XX-level Hokage

“It’s not just me charging in. Don’t forget Kurama, Izumi, Breast-browed teacher, and Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto said earnestly, looking at Obito.

Upon hearing this, Kakashi couldn't help but look up at Naruto.

“If it were a one-on-one fight, you would have the higher odds of winning. You wouldn’t let something so trivial make you senile, would you, Kakashi?” Guy said, patting Kakashi on the shoulder.

"Go, Guy!" Kakashi instantly activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and said seriously. The battle began again.

At this moment, Orochimaru's temporary base was located in a cave near the Akatsuki headquarters.

Orochimaru was standing in the cave, with Anko tightly bound not far away and three coffins standing beside him. "So, they've finally arrived?" Orochimaru muttered to himself.

At that moment, a sword was placed against Orochimaru's neck.

"Long time no see, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said with a smile. "So you're still alive, Orochimaru," Sasuke said coldly.

“Sasuke-kun is later than I expected,” Orochimaru said softly. “Did you know I would come to find you?” Sasuke asked.

"After seeing the Reincarnation Technique, Sasuke-kun will definitely try to find the source of the technique. After all, you have many questions to ask someone, don't you?" Orochimaru said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke remained silent and put down the Kusanagi sword.

"Itachi is currently in the southeast, around the Second Medical Squad of the Allied Shinobi Forces," Orochimaru said, turning to look at Sasuke.

"You seem to be helping me. When I found this place, all the reanimated ninjas on the battlefield had been released. Now it seems that you deliberately left Itachi here and are waiting for me to tell me where Itachi is. What is your purpose?" Sasuke said coldly.

“I promised two people that I would let you meet Itachi,” Orochimaru said. “Two people?” Sasuke asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Uchiha Itachi himself, and the Fourth Hokage, Hyuga Mashiro." Orochimaru looked at Sasuke and said, word by word.

After hearing Orochimaru's words, Sasuke turned and left without hesitation. "Have you met the Hokage?" Anko asked after Sasuke left.

"What if I were the Hokage's man now?" Orochimaru turned to Anko and said with a light laugh.

"Heh, if that's true, I'll bathe in snakes." Red Bean showed no sign of belief. Well then, we'll see. Orochimaru didn't say anything more, sat cross-legged, and began to rest with his eyes closed. Meanwhile, in the forest near the location of the Second Medical Squadron.

Itachi is facing off against the five members of the special squad: Izumi, Kurotsuchi, Sakura, and Hinata.

"Why didn't this guy disappear like the other Reincarnation ninjas?" Kurotsuchi asked, looking at Itachi with great apprehension. "There must be something special about him," Kurenai said earnestly.

Sakura was now ready for battle. Hinata also activated her Byakugan.

"Hmph, just as I expected, you found her." Izumi said with a hint of helplessness. "I saw Aunt Kushina on the island turtle earlier." Itachi suddenly said. "Kushina?" Upon hearing this, Kurenai looked puzzled.

"This name isn't..." Sakura's expression also turned puzzled. "Naruto-kun's, mother?" Hinata said, somewhat confused.

Kurotsuchi thought of what had happened on the island turtle, and also recalled Kushina's figure, that red-haired woman? Izumi didn't speak, silently watching Itachi.

"First it was Aunt Kushina, and now it's you. It seems Orochimaru was right," Itachi said, seemingly to himself. "What?" Izumi sensed that Itachi knew something.

"That person—no, she should be called Hyuga Mashiro now—exists, and has already mastered the power of a Sage," Itachi said.

Itachi's inexplicable words left Kurotsuchi, Sakura, and Hinata completely bewildered. Only Izumi and Kurenai understood Itachi's meaning.

"So what are you planning to do?" Quan asked.

“We must correct this; we must eliminate the impact she has brought,” Itachi said calmly.

If what Orochimaru said is true, then Mashiro's existence will destroy everything he has done. Neither Sasuke nor Konoha.

"Then I regret to inform you that I must kill you once again today," Quan said with a very complicated expression.

