Uchiha Yao vs. Itachi: A Mangekyō Showdown!

The waters of the Naka River shimmered with a cold, glimmering light beneath the moon.

Uchiha Itachi stood alone on the riverbank.

After Shisui's death, the situation had grown increasingly tense.

Uchiha Yao had risen to power with overwhelming force.

With an iron hand, he had unified the Hawk and Dove Factions, binding the entire Uchiha clan into a single rope through an almost tyrannical stance.

This should have been a good thing.

Yet Uchiha Itachi felt fear.

Because the direction Uchiha Yao was leading them in was not toward reconciliation.

The relationship between the Uchiha and the village was now even more strained than before. War could break out at any moment.

It ran completely contrary to everything he and Shisui had sought.

Itachi decided that he could no longer stand by and watch.

His figure melted into the night. When he reappeared, he was already outside Uchiha Yao's courtyard.

"Itachi."

"Elder Yao."

Itachi emerged from the shadows, moonlight outlining his refined, melancholy face.

"Elder Yao, you are leading the clan toward destruction."

Hearing Itachi's words, Uchiha Yao shook his head helplessly.

"I thought Shisui's death had already made you see reality clearly."

"It is precisely because I see it clearly that I cannot let you continue."

Itachi stepped forward, his gaze locked tightly onto Uchiha Yao.

"This kind of open hostility will only cause the conflict between the village and the clan to erupt completely. When that happens, blood will flow like rivers, and no one will be spared."

"Peace?"

Uchiha Yao laughed.

"Itachi, the peace you speak of is nothing but false tranquility built upon the charity of the Konoha High Command."

"What I seek is the true dignity that the Uchiha earn through their own strength."

Uchiha Itachi could not agree with those words.

This was not dignity at all. It was the arrogance of a path leading to hell.

"If this is your answer..."

Uchiha Itachi's gaze changed. He finally stopped concealing himself, and a powerful aura surged from his entire body.

"Then let strength prove it."

"If I win, Elder Yao, please abandon this radical approach and seek a path of coexistence with the village alongside me."

Uchiha Itachi had absolute confidence in the power of his awakened Mangekyō.

He believed he had both the ability and the right to correct this mistaken course.

Uchiha Yao looked at Itachi without the slightest surprise in his eyes. Instead, a hint of amusement appeared.

"Fine."

In an uninhabited valley outside the village.

The two faced each other as invisible killing intent collided and rose through the air.

The next instant, both moved at once.

Whoosh!

The sharp clang of kunai colliding echoed through the empty valley.

Three black tomoe spun rapidly in both their eyes, catching every minute movement of the other.

Their taijutsu clash was as swift as lightning and thunder.

Uchiha Yao's attacks were broad and forceful, every punch and kick carrying fierce power.

Itachi's movements, meanwhile, were more nimble and fluid. He always deflected the force at the smallest cost, searching for openings to counterattack.

Bang!

After another brief exchange of fists, Itachi was sent sliding several meters backward, his arm going slightly numb.

In taijutsu, Uchiha Yao's strength and reactions were faintly suppressing Itachi's.

Realizing he could not win through taijutsu, Uchiha Itachi immediately widened the distance, his hand seals shifting at high speed.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The enormous fireball Itachi exhaled carried scorching heat waves, nearly illuminating half the valley.

Uchiha Yao remained where he stood, neither dodging nor retreating, and formed hand seals as well.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The two fireballs collided explosively in midair, erupting with a deafening boom.

Through the violent blast waves, several senbon flashing with Lightning Light had already pierced the smoke, shooting straight toward Itachi's vital points.

"Lightning Release: Chidori Senbon!"

Itachi's pupils abruptly contracted. He activated the Body Flicker Technique and narrowly evaded the deadly barrage.

The moment he steadied himself, he did not hesitate. His hands formed seals even faster.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Dozens of fist-sized fireballs scattered like celestial maidens tossing flowers, sealing every route Uchiha Yao could have used to evade.

Senbon gleaming with cold light were mixed among the fireballs.

Yet a mocking smile curled at Uchiha Yao's lips.

Crackle—!

Uchiha Yao's body was completely wrapped in violent blue lightning.

Lightning Release Chakra Mode!

Facing the rain of fire filling the sky, Uchiha Yao blurred into an afterimage, weaving freely through the gaps between the fireballs.

