Itachi Uchiha wasn't against making a move. He very much wanted to let Naruto Uzumaki experience the warmth of Tsukuyomi, but Naruto was too wary of him, giving him no opportunity to strike.
The rogue Konoha ninja realized he had a problem: Naruto Uzumaki wasn't his foolish, easily manipulated little brother. He was a powerful ninja.
Being an undercover agent wasn't easy. Especially when his own superior was an amnesiac. The only one who could offer any help was the hot-tempered fox sealed inside his superior's stomach. Honestly, it would be easier just to be the Akatsuki's Vermilion Bird full-time.
Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, got to his feet, looking disheveled. The first thing he did was move to Itachi's side. "Itachi," he said in a deep voice, "the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's power is dangerous. Go and support the others. I'll handle capturing him."
"..."
Itachi hesitated for a moment before nodding. The difference between his superiors in Konoha and his superiors in the Akatsuki was vast. If it weren't for Sasuke still being in the village, he'd be tempted to side with the Akatsuki for good.
Now that Pain wanted to take over capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Itachi couldn't object and flew back toward the others.
In the distance, a pair of paper wings carried Konan into the air. She frowned and urged, "Pain, we should retreat!"
"Konan, since we're already here..." The orange-haired man bent his fingers, tapped his arm, and said softly, "Let me give it a try."
"Pain..."
"Universal Pull!"
Pain ignored Konan. He stretched his palm toward Naruto, and a sudden suction force erupted from his hand. As Naruto's body was pulled unexpectedly forward by the gravity, Pain's other hand formed a black rod of Yin-Yang Release, intending to stab it into Naruto's body.
Whether it was Naruto's chakra cloak or his physical body, the Yin-Yang Release black rod had a miraculous sealing effect. Pain's move was also an experiment. Although the members of the Akatsuki were strong, he knew the main force for collecting the powerful Tailed Beasts would ultimately have to be himself.
"Spiral Dance Umbrella!"
A strange, umbrella-like weapon appeared in Naruto's hand. Using the force of the Universal Pull, Naruto accelerated toward Pain. The blond boy suddenly swung the spear-like umbrella, breaking the Yin-Yang Release black rod in a single move and striking Pain across the face, sending him flying.
In terms of sheer durability, the Umbrella was clearly stronger.
Konan couldn't help but exclaim, "Pain!"
"I actually really like your weapon..." Naruto looked down at the broken black rod, a slight smile on his face. "In your hands, don't you think it's a bit of a waste?"
"Just because you pulled a little trick and escaped from a god's hand once, you think you can make a god flustered?" The orange-haired man was unbothered. He just calmly glanced at Naruto and stretched out his palm again. "Universal Pull!"
The young genin's body once again flew uncontrollably towards Pain. Just as everyone thought Naruto would repeat his trick and Pain would be defeated again, that pair of Rinnegan eyes trembled for an instant.
He was close at hand.
Pain watched the blond genin use the force to rush toward him, and nonchalantly changed the power in his hand. "Almighty Push!"
A huge repulsive force emanated from his body. Naruto finally understood why Jiraiya had been repelled by the orange-haired man in a single move. This strange power was simply impossible to defend against.
In a flash, the moment Naruto's body felt the repulsive force, nine golden chakra tails billowed out from his back. Naruto, who had subconsciously put his arms up to block, lowered them and suddenly opened his mouth toward Pain. A faint fox phantom became visible.
"Roar!"
The boy, cloaked in overflowing golden chakra, stood his ground firmly, not retreating a single step against the force of the Almighty Push. On the other side, Pain, still somewhat surprised, was instantly thrown back by the rebound of his own technique, sent flying before he could react.
A giant golden chakra hand reached out, grabbing in Pain's direction. Countless dense paper senbon shot down, but the chakra hand's form suddenly became slender, extending even faster and dodging the attack.
