stayed silent, deferring to Itachi.
"My power?"
Gato glanced at his hands, his once-fierce, panicked expression now mixed with reluctance and self-loathing.
Hatred for himself.
He'd gained such power, yet facing stronger foes, he was still cowardly and helpless.
Was this his fate?
"That Lord…" Gato gritted his teeth, his gaze growing ferocious. "He gave me this power to change my fate, to escape this pathetic, powerless life toyed with by people like you!"
"That Lord?" Itachi's heart sank.
Almost instinctively, he recalled a top-secret message from Danzo days ago.
A mysterious, terrifying figure appeared in the village, near Sasuke.
No evidence linked Danzo's figure to Gato's "Lord," but these unexpected events stirred an instinctual unease in Itachi.
"Heh heh heh," Gato sneered venomously, a twisted glee on his face as he looked at Itachi. "You ninja, with your power, treat us like ants to toy with. But in that Lord's eyes, you're just bigger ants—snapped away to ash with a flick!"
He mimed snapping his fingers.
Kisame scoffed. "You don't know real power." He raised Samehada, grinning cruelly. "I'm eager to see if your 'Lord' wails like you when Samehada grinds them to pulp."
His battle lust was barely contained.
"The ones ignorant of true power are fools like you!"
Gato, knowing he had to fight, grew frenzied. He opened his mouth, inhaling deeply, veins bulging on his forehead, roaring with all his might.
"Aaah—!"
A strange aura surged from him.
His shoulder blades began to protrude.
Even the surrounding grass rippled with air currents, bits of dirt bouncing.
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