Itachi Uchiha.
That was a name Kakashi Hatake never expected to see again. In fact, the entire squad was blindsided. The infamous rogue ninja, fresh off the Uchiha clan massacre, was here, of all places, casually blocking their mission to retrieve Anko Mitarashi.
"Captain Kakashi, Squad Leader Yamato, Miss Kurenai, Mr. Guy," Itachi's voice was polite, almost serene, as if he hadn't just slaughtered his entire clan. "Please leave. This is not where you should be."
"Anko's disappearance..." Kakashi's hand tightened around his kunai. He stared at the black cloaks with their ominous red clouds, his heart sinking. "This is your doing, isn't it? The person who took her is with you."
It was a shock, one that rattled even Kakashi's hardened exterior. He had never seen this darkness in his former subordinate.
Just days ago, he'd been ordered to handle the bodies of the Uchiha—men, women, children—and the memory left him feeling dazed, wondering how he could have missed the storm brewing right beside him.
"Our mission is only to stop your pursuit," Itachi said, his scarlet Sharingan glowing ominously. "Do not interfere in Senior Anko's affairs. This is not something you can get involved in."
He stood under the same tree as the masked man, the two of them facing down the Konoha squad as if this were just another Tuesday.
"Well, this is going to be a problem," Kakashi muttered, raising his kunai.
"Kakashi, we're short on time," Kurenai said, her expression serious. "That masked man and Itachi are here to stall us. Our real target is getting away."
"Two against four," Yamato added. "But that masked man's abilities are... strange. Hard to deal with. As for Itachi, I should be able to handle him."
"Don't be so sure," Kakashi warned, a flicker of vigilance in his eyes. "Itachi was able to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan. Do not underestimate him."
A chill ran down Yamato's spine. He'd seen Itachi as a criminal, but he'd overlooked the sheer power required to annihilate a clan of that stature.
"Alright, new plan," Kakashi said, quickly assigning tasks. "Yamato and I will stall the masked guy and Itachi. Kurenai, Guy, you two break off and go after Anko. Our only mission is to retrieve her. Don't get bogged down in a fight. You are not their match!"
It was a sound strategy. Kakashi was confident he could hold off the masked man, and Yamato, having known Itachi, should be able to keep him occupied.
But the Akatsuki had their own assignments.
"Hmph. I'll stop that waste Kakashi and Might Guy," the masked man sneered, as if he'd read Kakashi's mind.
"I will stop Miss Kurenai and Senior Yamato," Itachi calmly chose his targets.
This, too, was a reasonable division of labor. The masked man was sure he could handle Kakashi and his old classmate, Guy.
He'd never beaten Guy as a kid, but now, with the Kamui Mangekyo Sharingan, there was no way he could lose, right?
As for Itachi, dealing with Yamato and the genjutsu-specialist Kurenai seemed simple enough.
"Begin the operation!" Kakashi and the masked man shouted in near-perfect unison.
The forest erupted in a clash of ninjutsu and taijutsu.
"Fire Style: Bomb Blast Dance!" Swirling waves of fire erupted from the masked man's eye socket, forcing Kakashi and Guy back. With his opening move, he had already established dominance.
Meanwhile, Itachi's side of the battle was deceptively peaceful. With a single glance, he had Kurenai completely immobilized. He then looked up at Yamato, who was desperately trying to break the genjutsu.
"How is this possible!" Yamato's eyes went wide, a grayish-white haze clouding his vision. He remembered the last time he'd been caught in a Sharingan genjutsu.
What was the name of the person who'd controlled him then?
In an instant, both Yamato and Kurenai were taken out. But for Itachi, this wasn't the end. He had another mission, one given to him by the true mastermind of Akatsuki, Emiya Shirou: teach Obito a lesson.
First, he needed to leak a secret, and he needed to choose the right person to leak it to.
Yamato was too innocent, too much of a boy scout. He couldn't keep a secret to save his life.
Itachi barely knew Kurenai.
And Might Guy... well, a single look at the man was enough to know he wasn't the right choice.
That left only Kakashi.
