"..."
Watching the figures of his former comrades surge toward him like an overwhelming tide, feeling their countless gazes filled with disgust and hatred, an unprecedented, bone-deep fear instantly wrapped around Itachi Uchiha's heart, freezing him in place.
It wasn't the fear of death; he had never feared death. It was the fear of being utterly cast into darkness, never to rise again, forever burdened with a vile reputation, despised and hated by everyone. Everything he had self-righteously sacrificed for Konoha was turning into nails to crucify him on a pillar of shame. All the Konoha shinobi he had considered "comrades" were now seeing him as their mortal enemy, willing to risk their lives just to kill him!
"No..."
Itachi's lips moved soundlessly. His Mangekyou Sharingan spun wildly, but reflected no hope, only a suffocating, murderous intent!
Clang! Clang!
In the next moment, the kunai of the ANBU collided with his ninja blade, sending a shower of sparks between them.
An ANBU shinobi attacked from the side, a poisoned short blade aimed directly at his ribs. Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan spun. He shifted his body half a step and instantly extended his left hand, grabbing the enemy's wrist with incredible precision and pulling.
Bang!
The ANBU shinobi was thrown like a sandbag, sent hurtling into another charging ANBU!
The ground beneath him suddenly shook. A "Fire Style: Earth Spear" jutted out from the ground. Itachi had already leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the fatal spike. At the same time, he instantly kicked his legs, hitting two ANBU shinobi in the abdomen and sending them flying back with a muffled grunt.
With the Mangekyou Sharingan's enhanced dynamic vision, Itachi's every block and dodge was exquisite. He moved like a ghost, darting and weaving through the crowd. He only used the back of his blade to strike, leveraging momentum to disarm, using genjutsu to subdue, and using taijutsu to toss aside the attacking ANBU.
He couldn't kill them! He couldn't! The ANBU shinobi before him—his former comrades—were completely different in his mind from the radical clansmen who were beyond redemption and deserved to die, whose existence only brought conflict. These were Konoha's shinobi, the comrades he acknowledged! The death of even a single one would be a loss to the village!
However, what Hyuga Kawa wanted was exactly this kind of thinking.
"How arrogant, Itachi Uchiha," Hyuga Kawa said.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, a wind blade grazed Itachi's cheek, leaving a bloody cut. Although he instinctively used all his might to avoid a vital spot, the scent of death made his movements falter slightly. Immediately after, a heavy punch from a taijutsu-specializing ANBU shinobi ruthlessly slammed into Itachi's front.
"Cough!"
Itachi felt a sweetness in his throat. He forcibly swallowed the rising blood. His Mangekyou Sharingan spun frantically, narrowly avoiding other attacks. Sweat and blood mixed with the rain, dripping down his pale cheeks. The wound on his left shoulder tore open from the intense movements, and blood stained half of his clothes. His breathing became heavy, and his movements gradually lost their fluid grace.
It was at this moment.
"Die!"
A roar filled with chilling intent came from behind him. An ANBU shinobi swung a short blade, aiming a vicious strike at Itachi's neck. His movements were wide open and full of flaws in Itachi's eyes, as slow as a crawling snail. He had countless ways to easily dodge or even counter.
But just as he was about to sidestep and hit the opponent's neck with the hilt of his blade...
"Itachi!"
A familiar voice entered his ears. He instantly recognized it as Kakashi's, causing him to lose focus for a brief moment. But in that short lapse, the ANBU shinobi's short blade was less than half a foot from his neck. He instantly felt the icy chill of death.
Under the threat of death, his ingrained physical instincts overpowered his rational restraint. The ninja blade in Itachi's hand, stained with blood, was driven by pure instinct. It moved with a sharp, cold glint, instinctively swinging up sideways.
Whoosh!
A muffled sound of flesh being cut.
Time seemed to freeze. The ANBU shinobi's forward motion stalled. A wound appeared on his chest, a diagonal slash from his right shoulder to his left abdomen. Hot blood gushed out.
"Ugh..."
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only a mouthful of blood came out from beneath his mask. His body, as if all strength had been drained from it, softly fell backward onto the muddy ground, splashing up a mixture of murky water and blood.
The hot, rust-scented blood splattered on Itachi's face and body. The scalding sensation was like a red-hot iron, branding his skin. The ninja blade in his hand dripped blood, the crimson liquid sliding down the blade and spreading into a shocking red stain on the ground. Fear, remorse, and a nauseating self-loathing surged, causing Itachi's body to stiffen.
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu!"
