"I never imagined someone as formidable as this would be accompanying Uchiha Itachi."
"This means I'll have to put in a little more effort!"
The masked Black-clothed man watched Maruboshi Kosuke rush toward him at breakneck speed and murmured to himself. While he was thinking, Kosuke had already closed in and swung his sword at the man's neck.
The Black-clothed man easily read Kosuke's attack. He leaned back to evade the blade, then swiftly bent backward, bracing himself with one hand as he kicked Kosuke in the shin. He immediately rolled backward, and as Kosuke lost his balance, the man thrust his sword at him.
"Beautiful move!" Kosuke thought, watching the Black-clothed man charge at him. He quickly straightened up from his crouch, but by then his opponent had already reached him, the tip of his sword aimed at his chest. Kosuke had only just regained his footing and couldn't bring his sword around in time to block. All he could do was watch helplessly as the blade drew closer.
But at the last possible moment, his opponent suddenly leaped away instead of continuing his attack.
"Tap, tap, tap!"
Three light sounds came from the ground beside Kosuke. Still shaken by his narrow escape, he looked closely and saw three shuriken embedded in the earth beside him, forming a triangle. If the Black-clothed man hadn't leaped away just then, those shuriken wouldn't have struck the ground. They would have pierced his body instead.
"Nice work, Itachi!"
Kosuke was relieved. He knew why his opponent had suddenly abandoned such a good chance to attack: Itachi's support from the side had been crucial.
Itachi's attack drew the Black-clothed man's attention. At first, he hadn't paid much attention to the nine-year-old boy. Even if the child was a genius, he was still only