Useless Amaterasu

Itachi had rested for nearly half an hour.

As if asleep, he stirred slightly.

Under the faint moonlight, everything seemed to fit together perfectly.

A phantom streaked past with a gust of wind, slicing the leaves drifting in midair in two.

The pitch-black blade in its hand reflected no light beneath the moon. It was a weapon made for assassination.

Without the slightest hesitation, powerful chakra was infused into the weapon, cutting both Itachi and the branch in two.

"Caw... caw..."

After finishing the strike, the phantom vanished into the darkness.

Itachi's body, severed into two halves, transformed into a flock of crows that scattered in every direction.

Itachi appeared atop the tree, the tips of his feet lightly resting on a slender branch, like an immortal cast down from the heavens.

His Three-Tomoe Sharingan was active, and as vast amounts of chakra flooded into it, it spun rapidly.

The rapidly spinning three tomoe froze, transforming into a pair of pinwheel-like patterns.

His black pupils turned blood-red, with the pinwheel pattern at their centers.

Thick veins spread across the whites of his eyes, as though they were continuously feeding power into those crimson pupils.

The pinwheel pattern in his right eye contracted slightly.

At some unknown point, a few black sparks appeared where Itachi was looking...

These black flames looked particularly strange and concealed in the darkness.

"Did he notice me?"

Watching Itachi on the tree stare in his direction the entire time,

the ANBU member hesitated inwardly.

At some unknown point, he felt waves of scorching heat coming from beside him.

"When?"

A chill ran down the ANBU member's spine.

He formed a hand seal with one hand and activated the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing from where he stood.

Watching the phantom disappear in a flash, Itachi understood.

This was probably another Root agent disguised as ANBU.

Amaterasu had failed to burn anyone, which was a little disappointing, but that was all...

Just as Itachi looked toward where the Root agent had vanished once more,

a gust of wind came from behind him.

There was more than one person here this time!

Itachi did not turn around. Instead, he threw several kunai at tricky angles.

The sound of kunai striking short swords rang out.

Itachi slowly turned his head.

He looked at the ANBU member standing before him with his head lowered.

"Uchiha Itachi, you truly deserve your reputation as Konoha's former genius. But now, you're nothing more than a homeless dog."

The ANBU member wore Root attire.

The expression hidden beneath his mask was solemn.

Itachi's reaction speed was too fast. No matter how they concealed themselves, they seemed unable to escape those Sharingan eyes.

Since they had avoided looking at Itachi's eyes from the start, they did not know that his Mangekyo Sharingan was currently active and staring coldly at him.

That was precisely because they had not seen Itachi's eyes. Otherwise, Itachi would have instantly killed them with Tsukuyomi.

"Compared to you, who were trained as tools from childhood, I'm still rather fortunate."

Itachi looked at the masked man before him and mocked him lightly.

He was in no hurry now.

He had used Tsukuyomi once just now, even though it had been brief.

But it had still left his young body feeling uncomfortable.

So he needed a little time to recover.

He did not want to push himself too hard and end up with blood streaming from his eyes.

That would be too horrifying.

Besides, he was personally experiencing the Mangekyo Sharingan's chakra consumption, power, and other specific conditions.

So that he could develop combat instincts.

Knowing that modern ways of thinking might not be well received in the ninja world,

Itachi mainly relied on the memories and mindset of his former self.

The memories and experiences of his past life served as support, complementing one another.

After all, having lived under the red flag in his past life, it would be difficult for that mindset to survive in such a cruel environment.

The Mangekyo's aftereffects recovered quickly, though his chakra was also burning away rapidly.

But he was not worried at all. So what if the ANBU before him were elites...

At that thought,

a streak of red light appeared around Itachi's body.

It formed crimson ribs around him, enclosing and protecting him within.

A long skeletal arm formed from condensed chakra clenched its fist and swung it at the man before him.

When the ANBU member saw the red glow surrounding Itachi, his scalp tingled.

Then, as the red light condensed into seemingly solid ribs, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

As for what lay above them, he did not dare keep looking.

The boy before him was a monster.

Two thoughts arose in his mind. One was to draw his sword and charge at Uchiha Itachi without hesitation.

Using chakra enhancement and explosive force, along with the unparalleled sharpness chakra gave his short sword, to slash Itachi...

And at the same time create an opportunity for his companions behind Itachi.

The other thought was to retreat.

The chakra fluctuations before him were simply too terrifying, though they had both advantages and disadvantages.

That young boy certainly could not sustain this for long.

So they could circle around Itachi and hold him down, forcing him to exhaust his chakra and thereby defeat him.

But just as he was about to choose the second option, he already felt the terrifying wind carried by that fist...

At this moment, the few thick veins in the whites of Itachi's eyes had multiplied, as though they were about to fill the entire sclera.

The red seemed ready to devour even the whites of his eyes.

He calmly watched the ANBU trash before him.

He watched as the fist came within less than a meter of that irritating man.

"So fast..."

The ANBU member marveled inwardly.

Dense chakra shrouded the short sword, flickering along its edge like a serpent's tongue.

He wanted to test the toughness and force of those bones, gathering intelligence from every angle.

At the same time, he had no intention of meeting the blow head-on.

Instead, he intended to deflect it with skill.

"Bang!"

The heavy, powerful fist collided with the ANBU member's short sword.

A tremendous force surged through him.

The ANBU member felt as though he could barely hold onto his sword, as if it were about to fly from his grip.

Tearing pain shot through the web of his hand, while a powerful force traveled from the short sword into his body.

He was sent flying without surprise.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Just as Itachi's fist collided with the ANBU member's sword,

the ANBU hidden in the darkness did not hesitate and used the B-rank Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

However, due to the urgency of the situation, he merely used his own chakra to form a water dragon and send it charging toward Itachi.

If he had been given time to first use another Water Release technique to summon a small lake, then use the Water Dragon Bullet Technique,

its power would have increased enormously.

The water dragon rapidly took shape and charged toward Itachi.

It looked incomparably terrifying.

After sending the ANBU member before him flying, Itachi extended his hand from his long sleeve.

The red glow around him faded, and he vanished from where he stood.

When he appeared again, he was already behind the ANBU member who had unleashed the Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

Itachi had known long ago that the other party would attack at this moment, so he had already prepared his countermeasure.

The massive water dragon missed beneath the ANBU member's gaze.

Watching Itachi easily evade the water dragon and rush toward him at high speed,

the ANBU member quickly canceled his ninjutsu.

But the moment his technique was canceled, Itachi's figure had already disappeared.

The ANBU member's reaction speed was also incredibly fast. He kicked backward, attempting to turn defense into offense.

But when his foot made contact with Itachi,

Itachi's body transformed into a flock of crows once more.

A sword carrying a flash of sword light gleamed beneath the moon...

"When did you..."

The ANBU member clutched his throat tightly and spoke half a sentence in disbelief. Then his pupils dilated, and his body collapsed weakly onto the ground.

Even in death, he could not understand when Itachi had formed hand seals, or how many seals he had formed.

"No attack can escape my eyes..."

As though sensing his unwillingness, Itachi spoke indifferently.

There was not a trace of emotion in his voice.

Then he looked in another direction, where another ANBU member was hiding.

An elite ANBU member had been killed by Itachi as easily as some brainless fool...

But it was true enough.

Konoha's truly formidable people were often not so-called elites or jonin...