Not one of those deadly fireballs or senbon could so much as touch the corner of Uchiha Yao's clothes.

Itachi's expression grew more solemn. He had not expected his opponent's speed to reach such a terrifying level.

Itachi took a deep breath and gathered even more Chakra.

"Dragon Fire Technique!"

The roaring fire dragon charged toward the blue lightning, carrying an aura that seemed capable of burning everything to ashes.

"Too slow, Itachi."

A cold voice sounded beside his ear.

Itachi only had time to raise his kunai across his chest.

Boom!

An irresistible force struck him. Itachi was blasted away like a cannonball, crashing hard into the distant cliff face as shattered rocks flew everywhere.

Before Itachi could catch his breath, the blue lightning closed in again.

Itachi could only dodge desperately using the Body Flicker Technique and Substitution Technique.

With every evasion, that destructive attack left behind either a deep gash or spiderweb-like cracks in the ground.

Uchiha Itachi had been completely suppressed.

"Give up, Itachi."

Uchiha Yao stopped some distance away, the lightning around his body slowly fading.

"You cannot defeat me."

Supporting himself against the cliff wall, Itachi slowly rose to his feet and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Yet a bleakly beautiful smile touched his lips.

"Is that so..."

"Then let me show you the measure of my power!"

Uchiha Itachi abruptly raised his head.

Those eyes were no longer Three-Tomoe.

Three black blades revolved slowly around blood-red pupils, radiating an aura of ominousness and calamity.

Mangekyō Sharingan!

At that moment, the air itself seemed to freeze.

"Do you see it, Elder Yao?"

Uchiha Itachi's voice carried the confidence of someone who held everything in his grasp.

"This is..."

"This is what gives you confidence?"

Uchiha Yao interrupted him, his tone carrying undisguised disappointment.

There was not even the slightest trace of surprise on his face.

"Do you think you are the only one?"

Under Itachi's disbelieving gaze, Uchiha Yao slowly closed his eyes, then abruptly opened them.

Buzz—!

An ocular pressure deeper and more terrifying than Itachi's swept across the entire valley like a tsunami!

The same Mangekyō Sharingan!

"This... is impossible!"

Itachi's breathing completely stopped at that moment.

His proud trump card, the power he had believed could change everything, was actually so laughable before his opponent.

No!

I don't believe it!

His extreme shock transformed into frenzied killing intent.

"Tsukuyomi!"

The Mangekyō in Itachi's left eye suddenly contracted as he poured all his ocular power into it.

He would use this strongest mental attack to completely destroy Uchiha Yao's will!

"Your mental prison is ineffective against me."

Uchiha Yao remained standing in place. Even his expression did not ripple in the slightest.

Itachi's body trembled violently as blood slowly flowed from his left eye.

Tsukuyomi... had been broken?

No, it had not been broken!

He was directly immune to it!

Uchiha Yao had not been caught in Tsukuyomi at all. What was going on?

Uchiha Itachi could not understand.

Previously, in order to resist Kotoamatsukami, Uchiha Yao had specifically exchanged for the skill Mental Barrier. This skill was designed to grant immunity to the genjutsu attacks attached to the Mangekyō. Shisui's Kotoamatsukami and Itachi's Tsukuyomi both fell within its range of immunity.

Thus, Uchiha Yao did not fear Itachi's Tsukuyomi at all.

For the first time, fear crept into the heart of the genius Uchiha Itachi.

"Amaterasu!"

Itachi unleashed his final roar, the Mangekyō pattern in his right eye spinning rapidly.

A cluster of black flames appeared out of thin air upon Uchiha Yao's body, burning fiercely!

They were undying flames that could burn even flames themselves!

Yet Uchiha Yao still did not move.

Boom—!!!

A vast, suffocating surge of Chakra erupted from Uchiha Yao's body and shot into the sky!

A gigantic energy skeleton gleaming with Lightning Light rose from the earth, enveloping him within.

Before that enormous construct of energy, the black flames of Amaterasu were effortlessly kept at bay.

Susanoo!

And it was not the first stage. This was the second stage of Susanoo.

Itachi himself could also use Susanoo, but at present, he could only summon the skeletal frame of its first form.

He had lost utterly and completely.

The ocular power of his Mangekyō rapidly drained away. His vision began to blur, and his body swayed unsteadily.

In the end, Itachi could only fall helplessly to his knees, dejectedly giving up all resistance.