Xin leaped down from the tree trunk, landing steadily a short distance in front of the two men.
"Well, if it isn't Itachi."
Xin folded his arms across his chest and greeted him with a smile.
"You came all the way back to the Land of Fire. Thanks for the effort."
Itachi stopped, his scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan fixed coldly on Xin without a word.
Beside him, Kisame grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.
With the enormous Samehada resting on his shoulder, he looked Xin up and down and gave a grating sneer.
"Mr. Itachi, who's this brat?"
Kisame's face was full of disdain.
"Konoha really must be out of people, sending a little brat who hasn't even grown any hair to block our way."
Kisame swung Samehada, stirring up a powerful gust.
"Hey, brat, get lost. I'm in a good mood today, so I don't feel like killing."
The moment those words left his mouth, the surrounding air plunged to freezing.
The smile vanished completely from Xin's face.
He hated nothing more than being called a brat in that condescending tone.
"You really have a filthy mouth."
Xin's voice was ice-cold.
Before his words had finished ringing out,
Xin vanished from the spot.
Kisame hadn't even had time to wipe the sneer off his face.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Xin had already appeared before Kisame without warning.
Less than half a meter separated them.
Kisame's expression changed in shock, and he instinctively tried to swing Samehada up to defend himself.
But he was too late.
Xin's right leg lashed out like a whip, slamming into Kisame's abdomen with an explosive crack that tore through the air.
Bam!
A deep, muffled boom rang out.
Kisame's massive body was kicked straight backward like a cannonball fired from its barrel.
At the same time, Xin jerked his head up.
The five-pointed star in his right eye instantly lit up red.
His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan activated fully.
"Tsukuyomi: Illusion World."
His immense ocular power took tangible form and instantly pierced Kisame's mental space.
As Kisame flew backward through the air, his body abruptly stiffened.
His eyes instantly lost focus as he sank completely into the terrifying illusion Xin had woven, unable to escape.
Kisame's body smashed through more than a dozen large trees, hurtling over a kilometer away before crashing heavily to the ground and passing out.
The entire sequence happened in the blink of an eye.
Uchiha Itachi stood where he was, startled.
More than Kisame being kicked away,
what shocked him was the sheer speed Xin had just displayed, along with the terrifying ocular power that made his heart pound.
Itachi stared fixedly at Xin's right eye.
He clearly saw the intricate pattern within it.
A deep ring had appeared in the center of the five-pointed star, with three tomoe perfectly embedded in it.
This was no ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan.
This ocular power even surpassed that of his own eyes.
Itachi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his astonishment and restoring his cold, expressionless face.
He hadn't come today to fight Xin.
"Uchiha Xin."
Itachi got straight to the point, his tone openly accusatory.
"I once entrusted you with protecting Sasuke."
Itachi took a step forward, his presence oppressive.
"Why did you fail to protect him and let Orochimaru brand him with the Cursed Seal of Heaven?"
Hearing those accusations, Xin showed not a trace of guilt. Instead, he laughed brazenly.
"Itachi, you've really misjudged me here."
Xin spread his hands, utterly unapologetic.
"Orochimaru is the teacher I specifically found for Sasuke."
Itachi's brows knitted tightly, and a flicker of anger crossed his eyes.
"You know perfectly well what kind of person Orochimaru is. He has his sights on Sasuke because he wants to take an Uchiha's body."
"So what?"
Xin retorted bluntly.
"Do you really think leaving Sasuke in Konoha to be taught by that half-baked Kakashi would let him gain the power to surpass you?"
Xin looked straight into Itachi's eyes.
"Kakashi doesn't even have Uchiha blood. What can he teach Sasuke? Chidori? That little trick is nowhere near enough."
Itachi fell silent, unable to refute him.
Seeing this, Xin pressed his advantage and directly exposed what Itachi had been thinking.
"Actually, visiting Sasuke was only a side trip on your return to Konoha this time, wasn't it?"
A smile that saw through everything curled Xin's lips.
"Your real purpose was to give Kakashi a reminder."
Itachi's gaze shifted slightly.
"Kakashi awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan long ago, but he has no idea how to use Kamui's power."
Xin's tone was certain.
"You came back this time intending to open his eyes through a fight, helping him master the Mangekyō's power so he could better protect Konoha and Sasuke."
Itachi still said nothing, but his silence already amounted to an admission.
Xin put away his smile, his expression turning serious.
"You don't need to worry about Orochimaru at all."
Xin began explaining his arrangements.
"I already fought Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and during the Konoha Crush Plan."
Xin held up two fingers.
"I crippled both his arms. His body is in terrible shape now, and he urgently needs a new vessel."
"And that forbidden technique, Living Corpse Reincarnation, can only be used once every three years."
Looking at Itachi, Xin laid out his analysis clearly.
"If Sasuke goes to Orochimaru now, Orochimaru will definitely have already switched to another body to stay alive."
"That means Sasuke will be in absolutely no mortal danger for the next three years."
"Not only that, to cultivate a perfect vessel, Orochimaru will definitely pour all his resources and ninjutsu into teaching Sasuke."
Xin folded his arms across his chest.
"Three years of top-tier teaching resources for free. After three years, Sasuke will definitely be transformed, and his strength will have advanced by leaps and bounds."
After saying this, Xin raised his head.
"Itachi, what do you think of my arrangement?"
Xin tossed the question back at Itachi and quietly waited for his response.
Uchiha Itachi looked seriously at Uchiha Xin before him.
He was deeply surprised.
Xin's tightly reasoned analysis left him unable to find any grounds for rebuttal.
This boy had accounted for Orochimaru's greed and the limitations of Living Corpse Reincarnation with astonishing precision.
Itachi parted his lips, about to speak.
But Xin raised a hand, cutting him off.
"All right, I know what you're thinking."
Xin's tone was utterly certain.
"You're just worried that once those three years are up, Sasuke will be in danger and Orochimaru will steal his body."
Xin looked at Itachi.
"I can promise you right here."
"If anything unexpected really does happen within those three years, or Sasuke runs into trouble he can't handle,"
"I can use a space-time dōjutsu similar to Flying Thunder God to forcibly bring Sasuke back to Konoha at any time."
Xin pointed at his eyes.
"I've already left a hidden chakra mark on Sasuke. No matter where he runs, even to the ends of the earth, I can locate him at any time."
At those words, unmistakable surprise appeared in Itachi's eyes for the first time.
A space-time dōjutsu.
The ability to locate him at any time.
Such a method was simply inconceivable. Even he had never heard of anything like it.
Just as Itachi reeled in shock,
Xin's figure flickered without warning.
In just one second,
Xin vanished into thin air.