Then, Shisui's gaze fell on the figure flying in mid-air.
Third Kazekage Human Puppet!
Sasori's strength was already among the top in the Kage Level, and now it has risen to a level that no other puppeteer has ever reached.
Because there has never been a puppeteer who could command so many puppets like Scorpion, nor has there ever been a puppeteer who could control so many puppets like Scorpion.
Shisui was indeed powerful, but he was still far inferior to Sasori. He also had to protect Sasuke, who was a burden to him, and soon, he had several more wounds on his body.
[Damn it! I shouldn't have brought Sasuke here!]
Shisui wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood in front of Sasuke, thinking to himself.
[Damn it, Shisui shouldn't have brought Sasuke here!]
Uchiha Itachi was also cursing inwardly.
He was genuinely afraid that Sasori's strength was too great, and that Shisui and Sasuke would both perish here.
"What, are you so tempted to sever your bonds yourself, Uchiha Itachi?"
A White Zetsu emerged from the ground, ran to Uchiha Itachi's side, and said with a grin in a voice that had an electric undertone.
"What, could it be that you can help me achieve this goal? Perhaps through this pain, I can also awaken eyes like Madara and Uchiha Meikyō!"
Uchiha Itachi adopted a fanatical expression and asked White Zetsu.
In fact, the three Tomoe in his Sharingan were already spinning very fast when he attacked Sasuke earlier, and now they were even creating afterimages, as if something was about to happen.
"Hehe, that might be a bit difficult. Even if you can do it, you'll at most be the next Uchiha Fugaku. But don't worry, Madara values you because he thinks you have the potential to reach his level."
White Zetsu said with a smile.
Uchiha Itachi paused for a moment, thinking hard, but he couldn't think of anything that made him different from other Uchiha.
Although his talent was slightly higher than others, and he had a very similar background to Uchiha Madara, Madara's interest in him was definitely not just because of these things.
"What should we do next?"
Uchiha Itachi continued to probe, asking further.
"Of course you should run away! A whole bunch of Konoha Jonin are chasing you right now. If the Konoha High Command, or even Uchiha Meikyō, get alerted in a while, even Lord Madara probably won't be able to get you out of here unharmed."
As White Zetsu spoke matter-of-factly, he climbed onto Uchiha Itachi's body, enveloped him, and slowly sank into the ground.
"What about the scorpion?"
"He'll find a way to get out of here."
The figures of White Zetsu and Uchiha Itachi slowly disappeared from everyone's sight.
"What a pity."
Scorpion suddenly sighed.
"I originally thought you would be my first puppet with Sharingan. With your strength, you were enough to become Thirteenth of Chikamatsu. Now I'm afraid I'll have to wait until next time."
Scorpion said with some regret, stopping his manipulation of the puppet.
Just as Shisui was wondering what was going on, several figures suddenly rushed out of the forest.
"Thunder Breathing - First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
"Wind Breathing - Third Form: Clean Storm Wind Tree!"
Kakashi and Shiranui Genma charged forward, one on the left and one on the right, and wiped out a large number of puppets in an instant.
And following closely behind was Asuma.
"Sound Breathing, Fifth Form, Resounding String Performance!"
Asuma streaked across the battlefield with Inazuma, accompanied by a series of explosions. Then, he brought his two Flying Swallow together, extending long Chakra blades that slashed towards Sasori's head.
"Mechanism Shield Seal".
With a casual wave of his hand, Sasori quickly moved in front of him, his body radiating a pale blue Chakra glow that condensed into a shield.
This rendered Asuma's attack ineffective.
"Kai!"
Asuma shouted.
"Stone Breathing, Second Form: Sky Surface Shatter!"
Might Guy descended from the sky, his nunchucks smashing the Chakra shield from above.
"Ah-da~"
After landing, Might Guy quickly turned and kicked Scorpion's head with a side kick.
Various parts were scattered all over the ground.
"This isn't the real thing, it's a puppet!"
Shisui frowned, quickly Sasuke into Shiranui Genma's arms, and with a stomp of his foot, transformed into a streak of Kakkō and slashed at a certain puppet.
