The Might of Amaterasu

These two people, who had appeared countless times in his dreams and given him endless warmth...

had appeared before Sasuke once again.

His eyes were filled with shock, hesitation, longing, and fear.

He knew perfectly well that this was an illusion, but he still wanted to look at the two figures before him a little longer.

Just as he could no longer hold back and was about to step closer to get a better look at his beloved parents,

a figure in a ninja uniform, with a long sword strapped to his back, appeared behind them.

"Ahhh..."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He tried desperately to scream, already knowing what would happen next.

He wanted to cry out. He wanted to rush forward.

But he couldn't do anything. His body seemed to be bound!

Crack!

The figure behind Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha swung his sword down hard.

With a flash of steel, their two bodies collapsed heavily to the ground.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Sasuke was in agony. He was desperate. He wanted to scream, to take revenge, to kill the cold, heartless god of death standing before him!

But an invisible force held him captive. He couldn't even shed a tear, let alone scream.

Buzz—

Another figure suddenly appeared in the room. Standing behind Sasuke, he leaned close to his ear and murmured:

"You're weak! For the next twenty-four hours... you'll relive that day!"

Stop!

Stop, stop, stop!

Sasuke clutched his head and screamed wildly in his mind.

But his parents kept falling before him, again and again.

At the same time, the man who had killed them—the man with a mocking sneer on his lips—appeared before him over and over.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

In the real world, Sasuke's eyes were squeezed shut. His still-youthful face was twisted with terror and despair, and anguished cries kept escaping his mouth.

In the world of the illusion, the slaughter continued.

"You're not even worth killing..."

The figure who had just swung his sword seemed to notice Sasuke. He sneered.

"My foolish little brother, if you want to kill me, then hate me. Despise me. And then... live on in misery! Run as hard as you can, cling to life as hard as you can!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open in the real world. He let out another heart-wrenching scream, then finally passed out.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto Uzumaki could no longer stand it. He crossed his feet and charged at Itachi Uchiha.

"That's enough!!"

Even though he knew he was no match, he still had to fight.

Because... this was his most important friend!

"..."

Jiraiya's eyes shifted slightly. He didn't hesitate any longer and quickly formed hand seals.

"Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Bind!"

Jiraiya slowly spoke the words, then slapped both hands against the ground. At once, the entire environment changed.

Pink flesh walls gradually spread, as if the whole inn were being covered by a toad's mouth.

Naruto's feet sank into the muscles lining the toad's mouth, pinning him in place.

Itachi's expression shifted slightly. He, too, was now trapped.

"What a shame, Itachi!"

A confident smile spread across Jiraiya's face.

"You're inside my stomach now. I summoned the esophagus of the Rock Lodging Great Toad from Mount Myōboku. You're wanted criminals anyway, so you might as well become food for the Rock Toad!"

"What... what is this?!"

Naruto struggled with all his might, but found that he couldn't break free.

"Naruto, stay put! Don't worry, this is my ninjutsu."

Although Jiraiya was focused on dealing with Itachi, he still took a moment to remind Naruto.

He was afraid the kid might do something reckless!

Smack! Smack!

Itachi frowned slightly and put all his strength into his legs, snapping the two strips of flesh that bound his feet.

His Sharingan spun rapidly as he searched for a weak point in the jutsu.

After quickly determining the direction, he ran toward the end of the inn corridor.

Jiraiya had made his move. Leaving now was the best option!

"It's no use. So far, no one has ever escaped from here!"

Jiraiya's voice remained full of confidence. He seemed certain that Itachi couldn't escape.

He slapped both hands against the ground, and the Rock Toad's esophagus began to churn violently.

The space kept shrinking, as if trying to crush Itachi into a pulp.

Tap, tap, tap...

Itachi quickened his pace, but several tentacles extending from the flesh wall behind him were even faster.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Itachi leaped and twisted in midair, dodging the tentacles.

The end of the inn corridor was now right before him!

Itachi slowed slightly, chakra gathering in his Sharingan.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several loud crashes rang out, and the Rock Toad's esophagus began to shake violently.

Jiraiya's expression changed. He quickly chased after Itachi.

"Hey, Pervy Sage!"

Naruto was a little slow to react. After hesitating briefly, he hurried after Jiraiya.

Whoosh—

Jiraiya stopped, and Naruto stopped too.

"It's gone..."

Naruto stared in shock. At the end of the flesh-lined passage was a huge, circular hole.

Black flames blazed around its edges!

Looking at the scene before him, Jiraiya's expression turned grave as he thought:

I can't believe that flesh wall could be broken...

He had used this Toad Mouth Bind countless times, and every enemy trapped inside it had ended up dead.

But Itachi had escaped!

Tap, tap, tap...

On a distant river, Itachi ran across the water.

His expression was ghastly, and beads of sweat kept trickling down his face.

Although he had escaped Jiraiya's ninjutsu, the technique he'd used to do so had put tremendous strain on his eyes.

His chakra consumption had been terrifying, too!

He needed to find somewhere to let his body rest...

As for Kisame Hoshigaki... how could it have taken him so long to deal with a kid barely over ten?

Had something unexpected happened?!

"Heh... I must be worrying over nothing. He's just a kid. Could he really pose a threat to Kisame?"

He stopped worrying. His muscles quivered, and he accelerated once more.

He would deal with everything else after he got far away from here!

"Not only Tsukuyomi—I even had to use Amaterasu..."

Itachi was in terrible shape. He could no longer even maintain his Sharingan.

"Cough, cough..."

Itachi covered his mouth and coughed a few more times. His condition was getting worse and worse!