I'm in Konoha, and I started with Ashura Chakra.

Chapter 71 The Battle of the Water Gods: Teacher Hong is Once Again Defeated.

"Mr. Itachi, now that we've been discovered, shouldn't we take care of them?"

Kisame Hoshigaki smiled meaningfully and said, "Otherwise, when we arrive in Konoha, we might find ourselves caught in Konoha's trap."

Uchiha Itachi was silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "This is the territory of the Land of Fire. After passing through one more town, we will reach Konoha. Konoha ninjas may pass through here at any time. We must kill them as quickly as possible."

"Understood, leave that brat to me."

Kisame Hoshigaki rarely showed fighting spirit, and said with a ferocious smile, "That brat's chakra reserves and that powerful water release technique have given me a bold guess, so I want to verify it myself."

As if it understood Kisame Hoshigaki's words, Samehada, which he was holding, trembled violently again, filled with longing for Yagyu's chakra.

"That person is... Itachi Uchiha!"

At that moment, Kurenai Yuhi recognized Itachi Uchiha, and her red pupils contracted to their limit.

When she saw Kisame Hoshigaki next to Itachi Uchiha, cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and her voice trembled slightly as she asked, "And 'The Hidden Mist Monster' Kisame Hoshigaki, why are these two S-rank rogue ninja here?"

Before she could think, seeing Kisame Hoshigaki gripping Samehada and running towards her on water, Kurenai Yuhi hurriedly shouted, "Yagyu, we must run! They are all top-ranking rogue ninja; we are no match for them!"

"Teacher Hong, you're right."

Yagyu nodded, his expression serious, and said, "The appearance of such dangerous individuals here together must be for some unknown purpose. Judging from the direction they are heading, they are likely heading to Konoha."

Now that we've seen through their identities, they definitely won't let us leave! With our strength, escaping the pursuit of two S-rank rogue ninjas will be difficult, so... Ms. Kurenai, you run first, I'll stay behind to cover your retreat."

"No!"

Kurenai immediately shook her head and said, "Teacher can't abandon you. If anyone has to cover the retreat, it's teacher who will stay behind."

"Don't be willful, Teacher Hong."

As Kisame Hoshigaki drew ever closer, Yagyu said in a deep voice, "Since you saw how I defeated Shikamaru, you should know my Body Flicker speed. Let me stay behind and cover our retreat; we'll both have a chance to survive."

"No need to say anything more."

Kurenai took a kunai from her ninja tool pouch and said firmly, "If we're going to die, we'll die together. A teacher wouldn't abandon her student and run away."

Seeing Kurenai's unwavering resolve, Yagyu didn't try to persuade her further. Instead, he smiled slightly and said, "In that case, let's join forces against the enemy!"

"Okay, I'll handle Itachi Uchiha, sir."

Kurenai Yuhi unintentionally uttered the most arrogant words.

"Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"

As Kisame Hoshigaki's shout reached their ears, the water beneath the tree where Yagyu and Kurenai were standing instantly transformed into a gigantic water shark, its massive jaws agape as it lunged at the two from below.

Whizzing--

Yagyu and Kurenai vanished in an instant.

Kurenai gathered chakra in her feet and appeared on the water's surface, running towards the motionless Uchiha Itachi in the distance.

Yagyu also appeared on the water's surface, with a water-formed skateboard beneath his feet, carrying him at an extremely fast speed toward Kisame Hoshigaki.

Along the way, Yagyu took out a kunai from his ninja tool bag, covered it with water-style chakra, and quickly formed a fluid water blade.

"Such changes in the nature and form of water-style techniques confirm that my guess was correct."

Seeing this, Kisame Hoshigaki's fighting spirit and smile intensified, a testament to the excitement of finding his kind.

Then, a water-formed skateboard appeared under Kisame Hoshigaki's feet, propelling him toward Yagyu at an incredible speed.

The two were like surfers on the sea, and soon they were about to collide face to face.

Just as the two were about to collide, Yagyu suddenly leaped up, changing his grip on the water blade from reverse to upright, and slashed down at Kisame Hoshigaki.

Kisame Hoshigaki also gripped the hilt of Samehada with both hands and delivered an upward slash towards Yagyu.

boom!

The water blade collided with the barbed shark's skin, and a violent shockwave immediately roared out, forming a huge vortex that rippled across the lake.

The water blade in Yagyu's hand failed to leave a single mark on Samehada's body.

Not only that, the water-style chakra covering the kunai also quickly disappeared, clearly being absorbed by Samehada.

Yagyu wasn't surprised; he already knew about Samehada's abilities.

The reason I used Water Release: Water Blade Slash to engage Kisame Hoshigaki in close combat was for this moment.

While Samehada was absorbing chakra, Yagyu suddenly puffed out his mouth and spat out several water needles at Kisame Hoshigaki, whose expression had changed slightly. He aimed directly at Kisame's eyes and face.

