You'd Better Survive the Fourth Mizukage First

The real world.

Itachi Uchiha held Kakashi under Tsukuyomi, and his own eyes were feeling somewhat strained as well.

But this was also part of his plan. Using Tsukuyomi gave him an excuse for being unable to keep fighting afterward, allowing him to avoid killing Kakashi.

Of course, if Kakashi could not withstand it, or if Biwa Juzo killed Kakashi's disciple and rushed over at the same time...

Then what happened next had nothing to do with him.

As Konoha's spy, he had more or less done enough, and for the sake of his younger brother, he still needed to remain in the Akatsuki!

Even if, to this day, he still had not passed much more intelligence on to Konoha.

"Kakashi possesses the Sharingan, and I also weakened Tsukuyomi's attack. He should be able to endure it."

Itachi Uchiha murmured softly, then suddenly heard a rumble, making him involuntarily look to the side.

And with that one look, even he froze.

"That is..."

Not far away, violent rumbles accompanied by intense electric currents flashed wildly through the water mist, dreamlike and unreal.

Through the mist, he was astonished to see Kitagawa Gen's figure flickering nonstop as he launched a frenzied assault on Biwa Juzo, while Biwa Juzo could only defend passively, his face full of frustration!

The clash between the two of them was like the intersection of two different styles of taijutsu.

One was agile and ever-changing, the other heavy and forceful.

As their attacks grew more and more intense, the sound of surging air, weapons crossing, and even the cracking of the ground kept converging together.

Amid those thunderous noises, everything they encountered along the way, whether towering trees or solid boulders, was destroyed in an instant!

Yet Itachi Uchiha knew that this did not seem to be Biwa Juzo's fighting style.

"What is going on?"

Itachi Uchiha's eyes widened slightly, but in the next instant, he understood.

"Biwa Juzo fell into a trap."

Looking at the Purple Electricity flashing constantly through the water mist, and at Biwa Juzo's figure moving slower and slower, he immediately understood what had happened.

Clearly, Biwa Juzo had used Water Release himself, only for that boy to exploit it!

"Only, what jutsu is that?"

Looking at the Purple Electricity flickering in Kitagawa Gen's hand, Itachi Uchiha also furrowed his brow.

That jutsu looked very similar to the Lightning Cutter, but having once served under Kakashi, he had a deep understanding of the Lightning Cutter.

This jutsu was clearly not the Lightning Cutter. In fact...

"It is even more flexible and varied than the Lightning Cutter, and it does not require a high-speed charge to produce powerful effects!"

Under the gaze of the Sharingan, he had already roughly understood what this jutsu was.

But after understanding it, an even greater disbelief appeared on his face!

This jutsu could be said to have pushed the shape transformation and nature transformation of the single attribute of Lightning Release Chakra to the extreme.

The compatibility with a single type of Chakra, as well as the control over Chakra, were both unbelievably high!

Even though he could tell that the boy was still not proficient with this jutsu, being able to achieve this much was already unimaginable.

"It seems only the Third Raikage ever created a similar jutsu?"

Itachi Uchiha felt somewhat dazed, but at that very instant, he suddenly discovered that Biwa Juzo had charged straight out of the water mist.

His direction was precisely toward him!

And behind Biwa Juzo, Purple Electricity had transformed into arcs of surging lightning, rapidly pursuing him.

At the very same moment when he had been dazed just now, Kakashi also instantly regained consciousness.

Rumble—

With an ear-piercing roar suddenly exploding out, the entire sky seemed to turn somewhat gloomy at that moment!

On the scorching battlefield, the two sides quietly landed, facing each other from afar.

The ground around them was pitted and uneven, great trees had toppled in every direction, and only that constantly flashing Purple Electricity remained dazzling.

Purple arcs of electricity still flickered over Kitagawa Gen's body, but his clothes were already tattered beyond recognition, and there were several traces of sword wounds on him.

