Itachi, Who Had Come to Track Sasuke Down
Unlike Sasuke at the end of the tunnel, a White Zetsu and a human were anxiously wandering in different places on the border of the Land of Whirlpools.
White Zetsu was alright; he was frivolous and unconventional by nature.
Although Black Zetsu assigned him the task of following Sasuke, he was also warned by Black Zetsu that unless Jinchūriki or Tailed Beasts nearby, he was absolutely not allowed to approach the Tea Country or the Land of Whirlpools, which was Uchiha Feng's territory.
Therefore, it's less about losing track of him and more about him giving up after arriving in the Land of Whirlpools.
In this situation, even if Black Zetsu questions him, he won't panic. However, White Zetsu will most likely do something ridiculous to "remedy" the situation, which might infuriate Black Zetsu to the point of killing him on the spot.
As for Itachi, he originally had the opportunity to catch up with Sasuke before Sasuke entered the Tea Country.
However, Sasuke had White Zetsu by his side, who kept helping Sasuke clean up the traces and buy him time.
Furthermore, Sasuke successfully fused with White Zetsu Cells, giving him far greater endurance than Itachi, whose Bloodstained Disease is now beginning to manifest.
Combining the two factors, Itachi was either exhausted from almost catching up, or he had to spend a lot of time re-establishing Sasuke's whereabouts after resting.
Once Sasuke entered the Land of Whirlpools, Itachi was completely helpless.
Because the Land of Whirlpools doesn't allow Itachi to enter.
However, given Itachi's abnormal desire to control Sasuke, he naturally wouldn't give up easily.
"I can choose not to enter the Land of Whirlpools, but you must return Sasuke Uchiha to me."
He's my brother, he shouldn't be here."
At the border of the Land of Whirlpools, he attempted a forceful negotiation.
One of the Uchiha stationed at the border glanced at the other man sideways, and sneered without a care:
"Ha, your brother? A beast like you has a brother?"
Haha, you're the infamous Sarutobi Itachi! If there were really Uchiha around you, wouldn't they have been slaughtered and eliminated by your own hands long ago?
After all, you could kill even your own parents, let alone a younger brother."
Upon hearing this, Itachi clenched his fists slightly, wanting to force his way in but fearing that he might offend Uchiha Feng.
If that happens, both Akatsuki and Konoha will likely sever ties with him. Konoha might even hand him over to the other party to better strengthen its relationship with the Land of Whirlpools.
Having figured this out, Itachi could only helplessly loosen his fist and speak again, trying to persuade them to give it another shot.
"Since you consider me a beast, why did you take in my brother? Doesn't he just annoy you all?"
"It would be better to give it back to me, so you won't have to suffer the pain of watching your enemy's family members by your side, unable to take revenge."
He didn't even dare to show excessive concern, for fear that others would realize that Sasuke was his greatest weakness.
In that case, the Uchiha of the Land of Whirlpools would probably torture Sasuke severely in order to take revenge on him.
"This one?"
No need for you to worry about it. Sasuke isn't a beast like you. Lord Feng already said that he's a pretty good kid.
Moreover, our clan chief did indeed forbid us from seeking revenge against you in the past.
But recently, hehe, the clan leader's latest order is that from now on, if you encounter Itachi, don't hesitate, just kill him if you can.
"It's only because I know I can't beat you, otherwise... humph, do you think I'd be here arguing with you like this!?"
The Uchiha man once again rejected Itachi without any hesitation.
Itachi fell silent, his eyes narrowing slightly.
These words were like a bolt from the blue for him. In the future, he feared he wouldn't even be able to get close to the Land of Whirlpools, let alone bring Sasuke back.
"Sasuke has his own mission, and his fate should not be decided by you."
"Since you have decided to show me no mercy, if you insist on detaining Sasuke, I will have no scruples and will break all taboos to get him back."
Itachi issued a final warning: Sasuke was his only bottom line, and he was willing to risk everything for him.
"Oh, then try it. I can't handle you."
But the clan chief has plenty of ways to deal with you.
That Uchiha killed in one strike.
This caused Itachi, who was originally filled with murderous intent and ready to fight head-on, to involuntarily take a few steps back.
Uchiha Feng could foresee the future.
That night in Konoha, the other party completely destroyed Konoha and even revealed the future, nailing his family to the pillar of shame, a stain that can never be removed.
Later, taking advantage of Orochimaru's attack on Konoha, they timed their attack perfectly and almost emptied the Konoha.
Next, he established the Land of Whirlpools. Without lifting a finger, his subordinates were able to deal with four Kage Level ninjas from Akatsuki. He even single-handedly defeated a 3,000-strong army of Konoha ninjas, demonstrating his strength without showing any abnormalities.
However, not long ago, they precisely exploited the information gap to toy with Iwagakure and Kumogakure, almost causing a full-scale war.
Furthermore, Feng was well aware of Itachi's secrets, the Masked Man's secrets, and even the secrets of Zetsu and Madara, to the point that the entire Akatsuki organization was quite wary of him and dared not offend him easily.
Itachi was therefore well aware that he could most likely not hide the fact that Sasuke was his weakness from Sasuke.
Therefore, once action is taken, not only will Sasuke not be returned, but the other party may even use Sasuke to threaten him into doing something even more outrageous.
I will come again.
Unable to find a perfect solution for both situations, Itachi could only utter a harsh remark before silently leaving.
"Hmph, I look forward to your next visit. Perhaps you'll run into Lord Kazue Hui or the clan chief personally inspecting the border then, and you won't have a chance to leave."
The Uchiha remained unyielding in his words.
It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of death; he was deliberately provoking Itachi so that Itachi would kill him first.
In this way, although he himself will die, once he dies, the clan head will definitely take charge of the matter personally.
Given the prestige of its clan leader in the Ninja World, no matter what Itachi does, he will ultimately be unable to escape and will surely perish with Itachi.
The reason he wanted to take Itachi down with him in death was because when he left Konoha with Feng, his parents and children made the wrong choice and stayed in Konoha.
Meanwhile, in the capital of the Land of Whirlpools.
After Sasuke and Gaara left the office, Feng suddenly spoke up and gave an order.
"Izumi, contact Kabuto and ask how Orochimaru's research on the Gelel Stone is going."
Upon hearing this, Quan got up from his seat and rummaged through the filing cabinet next to him to find a document that had been delivered a few days ago.
"Master, Kabuto sent back a report about the Gelel Stone two days ago."
Orochimaru is very interested in some of the things revealed in the ruins, and he has already led several of his subordinates to conduct on-site research there.
"Oh? It seems my previous guess was correct; the Gelel Stone is indeed related to Natural Energy."
After all, that rascal snake has no interest in things that can't live forever.
Feng smiled smugly.
The benefits of watching Hokage anime were on full display at this moment; Orochimaru only revealed a little bit of something, and Feng could guess much more.
"Send a message to Tekka and Kabuto: as long as Orochimaru doesn't cause trouble anywhere outside the ruins in the Land of Wind, he can study anything inside the ruins."
But if Orochimaru tries anything else, report it immediately, and I'll personally have some fun with him."
Feng didn't care about the other transmigrators' attitudes towards Orochimaru.
But in Feng's eyes, Orochimaru, at least for now, is nothing more than a rag.
Normally, he would never want to have anything to do with such an inhuman guy, but when he needed to do something difficult to research, he needed this rag to help him wipe away the difficulties.
"And this time I'm going to kill them."
Feng silently added one last sentence.
Now his need for Orochimaru is negligible, so if they become enemies, he will certainly not let the other party suffer like he did in the original timeline, and then cause trouble.