"All right, I understand."
The anxiety weighing on Uchiha Itachi's heart slowly eased, and he reminded him quietly:
"Xia Yu, how are you going to respond when Kisame and I come calling?"
"I think you should think it through carefully. Try not to make an enemy of the Akatsuki so soon. As for Pain, I'll do everything I can to stall him for you..."
With that, Uchiha Itachi's half-body gradually began to dissipate. "I'll be going now. If my main consciousness stays here too long... Kisame might notice."
Before he faded completely, a hint of puzzlement suddenly entered Uchiha Itachi's eyes as he looked at Xia Yu.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
Seeing Itachi staring fixedly at his face, Xia Yu turned to look in a mirror:
"There's nothing on my face. Itachi, why are you looking at me like that?"
"I just suddenly thought... the baby Konan just had looks a little like you. No, not a little... at least half its features resemble yours. Xia Yu, could that child be yours and Konan's...?"
"Uh..."
Realization dawned on Xia Yu.
So the SSS-rank offspring I just got really was born to Konan...
That makes sense.
With Konan's strength, it isn't strange that she'd give birth to a child of such a high rank.
Though he understood inwardly, Xia Yu did not want to admit it right away:
"Itachi, come on. I've never even met Konan. How could I possibly be having an affair with her?"
Uchiha Itachi chuckled at that. "True. I seem to be getting a little carried away myself. But I understand exactly how you feel. The other members were suspecting me just like this a moment ago..."
Before he could finish, the last lingering image of his body faded, and Uchiha Itachi's voice