If Kisame Hoshigaki were to be pierced by these water needles, he would definitely go blind on the spot.

At that moment, a shark formed by the current suddenly emerged from the water and swallowed Kisame Hoshigaki into its mouth.

The water shark's body not only shielded Kisame Hoshigaki from the water needle attack, but also carried Kisame's body into the lake, quickly creating distance between them.

A few seconds later, the water shark leaped out of the lake, more than ten meters away, and disappeared into the water.

Unharmed, Kisame hoisted Samehada on his shoulder, grinned at Yagyu, and said, "Such insidious tactics and water-style techniques, along with your silver hair and red eyes, you really are a descendant of the Senju clan."

Yagyu didn't have time to chat with Kisame Hoshigaki. After realizing he couldn't outmaneuver him, Yagyu glanced in the direction of Kurenai Yuhi and immediately decided to confront her head-on.

Yagyu raised his right hand, palm up, and a blue chakra vortex appeared out of thin air, instantly forming a mini blue tornado.

The next second, the mini tornado turned even bluer.

Moisture in the air gathers and merges into the mini tornado, turning the cyclone into a stream of water.

Immediately, Yagyu hurled the mini water tornado in his hand toward Kisame Hoshigaki.

As soon as the mini water tornado left his palm, the suction force generated by the rotation of chakra immediately stirred up the water on the lake surface and absorbed moisture from the air, causing the water tornado to grow rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it became a water tornado several meters high, sweeping towards Kisame Hoshigaki.

"It's actually a Water Release technique without seals, a technique I've never seen before. It seems I underestimated you."

Kisame Hoshigaki exclaimed in surprise as he put Samehada back behind his back, quickly forming hand seals and making a pushing motion forward, shouting, "Water Release... Great Shark Bullet Technique!"

A giant water shark, many times larger than the previous Water Shark Bullet Technique, leaped out of the lake, opened its enormous mouth, and roared toward the oncoming water tornado.

The giant water shark collided with the water tornado, but instead of exploding and canceling each other out, or evenly matched, the water tornado was instantly destroyed. The water shark absorbed all the water chakra and water flow, causing the already enormous water shark to crash into Yagyu like a small mountain.

sizzle...

The sound of electric currents colliding rang out, and blue-white arcs of electricity swirled around Liu Sheng. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from his spot, leaving the giant water shark empty-handed.

When Yagyu reappeared, he was already in the air a few meters to the left of Kisame Hoshigaki, holding a water spear. However, instead of aiming at Kisame, he threw the water spear onto the lake surface a few meters away from Kisame.

Upon seeing the water spear, Kisame Hoshigaki's expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, he used Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique again, turning the water into a shark that devoured him before sinking into the lake and fleeing far away.

boom--

Just as they fled into the distance, a loud explosion occurred.

The water spear unleashed terrifying chakra, instantly forming a giant water tornado that absorbed the lake water, growing larger than the Spiral Water Tornado in the blink of an eye.

"Water Release: Big Explosive Water Wave!"

Kisame Hoshigaki, who had fled far away to avoid the attack of the hard vortex water blade, once again spat out an astonishing stream of water from his mouth, causing the water level and area of ​​the lake, which had been slowly decreasing, to surge again.

He then continued forming hand seals: "Water Release: Rain of Four Sharks!"

The astonishingly large flow of water formed four enormous water sharks, which leaped vertically from the lake around Yagyu, flying several meters into the air before pouncing down on him.

"Water Release·Water Crush Wave!"

Yagyu clapped his hands, and the surrounding water swirled up, instantly forming a waterspout that enveloped him.

Four enormous water sharks crashed into the rapidly spinning water wall of the waterspout, instantly transforming into thousands of miniature sharks. Unfortunately, they failed to break through the waterspout's wall and instead spun around like clothes in a washing machine. Eventually, their chakra was exhausted, and they turned into water currents that increased the size of the waterspout.

Finally, the waterspout spread out like a waterfall, transforming into a great river, or like the whip of the sea god, lashing down towards Kisame Hoshigaki in the distance.

While its power was immense, the prelude was too obvious.

Just like Kisame's giant water shark earlier, Kisame dodged the slamming of the river in a single instant.

However, the water from the bursting river turned into a curtain of rain that engulfed Kisame Hoshigaki, making the genuine smile on his face even more ferocious.

In just a few minutes, Yagyu and Kisame Hoshigaki unleashed several advanced and ultimate-level Water Release ninjutsu. Each Water Release technique required enough chakra to instantly drain a Jonin dry.

Their water-based duel resembled a battle between two sea gods.

While the two were locked in a fierce battle, evenly matched, the fight on the other side had already ended.