Itachi remembered his former captain, a man who had also known pain. Kakashi could keep a secret. He would leak some information about Obito, just as he was ordered.
He couldn't risk revealing anything about Shirou; any move by Konoha would be instantly suspected by Akatsuki's intelligence network.
This is a rare opportunity, Itachi thought, a sigh escaping his lips. Akatsuki's internal power struggles were a perfect cover.
His figure flickered, reappearing on the other battlefield. "Looks like you're having some trouble here. Need a hand?"
"Hmph," the masked man snorted, his form turning intangible as he retreated beside Itachi. "I just underestimated them a bit." It was embarrassing. Itachi had already dealt with two opponents, while he was still stuck here with Kakashi and Guy.
And this Guy was even more of a nuisance than he remembered. Every time he tried to attack, Guy's nunchaku would come smashing towards his head, forcing him to rely on his intangibility.
It was... annoying.
"You deal with..." the masked man began.
"I am not Mr. Guy's match," Itachi cut him off smoothly, offering a plausible excuse. "If you've noticed, he never looks at your eyes while fighting. He's clearly skilled at dealing with Sharingan users."
"Hmph, that's definitely because of Kakashi!" the masked man scoffed, recalling their childhood rivalry. "He's been trying to surpass Kakashi since they were kids. He probably came up with that trick after that failure got his Sharingan."
By a strange twist of fate, the two Uchiha had become the unintended victims of Guy's anti-Kakashi training.
"So," Itachi continued, "with the Sharingan's effects nullified, I cannot be his match. Even if I can predict his movements, my speed can't keep up."
The masked man had to admit, he had a point. He was having the same problem. "I'll deal with Might Guy!" he declared, refusing to admit defeat in front of his junior.
He was sure he could outlast him.
"Then I will deal with Captain Kakashi," Itachi said, a scarlet light flashing in his eyes as the three tomoe began to converge.
"Are you going to use the Mangekyo Sharingan?" the masked man asked, a hint of warning in his voice. "Overusing it will lead to blindness."
Is he really going to kill Kakashi?
"It's just Tsukuyomi," Itachi replied, his voice cold. "Captain Kakashi has both the Sharingan and the Storm Release. I don't have full confidence in defeating him quickly. I just hope he can't break my genjutsu."
"Hmph," the masked man snorted, a chain appearing in his hand as he faced Guy, not wanting to be outdone.
"Kakashi, I'll deal with him!" Guy stepped forward. "This guy's fast, but I can keep up!"
"Alright," Kakashi nodded, his gaze flickering to the fallen Yamato and Kurenai. A flicker of worry finally entered his heart.
But he didn't have time to dwell on it. The moment he looked at Itachi, he was drawn into the strange, spinning pattern in his eyes.
"This is..." His mind went blank.
The world turned black and white. Only the moon in the sky was a deep, bloody red. Itachi's and Kakashi's consciousnesses stood facing each other. Kakashi's scalp prickled. He couldn't believe his former subordinate possessed such a terrifying genjutsu, and he couldn't imagine how to break it.
"This is my Tsukuyomi world," Itachi's voice echoed. "Everything here is under my control. Time, space... no one will disturb us. First... the first thing I want to tell you is this..."
His eyes were blood red. "That masked man... you should be very familiar with him, Captain Kakashi. Because he is your former companion, Obito Uchiha."
The world shattered. Kakashi's heart leaped into his throat.
At that moment, even the bizarre, monochrome world of Tsukuyomi couldn't compare to the horror blooming in his chest. The three black tomoe in his Sharingan began to spin wildly, his emotions surging with unprecedented intensity.
"The Mangekyo has opened," Itachi observed, his eyes lowering slightly.
He, as the master of this world, was the first to notice the change in Kakashi's spiritual energy. "No... that's not right.
Itachi's expression grew heavy, his gaze narrowing. He knew better than anyone what that change meant.
"…The Mangekyō doesn't awaken without unbearable pain. For you to have it… you must have carried that weight for a long time."
Kakashi completely ignored the change in his eye. His face was a mask of grim determination. "First, tell me... is what you just told me true... or false!"