Uchiha Itachi's eyes darkened slightly. He had remained indifferent throughout, barely showing any emotion. After all, he had been through this sort of thing before.
But Kisame Hoshigaki, standing beside him, could no longer take it.
Rage was already churning inside him!
Kirigakure had no such bullying culture. There, it was straight into battle royale mode, a fight to the death. This was Kisame's first experience with verbal bullying.
A bunch of worthless Konoha ants! How dare they point fingers and humiliate me?!
Fine, insult my ugly face and strange build! But how dare they insult Mr. Itachi! How dare they mock his family history!
They have no idea who they're dealing with! Ignorant, arrogant fools!
Veins bulged beneath Kisame's deep-blue skin. The immense killing aura lurking within him erupted, and his fishlike eyes locked onto the four boys courting death before him, murderous intent boiling in his gaze!
Kisame deeply respected Itachi, his partner. Insulting him was one thing, but they had insulted Itachi too.
Besides, these people kept spewing filth, trampling all over others and mocking their family histories. They were vile and laughable!
Of course, more importantly, their insults toward him were downright filthy. What did they mean, he was Itachi's summoning beast?
"You're asking to die!!"
A low, savage roar exploded through the air!
Kisame held nothing back. He rapidly formed hand seals with one hand, and moisture instantly gathered in his palm in a frenzy!
Vast, overwhelming Water Release chakra swept across the entire street!
"Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"
Boom-!
The surging, deep-blue waves formed a vicious water shark. With enough terrifying force to tear everything apart, it roared toward Miki Yūya and the other three, threatening to crush them!
This was a powerful ninjutsu capable of killing an ordinary Chunin instantly! No ordinary human body could withstand such an attack!
Just as the raging water shark was about to swallow the four of them, a silver figure suddenly flashed through the air with the Body Flicker Technique!
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A thick earthen wall instantly rose from the ground, standing firmly before the four boys!
The surging water shark slammed into the wall. A massive shock wave exploded, spraying water everywhere and making the ground shake violently!
Amid the dust and mist, Kakashi stood silently in front of them with a kunai in hand. His silver hair fluttered in the air currents, and his expression was utterly grave.
His gaze locked onto the two figures wearing red clouds across from him. His pupils contracted sharply, and his voice was low and heavy:
"Uchiha Itachi...! Why have you come back to Konoha?!"
The instant he recognized the elite rogue ninja, Kakashi's heart sank, and every nerve in his body went taut!
He had no time to spare for Miki Yūya and the other three behind him. He immediately barked:
"You four! Leave immediately! This is no place for you! Go!"
But Kakashi's warning went straight in one ear and out the other!
All they had caught was one name-Uchiha Itachi!
The eyes of Kawada and the other two instantly lit up. Their ingrained instincts kicked in. Rather than showing any fear, they grew even more brazen, taking their death wish to the limit!
Miki Yūya and Kawada were the first to speak.
"Uchiha Itachi? That guy from the Uchiha Clan? So you really are an orphan!"
"No wonder you walk around with that dead face all day. Anyone would look like that if both their parents were dead."
"No father, no mother-he's bound to be messed up in the head. No wonder he ran off to become a rogue ninja!"
"Come to think of it, didn't he kill his parents himself? Did he really go that far just to act brooding? Hahaha!!"
Sato pointed at Itachi and laughed wildly, mocking him without restraint:
"That's all a parentless orphan amounts to! Hiding in the shadows and pretending to be deep!"
"And wandering around outside the village with a shark summoning beast. What an embarrassment! Too scared to even enter the village, huh?"
Yamamoto seized the opportunity to unleash a tirade at the Konoha High Command and Kakashi, who was standing right there:
"This is a damn joke!"
"First, a rogue ninja like Orochimaru strolls right back into the village to wreak havoc!"
"Now even people like this can get in!"
"What the hell are Konoha's ninja even doing?! They can't even protect their own village!"
Beside him, Miki Yūya picked up the thread without missing a beat. With his hands in his pockets and contempt all over his face, he let the insults fly!
"A bunch of useless ninja, throwing their weight around to bully civilians at home!"
