Although Scorpion knew Itachi still had lingering feelings for the village and was probably still entangled with it, he had never imagined that Itachi would act so decisively, betray him in the middle of battle, and brazenly attack him.
Itachi's strike was fast and ruthless, and he had chosen the perfect moment: just as Scorpion was about to defeat his enemy. There was no room to dodge.
The punch landed squarely.
Hirling's shell had been meticulously crafted by Scorpion from exceptional materials, but under Susanoo's crushing blow, it couldn't resist in the slightest. It burst apart on the spot.
"Boom!"
The explosion was accompanied by the crisp clatter of precision mechanisms breaking apart. The poison needles, blades, and all the other mechanisms hidden inside Hirling hadn't even had a chance to activate before the raging Chakra crushed them into scrap metal.
The punch's momentum hadn't faded. It slammed into the ground, embedding itself deep in the earth and smashing the blue stone slabs laid across the street to pieces. Web-like cracks stretched all the way to the end of the road.
The flying gravel and puppet fragments were even deadlier than a thousand senbon.
Itachi withdrew Susanoo's fist and turned his head toward a nearby rooftop. A red-haired boy had suddenly appeared there, nearly invisible Chakra Threads coiled around his slender fingers as he watched Itachi with icy eyes.
"Itachi, is this really your choice?"
"How foolish and childish!"
"You've seen how powerful the Akatsuki Organization is. Do you think anyone in Konoha can stop us?"
"Or are you planning to be destroyed alongside Konoha?"
Taking advantage of the moment, Izumo Kamizuki and the others retreated and gathered together. Watching the two men facing off, they looked completely bewildered.
"What's going on? Are they fighting among themselves?"
"Should we take