She and Itachi had a wonderful time together, but Itachi also brought her an incredibly dark past.

In her previous life, she ambushed and helped Zero kill Itachi, and it seems she will do the same in this life.

"Again?" Itachi was puzzled by Izumi's words. Just then, Izumi gave Kurotsuchi a look.

"Melting Technique: Lime Coagulation Technique" Black Soil launched an attack instantly.

Chapter 203: Victory or Defeat

A pool of black cement flew straight toward the weasel.

But Itachi dodged Kurotsuchi's attack with a mere dodge.

Itachi looked at Izumi and said, "The five of you can't beat me. I won't hurt you. You just need to cooperate in putting on a show to lure her out, and then I'll let you go."

Itachi was in no mood for a battle of wits with the five people before him. "Do you think you can defeat her?" Izumi asked softly. "I have my own way," Itachi said calmly.

He still had one last trick up his sleeve: Kotoamatsukami.

"I'm sorry, I cannot agree to your request." With that, Izumi launched her attack. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique"

Itachi merely sighed slightly at the approaching fireball, then instantly formed hand seals. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique"

A river appeared out of nowhere, instantly extinguishing the incoming fireball, and then rushed towards the group.

"Now!" Quan suddenly said, facing the oncoming river. Heitu quickly formed hand seals.

"Melt-suitable: The art of super lime coagulation"

The entire river suddenly turned gray, and then the spring formed a seal again. "Wind's Favor: Flowing Wind Strike"

Two strong gusts of wind blew, causing the gray river to change direction.

Itachi instantly understood the reason and tried to get up to dodge, but it was too late.

The gray river flowed to the feet of the weasel, then instantly froze, trapping the weasel in place.

"I see. After my teammate used Lava Release, he used Fire Release to lure out my Water Release. Because Lava Release spreads due to water, my Water Release turned into Dust Release. Then I used Wind Release. Now that we're so close, I can't dodge," Itachi said.

"After you left that day, we discussed some countermeasures to deal with you," Quan said softly.

"Unfortunately, I am currently in an Edo Tensei state, so your strategies are useless against me." With that, Itachi's eyes instantly transformed into Mangekyou Sharingan.

Black flames appeared out of nowhere, burning away all the gray liquid around them.

"That technique again." Kurotsuchi frowned. Then Itachi's gaze fell on Kurotsuchi.

"Not good!" Kurenai instantly understood Itachi's thoughts. She had seen Kakashi suffer such an attack before.

Kurotsuchi instantly understood Itachi's meaning, but it was too late to dodge. "Tsukuyomi"

Heitu closed his eyes in despair.

But for some reason, Kurotsuchi didn't sense anything amiss. Opening her eyes, she saw that Izumi was standing in front of her.

"Could it be that Izumi blocked the attack for me?" Kurotsuchi hurriedly came to Izumi's side. Izumi was perfectly fine.

"How did you do that?" Itachi asked.

He had just used Tsukuyomi on Kurotsuchi, but in that instant, Izumi appeared in front of Kurotsuchi, causing the Tsukuyomi's effect to be applied to Izumi instead.

Strangely, Tsukuyomi had no effect on Izumi, as if it was blocked by an invisible barrier, and the power of the eye could not reach Izumi's spirit at all.

Izumi looked at Itachi, and his Sharingan instantly transformed into the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"I see, so it's your Mangekyou Sharingan." Itachi instantly understood why Tsukuyomi had failed.

Tsukuyomi is a kaleidoscope eye technique, so it's normal that it can't function properly due to the influence of another kaleidoscope eye technique.

Izumi's Kaleidoscope ability, Omikami, allows her to indirectly connect to the mind of another person after they form a soul bond. This allows her to choose to have the bound person take the mental attack for her. Therefore, Itachi's Tsukuyomi attack just now was more likely to have hit Mashiro than Izumi.

Due to the unique nature of True Self, Tsukuyomi was unable to function effectively. (At this moment, True Self, on another battlefield: "What hit me?") "It seems Tsukuyomi is useless," Itachi muttered to himself.

