Itachi Uchiha Becomes a Rogue Ninja, Konoha's Pursuit Squad

"Report, Captain! We've found the fleeing target, Itachi Uchiha! Requesting permission to kill!"

"Rogue ninja Itachi Uchiha carries a great deal of intelligence about the village. Prioritize capturing him alive whenever possible. Only kill Itachi Uchiha if there is no other choice!"

"Understood! Then let's move!"

A standard four-man Anbu squad had discovered Itachi Uchiha at the border of the Land of Fire. He had fled Konoha and chosen to become a rogue ninja. Unlike wandering ninja, who belonged nowhere, rogue ninja had betrayed their villages and cast aside everything from their past.

Moreover, to distinguish rogue ninja, ninja who betrayed their villages would usually use a kunai or blade to carve a horizontal slash across their forehead protectors, proving that they had resolved to betray their village.

Thus, even after betraying their village and becoming homeless rogue ninja, they would continue wearing their forehead protectors, making it easy for others to identify them and determine which village they had come from.

"So they still caught up to me?"

"But the Land of Whirlpools is just ahead. Will they draw them out?"

Itachi Uchiha was not without a destination or purpose. He simply had not told anyone what he intended to do next. Just as he was about to leave the borders of the Land of Fire, a blazing fire dragon with a winding body more than ten meters long attacked from behind.

"Using Fire Release against an Uchiha? Do you think your mastery of Fire Release can surpass the experience the Uchiha Clan has accumulated over a thousand years?"

Itachi Uchiha flung a kunai backward, then turned and continued leaping beyond the border without even looking at the long stream of flames attacking from behind.

A thunderous explosion erupted behind him, and scorching heat surged outward. The rolling heat