The Resolve Required (Third Update)

On the other side,

Utakata's sensory abilities were a little weaker.

But he, too, soon caught a faint disturbance in the chakra. He immediately dropped what he was doing and headed for Naruto and Uchiha Itachi. Since he had chosen to come to Snow Ninja Village, these past three months had given him some sense of belonging to the village. Now that an enemy had appeared,

Utakata's nature wouldn't allow him to retreat or hide.

He came sprinting over.

He was only a little slower than Karin and Neji.

Utakata appeared beside Naruto at the same time as them.

The moment they saw Uchiha Itachi—or, more precisely, the clothes he was wearing—all three of them narrowed their eyes. Naruto had shared some intelligence with his companions in advance, so Karin, Neji, and Utakata knew a fair bit about the Akatsuki.

"Is he a member of the Akatsuki?"

As the figures drew near,

the three of them were already preparing for battle.

Neji said in a cool, quiet voice.

"Yeah. He's also Sasuke's older brother, the S-rank missing-nin from Konoha—Uchiha Itachi!"

Naruto looked at Uchiha Itachi, who still wore a calm, composed expression in the distance, and let out a slow breath. His voice was measured.

"Sasuke-kun's older brother? Then he's..."

Karin and Neji, along with Utakata behind them, all looked slightly shaken. It was their first time seeing Uchiha Itachi in person, but they knew about the "heroic deeds" of this S-rank missing-nin from Konoha.

He was the ruthless man who had slaughtered his own clan!

And he was a peerless powerhouse who possessed the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.

Hearing that such a major boss was standing before them,

Neji, Karin, and Utakata all tensed up.

Utakata, who had weathered countless storms, handled it better.

But the weight of Neji and