The Altered Future

Rampaging energy poured down viciously upon Itachi.

Itachi's bright eyes had already begun to cloud over.

Facing a Tailed Beast Bomb, he could only ruthlessly squeeze out every last bit of chakra he had left.

Though he held a divine artifact in his hand, though he was wrapped in Susanoo, said to possess the strongest defense.

Before the Tailed Beast's powerful Tailed Beast Bomb, however, his figure was still as fragile as duckweed in the wind.

Juzo sensed waves of powerful chakra erupting behind him. The attack's fluctuations were too intense for him to tell what was happening back there.

He could only focus on dealing with these two annoying flies before him.

Juzo charged resolutely at one of them, throwing caution to the wind.

He had to take down the opponent before him as quickly as possible and fight alongside Itachi.

After all, Itachi was strong, but...

Juzo recalled that when Itachi had activated that power half a year ago, he had only lasted a short while before nearly exhausting all the chakra in his body.

And only half a year had passed. How much stronger could he have become?

Not far away, Obito stood silently atop a tree, staring blankly at the giant figure holding a shield.

His feelings were complicated, yet he also felt somewhat relieved.

"Is this your weakness? But why are you fighting so desperately..."

"You weren't this kind of person before, were you?"

Obito murmured in confusion.

At the same time, a figure slowly emerged from underground elsewhere.

"Itachi Uchiha..."

Upon seeing the shield in Itachi's Susanoo's hand, Zetsu solemnly murmured Itachi's name.

He then glanced in Obito's direction before sinking back underground.

A blinding light appeared on the battlefield.

Attack and defense collided.

"Looks like Juzo isn't the only one who refuses to back down."

The Tailed Beast Bomb slammed into the Yata Mirror, but not a ripple appeared on its surface.

Then the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded outright.

The earth shook and the mountains trembled, as though an earthquake had struck.

Watching the Tailed Beast Bomb explode, Itachi's expression turned grave.

Because the Yata Mirror in Susanoo's hand had grown several degrees more illusory.

Although the Yata Mirror's defensive power was formidable, it required vast amounts of chakra to activate.

Even when blocking damage, chakra was needed to trigger its properties.

After all, the Yata Mirror was merely a spiritual artifact. It had no physical form...

Itachi took the full force of the massive energy carried by the explosion.

The Yata Mirror in his hand had reverted to its spiritual-artifact form, hanging at the waist of the phantomlike, nearly transparent Susanoo.

Though he appeared completely uninjured, his eyelids had drooped further, and everything around him was becoming increasingly blurry.

The two trails of blood tears running down his face looked incomparably savage.

Seemingly sensing that Itachi's condition had become terrible, Yagura dropped to all fours and charged toward Itachi at high speed.

He appeared ready to shatter Susanoo's phantom with one blow and kill the troublesome young man before him.

Itachi quietly watched Yagura draw closer and closer, his eyes bloodshot, his body filled with beastly savagery and devoid of reason.

His Mangekyo Sharingan began to turn. Though slowly, it rotated stubbornly like a gear...

The life force within Itachi's body was rapidly fading away...

This was an attack staked on his life. Yagura had lost consciousness, so using Tsukuyomi to control him was clearly impossible.

And there was also the nearly tangible chakra outside his body...

Itachi moved, like a faint breeze.

The Susanoo around him scattered with the wind, dissolving like fragments of bubbles.

Through the Mangekyo Sharingan's perception, Yagura was not particularly fast, and the distance between them was rapidly closing...

As the distance shortened, Itachi's eyes grew calmer, while the waves in his heart grew more turbulent and frenzied.

Even the wind around them seemed to stop, and fallen leaves hung motionless in midair.

At a certain moment, the rotating Mangekyo Sharingan came to a halt.

The surroundings changed abruptly...

Itachi entered Yagura's body. It seemed like a spiritual world, yet also like a space that truly existed.

Within the endless darkness, a huge red lantern lit up.

Itachi let out a breath of relief. He knew clearly that he had succeeded...

Following fine cultural traditions, Itachi was now employing such classic turnaround tactics and military strategies as capturing the leader first and decapitation.

Had he failed, Yagura would very likely have slapped him to death...

"Since you hate me changing the future so much, then let the storm rage even harder!"

Powerful ocular strength, overdrawn with his life force, erupted violently. The huge red lantern instantly displayed the Mangekyo Sharingan pattern in Itachi's eyes...

Outside, Itachi's movements stopped...

