Inside the golden skeletal frame!
After confirming that Itachi was not in mortal danger, Naraku withdrew his gaze and turned to give Shisui a slight nod. Shisui instantly understood what he meant.
Shisui stepped over to Itachi's side and reached out to support his still-swaying body.
"Then I'll leave the rest to you!"
After saying that, Shisui raised his hands and formed the Flying Thunder God hand sign, chakra surging through his body.
Bzzz!
A spatial tremor rang out across the field. The next moment, he and Itachi vanished from where they stood.
Uchiha Itachi, you possess two divine artifacts. Don't disappoint me!
Naraku watched the two disappear and murmured inwardly. Then his eyes trembled slightly, and as his ocular power rippled, the golden skeletal frame surrounding him dissolved directly into a mass of golden energy.
Naraku held Itachi in extremely high regard. Although Itachi had not been overwhelmingly powerful in the original story—and had even ruined his body by overusing the Mangekyō Sharingan in his youth—his strength had stopped growing after reaching a certain point.
In the end, having overdrawn his body too much and knowing his death was near, he had deliberately lost to Sasuke.
Yet Naraku had always believed that Itachi's cultivation talent was peerless. And it was not merely his talent—his Mangekyō Sharingan abilities and the two divine artifacts he possessed were all among the finest in the Shinobi World.
There were only three divine artifacts in the entire Shinobi World, yet Itachi alone possessed two. That alone was enough to prove his capabilities.
In Naraku's view, Itachi's growth in strength was merely being held back by the Sharingan.
If Itachi could resolve the flaws of the Mangekyō Sharingan, his strength would soar dramatically. When that time came, Naraku felt that another Kage-surpassing powerhouse would emerge