"But letting rogue ninja come and go as they please!!"
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +12!] [Ding! Conqueror's Haki +9!]
System notifications flooded the screen!
Across from them, Kisame Hoshigaki was utterly dumbfounded.
He had seen arrogance. He had seen conceit. He had seen people unafraid to die.
But he had never seen such outrageous troublemakers, people who not only cursed their enemies but tore into their own village and its ninja too!
These four recognized neither friend nor foe, neither danger nor respect for the strong!
As long as they were annoyed, as long as they could run their filthy mouths, they would insult anyone!
Kisame was so furious that his chakra seethed uncontrollably, his killing intent almost taking physical form!
Before Kakashi could speak up to stop him again, Kisame formed another set of hand seals without the slightest hesitation!
An immense amount of moisture gathered in an instant!
"Water Release: Great Water Flow!"
A raging torrent instantly surged forth!
This time, Kakashi's Earth-Style Wall had only just withstood the previous attack. He had no time to form another set of hand seals to defend them!
The roaring flood instantly engulfed all four!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Four dull impacts sounded in succession!
The three thugs, Kawada, Sato, and Yamamoto, took the brunt of it. The raging current knocked them flat, their heads lolling as they lost consciousness on the spot. They lay motionless on the waterlogged ground!
Miki Yūya was likewise hurled away by the tremendous force and slammed into the ground. Huh, that didn't hurt.
In an instant, all four foulmouthed Konoha troublemakers were flat on their backs!
Kakashi had absolutely no attention to spare for the four sprawled on the ground!
By then, he was already fighting Itachi.
After they exchanged a few probing moves, Kakashi was just about to unleash Lightning Blade when Uchiha Itachi finally got serious.
His scarlet Sharingan suddenly gleamed with an eerie light. There was not a ripple in the darkness of his eyes, only bone-deep cold.
A top-tier genjutsu requiring neither hand seals nor a buildup of power activated instantly!
"Tsukuyomi."
The silent illusion space instantly enveloped Kakashi!
The next second!
Kakashi's entire body stiffened. His pupils suddenly lost focus, and his body trembled violently.
In less than a second, Kakashi Hatake, known as Konoha's Copy Ninja, buckled under Tsukuyomi's crushing mental assault. His vision went black, and he collapsed, completely unable to fight!
Taken down in a single move!
The entire street fell deathly silent!
Just as Itachi and Kisame were about to move in to finish him off!
Two more figures appeared.
They were Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi!
Asuma's eyes narrowed sharply. Light burst from the chakra blades in his hands, and he slashed straight across, forcing Itachi and Kisame back.
Kurenai Yuhi formed hand seals at the same time, guarding Kakashi's side.
One attacked while the other defended. Their seamless teamwork forced the two Akatsuki fighters back before they could strike again!
Uchiha Itachi took a long look at the fallen Kakashi. Unwilling to prolong the fight, he cast a calm glance at Kisame.
Both reined in their chakra. Seeing that Konoha's reinforcements had arrived, the red-clouded figures flickered. They disengaged without further struggle, instantly retreating and vanishing from the battlefield.
The immediate crisis was over.
The two turned their gazes toward Miki Yūya, who had just gotten to his feet.
Soaked from head to toe, Miki Yūya met the two Jonin's scrutinizing gazes as soon as he stood up.
There was not a trace of guilt or the slightest hint of fear!
Miki Yūya bristled on the spot and launched straight into a stream of curses, his tone arrogant and belligerent:
"What the hell are you looking at?!"
"Why are you staring at me?!"
"You don't think I did this, do you? Last time, you said I knocked that fox demon out, and now you're blaming me again? You two fucking idiots."
Fuck!!! Asuma and Kurenai were furious. They had only glanced at him and had not even said anything, yet they had been cursed out again.
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +2] [Ding! Conqueror's Haki +3]
Miki Yūya could not be bothered with either of them. They could try beating him to death inside the village if they had the guts.
Watching Miki Yūya leave, Asuma and Kurenai gritted their teeth before collecting themselves and turning to Kakashi.
"Is Kakashi all right?"
Before you continue