In the previous exchange, though Biwa Juzo had been numbed by his electricity, he had still managed a little counterattack through strength and battle experience. However, Gen had not suffered any serious harm.

Moreover, Biwa Juzo was in far worse shape now. He looked much more miserable than Kitagawa Gen.

His forehead protector had already been knocked flying, and his hair stood up strand by strand like a hedgehog's spines.

The originally exquisite Akatsuki robe on his body had long since become a pile of torn cloth, hanging from him in a chaotic mess.

There were also many obvious wounds on his body. They looked a bit like blade wounds, yet carried scorched marks as well.

As for Kakashi and Itachi Uchiha...

Both of them looked somewhat listless, though Kakashi appeared even weaker.

"Are you all right, Teacher Kakashi?"

Kitagawa Gen steadied his breathing and asked quietly.

"I can still hold on..."

Kakashi shook his head. Right now, he felt exceptionally exhausted.

As he spoke, he could not help glancing at Kitagawa Gen, especially at the purple arcs of electricity around the boy.

"Was it this Lightning Release that saved me from Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyo Genjutsu?"

He had not forgotten that strange scene that had appeared within the Genjutsu. Clearly, all of it had been caused by Kitagawa Gen.

And he could also see Biwa Juzo's wretched state. All of it proved that this boy's Lightning Release was truly extraordinary!

"This kid really did it?"

A trace of shock appeared in Kakashi's eyes. Although he did not know the details of the battle on Biwa Juzo's side, he knew Kitagawa Gen's ideas about jutsu even better, and he knew just how difficult it was!

However...

Even if he had succeeded, there was still Itachi Uchiha over there!

That invisible, formless, yet utterly terrifying Mangekyo Genjutsu truly chilled Kakashi to the bone.

"I must hold them back and let Gen leave this place!"

Kakashi silently repeated it in his heart. He slowly stood up and walked in front of Kitagawa Gen, shielding him behind him.

Only, before he could say anything, Biwa Juzo on the opposite side coughed and slowly spoke.

"Kid, that's a pretty good jutsu. I admit you're quite impressive, but how are you going to deal with what comes next?"

"How am I going to deal with it?"

Kitagawa Gen spread his hands. After sensing his own Chakra, he decisively made the arcs of electricity flash even more violently.

"Aren't you mistaken about something? What we need to do is hold you back. We only need to wait until the Anbu reinforcements arrive. Besides, don't forget, it's two against two now."

"Anbu..."

Hearing those words, Biwa Juzo felt somewhat uneasy.

Even in peak condition, facing a group of Anbu would make him feel troubled, let alone in the current situation.

His gaze involuntarily turned toward Itachi Uchiha beside him. Although Itachi Uchiha usually listened to him, he did have some understanding of this "newcomer's" strength.

"Let's go."

However, Itachi Uchiha merely closed his eyes slightly.

"Just now, I used the power of the Mangekyo, but it was interrupted by that purple Lightning Release, preventing me from killing Kakashi. Now it's two against two. It will be hard to take them down quickly. If..."

"If we're held up and Konoha's Anbu get here, then we'll be in trouble."

Biwa Juzo also understood the key point, making him sigh involuntarily. Then his gaze turned deeply toward Kitagawa Gen.

Although this was not a mission that absolutely had to be completed, he had never expected the entire mission to be ruined so thoroughly by a brat!

Whether it was himself or Itachi Uchiha, both had been affected by this kid.

A genius boy like this was truly rare to see nowadays!

"Kid, I hope you'll still be this lucky the next time I run into you."

Biwa Juzo snorted coldly. Then he and Itachi Uchiha quickly retreated together, clearly unwilling to stay tangled up any longer.

Only after Kitagawa Gen heard Biwa Juzo's words, while letting out a sigh of relief in his heart, he also could not help muttering silently to himself.

Next time? You'd better survive the Fourth Mizukage first.