Genjutsu!
The last Kirigakure ninja fell. All around him lay the ninja Itachi had killed.
Every additional enemy confirmed one thing: he was heading in the right direction. The closer he came to his destination, the more densely the ninja were stationed along his path.
"Mother-Sasuke-hold on! I'm coming to save you!" His speed surged again. He passed through the last patch of undergrowth and stopped outside a cave entrance.
Outside the cave, ninja from all four nations had gathered.
Iwagakure, the Hidden Mist Village, the Hidden Sand Village, and the Hidden Cloud Village-more than twenty of them, with every weapon aimed at the figure who had just landed at the edge of the woods.
Itachi stopped in the clearing outside the cave, his head lowered. He did not look at the people surrounding him.
"Get out of my way. All of you."
A Hidden Cloud ninja stepped forward, his voice thick with long-suppressed anger. "You brat, how many of us have you Konoha ninja killed-"
He never finished. A shuriken sliced across his neck, moving so fast that everyone around him saw only a flash.
The man clutched his neck and fell forward.
Then came boom, boom, boom-!
Minutes later, not a single enemy remained standing in the clearing.
Itachi stepped over the fallen figures and entered the cave. The light grew dimmer, and the air smelled of damp rock and another, stronger odor-the metallic tang of blood.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
Inside the silent cave, several ninja stood ready, facing the entrance.
The cave was dark, with only a few thin shafts of light filtering through cracks overhead and casting indistinct patches across the ground.
Itachi ignored the ninja. His gaze swept across the cave, then froze.
His pupils contracted sharply. His lips parted, but no