Chapter 9

Senyo returned the favor, and the cawing of crows rang out!

"Caw... caw... caw..."

Also a practitioner of the Ninja Crow Style, Senyo transformed into a sky full of crows in that instant.

The crows formed Senyo's upper body in midair:

"You already betrayed Shisui's expectations. Why won't you admit your failure?!"

Itachi glanced at Sasuke from the corner of his eye. Seeing that Yusuke made no other move, he secretly relaxed.

He did not answer Senyo's question at all. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, blood tears streaming down as he activated his ocular technique.

"Amaterasu!"

Boom!

Black flames instantly crashed down upon the crows.

No matter where Senyo's real body was hidden, he would be burned out.

Yet a black Susanoo appeared in midair and directly blocked Amaterasu outside.

"Mangekyō Sharingan!?" Shock filled Itachi's eyes.

He had not expected that, aside from their father, Senyo also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.

The instant Senyo landed, his Susanoo threw a punch at Itachi.

Though shocked, Itachi's orange-red Susanoo also threw a punch in response.

Senyo struck with such force that, as the two Susanoo collided violently, both shattered.

Seeing that Itachi remained silent and refused to answer, Senyo waved a hand. "Don't want to answer? Yusuke! Kill Sasuke."

"Yes! Fourth Elder!" Yusuke threw Sasuke to the ground, then stomped on him.

"Ah!" A young, childish scream rang out.

Itachi froze for a moment, as though he had seen this scene somewhere before.

Senyo had already closed in with a blade. The long sword sliced across Itachi's face, and Itachi once again felt the stinging pain in his cheek.

This time, Itachi did not use Susanoo. He turned his body sideways, letting Senyo's blade slash across his face.

His hand struck the flat of Senyo's blade, knocking Senyo's weapon away.

He then kicked at Senyo's lower body. Senyo raised an arm to block and retreated backward.

Itachi formed his hand seals in an instant, throwing Shuriken as he spat out fireballs.

Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Claw Red!

A barrage of flames accompanied by Shuriken shot toward the unarmed Senyo.

Senyo curled his lips into a smile and continued questioning him:

"Shisui used his death to buy two years of time. What did you do during those two years?!"

"You did nothing!"

Rumble!

A black Susanoo appeared, firmly blocking the Phoenix Flower Claw Red.

A nearly imperceptible trace of panic flashed through Itachi's eyes, but he still said nothing.

"Don't want to answer? Yusuke! Kill Sasuke."

"Yes! Fourth Elder!"

The same scene appeared once more.

Yusuke threw Sasuke to the ground, then stomped on him.

"Ah!" A young, childish scream rang out.

The next moment, Senyo's long blade once again pierced Itachi's cheek.

This time, Itachi directly unleashed Susanoo and blasted Senyo away!

"How is this possible!..."

How could Itachi, who specialized in genjutsu, fail to realize that he was already trapped in one?

"The Third Hokage told you every time that he would come up with a foolproof solution. So what did he do?"

Senyo questioned him once more, but Itachi could no longer keep his expression steady.

"This technique, could it be!?"

Seeing that Itachi still did not answer, Senyo spoke again:

"Don't want to answer? Yusuke! Kill Sasuke."

"Yes! Fourth Elder!"

The same scene appeared once more.

Yusuke threw Sasuke to the ground, then stomped on him.

"Ah!" A childish scream rang out.

The next moment, Senyo's long blade pierced Itachi's cheek once more.

In reality, Senyo had already sheathed his sword, while his left eye had turned grayish white.

Izanami could record a sequence of actions between oneself and the opponent, then make that exact sequence play out again.

An opponent caught in the genjutsu would be imprisoned in the span between the first and second occurrences of those memories, entering a world of endless repetition.

For Itachi to break free from a genjutsu like Izanami, he had to accept his original fate and sincerely repent. Otherwise, he would never awaken.

Itachi now stood motionless with his eyes closed, like a wooden statue.

Unless Itachi faced his failure and stopped deceiving himself.

Unless he understood what was within his power and what was beyond it.

Only then could Itachi leave this cycle.

There were many conditions for using the Forbidden Jutsu Izanami, and to pull Itachi, who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, into the loop—

A Mangekyō Sharingan of equal standing had to be sacrificed.

Fortunately, this Forbidden Jutsu had been obtained from the Great Elder. Otherwise, Senyo would not have had the time to learn it.

Senyo waved to Yusuke and Mitsuyuu, and Yusuke's men gathered around Senyo.

Yusuke carried the unconscious Sasuke in one hand and asked Senyo with a face full of admiration, "Elder, what do we do next?"

Itachi had actually been dealt with so easily. Naturally, Yusuke's trust in Senyo rose once again.

Senyo sat on the ground and let Mitsuyuu replace the Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan taken from Kakashi—the one that had belonged to Obito—with his own eye.

He answered, "I still need to handle Itachi. I should be able to turn him to our side. The Great Elder is still with Fugaku right now. Go check on the situation."

"If Fugaku and the Great Elder clash, report the battle here truthfully and have them stop fighting first."

"Take Sasuke to the Great Elder. The Great Elder knows how to use him."

"Organize all the clansmen. Be ready to fight Danzo and his Root personnel at any time."

"After you deliver Sasuke to the Great Elder, keep an eye on the direction of Konoha. If the Third Hokage comes with the Anbu, immediately fire a blue Signal Flare."

"Yes, Elder!"

Yusuke carried Sasuke and headed toward Fugaku's residence.

Mitsuyuu also finished replacing Senyo's own eye.

Senyo closed his eyes. After resting for several dozen minutes, he would be able to use them again.

In this world, swapping eyes was the simplest kind of surgery.

Even on the battlefield, thirteen-year-old Nohara Rin had been able to swap Obito and Kakashi's eyes.

Mitsuyuu's Medical Ninjutsu was not especially impressive, but he was at least far better than a little girl like Nohara Rin.

After Senyo knocked Kakashi out, he had directly taken back the Uchiha Clan eye.

He had just used it directly as a sacrifice for Izanami.

In truth, Kakashi's eye had synchronized and awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan back when Obito first awakened his own Mangekyō Sharingan.

It was just that neither he nor Kakashi had known it.

Now that this eye was ruined, Obito could forget about ever gathering both Kamui eyes in this lifetime.

Mitsuyuu removed the Kamui eye and placed it inside a bottle.

"Elder, how should we deal with this eye?"

Senyo picked up the bottle and gave it a shake. "Keep it for now. It may be useful later."

Mitsuyuu nodded, took out a sealing scroll, and carefully sealed it away.

Then he handed the scroll to Senyo.

After putting away the scroll, Senyo placed his hand on Itachi's head as he stood motionlessly.

Time was tight. He had to quickly guide Itachi into seeing himself clearly.

A battle had taken place here, after all. Though it had not lasted long, the clan had patrol squads.

Fugaku would receive word of it soon enough. It was perfectly normal for the Great Elder to fall out with him completely.

The Uchiha's bargaining chips were still too few. There could not be the slightest mistake.