Then he quickly rushed towards the five people. Izumi had anticipated this, "Sakura, Hinata."

Sakura instantly unleashed her superhuman strength, slamming her fist into the ground, shattering the earth and forcing Itachi to dodge to the side. "Gentle Fist Technique: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms"

Itachi appeared right in front of Hinata, who instantly unleashed Gentle Fist. The powerful palm strike hit Itachi, sending him flying.

Then Kurotsuchi launched another attack. "Molten Release: Gray Stone Sealing Technique"

Dark gray concrete quickly enveloped Itachi's entire body, including his eyes. Had it succeeded? Red stared at the solidified black humanoid concrete figure before her.

"We sealed the veins with Bagua Palm, then covered them with concrete, especially the eyes. If all goes well, we've succeeded," Quan said.

"Great!" Heitu excitedly gave a thumbs-up.

"Quan, how did you know he wouldn't unleash those black flames on us? If he hadn't charged at us but instead released the black flames, wouldn't our plan have definitely failed?" Xiaolou asked curiously.

“Intuition, my intuition,” Quan said softly.

She knew the reason, of course. As a spy for Konoha, whether for the sake of Konoha or for Sasuke's sake, he would not kill the five of them.

Leaving aside themselves, Kurenai is a special Jonin of Konoha, Hinata is the second daughter of the Hyuga clan and Sakura's former Hokage's disciple, and Kurotsuchi is the granddaughter of the Third Hokage.

If he accidentally kills any one of them, even if his plan succeeds and Sasuke is able to return to Konoha, it will definitely have very bad consequences.

Therefore, Amaterasu would not be used directly on the five people, Tsukuyomi was ineffective, and ninjutsu is difficult to win in a one-to-five situation, so Itachi could only choose taijutsu.

But just then, a huge crack suddenly appeared in the concrete. "Oh no!" Quan immediately sensed something was wrong.

Immediately afterwards, the concrete shattered, and the orange-red Susanoo appeared out of thin air.

Itachi looked down at the five people and said softly, "The plan was perfect, but unfortunately there was one miscalculation. The body reborn from the original world has no meridians, and the Gentle Fist technique is ineffective."

The technique seals my chakra.

Quan sighed and touched her forehead, realizing she hadn't even considered this.

Itachi had already guessed why Izumi was so certain he wouldn't use Amaterasu, saying, "Sometimes even if Amaterasu is used, it doesn't necessarily mean the person hit by it will die."

Upon hearing this, Izumi was initially puzzled, but then instantly understood Itachi's meaning. "Hinata, hand over what Mashiro gave you, quickly!" Izumi said urgently. "Amaterasu!"

Black flames instantly engulfed the five people.

Just as Itachi said, those hit by Amaterasu are not guaranteed to die, as long as they can retract Amaterasu before being burned to death. But just as the black flames were about to reach the five people.

A blue light suddenly appeared, followed by the black flames beginning to subside.

Incredulously, Itachi looked towards the source of the light, where Hinata held a slightly bluish eyeball emitting a blue glow. This eyeball was the unfinished Tenseigan that Mashiro had obtained through experiments.

Before sending the group off, Mashiro specifically told Izumi about this, instructing her that if the group encountered an insurmountable crisis, Hinata should take out what she had previously given her.

"This is the Byakugan? No, it seems to originate from the same source as the Byakugan, yet it's different," Itachi muttered to himself. "Is this your last resort?" Itachi asked.

Although Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu have lost their effectiveness, he still possesses Susanoo, along with the Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror on it.

"It really is our last resort, Itachi. You are truly strong. We've used so many methods, and we've only managed to hold you off until now, as you haven't been going all out. But from now on, your opponent will no longer be us," Izumi said.

Upon hearing this, Itachi also sensed a familiar chakra and turned to look. Sasuke had already arrived not far away.

Chapter 204: The Truth

"Sasuke?" Itachi was somewhat surprised by Sasuke's arrival. Then he instantly ran off into the distance.

Sasuke glanced at Izumi, then chased after Itachi.