Itachi, You Need to Think Bigger!

"Haha..."

Uchiha An didn't hesitate. He raised his hand and sliced away the flesh where the Black Flame was burning, tossing it aside and letting the chunk of meat burn to ashes as he laughed wildly.

"Hey, Uchiha Itachi, you're not much to speak of after all!"

"You can't even handle this? How are you ever going to become Hokage?"

"You've got to think about things like a Hokage!"

"Forget your younger brother and all that. If he needs killing, then kill him!"

"How can you be so petty?"

"You need to think bigger!"

"Stop nitpicking over these trivial little things!"

"Everything for the village!"

"Everything for peace!"

"I'll kill you!" Hearing Uchiha An gloat, Uchiha Itachi felt as if someone had poured another bucket of oil onto the fire of his rage, making it burn even more fiercely.

The mask of calm he had always worn finally shattered completely, and the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes trembled violently with anger.

His gaze swept over Uchiha An. Seeing the wound visibly grow back and heal, he couldn't help frowning to himself.

He had a Mangekyō Sharingan too, so he could tell at a glance that his enemy's Mangekyō ability had something to do with recovery. A continuous-burning ability like Amaterasu, which dealt little damage, was useless against him.

His Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly as he unleashed another Dojutsu.

"Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi!"

Uchiha An felt the surroundings twist. The world around him shifted in an instant, and all the colors faded away, leaving only black and white.

His body was suspended in midair, bound to a Cross. Uchiha Itachi stood across from him, his face grim, a long blade in his hand.

"This is my Mangekyō Genjutsu space. Here, I control everything—time, space, and even mass..."

Before he could finish, the Mangekyō Sharingan in Uchiha An's eyes began spinning wildly too. He burst out laughing.

"Haha..."

"It's just Tsukuyomi. I understand this ability better than you do!"

"This thing works fine for bullying weaklings, but against someone with the same Mangekyō Sharingan, it's worthless!"

As his final word fell, the chains suddenly groaned under the strain, and fine cracks appeared in the Cross.

In an instant, the restraints around Uchiha An crumbled completely, and he dropped back to the ground.

Uchiha An widened his eyes. A surge of Yin Release Chakra burst forth, colliding head-on with Uchiha Itachi's chakra.

Both of their bodies shuddered violently, and blood tears streamed from both pairs of eyes.

The once-stable space began to shake violently. The colors that had vanished reappeared around Uchiha An and spread throughout the space. Wherever they passed, the rules of the Genjutsu collapsed one after another.

Uchiha Itachi no longer had time for idle talk. He stood there with a grim expression, concentrating on maintaining the Genjutsu space.

Their mental powers clashed violently in midair, like two sides locked in a tug-of-war, advancing and retreating, each clinging fiercely to the other.

The Genjutsu space flickered back and forth between color and black and white. Its shape kept re-forming like a shattered mirror, creating bizarre, disorienting scenes: one moment it was square, the next it was round, then some other bizarre shape.

Uchiha An pushed his Mangekyō Sharingan's Dojutsu to its limit while putting pressure on Uchiha Itachi's mind.

"Itachi, you know this too, right? The more you use the Sharingan, the more often you use it, the more likely you are to go blind!"

"But here's some good news. The Dojutsu of my Mangekyō Sharingan is called 'Inaba's White Rabbit.' It's a healing-type Dojutsu that can turn Yin Release Chakra into Yang Release Chakra and produce the effects of Medical Ninjutsu!"

"This Dojutsu is amazing! Even if you go blind, it can cure you!"

"Haha..."

"Now you understand, don't you? I don't have another Mangekyō Sharingan from a blood relative, but in practice, I've already gained the equivalent of an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"How can you possibly compete with me?"

Uchiha Itachi remained unmoved. His face cold, he said:

"Whether it's Ninjutsu, secret techniques, or Kekkei Genkai, chakra is at the core of everything a ninja does."

"The Mangekyō Sharingan is no exception!"

"So what if your Dojutsu can convert between Yin and Yang Release?"

"The total amount of chakra you have is still fixed!"

"However much Yin Release Chakra you convert into Yang Release Chakra, you'll have that much less Yin Release Chakra to use against me."

"I unlocked my eyes before you did. I have more Yin Release Chakra than you."

"Let's see what you can do once you run out of chakra."

"Chakra reserves? Heh heh..." Uchiha An chuckled eerily. "The Mangekyō Sharingan isn't such an inconvenient thing!"

"As long as there's hatred in your heart, chakra will keep coming without end!"

"If you run short on chakra, just take it from your body. Squeeze your Life Force dry!"

"Do I really have to explain something so simple to you?"

"Come on, let's have it out today! Let's see which of us goes blind first!"

Uchiha Itachi said nothing more. He focused on squeezing every last bit of chakra from his body, determined to fight Uchiha An to the end.

The people outside couldn't see the dangerous clash of Yin Release Chakra. All they could see was the two of them facing each other, blood tears streaming nonstop from their eyes.

Beneath the still image, their souls were locked in a struggle far more dangerous than any physical attack.

The moment they met, the two had started fighting tooth and nail, completely ignoring the Akatsuki Organization members around them.

But from their conversation, everyone understood that Uchiha Itachi hadn't slaughtered his clan to test his own capacity. He'd been acting on orders from Konoha's higher-ups.

And the so-called "missing-nin" probably hadn't truly defected either. They'd just been used as scapegoats.

"Konoha really has rotted to this point," Orochimaru remarked with a sigh. "Good thing I left long ago."

"But I never thought the Fourth Hokage would still be around, not quite dead after all. How wonderful..."

He ran his long, snake-like tongue around his lips, his slit pupils full of greed.

Beside him, Juzo Biwa wore a grim expression. Clearly, he was thinking of the Kekkei Genkai clans in his own Kirigakure who had suffered the same fate.

"Tsk. Politics really is disgusting!"

"Hey, Leader, are you really going to let the two of them kill each other?"

"The organization is short on members right now."

"They're both powerful. Why not recruit them both as comrades?"

Pain hovered high in the air, his expression impassive, though he felt somewhat conflicted.

He'd initially been wary of adding another Uchiha, worried it would strengthen the "Uchiha Madara" faction. But now that he saw how bitterly the two opposed each other, how they were mortal enemies, he couldn't help being tempted.

"Come on, that's easy for you to say. Can't you see how much they hate each other? How could they just stop fighting and willingly become comrades?" White Zetsu swayed back and forth like someone with a hyperactivity disorder as he objected.

Juzo Biwa merely shrugged, unconcerned.

"Come to think of it, which of us in the organization came here willingly?"

"They don't want to?"

"Then the Leader can just beat them up, can't he?"

Zetsu was about to keep arguing, but Pain had already made up his mind.

"Enough. Juzo Biwa makes a good point."

"God can embrace everything!"

"Before the might of God, everyone can only bow and obey!"

With that, he raised his hand and struck the air between Uchiha An and Uchiha Itachi. A repulsive force appeared out of thin air, flinging the two opponents apart.