Uchiha Itachi had actually had no intention of killing Shihōin Naraku at first, though whether he could kill him was another matter.
But by this point in their fight, it was no longer a question of whether he wanted to hold back. If he did not fight ruthlessly, he would die instead, so he unleashed his Mangekyō Sharingan abilities one after another, even joining forces with Kisame Hoshigaki.
Even so, he remained at a disadvantage.
Uchiha Itachi had also discovered that Shihōin Naraku's resistance to genjutsu was absurdly high. Although his abilities could still drag him into the genjutsu space, he could not completely dominate everything within it as he had before.
Even though they were inside his genjutsu space, Shihōin Naraku only grew more fired up as they fought!
"Clang!"
The sharp blade light slashed toward him again, instantly cutting Uchiha Itachi in two.
"Flutter..."
Struck by the blade light, Uchiha Itachi turned into a skyful of crows beating their wings, their black feathers slowly drifting down.
"Caw-caw-"
Amid the mournful cries, the many crows gathered in midair, and Uchiha Itachi's hazy, ethereal figure emerged.
"In that case..."
The Eye Power in Uchiha Itachi's scarlet eyes erupted once again.
An enormous red moon hung in the sky behind him, looking extraordinarily eerie.
The next second, the red moon came crashing down like a meteor toward Shihōin Naraku's position.
In Shihōin Naraku's vision, the red moon grew steadily larger as it hurtled down with earth-shattering force.
"A fake is still a fake!"
Shihōin Naraku tightened his grip on Kurikara, gathering chakra at its tip as he fixed his eyes on the red moon descending like a falling meteor.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
A pitch-black blade light instantly shot skyward, howling as it struck the red moon. A piercing scraping sound rang out,