Reverse Tsukuyomi! Who Was the One Nailed Down?

On the riverbank in the early morning, the air seemed frozen.

Naruto's voice still lingered in the wind—"Uchiha, who gave you the guts?"

Itachi did not answer.

His Mangekyo Sharingan slowly turned, and the reincarnation pattern connected by the three Tomoe silently rolled a complete arc in his scarlet iris.

He is analyzing.

Judging from the precision with which that golden energy pillar severed Tsukuyomi, this twelve-year-old child's control over Chakra has exceeded his comprehension.

"Itachi-san."

Kisame's voice came from behind, carrying the hissing sound unique to sharks, "Should I take care of those three behind me first?"

"Need not."

Itachi's gaze never left Naruto.

This feeling is strange.

He had carried out countless missions, from the Anbu to the Akatsuki, from the extermination of clans to defection; no opponent had ever inspired in him this kind of emotion before the battle even began.

It's not fear.

It is an extremely subtle warning that comes from the depths of intuition.

"Little brat."

Itachi spoke, his voice still calm, "Your attack just now was pure life energy, not Chakra."

It is not a question.

It is a statement.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Oh, your eyesight's pretty good."

"This means your physical condition is different from ordinary people."

Itachi continued, speaking at the same pace, "But no matter how strong one's physique is, it can't change one fact—"

The Mangekyo Sharingan's rotation speed suddenly increased.

"--In the realm of the spirit, the body is meaningless."

Kakashi's voice boomed from behind. "Naruto! Don't look at his eyes! Those are Mangekyō Sharingan!"

He had just been pulled back from the brink of Tsukuyomi, and was still trembling.

He never wanted to experience that fear of being dragged into the abyss again in his life.

"Can't you understand human language?! Close your eyes!"

Naruto didn't move.

Instead of closing his eyes, he raised his chin an inch higher.

Their azure pupils met Itachi's crimson Mangekyo Sharingan eyes head-on, their gazes clashing without shifting an inch.

"Just some lousy Red Eye."

Naruto's lips slowly parted, revealing a smile that made Kakashi's heart stop.

"Does he really think he's a god?"

Itachi's brow twitched slightly.

An extremely small amplitude.

Since his debut, he has never encountered a single person who, upon seeing the Mangekyō Sharingan, not only did not avoid him but instead actively approached him.

Ignorance?

No.

Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan read what was deep within those azure eyes.

It's not ignorance.

It is certainty.

Like someone standing on a mountaintop looking down at the sea of clouds below, completely unconcerned about what lies hidden beneath the clouds.

"You are very confident."

"Itachi said."

"Not confidence."

Naruto put his hands in his pockets, tilted his head, and cracked his neck. "It's true."

There was a moment of silence.

Itachi made his decision.

He closed his eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, the patterns on the Mangekyo Sharingan had changed.

The connecting lines of the three Tomoe rapidly contracted, converging at the very center of the scarlet iris to form an extremely complex, geometric black totem.

Eye power – fully activated.

"Tsukuyomi."

There were no unnecessary movements.

There are only two words.

Then—the world disappeared.

Blood red.

Everything before Naruto's eyes was stained a deep, dark red.

The sky is red, the earth is red, the air is red.

Even his own breath smelled of rust.

His limbs were pulled apart by an unseen force, and his entire body was nailed to a huge wooden cross.

A cold, metallic touch came from my wrists and ankles—the feel of chains.

Directly ahead, fifteen meters away.

Countless Itachi Uchiha emerged from the red mist.

They are all exactly the same.

Her black hair was tied back, and her Mangekyo Sharingan gazed at him coldly, her right hand gripping a Ninja Blade that gleamed with a chilling light.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

The entire blood-red world was filled with Itachi's clones.

The one in the very center—if there is a true form here—took a step forward.

"In the world of Tsukuyomi, I control space, time, and matter."

The sound came from all directions at the same time, without echo, yet it made one feel as if the whole world was speaking for him.

"The next seventy-two hours--"

He raised his Ninja Blade.

"I will use this knife to pierce your body. Over and over again."

The tip of the Ninja Blade was pointed at Naruto's heart.

"You can scream."

The distance has been reduced to three meters.

"You can also beg for mercy."

One meter.

"But it makes no sense."

The tip of the knife was pressed against Naruto's chest.

The cool sensation traveled through the fabric to my skin.

Itachi's eyes remained expressionless as he slowly increased the pressure on his Ninja Blade.

Then he heard a voice.

Laughter.

It wasn't hysterical, maniacal laughter, nor was it a dry laugh born of fear and collapse.

It was a low, guttural sound rising from the depths of his throat, carrying an overwhelming disdain and mockery.