Konan watched as the chakra hand continued to grab for Pain. Frowning, she sent sheets of origami paper falling onto it. As the patterns of explosive tags appeared on the paper, it detonated.
BOOM!
The giant chakra hand was instantly destroyed by thousands of explosive tags.
"Interesting..." Naruto raised his head and glanced at Konan, who hovered in the sky with her paper wings. A golden tail transformed into another giant chakra hand and suddenly grabbed for her.
The paper wings on Konan's back flapped, carrying her away from the attack. However, the chakra hand was unusually agile. After circling around, it attacked again.
A skeletal chakra hand emerged, blocking the attack and saving the helpless Konan. It was the first form of Itachi Uchiha's Susanoo.
Naruto frowned. After glancing at Itachi, he helplessly retracted the chakra hand. Although he hadn't killed Pain and Konan, it was enough to make the Akatsuki members face reality. They had no hope of capturing the Nine-Tails now.
Konan landed nervously beside the orange-haired man and shouted to Itachi, "Itachi, we're retreating!"
"Give me a few last seconds!" Itachi held a kunai, the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes instantly condensing into a Mangekyo. He shouted, "I want to try one last time!"
The Akatsuki members looked at each other. The orange-haired man nodded grimly. He didn't want this small-scale operation to end in failure either. Since Itachi wanted to give it a try, Pain wouldn't object. Whether Itachi won or lost, it was a good thing for him.
Pain didn't want to leave in such a sorry state. At the very least, he had to regain some face against the other Konoha ninjas. As for Naruto… next time, he would bring the other Pains with him.
Since their leader had agreed, the Akatsuki members had no choice but to use their own methods to once again engage the Konoha ninjas, covering for Itachi's fight.
A giant golden chakra hand slammed down. Reflected in his Sharingan, Itachi easily dodged the hand's movement. What greeted him was a beam of azure chakra light.
"Spiral Shockwave!"
His Sharingan had already detected it. Itachi dodged Naruto's attack. The azure chakra beam grazed past him and hit Hidan, who was rushing over to provide cover.
The silver-haired young man raised his scythe menacingly and charged again. He wasn't afraid of death. However, a Rasenshuriken suddenly flew over, splitting Hidan's body in two and completely disabling him.
Inside the seal space, even the Nine-Tails didn't know what expression to make. The Akatsuki members were fighting so desperately just to let Itachi get close to Naruto and use Tsukuyomi to exchange information with it? This was truly... well, may good people have a peaceful life.
Also, Itachi really knew how to lie.
The Nine-Tails thought for a moment and then said in a low voice, "Naruto, show an opening. Let Itachi use the Tsukuyomi on you. It can also provide Sasuke with information on how to break it. Don't worry, with me here, there won't be any problems."
"Is that so?"
The young genin hesitated for a moment, then suddenly released the chakra gathered in his hand. The azure light dodged Itachi and shot towards Hidan again.
The Nine-Tails had a point. If Sasuke wanted to defeat Itachi, he did need information on Tsukuyomi. The last time he was caught in it, he didn't get any information at all. This time, he could try again. Anyway, the Nine-Tails's credibility was still very high.
Hidan finally couldn't hold back his frustration. "Hey! Konoha's Nine-Tails kid, can't your jutsu be a little more accurate?"
The battlefield was chaotic, and no one paid him any attention.
Itachi looked at Naruto's missed shot in surprise. A line of blood trickled from his eye socket. He stared intently at Naruto's pupils, the Mangekyo Sharingan spinning wildly. His innate dōjutsu had finally found its chance to activate.
"Tsukuyomi!"
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Bonus:
Itachi: Useless superior. What a waste of a good spy.
Naruto: What did you say?
Itachi: I was talking about Pain...
Naruto: Oh, in that case, fine.
Itachi: Before, I had no choice. Now, I want to be a rogue ninja. I don't want to be a spy anymore.
Naruto: Choose your words carefully. I have Sasuke.
Itachi: ...Here's the intel on the Akatsuki. Please accept it.