Night fell.
After returning from Mikoto's house, Xuandou sat in his study, dealing with several mission reports.
A soft knock came at the door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Itachi appeared in the doorway.
Naruto was beside him.
The little boy rushed toward Xuandou the moment he entered.
"Dad! I'm back!"
Xuandou caught him and ruffled his blond hair.
"How did training go today?"
"It was so much fun!"
Naruto's eyes sparkled.
"Itachi taught Sasuke how to throw shuriken, and I spent ages learning along with him!"
"Itachi even said I was improving fast!"
Xuandou smiled and glanced at Itachi.
"All right, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."
Xuandou patted Naruto's head.
The little boy answered and skipped out.
The study fell quiet.
Itachi stood before Xuandou, his expression calm.
"Sit down."
Xuandou pointed to the chair opposite him.
Itachi sat down as instructed.
"Tell me."
Xuandou looked at him.
"What abilities did your Mangekyō awaken?"
After a moment's silence, Itachi spoke slowly.
"The dōjutsu in my left eye is Amaterasu."
"It produces black flames wherever I focus my gaze."
"These flames won't go out until they've burned their target to nothing. Even Water Release and ordinary chakra shields can't extinguish them."
Xuandou nodded.
He was all too familiar with Amaterasu.
It was one of Itachi's signature abilities.
"What about your right eye?"
"Tsukuyomi."
"A genjutsu that attacks the mind."
"Within Tsukuyomi's world, I control time, space, and matter."
"The target experiences prolonged torture in an extremely short span of time, and their mind is broken in an instant."
Xuandou narrowed his eyes slightly.
Tsukuyomi was reputed to be the strongest mental attack.
Even a ninja of Kakashi's caliber was utterly helpless against it.
"Both of these abilities have appeared in Uchiha history."
Itachi added.
"I've