A terrifying beast had devoured three years of time without anyone noticing, and now it was spring in Konoha Year 58.
Beast (author): Awooo!!!
"Wahahahaha! Little Itachi, I did it! I did it!!!"
Itachi, who was on a mission to retrieve the Sword of the Thunder God, spaced out for a moment, then hit Aoi Rokushō with Tsukuyomi.
Then, under Tenzo's and Izumi's speechless gazes, Itachi rubbed his head.
"Didn't I tell you to use your Mangekyō less? Honestly."
Izumi had grown considerably taller. She took a handkerchief from her bag and wiped the bloody tears from the corners of Itachi's eyes.
"It's fine. A few times won't make much difference."
Itachi shook his head, indicating he was fine.
Actually, if not for Teacher Tobirama's voice, he could have taken Aoi Rokushō out with ordinary genjutsu. But since his teacher wanted him for something, he had no choice but to choose a more efficient method.
Besides... Itachi shifted his gaze to Tenzo.
Tenzo felt a chill. He didn't need to think to know that Itachi wanted him to recharge his Mangekyō again.
"Don't even try it. Do you think everyone can pluck their eyes out whenever they want like you?"
After Itachi repeatedly duped him into putting on his Mangekyō, Tenzo discovered that his chakra seemed capable of nourishing the Mangekyō's power to a certain extent.
At first, Tenzo had actually thought that the Mangekyō's ocular techniques only required chakra to use. As for spending ocular power, what was that?
But after repeatedly plugging in and using Itachi's eyes, Tenzo had felt a bit of emptiness in the eyes several times.
Still, after he wore them for a few days, they improved considerably.
Eventually, Tenzo finally discovered that Itachi was using him as a power bank.
He had originally thought