For instance, he could activate his “Kāma” space-time ability right in front of Obito’s face—

  just flick his sleeve and telepht out of there! Then if Obito got upset after going through all that trouble only to see Senshi escape in an instant—well, that would be Obito’s problem.

  But Senshi didn’t do that. Instead, he strolled around the Kamui dimension, unhurriedly taking in the sery. The Kamui dimension redominantly gray alternate space filled with numerous regur cuboid structures, giving it a somewhat artistic feel. Of course, Senshi himself wasn’t muto “art”—for now, the Akatsuki’s “Art Duo” hadn’t fully formed; only Sasori was obsessing over art at the moment.

  After for a while, Senshi noticed that the edges of the Kamui dimension were pitch-bck emptiness, like a void where nothing could be seen. After wandering around a bit, Obito apparently finished his own preparations and also ehe Kamui dimension.

  Seeing Obito, Senshi simply smiled, giving him no ce for his usual nonsense about being “Uchiha Madara” or whatever. He cut right to the chase, calling out Obito’s identity:

  “So, Tobi, why’d y me in here?”

  Obito: “???”

  Senshi’s direct words nearly made Obito’s eyes pop out. Indeed, Senshi’s guess ot on: Obito had been pnning to intimidate Senshi by invoking the “I am Uchiha Madara” routihose words were practically oip of his tongue, but he forced them down. Truth be told, Obito’s usual tacti normal mode were limited to two main skills:

  1. Skill #1: Cim to be Uchiha Madara.

  2. Skill #2: Use Kamui.

  Both of these were meaningless against Senshi. Right now, pretending to be Madara would be dht ical. More importantly, how oh did Senshi know his true identity?

  And there was ahing Obito didn’t know:

  If he dared to get all serious in front of Senshi and say, “I am Uchiha Madara,” given Senshi’s personality, Senshi would probably py along and reply, “Long time no see, son. I’m Uchiha Tajima!”—which was Madara’s father.

  Unfortunately, Nagato was just too earo see through Obito’s deception.

  Senshi’s real reason for revealing Obito’s identity so bluntly was to make Obito get on with whatever he nning. Otherwise, if Senshi spent too long hanging around in here, the red-haired girl waiting outside might get so anxious that she’d go barreling around in “Gundam mode” to look for him.

  …

  Meanwhile, on another wide road…

  Itachi and Kisame were traveling together on a mission. These two were often called the “Enviroal Prote Aors” of the shinobi world—the true walking duo—because, no matter how far the mission location was, they went on foot, never even riding in a carriage. They were all about “zero emissions.”

  As they walked, Itachi got Kisame to share more about Senshi, especially since Kisame and Senshi had traveled together when capturing the Three-Tails Isobu. Moreover, Itachi had heard from Kisame that he and Senshi had actually fought once.

  Thinking it over, with no expression on his face, Itachi asked calmly:

  “When you fought Uzumaki Senshi, did he fight you seriously?”

  The reason Itachi brought this up again was because there were all sorts of baffling things happening around Senshi. As someone who quietly gathered intel on every member of the Akatsuki, Itachi had been watg sihe day Senshi joined—he was certain most of his observations about Senshi were accurate. But when he lined up all the data, it painted a terrifying picture.

  The first time Senshi fought was against Kakuzu. Acc to Kakuzu, although he lost to Senshi, he could have easily escaped (though that statement might be questionable). Still, it’s a fact they fought—and Kakuzu survived. Based on how strong Senshi had retly bee, if he inteo kill Kakuzu now, Kakuzu would stand no ce at all. Yet only a few months prior, Senshi would have needed a signifit effort to kill Kakuzu. Now he could likely do it in one move. Even in the eyes of a prodigy like Itachi, that growth was inceivable.

  Was there any shinobi left in a one-on-one who could stand against Senshi?

  Itachi felt he had to take Senshi more seriously, iigating him further without revealing his own status as a spy. Senshi’s growth was abnormally fast.

  Kakuzu, of course, had no idea that in Itachi’s mind, he had bee a measuring stick for power. He could add it to his resume: “I once fought the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and came away with no definitive oute! Then I fought the modern super-Kage ninja, Uzumaki Senshi, and walked away unscathed! Moreover, he didn’t dare chase me!” It wouldn’t be a total lie—Senshi at that time didn’t have any reason to pursue him. If Senshi’s reputation someday shook the entire ninja world, Kakuzu could ride that wave of notoriety, being the bck market’s MVP.

  Back to Itachi and Kisame: after exging random chatter, Kisame answered Itachi’s question about his battle with Senshi in Kirigakure:

  “Holy, Itachi-san, I don’t think Senshi fought me seriously that time.”

  Kisame was the kind of straight-ced shark-man who’d actually weave all forty-four hand signs for the Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu—he basically didn’t lie. On the vast ke in Kirigakure, their csh was more of a test of Senshi’s skill than a life-or-death fight. Kisame bared his teeth in a grin:

  “Kakuzu has this habit of killing his own teammates, and Senshi was a bit offbeat to begin with. Partnering on a mission with Kakuzu only caused him to adopt some of Kakuzu’s ways. While we were on that mission in Kirigakure, Senshi rimarily ied in cashing in on the bounty, so he insisted that I keep the targets alive—he said dead targets are worth less.”

  “At the time, I wao see for myself what Senshi was made of, since Kakuzu cimed he was extremely powerful. But ohe fight begae Senshi not really going all out—I still got pletely crushed. I nearly died.”

