Itachi Battle Intel Jiraiya

Hearing Jiraiya's words, Uchiha Itachi felt a flash of absurdity and helplessness. At most, only four people knew his true identity and mission. One was dead, one had fled, and two had fallen from power.

Given the current situation, even if he claimed to be an undercover agent, who would believe him? What proof could he offer? In everyone's eyes, he was the S-rank missing-nin who had slaughtered his entire clan—the Vermilion Bird of Dawn.

The realization left a bitter taste in his heart. No matter what, he was still a Konoha shinobi. Capturing the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki was the organization's order, so he only needed to go through the motions.

"Intelligence..." Itachi's voice remained calm, but his Mangekyo Sharingan slowly began to turn. "That depends on whether you have the ability to turn that intelligence into an advantage."

Before he finished speaking, his figure suddenly blurred!

His Body Flicker Technique launched him forward in a straight-line charge. Like flickering reflections in a mirror, several afterimages flashed and refracted into existence in an instant, attacking Jiraiya from different angles! His speed far surpassed what an ordinary jonin could perceive!

But Jiraiya had been prepared! Rather than trying to follow him with his eyes, he bit his thumb hard, rapidly formed hand seals, and slammed both hands onto the ground!

"Summoning Technique: Toad Mouth Bind!"

Bang! White smoke burst forth, and the surrounding ground and walls instantly secreted vast amounts of highly adhesive, corrosive toad oil and fleshy tissue!

Several of Itachi's afterimages crashed into the slick flesh walls, their speed immediately slowing and their trajectories becoming clear. Seizing the chance, Jiraiya formed hand seals. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!" A condensed fireball of intense heat shot precisely toward the most solid-looking figure!

Itachi's true body was forced to reveal itself. With a swing of his kunai, he detonated the Flame Bullet ahead of time, scattering sparks everywhere.

"That's not all!" Jiraiya laughed heartily, his assault unceasing as his white hair suddenly grew at a furious rate, shooting toward Itachi like countless steel wires!

Itachi stopped holding back. His Mangekyo Sharingan spun faster as Amaterasu gathered within his pupils. Yet Jiraiya seemed to have anticipated it. The instant the black flames appeared, he flung the ANBU record scroll in his hand to the side. It partly unfurled in midair, revealing dense sealing runes and charts within.

Jiraiya pressed the advantage, his white hair whipping out even farther. "According to the records on page thirty-eight, line five: Uchiha Itachi, male, right-hand dominant, but his left-hand seal speed is 0.03 seconds faster. Before using the genjutsu 'Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique,' he habitually presses his lips together—though it's hard to tell with that poker face of yours... Wow, the old man's notes are incredibly thorough. He even noted that you might have mild hemorrhoids!"

"Pfft—!" Kisame Hoshigaki, who was entangled in battle with Qianyu some distance away, nearly burst out laughing. He hurriedly raised Shark Skin to cover his face, his shoulders trembling suspiciously.

"Tch." Itachi sighed inwardly. Having his information grasped to this extent was indeed troublesome. He immediately changed tactics, his hands becoming afterimages as he fired dozens of shuriken bearing explosive tags. At the same time, he swiftly retreated, his Sharingan fixed on Jiraiya's every movement.

Their battle instantly entered an intense contest of ninjutsu.

On the other side, the battle between Qianyu and Kisame Hoshigaki erupted just as fiercely!

"Kid, the taste of your chakra... is very unusual." Kisame grinned. He did not rush to attack, instead resting the massive Shark Skin on his shoulder as though assessing him.

"Konoha genin, Cangshu Qianyu." Qianyu gave his name. He remembered this opponent: chakra comparable to a tailed beast, and Shark Skin could absorb chakra. He could not allow himself to be drawn into a prolonged battle, nor could he casually use large-scale chakra techniques and have them absorbed.

"A genin? Hahaha, are Konoha's genin all this terrifying now?" Kisame roared with laughter and stomped down hard. "Water Release, who built this dam?!"

A massive wave erupted from beneath Kisame's feet, instantly flooding nearly half the ruins as the water level continued to surge! He wanted to create a water battlefield favorable to himself.

"Wood Release: Tree World Wall!" Qianyu reacted instantly. Clapping his hands together, he caused thick tree trunks to burst wildly from the ground beneath and before him, rapidly intertwining into a huge curved wooden wall that firmly blocked the incoming flood. Wood countered water—an elemental advantage!

"Oh? Wood Release?!" Kisame's eyes lit up, his interest growing even stronger. "What a rare bloodline! Let Shark Skin have a taste too!" Wielding Shark Skin, he ran across the water at astonishing speed, the enormous blade slashing at Qianyu's waist!

Qianyu did not dare take it head-on with his body. He activated the Body Flicker Technique and narrowly evaded it. Shark Skin brushed past him, the barbs along its blade writhing like living things. Qianyu could feel the chakra on his body being faintly drawn away.

"I can't let him get close!" Qianyu immediately judged. He brought his hands together again. "Wood Release: Thorn Killing Technique!"

Qianyu: "Bind!"

Countless hard vines covered in spikes suddenly shot from the water beneath Kisame's feet, attacking his legs.

At the same time, he opened his mouth and exhaled. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

It blasted toward the air above Kisame and the splashing water!