Yagura's movements also seemed to have been paused.

The dark crimson chakra on his body receded like the tide, exposing Yagura's skin, burned black in countless places.

Yagura's gaze was somewhat unfocused, and he did not quite understand what had happened...

Itachi walked toward Yagura step by step, an invisible aura enveloping Yagura.

His action just now had been exceedingly dangerous. Yagura had originally been controlled by the Mangekyo Sharingan, and with the Tailed Beast Cloak draped around him, all that remained of his will was madness and fury.

The Tailed Beast Cloak also carried all kinds of negative energy. Even Itachi found it unbelievable that he had entered Yagura's spiritual world so quickly.

Yet now that the operation had succeeded, it all seemed so effortless.

"I won. And I don't only mean the battle..."

Itachi stood before Yagura, his legs somewhat weak.

He placed his hand on Yagura's stomach and spoke softly...

Hidden in the shadows, Obito had been wondering what Itachi had done just now and how Yagura had suddenly lost.

When he came back to his senses, he found Itachi's slender hand already spread open against Yagura's stomach.

How could he not know what was about to happen?

He instinctively activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, preparing to reveal himself and kill this unexpected Itachi.

But when a vortex appeared beside him, he stopped again...

The ninja who had gathered because Yagura went berserk had scattered. Now that the battle's disturbances had subsided, they were surrounding the area once more.

Obito calmed down as well, knowing this was not the time to expose himself. Otherwise, his future plans would become dozens of times more difficult.

Like a final desperate struggle, he controlled Yagura once more...

Though he knew the situation was already beyond saving, he still wanted to try...

He still did not want to lose control of the Mist Village, especially this village that had caused Rin's death. He did not want it to slip free of his grasp so quickly.

A phantom of the Mangekyo Sharingan appeared in Yagura's eyes, but with Itachi's close-range glare, his gaze became unfocused again...

Itachi's hand entered Yagura's stomach...

As if it had reached into another space...

A miniature turtle, entirely covered in spikes and with three flat tails, wrapped in a mass of azure chakra, was pulled out by Itachi in one swift motion.

Itachi ruthlessly suppressed its size with chakra, but now he was in a bit of a bind.

How was he supposed to put this thing in his stomach...

Eat it? Stuff it directly into his stomach?...

That absurd thought lasted only a moment before Itachi's remaining hand rapidly formed seals.

"Sealing Technique, Transcription Seal!"

Dense runes resembling tiny tadpoles appeared on the Three-Tails, wrapping around it.

Then Itachi lifted his inner garment and brought the Three-Tails close to his stomach. Several runic chains emerged from his abdomen, binding the Three-Tails and dragging it inside...

The visible runes faded away, restoring his smooth, fair, delicate stomach and navel...

"Lord Mizukage..."

Like police officers arriving late in a movie, the Mist ninja finally showed up.

Yagura stared blankly at the ground, the life force within him rapidly draining away...

He had already regained consciousness. Lying on the ground, he stared blankly at the young man before him, who stood beneath the setting sun as though bathed in a layer of golden light.

"Thank you..."

Scenes from the past flashed through his mind one by one. He truly did not know how to face the village he loved.

Even if he had been controlled by Genjutsu, it was still unforgivable...

After all, the title of Mizukage was not merely a name. It also represented everyone's trust.

Yagura's words made Itachi pause slightly.

Looking at the Three-Tails within the consciousness space, now under his control.

Itachi released the Genjutsu.

"You were taken from him by me. Your old friend is about to die... Do you want to do something for him?"

Itachi softly asked the Three-Tails.

The Three-Tails coldly stared at the phantom of the young man before it, recalling everything that had just happened, as well as all that had come before.

"Let him die honorably in battle. If he survives, all that awaits him will be endless gloom."

Watching the unruffled Itachi, the Three-Tails spoke softly.

Yet its voice rang through the space like thunder.

Itachi looked at the Three-Tails before silently nodding. His figure vanished from where he stood...

"No need to thank me..."

Itachi had originally intended to have the Three-Tails give up some of its chakra to save this baby-faced Yagura.

After all, the chakra had only just been extracted. There was still time to save him...

He had not wanted to do this out of overflowing sympathy, but because Juzo was approaching from behind, looking somewhat disheveled...

Blood covered Juzo's body as he looked at Yagura on the ground with a complicated expression.

"Juzo, you're back..."

Itachi's response brought Yagura back to his senses. Looking at Juzo slowly approaching, he spoke softly.