Just like in the original story, Kurenai Yuhi, who had only been promoted to Jonin a few months ago, had absolutely no experience fighting against Sharingan users.

In addition, the Uchiha clan had been extinct for several years, and the Sharingan had become one of the legendary bloodline limits. Kurenai Yuhi, who had never fought Kakashi Hatake, had no idea that the Uchiha clan's three-tomoe Sharingan was completely different from the three-tomoe Sharingan transplanted by outsiders.

Although Kurenai Yuhi did not dare to underestimate Itachi Uchiha, an S-rank rogue ninja, she immediately unleashed her full power with the Illusionary Tree Binding Technique, attempting to strip Itachi of control of his body before applying offensive genjutsu to him.

However, just as the giant tree formed from Yin Release chakra appeared and stretched out tentacle-like vines to bind Uchiha Itachi, the scene before Kurenai Yuhi's eyes suddenly changed.

Just as she was about to form hand seals to cast an offensive illusion spell, she found that her body was unable to move.

Uchiha Itachi, who was originally some distance away from her, was now standing in front of her without her noticing.

Looking up, Kurenai discovered that she had switched places with Itachi Uchiha, and she was now the one bound by the Illusionary Tree Binding Technique.

Kurenai Yuhi stared at Itachi Uchiha in horror: "Genjutsu reflection? When?"

"From the moment you made eye contact with me."

Itachi Uchiha extended his hand from his sleeve, holding a kunai, and plunged it into Kurenai Yuhi's body, saying calmly, "I didn't want to kill you, Kurenai-san. Blame it on you discovering us."

"As a former colleague, let me give you a gentle way to die."

After he finished speaking, Itachi Uchiha's three-tomoe Sharingan suddenly transformed into a triangular shuriken pattern.

The Yin Release chakra, which even the Tailed Beasts could not resist, immediately seeped into Kurenai's brain through her eyes, controlling the chakra within her brain's nerves.

Kurenai Yuhi's expression became blank after just one glance at Itachi Uchiha, and she became like a puppet.

The vines and the tree that bound her vanished into thin air.

With a kunai stuck in his stomach, Kurenai Yuhi fell into the lake and slowly sank.

The surrounding water was tinged with the red of fresh blood.

"Teacher Hong!"

Yagyu's angry voice rang out: "Water Release: Water Dragon Bite!"

A huge whirlpool suddenly appeared beneath Itachi Uchiha's feet.

The water converged, forming a giant dragon's mouth, ready to swallow Uchiha Itachi whole.

whoosh-

Itachi Uchiha vanished into thin air with a single movement, leaving the dragon's mouth biting empty air.

Then a huge water dragon shot into the sky and lunged down at Uchiha Itachi, who had appeared in a flash not far away.

"Fire Release: Great Flame Annihilation!"

Uchiha Itachi swiftly formed hand seals with his hands hidden in his sleeves, and spat out a wisp of flame that instantly transformed into a giant fire arrow, colliding with the water dragon that lunged down.

boom--

A huge explosion rang out, and thick fog-like water vapor spread out.

This scene seemed to serve as a reminder to Yagyu.

Thick white fog appeared out of nowhere, turning the lake into a foggy area.

Seeing the thick fog, Itachi Uchiha remained expressionless, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, they weren't reckless, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to create an opportunity for them to escape.

That boy truly deserves to be the top student, even more outstanding than Sasuke.

I hope the other party won't take their anger out on Sasuke because of my actions.

Uchiha Itachi thought to himself helplessly.

When the thick fog dissipated, Yagyu and Kurenai's chakra had vanished.

"Mr. Itachi, it seems they've escaped."

Kisame Hoshigaki returned to Itachi's side, seemingly oblivious to Itachi's apparent leniency, and asked, "Our identities have been discovered. Are we still going to Konoha?"

"continue."

Uchiha Itachi said calmly, "Miss Kurenai has been affected by my Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu. It will take her some time to wake up. Let's just finish the mission quickly."

Upon hearing this, Kisame Hoshigaki asked with slight concern, "Itachi-san, which technique did you use?"

"No, she's not worthy of my Tsukuyomi." Itachi Uchiha said aloofly, then put on his straw hat and walked towards Konoha.

Kisame Hoshigaki followed closely behind, looking on with a wistful expression: "It's been a long time since I've had such a satisfying fight. It's a pity that brat didn't go all out, otherwise I really wanted to see what his full strength was like. I wonder if I'll ever run into him again."

"Yes, after all, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is in Konoha."

"That's true. I really hope the leader's plan starts soon."

"..."

Today's 10,000-word update is done! There won't be any updates tomorrow morning, I'm going to sleep. There was a banquet next door today, and they started playing music at noon, which kept me awake. I only slept for less than four hours today, I'm so tired. I've been writing 4,000 words since 4 pm and it's only just finished.

(End of this chapter)