***
Asuma Sarutobi let out a cold snort. "There's no future for the likes of you. I'll deal with you right here."
Kisame Hoshigaki still had the leisure to joke. "Itachi-san, looks like nobody in your old village likes you anymore either."
Itachi Uchiha didn't bother answering. His face remained as calm and unreadable as still water.
"I've heard of you, Kisame Hoshigaki," Kurenai Yuhi said in a grave voice. "You were originally a shinobi of Kirigakure, but after being suspected of assassinating a daimyo and sabotaging a nation, you became a rogue ninja. Countries across the continent received arrest notices from the Land of Water."
Asuma's gaze sharpened. "Both of you are S-rank criminals. After causing that much chaos, you still dare step into Konoha. You've got some nerve."
"Asuma. Kurenai. Pretend you never saw me," Itachi said flatly. "I don't want to hurt you."
He meant it. The boy he had once been no longer existed. With the power he possessed now, the two elite jonin standing before him simply weren't enough to threaten him.
But to Asuma, those words sounded like naked contempt. What did he mean by that? Did he really think two elite jonin couldn't stop a single missing-nin?
Back when Itachi had done the unthinkable, he had only been an ordinary jonin on paper. He might be much stronger now, but was that enough for him to look down on Asuma so openly?
"That's not something a man with his clan's blood on his hands should say," Asuma replied, his voice edged with anger. "And neither of you looks like you came here for a stroll. What do you want in Konoha?"
Kisame had clearly run out of patience. He drew Samehada from his back and slammed the massive sword down onto the ground with a heavy thud. "Enough talking. Want me to cut them down?"
Itachi answered in the same calm tone as always. "They won't let us pass. But don't overdo it. Your techniques are too conspicuous."
At those words, it was as if some restraint inside Kisame snapped. A savage grin spread across his face. "Then I'll take that as permission."
The clash began in an instant. Kisame swung Samehada straight at Asuma Sarutobi, while Kurenai released a genjutsu at the same time, aiming to pin Itachi down.
The moment they exchanged blows, Asuma realized how frightening the man in front of him truly was. Kisame suppressed both of Asuma's trench knives with sheer brute force, using only one hand on Samehada's hilt.
And he wasn't even using the sword's full cutting edge. He was just pressing with the tip, yet the pressure pouring through that blade was already monstrous. That alone was enough to prove how terrifying Kisame Hoshigaki's raw strength was.
Off-screen, Kakashi Hatake sat up straight. He knew the name Kisame Hoshigaki. This man was one of the most dangerous defectors to ever come out of the Land of Water.
And now, standing shoulder to shoulder with Itachi Uchiha, he was showing battle power that was absurdly overwhelming.
What bothered Kakashi even more was something else. Their clothing was identical. Their appearance was coordinated. Even their nails were painted the same way.
That meant these two almost certainly belonged to the same organization. If both of them were S-rank criminals—or at minimum elite jonin on the cusp of Kage level—then the existence of such a group was already a nightmare in itself.
The best-case scenario was that there were only two of them acting together. But if this organization had more members… then it was something far more dangerous than anyone in Konoha had likely imagined.
Based on the strength these two displayed, joining that organization probably required one thing above all else: power. Real power. The kind of power only missing-nin from major villages or monsters of similar caliber could possess.
If that was true, then the implications were chilling.
"My great sword, Samehada," Kisame said with a grin as his blade came crashing down again. "It isn't meant to cut people. It's meant to shave them apart."
Blood sprayed. With a single strike, Kisame tore a large chunk of flesh from Asuma Sarutobi's shoulder. Even an elite jonin had been wounded in one exchange.
Asuma clutched the injured shoulder, but his tone remained deliberately casual. "Kurenai… why are you moving so slowly?"
At that moment, Kurenai Yuhi appeared behind Itachi. From her angle, it looked as though she had already succeeded and was about to trap him in her genjutsu.
"This is bad," Kakashi muttered off-screen the instant he saw it. Using a genjutsu like that in front of the Sharingan was the definition of displaying a trick before a master.
Few people understood the Sharingan better than he did. Yes, keeping his own transplanted eye open constantly devoured chakra and often left him stretched thin. But the benefits of that eye were just as obvious.
With the Sharingan, he had copied a thousand techniques. With the Sharingan, ordinary illusions lost much of their threat. Against lower-level genjutsu users, the eye turned him into a natural predator—and even let him throw their own illusions back at them.
Exactly as Kakashi feared, Kurenai's genjutsu ensnared Kisame for a split second and transformed the area into a binding illusion. Trees rose up around Itachi, twisting around him like living restraints, and Kurenai herself appeared above him, ready to strike.
Itachi merely watched her with an indifferent expression, as though the scene were mildly disappointing.
"You're done!" Kurenai shouted.
And in the next instant, her expression froze.
She was the one trapped in the tree. Her limbs were bound. Her body was locked inside the very illusion she had cast. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, the genjutsu had been reflected back onto its owner.
A jonin famed for her skill in illusions had been reversed so fast it was hard to tell when she had even lost. Maybe it had happened the moment she looked directly into his Sharingan. Maybe she had already been caught before she ever realized it.
"This level of genjutsu is meaningless against me," Itachi said, looking at her without a trace of emotion.
Kurenai was still in shock. "This is… genjutsu reflection?"
As Itachi raised a kunai and moved to strike, she bit down hard on her own tongue. Pain exploded through her mouth, and the jolt let her forcibly break free of the illusion.
She avoided the killing blow—but only barely. A kick sent her flying, and she crashed into the water below.
"Kurenai!" Asuma shouted, alarm breaking through his battle focus at once.
Kisame grinned at him from the side. "You still have the luxury to worry about somebody else?"
"As expected of Kurenai… but this ends here."
Kurenai had only just regained her footing atop the water when Itachi appeared behind her once more, silent and terrifying.
"That's enough," came a lazy voice from nearby. "I'm talking to you."
At the critical moment, Kakashi Hatake finally arrived.
He stepped into the battlefield like a blade slipping free of its sheath—calm, unhurried, and impossible to ignore.
And in an instant, the balance of the fight changed.