Hyuga Kawa, who was suspended in the air watching everything, flapped the giant wings on his back forward. A highly compressed and condensed wind-style chakra tore through the air like the sharpest, invisible blade, letting out an ear-piercing shriek as it brutally slashed down at the frozen Itachi.
"Wha..."
Itachi's mind and instincts screamed a warning. He was jolted awake from the massive mental shock and exploded with his last bit of strength to try and dodge. However, it was too late.
Thwack!
An even more chilling, heart-stopping cutting sound rang out. A large geyser of blood shot into the sky! An arm, still covered by the sleeve of an ANBU uniform, flew into the air with a spray of crimson!
"Ugh, ahhh!!!"
Itachi's pupils instantly became bloodshot. He threw his head back and let out a bloodcurdling scream. His left arm had been cleanly severed at the shoulder by the invisible wind blade.
Thud!
He fell heavily into the mud, splashing up a large amount of mud and water. Blood gushed from his severed stump, and a tidal wave of pain instantly washed over his entire body, making his vision go black and almost causing him to faint.
Itachi struggled to lift his head, his crimson Mangekyou Sharingan fixed on the figure in the air. Hyuga Kawa! This guy was deliberately taking advantage of my mercy toward the ANBU! This guy, knowing I wouldn't kill the ANBU, must know the truth!
Hyuga Kawa looked down at Itachi, who was lying in a pool of blood. His eyes were closed, his face completely devoid of emotion, only cold and indifferent. He opened his mouth and said, "Take him."
The surrounding ANBU shinobi were excited and slowly gathered around, their weapons gleaming with a fatal cold light. Itachi lay in the cold mud, looking at the approaching ANBU shinobi. A bone-deep despair and coldness completely engulfed him like a tidal wave.
I've already done what I needed to do. If I die here, burdened with a bad name, will it be...
No!
The thought was dismissed as soon as it appeared. I absolutely cannot die here. Now that I have these eyes, I still have a reason to live, and there are many things I still have to do!
With this in mind, Itachi struggled to push himself up with his one remaining arm. But just as he gathered his last ounce of strength and the surrounding ANBU rushed forward...
"Ahhhhh!!!"
A bloodcurdling, inhuman shriek, filled with pain and terror, suddenly erupted from the outer perimeter of the crowd, near the shadows of the forest! The sound was so agonizing, so terrifying, that everyone instinctively shuddered and turned to look in its direction!
They saw a perimeter ANBU shinobi in the shadows at the edge of the forest. His body was seized by an invisible giant hand, and he was convulsing violently and uncontrollably! His mask fell off, revealing a face distorted by pain and shock! His eyes were wide, and his pupils were bloodshot from an ineffable terror!
Even more chillingly, a semi-transparent white phantom was being violently and forcibly pulled out of his seven orifices and the pores of his skin. It was his soul!
And behind him, a black shadow stood quietly, having appeared at some unknown time. The shadow was incredibly tall, its body devoid of limbs, as if it were made of darkness. Its face was covered by a pale mask with a grin that stretched to its ears. The eye holes of the mask were two points of crimson light, burning with hatred and a desire for destruction.
At this moment, the shadow opened a giant mouth with no tongue, only darkness. A powerful and eerie suction erupted from its mouth. The ANBU shinobi's soul let out a silent wail, being swallowed bit by bit by the giant mouth until only his body, its face twisted, remained, collapsing to the ground.
"Ooh..."
As the soul was devoured, the shadow let out a satisfied and nauseating low growl. The aura around it became even colder and more chilling!
"W-what is that monster?!"
The sight completely exceeded their understanding. An ANBU shinobi screamed in terror.
However, this was only the beginning.
"Hiss!"
"Roar!"
"Hehehe..."
Accompanied by various twisted and bizarre hisses, low growls, and strange laughter, one "Hollow" after another, covered in pale, eerie masks and exuding a cold aura, slowly revealed their forms from the shadows of the forest! Their masks were all different, but their black bodies and forms were identical.
And the greedy desire for fresh souls they exuded, as well as the eyes filled with hatred and a desire for destruction beneath their masks...
"Sharingan?!" someone in the ANBU said with a trembling voice. "What the hell are these things? Why do they have Sharingan?"
But the "Hollows" didn't stop because of their confusion. One of them opened its giant mouth again and began to devour their souls.
"That's a soul? They're devouring souls?!"
"Quick! Stop them!"
The ANBU's formation instantly fell into chaos. At the peak of this disorder, Kakashi Hatake stood beside Itachi Uchiha, his eyes on his former subordinate filled with mixed emotions.