  Remembering that enter at Kirigakure’s ke, Kisame couldn’t help feeliional, even though it happened quite a while back. Even back then, Senshi was already very strong; now he’d grown even more formidable! If not for his own resiliend the healing from his sword, Samehada, Kisame would likely have been killed ht. He trusted Itachi enough to tell him everything truthfully. Unlike many other Akatsuki members, each harb their own agendas, Kisame actually believed in the group’s ultimate goals and stayed to see them through.

  Hearing the full details of Kisame’s narrow escape, Itachi cluded that Senshi was aremely dangerous individual—his danger rating rose even further. Itachi even thought: if Senshi had been born earlier, Uzushiogakure might never have beeroyed. Under Senshi’s leadership, the Uzumaki could have built a vilge to rival the Big Five, given his super-Kage-level might and strategic vision. After all, in part thanks to his ideas, Ame and Kusa had allied, both enjoying signifit development.

  But it was too te now—Land of Whirlpools was gone, and Uzushio was a history. Otherwise the ninja world would be a much livelier pce.

  Itachi and Kisame pressed on, only to find someone suddenly appear in the middle of the road, blog their path. It wasn’t Obito—he was still tangled up with Senshi in the Kamui dimension. The person fag them was another old acquaintand fellow Akatsuki member: Orochimaru.

  Orochimaru looked troubled. He desperately wanted a “perfect taio possess, but that roving far too difficult to obtain. After Senshi had left, Orochimaru stewed over it a long time and finally decided to check with Itachi.

  Orochimaru had some knowledge of Itachi—he didn’t sider Itachi a real threat at this point. When Orochimaru first gained fame as one of the Legendary Sannin, Itachi hadn’t even been bor. In his eyes, Itachi’s performan the Akatsuki had been fairly average; he hadn’t shown any overwhelming power. So Orochimaru believed if he challeachi, he stood a good ce of winning.

  More importantly, Orochimaru had no desire to bee a waraitor targeted by Senshi. The rest of the group wouldn’t eveo lift a finger if they could just throw mo Senshi, who would happily hunt down and finish him off. Thus, he pnned a sneak attader the guise of a “friendly sparring session” to incapacitate Itachi, haul him away to some hidden base, and perform his Living Corpse Reination. Uchiha bodies were far too perfect as vessels! If he succeeded in taking over Itachi’s body, Senshi’s threat would be greatly diminished.

  So when he blocked Itachi and Kisame’s path, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue in what he sidered a “friendly” smile and said:

  “Uchiha Itachi, I have a favor to ask. I’ve been developing a new jutsu, and I’d like you to test it with me—just a simple sparring match.”

  He finished, but Itachi’s face remained expressionless. He had no i in fighting Orochimaru. In his life, only two things truly mattered: the growth of his “foolish little brother,” and his undercover mission. Beyond that, he couldn’t care less. Meanwhile, Kisame felt curious: a battle between Konoha’s twue-nin? He chuckled:

  “Orochimaru was once beled one of the Sannin by Hanzo the Samander—no small feat. While Itachi-san is known as one of Konoha’s top geniuses. Who’s stronger? It’d be iing to find out. How about you two spar a bit?”

  As Kisame spoke, he politely cleared space for them. In the forested path, Itachi stood still, expressionless. He had zero i in fighting, but since Orochimaru clearly wasn’t going to let them go without a frontation, Itachi resigned himself to it. Hands still tucked inside his robe, he regarded Orochimaru with a baze.

  “Sant!”

  Seeing that, Orochimaru assumed Itachi was just begging for death. He po teach this “brat” a lesson he wouldn’t fet.

  “Swish, swish, swish, swish! Summoning Jutsu!”

  Orochimaru’s hands flew into seals, aiming to use Edo Teo distract Itachi—and then swoop in to snatch the “cocky little Uchiha.” On the sidelines, Kisame uzzled. After Orochimaru said “Arrogant!”—there was silence. Kisame scratched his head and muttered:

  “Could Orochimaru have falleo a genjutsu?”

  He found it unlikely; when he did missions with Itachi, they often entered enemy ninja where battles went bad forth. (Although, strictly speaking, Itachi tailored his effort to avoid revealing his full potential as a spy, so Kisame hadn’t truly seen Itachi go all out.) But Orochimaru was a legendary Sannin. How could he be bested like a random nobody from their usual missions?

  What Kisame didn’t realize was that wheachi faced skilled oppos, he often held back for covert reasons. This time, against Orochimaru, there was no sueed. Even before Orochimaru spoke, Itachi had already released a genjutsu on him. Now he was drawing Orochimaru into a mental illusion space.

  In that blood-red dimension full of strange bck cubes, crows cawed, gradually coalesg into the form of Itachi at some distance. Orochimaru’s mind reeled:

  “Damn it—when did he cast this genjutsu?”

  He hadn’t even noticed Itachi’s trigger! Sharp iron spikes appeared out of nowhere, pinning Orochimaru ihis was Itachi’s Demonic Illusion: Shag Stakes Teique, which leaves its victim pletely immobile, uo defend or ter. Itachi’s illusion self stared at the immobilized Orochimaru without a word, then disied bato crows. The oute was decisive: Orochimaru had been one-shotted by Itachi’s genjutsu right at the start of the fight.

  When the illusion finally ended, Orochimaru colpsed to his hands and knees, panting heavily, thhly shaken. At that moment, oruth stood out more thahe Uchiha possessed an absolutely perfect body for his Reination. If he could have just dragged Itachi away, evehreat of Senshi might be reduced. But the brutal reality was—he wasn’t even Itachi’s equal for a single exge.

  Bleam