Itachi Has His Back! Since You're Here, Why Not Talk Before You Go?

Sahiro Uchiha shuddered so hard he nearly flung the Kunai from his hand.

"Who's there?!" He spun around, back rigid, and scanned the shadows.

"It's me." It was Obito's voice.

Only then did Zuo Hao make out who it was. His taut nerves relaxed, and anger immediately surged up. "Do you have any idea you could scare someone to death like that?"

Obito's gaze behind the mask did not waver. He spoke evenly, but there was a weight to his voice.

"I heard you clashed with Konoha. Didn't I tell you not to come into conflict with them yet?"

Zuo Hao gritted his teeth and looked away, his fists clenched tight inside his sleeves.

"You know what I'm like. I just... couldn't hold back."

Obito's tone turned cold.

"Then you have to learn to. Don't forget, you're a ninja. The plan hasn't even begun. Don't expose yourself."

"Get to the point. You came all the way to Konoha to find me. What is it?"

"Uchiha Itachi is coming."

"Oh? Itachi? Is it because of Danzo?"

"You're sharp."

Meanwhile, sunlight never reached Root Base beneath the ground. Moisture seeped down its stone walls, and the air reeked of rotting wood and blood.

Danzo sat in the chair at the far end, his bandage-wrapped right arm resting on the armrest. His fingers tapped the wood without thought, making a dull, steady sound.

Two Root ninja knelt before him, reporting the details of the previous night's battle by the lake.

One kept his head lowered. Beneath his mask, his voice trembled despite his efforts to control it.

"Lord Danzo... the target, Sahiro Uchiha, is far stronger than our intelligence suggested."

"He not only has the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, but also commands a strange Ninjutsu that lets every attack pass through him. Every strike we made missed... as though he weren't a physical being in this world."

Danzo narrowed his one eye.

"And with Kakashi Hatake and Ino Yamanaka present, ANBU intervened as well..."

"Enough." Danzo raised his left hand, cutting him off. "Leave."

The two Root ninja vanished into the darkness, relieved to escape.

Alone in his chair, Danzo stared at the candlelight flickering against the stone wall. His fingers stopped tapping.

Sahiro Uchiha.

"Troublesome brat." Danzo's voice echoed through the empty room, dark with resentment.

Just then, every candle on the walls went out at once.

"Who's there?"

Danzo's voice remained steady, but veins rose beneath the skin of the hand gripping his Kunai.

A flame appeared in the darkness.

Black fire.

It burned three paces in front of Danzo, suspended silently in midair. Its heart was black beyond black.

Amaterasu.

Danzo's pupil contracted sharply.

His knees nearly carried him backward on instinct, but decades of pride forced him to hold his ground.

A figure slowly emerged.

A black cloak patterned with red clouds.

Beneath a travel hat, a pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan glowed in the darkness like ghostly flames.

"Danzo." Uchiha Itachi's voice was soft. "It's been a long time."

A faint sound caught in Danzo's throat, as if something had lodged in his windpipe. He forced it down, but the fingers around his Kunai had gone cold.

He knew how strong Uchiha Itachi was.

And standing before him now was Uchiha Itachi at the height of his power.

An S-rank Rogue Ninja, an Akatsuki member, a man who possessed Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, the black flames that could not be extinguished.

Danzo feared death.

But he feared Uchiha Itachi more.

Izanagi. Activate.

That meant Uchiha Itachi was ready to strike at any moment.

"What are you doing in Konoha?" Danzo's voice sank to a low growl. "If I recall, our agreement explicitly forbids you from ever setting foot in the village again."

"Our agreement. Yes, Danzo, we do have an agreement."

He took a step forward.

"I wiped out the entire Uchiha clan, bore the stigma of a Rogue Ninja, fled my home, and joined Akatsuki as a spy for Konoha. In exchange, my younger brothers Sasuke and Zuo Hao were to be protected in Konoha and kept from harm."

Itachi stopped two paces from Danzo and lowered his head slightly. The brim of his hat cast a shadow across Danzo's face.

"I kept my promise."

"Did you?"

Danzo's lips moved. His bandaged jaw tightened.

"Sasuke Uchiha is doing well. He's receiving a proper education at the Ninja Academy, and his Graduation Exam results were..."

"I'm not talking about Sasuke." Itachi's voice turned cold. "I'm talking about Zuo Hao."

Danzo's throat seemed to seize shut.

"That brat..." Danzo's voice grew hoarse. "His very existence was an accident. I sent people to test him only to determine whether he posed a threat."

"Root has a duty to protect Konoha."

"A duty?"

Uchiha Itachi repeated the words with a calm that chilled Danzo to the bone.

"Your duty is to send Root ninja to assassinate my younger brother twice?"

The corner of Danzo's eye twitched.

"I never ordered his assassination." Danzo's voice finally faltered. "Everything Root does is for Konoha's safety."

"If Zuo Hao hadn't hidden his strength, if he hadn't displayed that bizarre Space-Time Ninjutsu, if he hadn't refused to cooperate with Root..."

"He refused to cooperate, so he had to die?"

Itachi's voice was still soft, but every word drove into Danzo like a poisoned needle.

"Danzo, you've spent decades in the Konoha High Command. I know your methods better than anyone. Your so-called 'tests' have always been written in corpses."

"I came back to tell you one thing."

"As long as Sasuke and Zuo Hao are alive, our agreement stands. I'll continue spying on Akatsuki, and Konoha will continue receiving intelligence about them."

"But if either of them dies."

The Amaterasu flames suddenly surged. Black tongues of fire nearly licked Danzo's nose without touching him.

"I'll return. I'll destroy everything you protect with my own hands. Do you understand? Everything you protect, not Konoha. Because you know full well you've never protected Konoha. You've only protected yourself."

Danzo said nothing.

His one eye remained fixed on the black flames.

He did not doubt Itachi's words.

This man had already proved he meant what he said.

Itachi turned, his black cloak with its red clouds sweeping an arc through the darkness.

He left.

Danzo's ragged breathing echoed through the corridors of Root Base.

Outside Konoha, deep in the forest.

Itachi emerged from the shadows of the trees. Moonlight caught the brim of his hat, casting a long, narrow shadow across the grass.

Kisame leaned against an ancient tree nearby, Samehada slung over his shoulder. He grinned, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"Mr. Itachi, all done?"

"Yes."

Just then, leaves and branches rustled faintly in the brush ahead.

Itachi stopped.

A figure stepped out of the darkness and blocked his path.

It was Zuo Hao.

"Itachi. Since you're here, why not talk before you go?"