Chương 494: CH_13.13 (494)

"I need some time, captain." Itachi momentarily glanced at Takuma as his voice echoed in his head. It was a difficult task to buy any amount of time during live combat, especially against someone on the level of Orochimaru. He deliberated whether involving Takuma and others would be worth the risk; they had already lost an operative, and the rest weren't faring well. Would involving them in a hastily conceived plan put them in danger? He was of the mind to face Orochimaru alone without unnecessary risk.

He internally sighed and sent his thoughts: "There will be no discussion if I disapprove. Be quick."

"Understood." Itachi returned his full attention to his enemy and stared at the stolen face of his kinsman, now a hollowed vessel for a snake's parasitic obsession. The sight of the Sharingan on the vile face was a profanation—a mockery of a life snuffed before its time at a monster's convenience. Though they had only spoken a handful of times, he remembered Uchiha Gouki.

They had sparred a few times when he was five years old, and Gouki, being a few years older, was chosen as one of his first opponents among the clan's youth. Their match-ups only lasted a week before it was decided that Gouki wasn't a suitable match and was replaced by older academy students, genin, and eventually even a handful of chūnin. Once the word spread, no one wanted to spar with him because losing to a five-year-old was humiliating. Since then, he had mostly sparred against his parents and Shisui.

Even if they only knew each other in passing, a dark rage crept its cold tendrils over his heart, demanding that Orochimaru pay in blood. He felt the burning itch of the Mangekyō Sharingan, a temptation that he struggled with each time he fought. All power corrupted, and power this great corrupted greatly—even the thought of it made his chakra twitch in anticipation. He ignored the enticement and calmed himself.

He had already used his eyes the day before, and if he kept trading his precious sight every time he faced danger, he would go blind before getting to see Sasuke grow up. He focused on the pain from the wound in his side and let the anger drain through it. Regardless of whether Takuma managed to come up with a plan, he still had to continue fighting one way or another.

Through the crimson lens of the Sharingan, Itachi watched the translucent, wet shimmer of his opponent's new skin, which had collected grit and soot from the battlefield. The man's lungs fought for air, a lingering tax from his shedding. Deep within the body, the flow of chakra was dimmer and much more reserved, providing the insight that discarding bodies to avoid injuries came at a staggering price, and thus had to be used sparingly. However, the eyes—the stolen Sharingan—were still just as manic.

Orochimaru moved with a boneless, predatory grace. He flicked his wrist, and the Kusanagi sprang forth towards Itachi's throat; Itachi leaned back, the steel whispering past his Adam's apple, and hammered a palm into Orochimaru's elbow to lock the joint. The Sannin didn't resist the lock and leaned into it. The arm felt like it had no bone in it as it bent in the other direction before a cluster of vipers burst from the sleeve. Itachi darted back with a Body Flicker—a micro-jump that left a trail of afterimages.

The snakes tore through the "ghosts," but the real Itachi descended from a blind spot with his short sword aimed at the base of the Sannin's skull.

"Body Flicker in a fight? Must have learned from the best!" Orochimaru grinned wildly as his Sharingan caught the flicker of Itachi's shadow. He didn't turn; he triggered the Kusanagi. The blade shot backwards, extending through his own armpit to impale the airborne Itachi—a calculated sacrifice. Itachi twisted midair, and the extended blade grazed his ribs instead of his heart. As he landed, he slammed his heels into the mud.

Water Release: Flowing Chain Binding Link-chains the thickness of an arm tore through the earth. Orochimaru leapt, his body twisting like a ribbon, but one of the chains managed to catch on. Itachi closed the distance and landed a brutal elbow-to-jaw connection that sounded like a breaking branch. Orochimaru's head snapped back, but he used the momentum to wrap his legs around Itachi's waist.

In the air, Itachi weaved a quick set of hand seals before placing his hand over Orochimaru's chest, who similarly placed his hand over Itachi's body. As the chakra bubbled in Itachi's body, about to rush forth in a fiery blast, it was suddenly sucked out of him before it could form the ninjutsu. Orochimaru grinned as he absorbed the chakra and then dragged them both into the mud. They rolled while exchanging blow after blow.

Orochimaru managed to rip the ANBU mask off, while Itachi cut the sash around the Sannin's forehead, leaving a gash. The Kusanagi shrank before shooting out towards Itachi's neck. Itachi slammed the tip of his short sword into the flat of the blade, pushing the legendary weapon away from its target, but it still managed to graze his skin, which leaked a drop of blood. Itachi thrust his empty hand forth, intertwined it with Orochimaru's, and began using their two joined hands to weave hand seals.

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he froze for an eternal moment before thrusting his bony fingers over Itachi's mouth, just as the Uchiha was sucking in air. He saw the flow of chakra within Itachi, a fiery chakra gathering in the lungs, and knew a Fire Release was coming. Itachi's eyes widened in utter panic as his mouth was sealed shut and the fire-natured chakra burst inside his body. His stomach and chest expanded in an explosion as a short jet of fire shot out of his nostrils, followed by black smoke.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. The Sannin laughed maniacally, enjoying the pain on Itachi's face as he pushed the young Uchiha to the ground. He clawed his fingers toward Itachi's eyes and pushed the eyelids back as a crazed smile stretched across his face.