Water and fire collided, instantly producing a huge amount of scalding steam that obscured Kisame's vision!

"Cheap tricks!" Kisame sneered. With a sweep of Shark Skin, he severed the binding vines, then formed hand seals. "Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!" Several sharks leaped from the surrounding waters. Rather than attacking Qianyu directly, they frantically devoured the spreading steam, then lunged at Qianyu from every angle, sealing off his room to evade.

Qianyu's eyes narrowed. Combining taijutsu with the Body Flicker Technique, he dodged within the limited space with the smallest possible movements.

Jiraiya and Itachi's battle grew ever more fierce. They appeared evenly matched, but the danger was extreme; every second was filled with rapid shifts between attack and defense, as well as psychological maneuvering.

"Kid, are you only good at dodging? Is that all your Wood Release can do?" Kisame was growing impatient. He preferred battles where opponents clashed head-on. He suddenly thrust Shark Skin into the water. "Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique!"

A supermassive Water Shark Bullet several times larger than the previous one condensed into being. Opening its enormous maw, it charged at Qianyu with the force to devour everything, sealing every route of escape!

Qianyu seemed to have nowhere to run.

Yet at that very moment, a sharp gleam flashed through Qianyu's eyes, and the speed of his hand seals abruptly increased!

"Wood Release: Cloth Sack Technique!" He was not attacking Kisame or the Water Shark Bullet. Instead, he controlled the ruined foundation far behind Kisame, where Amaterasu's black flames crackled as they burned! Several giant wooden hands burst from the earth, seized chunks of enormous rubble burning with black flames, and hurled them viciously at Kisame.

"What?!" Kisame froze, unable to understand the meaning behind this baffling attack. Throwing rocks at him? Rocks covered in black flames?

Instinctively, he controlled the Great Shark Bullet to change direction and meet the incoming black-flame boulders, while preparing to leap away himself.

But Qianyu's true killing move came afterward!

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" Qianyu had actually used Water Release as well! A water dragon slammed into the boulders flying toward the water, shattering them in midair. Fragments of rock burning with black flames rained down like fire, scattering evenly across the waters around Kisame!

Amaterasu's flames ignited anything they touched and would not extinguish until the target had burned away completely!

Though water tainted with black flames would not allow the fire to spread endlessly beneath the surface, the debris and rubble floating atop the water, covered in black fire, instantly became sources of ignition! Kisame's carefully constructed water battlefield suddenly turned into a field strewn with countless inextinguishable black flames!

Kisame's expression changed. He discovered that the footing beneath him had become incredibly dangerous! Any splash of water could carry black flames with it! Shark Skin could absorb chakra, but against flames with such bizarre physical properties, the effects of absorption were unknown—and the risk was immense!

Meanwhile, Qianyu seized the opportunity to escape, landing in a relatively dry and safe area farther away. He panted slightly, but his eyes shone brightly. Using the enemy's Water Release and Itachi's Amaterasu to turn around and restrict Kisame's home-field advantage—this was his tactic!

"You damn brat!" Kisame was furious, but he had no choice but to divert chakra to gather fresh, constantly flowing water beneath his feet, carrying himself as he moved while carefully avoiding the points of black flame. His movements were immediately restricted.

At that moment, Uchiha Itachi, locked in fierce combat with Jiraiya, swept his Mangekyo across the entire battlefield, taking in Kisame's predicament and the signs of Konoha shinobi beginning to surround them from afar.

He quickly weighed the situation in his mind: the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki had already been safely transferred; Jiraiya was troublesome and had come prepared; moreover, his primary objective had already been achieved.

In an instant, he made his decision.

"Kisame, retreat." Itachi's cold voice rang out. At the same time, the Mangekyō pattern in his eyes flared brightly!

"Amaterasu!"

Black flames formed a burning wall of fire between them, cutting off the route of pursuit. At the same time, his hands flashed through seals, and his body transformed into countless crows that scattered in all directions, disrupting both vision and perception.

Though Kisame was unwilling, he trusted Itachi's judgment completely. At his words, he immediately used the water beneath his feet to charge fiercely in the opposite direction.

"Trying to run?!" How could Jiraiya let them leave so easily? His white hair lashed out like whips, sweeping toward the flock of crows.

But among Itachi's crow clones, a pair of phantom Mangekyō eyes flashed.

"Tsukuyomi!"

Despite Jiraiya's extreme vigilance, the enhanced genjutsu still stalled his movements for an instant. In that instant, Kisame had already reached the point where Itachi's crow clones converged.

"Water Release: Water Encampment Wall!" Kisame spewed out a circular wall of water, temporarily blocking their view.

By the time the water wall fell, the two had vanished without a trace. Only the burning black flames, a battlefield in ruins, and Kisame's faint, dissatisfied muttering remained: "Tch, I didn't even get to enjoy the fight... and I almost got screwed over by some brat..."

Jiraiya dispersed his Sage Mode and walked over to Qianyu's side. Looking in the direction the two had disappeared, his expression was grave. "They got away... Still, well done, kid. I didn't expect you to make use of Itachi's Amaterasu to that extent."

Qianyu also relaxed out of his combat stance. Looking at the black flames still burning, he frowned slightly. "So this is the power of the Mangekyō... It really is terrifying."