After resting for about half an hour, Itachi, who appeared to have fallen asleep, stirred slightly.
Under the faint moonlight, everything seemed perfectly aligned.
A shadowy figure, accompanied by a gust of wind, sliced a falling leaf in mid-air.
The pitch-black blade in its hand reflected no light under the moon—a weapon made for assassination.
Without hesitation, the blade, charged with powerful chakra, slashed through both Itachi and the tree branch he rested upon.
"Caw... caw... caw..."
After a single strike, the shadow disappeared into the darkness.
Itachi's severed body dissolved into a flock of crows, scattering in all directions.
His figure reappeared atop a tree, standing lightly on a slender branch as if he were a celestial being.
At that moment, his eyes were in the Sharingan's three-tomoe state, spinning rapidly as chakra surged into them.
...
The spinning three tomoe suddenly converged, transforming into a pinwheel-like pattern.
His black pupils turned blood-red, with the windmill design at the center.
The whites of his eyes were marbled with sinister red veins, as if continuously supplying power to the crimson pupils.
The windmill pattern in his right eye contracted slightly.
Unnoticed, faint black sparks appeared where Itachi's gaze landed.
This black fire was eerie and discreet, blending into the darkness.
"Has he spotted me?"
The ANBU operative, observing Itachi as he stared in their direction, hesitated.
A sudden wave of intense heat came from nearby.
"When did that happen?"
A chill ran down the ANBU operative's spine.
With a single hand seal, they used the Body Flicker Technique to vanish from their position.
As the fleeting shadow disappeared, Itachi understood.
It was yet another ANBU disguised as a member of Root.
Amaterasu hadn't struck its target, which left Itachi slightly disappointed—but only slightly.
...
Just as Itachi's gaze lingered on the spot where the Root operative had vanished, a powerful gust of wind swept toward him from behind.
This time, there was more than one attacker.
Without turning around, Itachi flicked several kunai at sharp angles.
The sound of kunai clashing with short swords echoed through the air.
Itachi turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on the masked Root operative standing before him with their head lowered.
"Uchiha Itachi, once a prodigy of the Leaf, and now nothing more than a stray dog."
The Root operative, clad in standard Root attire, spoke in a solemn tone.
Though their face was hidden behind a mask, their wariness was evident.
Itachi's reaction speed was incredible; no matter how much they tried to conceal themselves, it seemed impossible to escape his Sharingan.
From the beginning, none of them had dared to meet Itachi's gaze, unaware that his Mangekyo Sharingan was activated, coldly fixed on them.
If they had looked into his eyes, Itachi would have already subdued them with Tsukuyomi.
...
"For tools trained from childhood like you, I suppose I'm relatively fortunate," Itachi said with a hint of mockery, addressing the masked figures before him.
He wasn't in a hurry.
Although his earlier use of Tsukuyomi had been brief, it had taken a toll on his young body.
He needed a moment to recover.
He had no intention of overexerting himself to the point of bleeding from his eyes—too grotesque.
Moreover, he was carefully analyzing the energy consumption and effectiveness of the Mangekyo Sharingan in real combat, honing his instincts.
...
He understood that modern strategies wouldn't necessarily work well in the ninja world.
Thus, Itachi primarily retained the memories and mindset of his previous self.
The knowledge and experiences from his past life served as a supplement, creating a complementary effect.
After all, having lived under the banner of the red flag in his past life, his way of thinking struggled to survive in this harsh environment.
The side effects of the Mangekyō Sharingan were rapidly recovering, though his chakra was burning at an equally fast pace.
Yet, he remained unfazed. The elite Anbu before him—so what if they were the best?
With that thought, a faint red glow emerged around Itachi's body.
The glow formed into a red ribcage that encased and protected him.
A long, chakra-condensed skeletal arm extended outward, clenched into a fist, and swung forcefully toward the man in front of him.
The Anbu, upon witnessing the ominous red glow surrounding Itachi, felt a chill run down his spine.
As the glow solidified into what seemed like tangible ribs, a sense of foreboding gripped him.
He dared not look any further at what might form above the ribs.
The boy before him was a monster.
Two thoughts crossed his mind:
The first was to unsheathe his blade and charge Itachi without hesitation. Using chakra to amplify his speed and the blade's sharpness, he could try to land a decisive strike on Itachi...
...while giving his comrades behind Itachi an opening.
The second was to retreat.
The chakra fluctuations before him were terrifying, with both advantages and disadvantages.
This young boy clearly couldn't sustain such power for long.
If they could circle around him, drag out the fight, and exhaust his chakra, they could eventually defeat him.
When he decided on the second option, he suddenly felt the terrifying force of a punch rushing toward him.
At that moment, Itachi's sclera, already laced with a few thick blood vessels, appeared as though it would soon be completely engulfed by crimson veins.
The red glow seemed ready to consume even the whites of his eyes.
He calmly watched the Anbu before him, whom he deemed insignificant.
The punch was less than a meter away from its target.
"So fast..."
The Anbu marveled internally.
His blade, shrouded in intense chakra that flickered like a serpent's tongue, poised itself to test the durability and strength of Itachi's skeletal defenses while gathering intelligence on him.
He didn't intend to meet the attack head-on, opting instead to use precise techniques to deflect it.
---
*BANG!*
The immense force of the punch collided with the Anbu's blade.
A surge of power jolted through him.
The Anbu nearly lost his grip on the sword, which almost flew out of his hand.
A tearing pain shot through his wrist, and the overwhelming force traveled through the blade and into his body.
Unsurprisingly, he was sent flying.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
As Itachi's punch struck the Anbu's blade, another Anbu hiding in the shadows wasted no time, unleashing the B-rank Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
However, given the urgency, he used only his own chakra to create the water dragon, which rushed toward Itachi.
If given more time, he could have used other Water Release techniques to summon a small lake first, significantly enhancing the water dragon's power.
The water dragon formed quickly, hurtling toward Itachi with a menacing roar.
---
Having sent the first Anbu flying, Itachi extended his hand from beneath his long sleeve.
The red glow around him faded and disappeared.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind the Anbu who had just launched the water dragon.
Itachi had anticipated the attack and had already devised a countermeasure.
Under the Anbu's astonished gaze, the mighty water dragon missed its target.
As the Anbu watched Itachi effortlessly evade the water dragon and rush toward him, he quickly canceled his jutsu.
But by the time he did, Itachi's figure had vanished again.
---
The Anbu's reflexes were sharp. He launched a kick behind him, hoping to turn defense into offense.
But the moment his foot connected, Itachi's figure dissolved into a flock of crows.
In the moonlight, a long sword flashed briefly, its edge gleaming.
"When did he..."
Clutching his throat, blood seeping through his fingers, the Anbu uttered half a sentence in disbelief before his pupils dilated and he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Even in death, he couldn't comprehend when Itachi had performed the hand seals or how many he had executed.
"No attack can escape my eyes..."
Sensing the Anbu's lingering resentment, Itachi spoke calmly, his voice devoid of emotion.
He then turned his gaze toward another direction—where another Anbu had hidden.
Despite being part of the elite Anbu unit, they had fallen like fools to Itachi's overwhelming power...
---
That said, in Konoha, it was often not the elites or Jonin who posed the greatest threat.
---