Uchiha An was paralyzed by the power of lightning, slowing his reactions slightly.
Lightning trailing from Kakashi's left arm, he charged straight in, broke through An's defenses, and struck right in front of him in an instant.
Instinctively, An reached out with his left hand and grabbed his right arm.
Should I use it now?
The thought only flashed through his mind before he immediately dismissed it.
His eyes hardened. Instead of retreating, he pressed forward, joining the index and middle fingers of his left hand like a spear and thrusting them straight at Kakashi's blood-red left eye.
"Come on!"
"Who's scared of who?"
"Whoever dodges is a coward!"
Kakashi's gaze was resolute. He drove his left arm forward with all his strength. With a wet thump, it plunged straight through Uchiha An's abdomen and came out the other side.
Blood gushed from the wound, only to be instantly vaporized by the lightning.
An's fingers had already reached the side of Kakashi's face.
Kakashi instinctively tilted his head to the left. He was willing to expose his right eye to An's fingers if it meant protecting the keepsake his dear friend had left him.
At the same time, he retreated, trying to pull away.
But An followed him as he moved back, pressing close. He curled his fingers and deftly plucked out Kakashi's Sharingan.
With the eye in hand, An immediately stopped and leaped backward. Kakashi did the same, and the two finally separated.
Kakashi landed some distance away, covering his bleeding eye with one hand as he panted heavily.
Sarutobi Asuma and Yūhi Kurenai had already moved in front of him, shielding him protectively.
Across from them, Uchiha An was in even worse shape.
A gaping hole ran straight through his abdomen. Blood poured from the wound, and his severed intestines had spilled out. The flesh around the opening had been charred by lightning, but that had the effect of stopping the bleeding.
His Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly. In his abdomen, granulated flesh writhed and grew at a visible speed, gradually eroding the lingering lightning in the wound.
Uchiha An swayed, barely able to stay on his feet. Yet he held Kakashi's Sharingan in one hand and laughed recklessly, as if his injuries didn't exist.
"Hahaha..."
"Kakashi, this eye belonged to Obito, didn't it?"
"I've taken it back for him!"
He clenched his left hand. With a wet pop, he crushed the precious Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan!
"Poor Obito!"
"He'll never have both eyes again!"
"I wonder how he'll summon his giant armor now!"
"He must be heartbroken!"
"Hahaha..."
Kakashi had no idea Obito was still alive. Now, as he watched Uchiha An crush the precious eye his dear friend had left him, pain and hatred burned in his remaining eye, as if it might burst into flames.
He took a couple of breaths, then spoke urgently:
"His recovery is incredible. We can't give him time to heal! Let's go!"
"Right!" Asuma and Yūhi Kurenai answered, charging forward again and unleashing Ninjutsu from a distance.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Fire!"
The two techniques overlapped, and flames engulfed the entire ground, making it impossible to tell what was real and what was an illusion.
"Hmph!" Uchiha An snorted. He pressed one hand against the hole in his abdomen and continued healing. At the same time, he willed Susanoo into existence once more.
When Kakashi had attacked earlier, Susanoo had been seized by Raijin Thousand-Hand Kill and had been of little use.
But things were different this time. As soon as Uchiha An activated Susanoo, he had it reach over its shoulder, take down the Herb Gourd, and tip it toward the ground.
A vast swarm of Phosphorus Corrosive Insects poured out once more, cascading down like a waterfall.
When he was done, he looked down and saw the ground bulge upward. Kakashi had charged in again using Earth Style.
Given Kakashi's swordsmanship, if he fought him in close combat while badly injured, he'd likely meet his end.
So Uchiha An had no intention of crossing blades with him at close range. Instead, he played to his strengths and challenged Kakashi to see who could outlast the other.
As a result, Kakashi burst through the ground and looked up straight into a surging wave of Phosphorus Corrosive Insects. He was startled.
But he reacted quickly. His fingers blurred into afterimages, and with a whoosh, he slipped away again.
"Hahaha..." Uchiha An stood tall amid the swarm, using the Herb Gourd to draw the insects back in as he laughed loudly.
"My Mangekyō doesn't have any special tricks. It's just incredibly tough!"
"You want to trade wounds? Trade lives?"
"Go ahead!"
"Let's see which of us comes out on top!"
The three stared grimly at the Herb Gourd floating high in the air and fell silent. After a long pause, Kakashi finally said in a low voice:
"Until we figure out how to neutralize the Phosphorus Corrosive Insects' poison, there's nothing we can do to him."
"Our infiltration mission has failed, and so has our mission to capture the rogue ninja."
"As for the intelligence, we can't say we came away with nothing."
"At least we can confirm Uchiha An is still alive. Uchiha Itachi may not have betrayed us after all, so we can try to contact him again."
"Let's retreat. Next time we meet, with enough information and preparation, we'll be able to take Uchiha An down in one fell swoop."
After discussing it, the three didn't hesitate. They immediately withdrew.
Uchiha An was busy healing and couldn't stop them, so he had no choice but to let them go.
Much later, Uchiha An finally closed up the hole in his abdomen and returned to Amegakure, feeling glum.
Neither eye had been a Dojutsu that directly increased his attack power. That had really hurt.
Susanoo was great, but in the end, it was too limited.
As if things couldn't get any worse, he'd barely stepped into the High Tower when he saw Obito waiting there. The moment he saw An, Obito sneered:
"Well, well. If it isn't Uchiha An, the all-knowing."
"I'm sure you came back victorious, having wiped out every last invading ninja, right?"
"Huh? Why are you injured?"
"Don't tell me you failed to foresee the enemy's intelligence?"
At the sight of Obito's sarcastic expression, anger flared in Uchiha An's chest. But he didn't lose his temper. Instead, he smiled and said to Obito:
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Obito."
"I promised I'd take care of your good buddy Kakashi for you!"
"Who knew he'd be so slippery? He ran off with his new teammates!"
"I meant to finish him off, but after all that effort, the only thing I managed to take was one of his eyes!"
At that, Uchiha An suddenly acted as if he'd just realized something. He clapped his hands together and cried out:
"Oh!"
"I just remembered—Kakashi's eye originally belonged to you, Obito!"
"Well, well. If only I'd remembered sooner. I could've brought it back for you."
"Look at me, so careless! I went and crushed such a precious Mangekyō Sharingan like a bug!"
"What?" Obito finally snapped. Unable to contain his anger, he charged forward.
"You're dead!"
"How dare you!"
Uchiha An watched him with a cold smile, making no attempt to defend himself. He simply pointed upward.
"Hey, Obito, the leader said infighting is forbidden within the organization!"
"Forbidden!"
"You..." The Mangekyō in Obito's eye spun wildly. Several times, he nearly charged forward to kill him, but in the end, he backed down.
"When the plan succeeds, I won't let you get away with this!"
He spat out a vicious threat, then turned and left, leaving Uchiha An laughing recklessly behind him.
"Hahaha... Obito, you really are good at backing down!"
Obito trembled with rage, but considering how important the Moon Eye Plan was, he could only grit his teeth and endure it.
He hurried out of the High Tower, afraid that if he stayed any longer, he'd lose control and kill that damned bastard.
Just you wait!
Once Nagato recovers, you'll be useless!
He cursed Uchiha An in his heart, swearing revenge, but his feet kept moving. He quickly put as much distance between himself and the place as he could.
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