"Flame Breathing - First Form - Unknowing Fire!"
Another head fell to the ground.
"Wow, that's really fast! I didn't even have time to react."
The moment its head hit the ground, the color on it gradually faded, turning into a White Zetsu head.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Puffs of white smoke rose up, and the numerous puppets present were instantly Reverse Summoning and sent back to their original state, disappearing from everyone's sight.
"They had already secretly moved their main body and were using puppets to indirectly control other puppets. No wonder the puppets' strength had decreased significantly just now."
Kakashi picked up a piece of the part from the ground and stroked his chin as he made his judgment.
"Even so, it's still amazing. Such Puppet Technique is almost beyond comprehension."
Asuma took out a cigar, lit it, and said.
"Well, is Fugaku's youngest son alright?"
Might Guy looked at Sasuke, who was being carried on Shiranui Genma's back.
"He wasn't seriously injured, it's just that Sasuke's mental state is currently..."
Shiranui Genma sighed.
"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't the real Nissan..."
Sasuke stared blankly at the spot where Itachi had disappeared, muttering to himself.
"Hey, I'll mention it to Chief Fugaku. Let Sasuke take a break for a while and ask for leave from the Ninja Academy."
Shisui said with a sigh.
"That's the only way. I'll mention it to the old man when I get back."
Asuma took off his cigar and said to Shisui.
A few hours later.
Uchiha Itachi followed White Zetsu to a huge cave in the Land of Rain.
At the center of the cave is an enormous plaza.
Half of the square was occupied by a colossal object.
This is a humanoid monster with ten pillar-like structures on its back and nine eyes on its body.
Upon closer inspection, Uchiha Itachi discovered that the monster's first, sixth, and seventh eyes had already opened.
Above the monster's head was a coffin, and Uchiha Madara sat on it, resting his chin on his hand and staring at Uchiha Itachi.
"You've finally arrived, Uchiha Itachi."
Uchiha Madara spoke to Uchiha Itachi with great interest.
"You once told me that you could give me even greater power, and I came here in search of that power."
As Uchiha Itachi spoke, he glanced around and noticed that apart from a few White Zetsu, he didn't see any other members of the Akatsuki Organization.
"Pursuing power, huh? That's very much in line with the Uchiha's personality. So tell me, what is your purpose in pursuing power?"
Uchiha Madara continued to ask.
"This has nothing to do with you, Madara. My goal is to pursue power. You also need someone with enough power to help you fight against Uchiha Meikyō. You just need to give me this power, or tell me how to find it, and I will naturally help you afterwards."
With the fanatical expression typical of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Itachi shouted at Uchiha Madara.
"Your acting is good. Although there are still some flaws, it's already very good considering your age."
Uchiha Madara grinned and smiled at Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi's heart skipped a beat.
Is it a test?
Considering that Uchiha Madara is probably close to a hundred years old now, with extremely rich life experience, and his Rinnegan vision can see every detail on his face, it's possible that he might not be fooled.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Itachi simply stopped pretending and returned to his calm state.
All you need to do is keep Ban from knowing what you're really thinking.
Uchiha Madara nimbly leaped down from above and walked towards Uchiha Itachi.
"If you're after power, why not go find Uchiha Meikyō? He also possesses the most perfect Mangekyō Sharingan, and he even perfectly transplanted Hashirama's cells, giving him almost the same power as me and Hashirama combined. What, didn't he tell you that?"
Uchiha Madara stared at Uchiha Itachi with his imposing Rinnegan and asked.
Madara didn't use Genjutsu to interrogate Uchiha Itachi, but he still put immense psychological pressure on him.
"According to the gene sequence analysis conducted by Uchiha Meikyō, Orochimaru, and Tsunade on most of the Uchiha Clan who have Sharingan, Uchiha Meikyō Uchiha genes that are extremely close to those of the Uchiha ancestor. This is why he is able to possess such great power. As for the Wood Release transplant, only the core high-ranking members of Konoha are qualified to know about those things. I, as a former Anbu captain, am still not qualified enough."
Uchiha Itachi truthfully told what he knew.
