Ultimate Technique: Fighting Himself...

Konan waking up put Itachi slightly at ease.

A great many thoughts filled his mind now.

The thing he thought about most was this:

Had Orochimaru set him up? But when he thought back on their interactions, it did not seem likely.

But why had Orochimaru not told him that this thing had such severe side effects?

If this happened while he was fighting, just as he was preparing to unleash his full strength...

Wouldn't that be the same as disarming himself and handing over his life...

At this moment, Orochimaru was in a laboratory, the surrounding lights somewhat dim.

Yet the area around him was indeed brilliantly lit.

Various experimental instruments and other equipment lay before him.

He wore protective clothing, goggles, and a mask.

Above his head was a huge lamp, an illuminating device much like a shadowless surgical light.

As Orochimaru carefully worked on something, a sensation suddenly came over him. He hurriedly set the tool in his hand gently onto the table, then stepped back.

"Ah-choo..."

After sneezing, Orochimaru felt a burst of relief.

"Who is thinking about me this late? Or have I caught a cold?"

Orochimaru pulled off his mask, and the pungent smells of alcohol and disinfectant wafted through the air.

"Maybe the disinfectant smell is just too strong..."

Orochimaru stared blankly into space.

"Ah-choo! Ah-choo..."

Just as he prepared to put his mask back on, he sneezed twice more in rapid succession.

Itachi's image suddenly surfaced in Orochimaru's mind.

"Hehe, Itachi-kun, you should have gotten the serum by now. Perhaps you will come looking for me very soon. When that time comes, we can work together. There is no future in that organization..."

Thinking of Itachi, a glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. As though recalling something, the corners of his lips curled up, and his tongue lightly licked his somewhat dry lips.

Everything happening to Itachi seemed to be inextricably connected to Orochimaru.

Or perhaps Orochimaru had made some minor arrangements within Itachi.

The night passed without incident.

From time to time, Konan stared curiously at Itachi.

"So impressive. He did not close his eyes all night..."

As the first light of dawn rose, every branch Itachi had gathered had been fed into the fire by Konan and burned away.

The final wisp of firelight faded, as though its task had been completed.

Hearing Konan's words, Itachi felt utterly miserable.

He only felt alternating waves of cold and heat within his body, while his eyes were unbearably tired.

His legs were numb and throbbed with stabbing pain.

His waist and back were sore as well.

Konan lightly stepped over to Itachi. Seeing his deathly pale face, she felt that something was wrong.

"What exactly did you inject yourself with? You still cannot move?"

The sky was already bright. If Itachi had been training, or if what he had injected was controllable, he should have recovered by now.

Yet there was not the slightest sign of improvement, leaving her confused.

Itachi could not possibly be harming himself for no reason by injecting strange medicine into his body, could he?

"Did he miscalculate the timing? Should I wait a little longer?"

Unable to get a response from Itachi, Konan could only make the decision herself.

Putting herself in his shoes, she certainly would not inject random things into her own body carelessly. So Itachi surely would not do so either. She still believed everything was under control.

But as the sun climbed high into the sky and the blazing light beat down, Itachi still showed no movement. Konan, who had originally wanted to find something to eat, lost all appetite.

Itachi's gaze had turned vacant and dull, as though it could no longer focus.

His eyes now felt as if they were on fire.

It was as though the serum's energy had finally spread there.

It was changing Itachi's most important body part.

Konan naturally noticed Itachi's condition. She hurried to his side, extending her delicate hand from her robe and grabbing his wrist.

A scorching heat and a somewhat weak pulse passed back to her, easing Konan's heart slightly.

Just now, she had thought Itachi had died. His eyes had suddenly turned like that and badly frightened her.

She had finally come out to carry out a mission, only to run into someone like Itachi. It truly left her deeply irritated.

She was even beginning to wonder whether she was a jinx.

Why did such terrible things always happen to her?

But thoughts were just thoughts. A pair of paper wings swiftly condensed behind her back.

Without thinking further, she picked Itachi up... in a princess carry...

She prepared to take Itachi back to Hidden Rain Village and have the hospital determine what was happening.

Itachi felt his body leave the ground, but his vision was pitch-black now, and he could no longer see anything.

It was as though his body had become a battlefield, with two armies clashing within it.

Since his central nervous system had stopped functioning long ago, he had lost control over his body.

The invaders had established a base in his arms and were rapidly devouring and generating new cells, turning them into capable soldiers as they advanced...

Meanwhile, the native forces fought with everything they had, stubbornly resisting this silent yet massive invasion.

If Itachi had known what was happening inside his body, he might have felt fortunate. If he had dealt with this thing only after finishing with the Hashirama Cells, it probably would not have worked.

Watching Itachi grow increasingly pale in her arms, Konan felt pangs of pain in her heart.

Memories she had once dared not face surfaced in her mind...

She felt somewhat guilty. When she had noticed the problem, she should have decisively taken Itachi back for treatment instead of waiting.

Several hours later, Konan finally returned to Hidden Rain Village with Itachi in her arms.

Konan's arrival made the hospital take the matter extremely seriously.

They immediately dispatched their finest physicians to investigate the cause of Itachi's illness.

But when they activated their sensory abilities, they were dumbfounded.

Because they could sense nothing at all.

With no other choice, they could only use a slower method.

They drew blood and used equipment to examine it.

Itachi now lay on a hospital bed, surrounded by all kinds of nutrient fluids...

They supplied his body with energy and nourishment...

This immediately made the struggle within Itachi's body even more violent...

Neither side had reinforcements before, but now both sides received nourishment and fought even more fiercely...

"How is he?"

Seeing the physician approach, Konan asked anxiously.

"Lady Angel, this patient's condition... we have simply never even heard of anything like it."

Seeing Konan's worried expression, the physician found it somewhat difficult to speak.

Their conclusion was that Itachi's cells were fighting each other, and they were fighting viciously...

Moreover, both sides appeared to be Itachi's own cells. There were no foreign organisms invading his body.

This left them at a complete loss for words...

"What exactly is going on?"

Hearing the physician's words, Konan's eyes turned sharp. Her tone was icy, and her presence was terrifying.

"Th-this is very likely a Bloodline Disease... Two factions have split off within this lord's body, and they are at war..."

Frightened by Konan's tone and aura, the physician shuddered and spoke haltingly...