"They call you the future of the Uchiha clan, and you're certainly worthy of that title, but rest easy because I'll elevate the Sharingan and its legacy to heights the Uchiha clan has never seen." Orochimaru pushed his fingers to pop the trembling eyes out, his heart hammering in anticipation when the scenery changed slightly. He was no longer straddling Itachi; instead, he was on the ground with Itachi atop him.

He looked up at the youngster's calm face—the previous injuries caused by his own jutsu nowhere to be seen—as Itachi pushed his finger over Orochimaru's eyes.

"These don't belong to you; they never did and never will. I'll take them back to right this wrong," Itachi said and then dug into the eye socket.

"NO!" The two opposing genjutsu shattered simultaneously, and the two men who had fallen to the ground stood up. The genjutsu battle had started with Itachi's attempt to blast Orochimaru with a Fire Release, only to have his chakra absorbed. They had the same idea and used the moment to apply genjutsu on each other; when Orochimaru cast his genjutsu, Itachi flipped it back on him.

"We're ready, captain."

"Go on," Itachi said while feeling a strain in the back of his head. The mental exchange only lasted a few seconds of real time, but it was a strain on their mental capacities and chakra reserves. He listened to the plan and instantly had a problem with it, but Takuma seemed to sense his opposition and convinced him that he would keep the danger and risk to a minimum—the minimum possible in the situation they were trying to get into. Lord Choza's involvement was a source of confidence.

"You have permission," he finally replied, "but get everyone away for now if you don't want to die… A-rank ninjutsu are coming." ———. Takuma felt his heart hammer in his chest. He had said that he had a plan, but with every passing second, the realisation that he was putting himself in charge of people's lives hit him directly. The weight of the responsibility was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was far different from his responsibilities as the leader of a team like Ratel Squad or Narcotics Taskforce.

He had been in battle with others, but he was never in charge and mostly fought alone, without being responsible for others, even when others were around. The closest he could remember was a farm raid he had done with the Narcotics Taskforce, but that was literally life or death for everyone involved; here, he had volunteered for something that wasn't asked of him.

His face scrunched up with those thoughts, which didn't get better as he looked at the afternoon sun casting bloody streaks across the wreckage of an area that, barely a few minutes ago, was still a lush forest. The air was thick—a choking mixture of vaporised mud, the smell of ozone, and heavy smoke, all made worse by an intense heat that lingered and stung even after the jutsu was gone.

He had to be realistic about the situation before him: when two shinobi of this calibre fought, the world around them started to dissolve. He had possibly sealed his and others' fates.

"I need time, captain," he said internally, a part of him hoping that Itachi would shut him down.

"There will be no discussion if I disapprove. Be quick."

"Understood." The response didn't make him feel better, even though Itachi had taken the burden of the final decision. Takuma hastily looked around at what he had to work with. Anko, Itachi, four out of six assault squad chūnin, and Akimichi Choza were rushing to their location. On any other day, the group—just from Itachi's presence alone—would inspire confidence, but the enemy was Orochimaru. Did he have it in him to come up with something that would harm a Sannin?

'No, I can't think like that,' he told himself and instantly felt a jolt of pressure as the two jōnin moved to clash again. He looked around again at the people he had and the crude plan that had begun to take form until he had something usable. It wasn't his best work, but he didn't have the comfort of time and resources to improve through iteration like he would if he were at home.

He quickly gathered everyone and began speaking of his plan while tapping Jōnin Kawamochi, so she could relay it to Lord Choza in real time." A lot of things could go wrong," Choza said." My suggestion is to leave this to Operative Weasel and Lord Choza," Kawamochi chimed in. Perhaps it was cowardly, but he was ready to drop the matter immediately.

"We should do it," Anko suddenly said with a determined look in her eyes; hidden behind it was a motivation fueled by a sense of revenge. In her current state, she would have agreed to anything. Takuma was about to say something, but was interrupted by Hopper.

"The assault squad is ready as well." He looked at Takuma and said, "We have confidence in Ratel's plan and our ability to do our part in that plan." Takuma was frankly touched that they believed in him, and while it increased the pressure on him, it also had a calming effect. His heart was still beating fast, but his head felt suddenly cool.

"If everyone does their job, we can pull this off," he said, nodding to the people around him.

"Even if things go wrong, I feel that we can bail with minimal damage," he said, glancing at Anko because the plan inadvertently put her at the most risk. It completely went against the reason why he had chosen to stay behind, but given what everyone had told him about what they could do, the plan only made sense if she was in a specific position." Then we proceed with the plan," Choza said.

Even though Kawamochi didn't say anything directly, Takuma could feel that she wasn't enthusiastic about the plan when there was a pause before she connected them to Itachi. He couldn't even blame her because he understood where she was coming from." We're ready."" Go on." Takuma told Itachi the plan and could feel that the jōnin had problems with it. He took a deep breath and recalled the confidence that Anko, Hopper, and his crew had shown in him.

Despite his own personal doubts, he took a deep breath and projected confidence as he presented his plan to Itachi, who responded very quickly." You have permission, but get everyone away for now if you don't want to die… A-rank ninjutsu are coming." Takuma's eyes widened, and all the thoughts about responsibility vanished, overtaken by fear as he looked at everyone and yelled, "RUN!"

He didn't have to say anything else because everyone felt a surge of chakra in the atmosphere, and they instantly knew what was coming. The entire group, including Yazo and Koyal, who were abruptly picked up, rushed as far as they could from the two jōnin. They ran as the world began to dissolve.