Tricks of the Trade

Uchiha Yoru flashed forward in a blur of motion, his hand lunging out to clamp around Uchiha Itachi's throat.

However, the moment his fingertips made contact, Uchiha Itachi's body suddenly transformed into a murder of crows, their wings flapping as they scattered in every direction.

In the distance, Uchiha Itachi's figure reappeared. A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth as he coughed softly, "Cough, cough... Your strength is too great. For the safety of Konoha, I must do everything in my power to kill you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Itachi slammed his left eye shut, his right eye snapping wide open, locking onto Uchiha Yoru's figure with lethal intensity.

"Amaterasu!"

In an instant, scorching black flames ignited out of thin air, clinging to Uchiha Yoru's upper body like a festering curse, hungrily seeking to consume him.

Yet, Uchiha Yoru's expression remained calm. With a wave of his hand, a grim skeletal frame of the Susanoo manifested instantly, isolating the black flames on the outside.

Although Amaterasu was said to never extinguish until its target was reduced to ash, the Susanoo was a manifestation of chakra and possessed no physical form of its own.

Taking advantage of the flames before they could spread, Uchiha Yoru decisively dispelled the Susanoo; deprived of its fuel, the Amaterasu instantly vanished into nothingness.

Uchiha Itachi's figure appeared abruptly behind Uchiha Yoru, carrying the corpse of Uchiha Sasuke on his left shoulder. His right hand gripped a katana, the blade flashing with a cold light as he struck directly at Uchiha Yoru's vitals.

However—Uchiha Yoru's speed was superior!

Almost in the same instant, he spun around, his hand moving like lightning as his five fingers locked tightly around Uchiha Itachi's throat, slamming him hard into mid-air.

"What right do you have to represent Konoha?"

"Now... who is the one..." Uchiha Yoru's lips curled upward, his eyes icy to the extreme.

"Struggling in vain?"

As he spoke, he exerted a slight pressure with his arm, his fingertips sinking deep into the skin. Uchiha Itachi's breathing became ragged, and his eyes eventually rolled back into his head.

Uchiha Yoru did not hesitate in the slightest. With a sudden burst of force from his fingers and a sickening, heart-wrenching crack, Uchiha Itachi's neck was completely snapped.

His corpse fell limply to the ground, while his younger brother—Uchiha Sasuke—still lay quietly in his arms, as if merely fast asleep.

Uchiha Yoru looked down at the scene, his tone indifferent and cold: "You are reunited with your beloved brother; surely, you must both be very happy."

With that, he turned and left, his figure quickly vanishing into the night.

...However, in the deathly silence, Uchiha Itachi's corpse suddenly opened its eyes!

His fatal wounds healed instantly, though his left eye turned completely gray and sightless.

Izanagi—one of the Uchiha clan's most powerful forbidden techniques!

Back when Uchiha Yoru had manifested his full-body Susanoo, Uchiha Itachi had sensed the dire situation and set the Izanagi technique in advance.

In this moment, time seemed to have been rewritten; his death became a fleeting dream, and he had broken free from the precipice of fate to return to reality.

Yet, the price for defying heaven was heavy—his left eye had turned completely gray and lusterless, losing its light forever.

He glanced down at the sleeping Uchiha Sasuke, his heart filled with complex, indescribable emotions, but there was no time to dwell on them now.

He knew well that with Uchiha Yoru's strength, he would never let him go easily.

Uchiha Itachi slowly sat up, gently picked up Uchiha Sasuke, and scanned his surroundings. Only after confirming that Uchiha Yoru had truly left did he breathe a slight sigh of relief.

He whispered to himself, his eyes filled with coldness and obsession: "I must leave Konoha as soon as possible... Uchiha Yoru, I will definitely return!"

However—

The very moment Uchiha Itachi stood up, Uchiha Yoru's voice, which had supposedly vanished, rang out abruptly, his tone mocking and cold:

"Return?"

"If you can leave Konoha alive today, then my name isn't Uchiha Yoru!"