This intelligence will not have a significant impact.
Uchiha Madara, lost in thought.
Like Black Zetsu and Bhiruho, the reason why Uchiha Meikyō is so strong is very likely due to his bloodline reversion, which makes his Sharingan very similar to that of Indra, the ancestor of the Uchiha Clan.
The first person to propose this idea was Black Zetsu, because he had actually seen Indra and believed that Uchiha Meikyō's eye power had reached a level similar to that of Indra when he fought Asura.
Bhiruho, acknowledged the possibility of this conjecture from a biological perspective, even if the probability was small, it was still a possibility.
"I see. Then, Uchiha Itachi, show me your abilities, your... Mangekyō Sharingan."
Uchiha Madara looked at Uchiha Itachi and said to him.
Uchiha Itachi finally lost control of himself.
What are you... saying?
"Leaving Konoha and personally attacking your beloved younger brother must have been a very painful thing for you, right? I didn't expect you to awaken the Mangekyo so easily. But fortunately, with this ability, my subsequent plans will be much easier, and you can already help me."
Uchiha Madara said with a light laugh.
"No matter what, my Rinnegan is the final form of the Sharingan. Even Uchiha Meikyō's eye power can be suppressed by me, let alone yours. The abnormality of your eye power cannot be hidden from me."
Uchiha Itachi remained silent for a short while.
The awakening of these Mangekyō Sharingan was unexpected. According to his own speculation, it was probably when he attacked Sasuke and Sasuke called him not his brother.
Originally, he intended to use these Mangekyō Sharingan as a hidden trump card to deal with unknown risks in the future, but now it seems...
"One is called Tsukuyomi, and the other is called Amaterasu."
Uchiha Itachi said expressionlessly.
Because of Uchiha Meikyō, Amaterasu Black Flame is already known to many people. Now, Uchiha Itachi only hopes that Uchiha Madara doesn't know about Tsukuyomi, so that he can use the excuse that he just awakened the Mangekyou Mangekyo and hasn't gotten used to it yet to fool everyone else.
"Tsukuyomi, I understand."
Uchiha Madara nodded casually, immediately feeling reassured.
What he was trying to do was Infinite Tsukuyomi, so how could he not know Tsukuyomi this Dojutsu?
As the former head of the Uchiha clan, he had long ago learned about many Mangekyou Sharingan eye techniques, including Tsukuyomi, that had appeared in history, from the clan's records.
"Next, you will stay by my side and prepare to do three things."
Uchiha Madara looked at Uchiha Itachi and said calmly:
"The first thing is to unlock the ultimate weapon of the Uchiha, which was once sealed away by the Senju Clan."
"Secondly, I want Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Thirdly, if Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan does not meet my expectations, I want you to help Uchiha Sasuke awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan and then seize Mangekyō Sharingan from him."
"Complete these tasks, and you will gain immense power."
Uchiha Itachi memorized all these details, pondered Madara's intentions, and finally replied:
"I see."
The scene is then moved back to the Land of Fire, Konoha.
"Uchiha Meikyō, the news of Itachi's defection has spread like wildfire. We need someone with enough influence to suppress this matter."
With a cold and stern face, Tobirama Senju Uchiha Fugaku.
He actually suspected that everything Uchiha Itachi did was at the behest of Uchiha Fugaku, with the aim of hedging his bets, hence his less-than-friendly tone.
"I have no idea."
Uchiha Fugaku sat in the chair, closed his eyes, and said expressionlessly.
In truth, he wasn't sure what his true thoughts were, nor was he sure what Itachi would do.
"Meikyō -jun just took a third-generation Golden Potion made directly from the First Hokage's Cells and went to cultivate. It seems to be related to his upcoming strength improvement. He shouldn't be seen again for a while."
Orochimaru walked in from outside and said calmly.
"Sigh, this time, the Third Hokage and I will step in to quell this, along with the Second. Now that your Impure World Reincarnation is no secret, with the three of us Hokage stepping in, surely that's enough to suppress the impact of Itachi's defection?"
Dan Katō sat in the main seat, looking troubled.