His conversation with Shisui Uchiha had not gone well. After watching Shisui leave with the Body Flicker Technique, Uchiha Itachi turned and headed home.
Their conversation had been brief, lasting only a few minutes.
Yet the moment Itachi turned around, the space before him rippled faintly. His gaze sharpened, and his Sharingan activated, its ghostly, sinister double tomoe slowly spinning.
He had only awakened his Sharingan a little over half a year ago, so it still possessed only two tomoe. But considering his age, he already ranked among the best in the history of the Uchiha Clan.
Combined with his own combat skills, his strength was by no means weak. He could even contend with ordinary Jonin of Konoha. Moreover, he was at the stage of his most rapid growth, and it was easy to imagine what level his strength would reach in the coming years.
"Who's there?" Uchiha Itachi called coldly, one hand quietly reaching behind his back to grip a Kunai.
He had not expected someone to be hiding nearby. Even if he himself had failed to notice them, the fact that they had evaded Shisui's perception alone proved they were no ordinary person. He did not know how much of their conversation this person had heard. Silencing them would be risky—their strength was unknown, and there were too many variables.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in that instant.
In that brief moment, the ripples in space vanished. A mysterious man in a black robe appeared, his presence vague and difficult to pin down. He wore a hood, and aside from what seemed to be a yellow mask visible around his chin in the moonlight, nothing else could be seen.
"This is our first meeting. There's no need to make things so tense, right, Itachi?" the mysterious