Uchiha Itachi's heart jolted. Without a second of hesitation, he activated the Body Flicker Technique, transforming into a blur as he vanished from the spot.

"A dying fish that slipped through the net!"

Uchiha Yoru let out a cold snort and formed a single hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With several bursts of white smoke, twenty clones of Uchiha Yoru appeared, scattering in all directions like hunting hounds to tightly seal off Uchiha Itachi's escape route.

Uchiha Itachi's gaze darkened. He scanned the surroundings quickly and gritted his teeth, instantly manifesting the half-body form of his Susanoo, its sturdy chakra skeleton shielding his entire body.

He calmly analyzed the situation—Uchiha Yoru had just continuously unleashed Amaterasu, the Susanoo, and then created so many shadow clones; his chakra must be severely depleted, and the strength of each clone should be significantly weakened.

However, the Uchiha Yoru clones surrounding him all wore expressions of disdain.

Could the chakra reserves of the Uchiha ancestor be compared to a hollow shell like Uchiha Itachi?

"Petty tricks!"

Following Uchiha Yoru's low shout, twenty Susanoos manifested almost simultaneously. Massive amounts of chakra boiled in the air, each colossal figure exuding a terrifying pressure as they hemmed in Uchiha Itachi's crimson Susanoo.

"Susanoo × 20!"

The next second, twenty chakra katanas slashed down with a roar!

Blade light crisscrossed, and the strikes fell like rain. Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo was forced into a state of total defense, its vast chakra reserves draining rapidly as blood-tears slid down his cheeks once more.

His aura grew increasingly weak, his crimson Susanoo teetering on the brink of collapse, until it finally shattered under the relentless barrage of attacks.

"No... if this continues, I'll die!"

Uchiha Itachi knew he had fallen into a desperate situation. His chakra was nearly exhausted, yet he still held one final trump card!

"Since 'Tsukuyomi' won't work..."

Enduring the agonizing pain in his eyes, Uchiha Itachi rapidly formed hand seals. A crow suddenly flew out, circling in the night sky. The bird's single eye emitted an eerie, blood-red glow—

Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan!

"Kotoamatsukami!"

A powerful genjutsu force was instantly unleashed, surging directly into Uchiha Yoru's pupils!

Uchiha Itachi stared fixedly at the enemy before him, watching as Uchiha Yoru's figure faltered slightly. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and a glimmer of hope surfaced in his heart—

Did it work?!

However, the very next second, his chest jolted violently. The backlash of ocular power caused a metallic sweetness to surge up Uchiha Itachi's throat, and blood gushed out uncontrollably!

Uchiha Yoru remained standing, a mocking sneer even appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Your ocular power is still far too lacking."

His Three-Tomoe Sharingan rotated slowly, and a massive surge of ocular technique crushed back against him!

Uchiha Itachi felt the world spinning; his consciousness was forcibly dragged into an illusion. His body stiffened involuntarily, his pupils dilated, and he completely lost the ability to resist.

Uchiha Yoru stepped forward slowly, his palm once again clamping around Uchiha Itachi's throat, his killing intent chilling—

Yet, at that very moment, a low and mysterious voice rang out—

"Stop!"

Space distorted slightly, a black vortex slowly opened, and a man wearing a tiger-striped mask stepped out.

He stared at Uchiha Yoru, the single eye on his mask appearing all the more striking:

"Kid, are you interested in joining us?"

Uchiha Yoru glanced coldly at the masked man, a curve of disdain hooking his lips. Without a moment's hesitation, he twisted his hands—

"Snap!"

Under the masked man's gaze, Uchiha Itachi's neck was completely broken, and his corpse collapsed limply.

Immediately following, under the masked man's stare, Uchiha Yoru reached out without hesitation and gouged out Uchiha Itachi's eyes.

He stood up, cradling the pair of blood-stained Mangekyo Sharingan in his hands, and gave a light laugh, his gaze filled with undisguised contempt:

"You—are you worthy?"