The battle between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village on the Moon Country battlefield was growing more and more intense. As a key combatant, he had only returned this one time because of an injury. But he hadn't expected to arrive just as the ANBU was locking down the Uchiha clan. He had also never expected Itachi to conspire with outside enemies and slaughter his own clan when Konoha's military strength was already stretched thin.
"Itachi..."
Kakashi opened his mouth as if to say something. But at that moment, he didn't notice the air behind him begin to twist. A masked figure appeared behind him without warning. One hand was on Itachi's one remaining right shoulder, and the other was on Kakashi's head.
The person was, of course, Obito Uchiha.
Buzz!
A ripple, like distorted space, spread from the eye hole of his mask! Kakashi and Itachi felt an irresistible suction. The space before their eyes seemed to be instantly stretched and twisted, and in the next moment, their figures completely vanished from the spot.
However, just before he was sucked into the Kamui dimension, Kakashi Hatake instinctively grabbed the wakizashi at his waist, which was named "Envy."
Swish!
A wind blade let out an ear-piercing shriek but passed right through Obito Uchiha's body as if it had only entered thin air, leaving a deep mark on the ground.
Obito slowly looked up at Hyuga Kawa, who was looking down at him from the air. Their gazes met silently through the rain. Then, the space before Obito's eyes twisted again, and his figure was sucked into it and disappeared.
Hyuga Kawa stood in the night sky, looking at the spot where Itachi and Obito had disappeared. His Byakugan showed no emotional fluctuations, only a profound indifference.
Do you think it's that easy to escape? Trying to take Kakashi Hatake with you will be the biggest mistake you've ever made.
"Ahhh!!"
"These monsters can't be killed!"
"What's wrong with my... my blade?"
A scream mixed with cries and shouts of battle reached his ears.
Hyuga Kawa turned his head to look in that direction and saw an ANBU shinobi holding a blade, who, with the help of others, had accidentally stabbed a "Hollow" in its mask.
Crack! Whoosh!
The "Hollow," which had been impossible to kill, had its bony mask shattered after being pierced by the blade. Its black body instantly disintegrated. To the astonishment and fear of the ANBU shinobi and the others, the "Hollow's" soul flowed into the blade, and the ANBU shinobi suddenly felt a clear and refreshing sensation. In the eyes of the other sensory-type shinobi, his chakra signature suddenly grew much stronger, causing them to widen their eyes in shock.
What is going on?!
Seeing this, a hint of a smile appeared in Hyuga Kawa's calm eyes. He immediately shouted, "The weakness of these monsters is their masks!"
At these words, the ANBU immediately looked at the grotesque, cold-looking "Hollows." Although these monsters were terrifying, the sight of their comrade killing a monster by piercing its mask gave them a great deal of confidence.
"Let me do it!"
A burly ANBU shinobi roared and charged forward like a cannonball. The short blade in his hand shrieked as it tore through the air, heading straight for the "Hollow's" mask!
However, just as the ANBU shinobi charged, the crimson light in the "Hollow's" eyes suddenly erupted with a blinding flash. A violent and chaotic aura filled with the desire for destruction burst forth. There was no dodging! No blocking! It simply opened the giant mouth of its pale mask, and a chilling, soul-shaking aura began to intensely gather and compress deep within it!
"What is that?!"
The face of the charging ANBU shinobi changed. A wave of instinctive fear instantly seized him. He wanted to retreat. He wanted to dodge. But it was too late!
Whoosh!
A dark red beam of light shot out from its mouth, moving at an incredible speed. The rain in the air was instantly vaporized into a misty fog, leaving only a distorted vacuum. It completely engulfed the charging ANBU shinobi and the two ANBU shinobi who were trying to support him from behind!
There were no screams! No struggles!
The upper halves of the three shinobi, who had been engulfed by the beam, were vaporized as if they were snow thrown into a steel furnace. Not a single piece of flesh, blood, or bone was left. Not even a single speck of ash remained. Only the bottom halves of their bodies, from the waist down, were left, as if they had been cut by a laser. The cuts were not bleeding; they were just charred, carbonized tissue.
Thump! Thud!
The two legs and half a torso swayed for a moment without their upper bodies, then fell straight to the ground.
Time seemed to freeze.
Dead silence. Absolute dead silence.
The eager expressions on the faces of all the ANBU shinobi who had witnessed this horrific scene instantly froze. They were replaced by a bone-deep fear and terror.
What was this?! What kind of jutsu was this?!
Crack! Crackle!
Before the ANBU shinobi could react, the other "Hollows" also opened their giant mouths.
Buzz! Buzz!
The crimson light gathering in their mouths illuminated their horrified faces. It wasn't just pointed at them, but also at the distant, core area of Konoha.
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