He laughed wildly.

Hahahaha--

Naruto, nailed to the cross, looked up, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

His azure pupils reflected the blood-red world around him; there was no fear, no panic, only something that made Itachi's pupils shrink sharply—

Mercy.

It's like watching a clown who doesn't know his own limitations.

"Seventy-two hours?"

Naruto lowered his head, a smile still lingering on his lips, his gaze sweeping down over the densely packed clones of Itachi before him. His tone was languid as he asked, "Do you know how much mental power I have?"

Itachi stopped.

It wasn't that he wanted to stop.

It's Ninja Blade —I can't stab it in.

A thin, transparent golden membrane silently covered Naruto's entire body, covering his chest.

That layer of light was not Chakra, nor Ninjutsu, but a more primal, more fundamental power.

The outward manifestation of spiritual power.

Great Evolution Divine Soul Art - Max Level Operation.

"Domination?"

Naruto's voice suddenly changed.

It's no longer just casual mockery.

Rather, it is a condescending judgment that crushes from the spiritual dimension.

"With just a few dozen points of mental energy—"

His eyes suddenly widened.

Golden light exploded from the depths of his pupils.

"--You dare to order me around?!"

The entire Tsukuyomi Space exploded.

It's not a metaphor.

The first crack appeared in the blood-red sky.

Like a giant pane of glass struck by a heavy hammer, spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly outwards from where Naruto was.

Click.

Click click click click--

The sky is shattered.

The ground shattered.

The thousands of Itachi clones froze on the spot, their eyes displaying an expression that, for the first time, did not belong to them.

Feeling lost.

Because their masters are losing control of the world.

The chains binding Naruto have broken.

The cross—it's broken.

Naruto fell from the cross, his feet landing on the cracking red earth.

He flexed his wrists, tilted his head, and looked directly at Itachi Uchiha, who was holding a Ninja Blade and whose expression had finally cracked.

"What did you just say?"

He took a step forward.

The blood-red space began to be swallowed by gold.

Starting from Naruto's feet, with each step he took, the golden territory expanded, devouring a patch of red.

"You control the space?"

Another step.

One-third of the thousands of clones vanished like Utakata.

"You control your time?"

Step 3.

Cracks appeared in Itachi's Ninja Blade.

"You control the matter?"

Step 4.

Naruto stopped in front of Itachi.

The two were less than half a meter apart.

Naruto was almost a head shorter than Itachi.

But at this moment, in this mental world that was being completely rewritten by the golden light, the way he looked up at Itachi—

It's like looking at an ant.

Let me teach you a piece of common sense.

He raised his hand.

He touched Itachi's forehead with his index finger.

"In the world of the spirit—"

Golden light flowed from his fingertips into Itachi's consciousness.

The entire Tsukuyomi Space collapsed with a crash.

The real world.

From the Naruto was pulled into Tsukuyomi until now --

Less than three seconds.

Itachi staggered backward a step.

His Mangekyō Sharingan trembled violently, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his left eye.

Kisame's smile froze on his face.

He had never seen a weasel—and was now suffering the consequences.

It wasn't a draw.

They didn't barely escape.

It was shattered head-on in the world of Tsukuyomi.

Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai watched this scene, their minds completely shutting down.

Tsukuyomi.

The strongest Genjutsu of the Uchiha Clan.

Seventy-two hours of mental torture.

An absolute Dōjutsu that even Kage Level ninjas couldn't withstand.

It was shattered in three seconds by a twelve-year-old Genin.

Naruto withdrew his hand and put both hands back into his pockets.

He looked at the weasel with blood trickling from the corner of its eye, the smile on his lips remaining unchanged.

"Your Tsukuyomi-- "

He tilted his head slightly.

That's it?

The mist on the river surface was mostly dispersed by the aftershocks.

The morning sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining on Naruto's blond hair and casting a dazzling light.

The weasel wiped the blood from the corner of its eye with the back of its hand.

He raised his head and looked at Naruto with his Mangekyo Sharingan, which was still bleeding.

There was a three-second silence.

"... You are not Jinchūriki."

Her voice was hoarse.

What exactly are you?

Naruto did not answer.

He shifted his gaze to Kisame behind Itachi.

"Your turn, Shark Face."

Kisame's smile vanished completely.

The Samehada on his back trembled violently, its scales opening and closing three times faster than before.

It wasn't excitement.

It's -- an instinctive restlessness.

Kisame slowly removed Samehada from his shoulder and gripped the hilt with both hands.

His shark-like pupils contracted into an extremely thin slit.

"Itachi-san."

His voice lowered.

"... You didn't tell me this kid was this level."