XX-level Hokage

"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.

Izumi hesitated for a moment, then turned to Hinata and said, "Hinata, can I borrow the ninja tool that Mashiro left you?" "Okay, okay." Hinata handed the half-finished Tenseigan to Izumi.

Izumi took the Tenseigan and then said to the remaining four, "I have some things to take care of. You should go back first and tell headquarters that the matter of Ito-fu has been resolved."

After saying that, Izumi also chased after Itachi and Sasuke in the direction they left. Kurotsuchi saw this and also got up to chase after them, but was stopped by Kurenai.

“Itachi and Sasuke are both from Akatsuki, so it would be dangerous for Izumi to go alone,” Kurotsuchi said. “This is a mission given to Izumi by the Hokage, so don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” Kurenai said.

Based on what was just said, Kurenai already knows that Itachi knows Mashiro's identity. Although they haven't known each other for very long, based on her understanding of Izumi, she knows that Izumi would never do something dangerous without a reason.

Therefore, Kurenai intended to trust Izumi, and thus fabricated a mission to deceive Kurotsuchi, Sakura, and Hinata.

"Is that so?" Upon hearing this, Kurotsuchi didn't suspect anything; Izumi had always known more than the others. "But won't Mashiro be in danger?" Hinata asked, still somewhat worried.

"We can inform the Hokage after we return to the unit. Itachi Uchiha in his Transcendental form is dangerous enough, and adding Sasuke Uchiha on top of that would be too much for the five of us to handle. It's better to go back first, like Izumi suggested." Kurenai patted Hinata's head and said softly.

"That's the only way then," Sakura said. Then the four of them immediately got up and headed towards the troops.

On the way, Kurenai's mind was filled with enormous questions. Why did Izumi have the Sharingan?

While Quan was shielding Heitu from the attack, Hong inadvertently saw that Quan's eyes suddenly turned scarlet.

Izumi, Uchiha, Uchiha Izumi? Thinking about this, Kurenai felt a strange sense of familiarity. Meanwhile, in the dense forest, Itachi and Sasuke continued their chase.

As Sasuke watched Itachi weaving and twisting among the tree trunks ahead, his thoughts were in turmoil.

He recalled the wonderful times he spent with Obito during his childhood, the night of the massacre, the pain and hatred, the great battle, and the truth that Obito had revealed.

At that moment, Itachi instantly increased his speed, and Sasuke, not to be outdone, quickly chased after him.

"Stop! I told you to stop!" Sasuke shouted, instantly activating his Susanoo. A purple skeleton appeared in an instant, and he reached out to grab Itachi. In a flash, Itachi summoned his orange Susanoo to block Sasuke's attack.

"I didn't expect you to know how to use this now." Itachi turned to Sasuke and said, "Why are you here? Aren't you dead?" Sasuke asked, feigning ignorance.

"Because of Orochimaru's technique, I am now in the body of the Reanimation Jutsu. However, now is not the time to talk. I have something I must do," Itachi said.

"Who cares about all that? You're right here in front of me, and I have so many questions to ask you," Sasuke said urgently. "Ask me later, and besides, there are some things you probably won't listen to me about now," Itachi said calmly.

"You told me to go find you with eyes just like yours, so why are you running away now? Is it because you feel guilty for lying to me, or because you don't have the courage to tell the truth? I already know everything about you, and I will judge right and wrong for myself. So now I want to hear you tell me the truth from your own mouth." Sasuke said somewhat angrily.

"When I was fighting you, I said that people are actually living in their own obsessions. The reality you see may just be an illusion. My truth is actually..." But before Itachi could finish speaking, Sasuke interrupted him.

“I have shaken off the illusion and can now see through your genjutsu. What is now in my eye sockets is your eye,” Sasuke said, activating his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Although your tough tone is still the same, you seem to have changed after seeing you now." Itachi turned to look into Sasuke's eyes and said with some emotion.

"No, you changed everything about me. I should have died. I should have been killed by you along with my parents. But why did I survive? What's the difference between me and my parents? Why was I the only one left?" Sasuke remembered everything Obito had said about Itachi, and everything Mashiro had said about the Uchiha clan. He was still puzzled.

"Because you didn't know anything at the time, whether it was the Uchiha clan's foolish actions or anything else, you were just a child. Besides, it wasn't for your sake. I wanted to be punished by you, a member of the Uchiha clan. For this, I used the hatred in your heart, and that's why I failed. In the end, I gave you hatred, forced you to leave the village, and made you a sinner. I once hoped that you could walk on the right path."

Before I died, to prevent you from going astray, I tried to guide you onto a straight road with no forks, and I rewrote the road signs with lies and my eye power. "Itachi said in a deep voice.

"Should I just walk along that straight road, completely ignorant? I don't want to walk that road at all. Was the Uchiha clan wrong back then? What was the reason for the massacre? I just want to know the truth and then choose the path I want to take," Sasuke said earnestly.

“You’re right. The path one chooses should be decided by oneself. I am already dead and will say nothing more.” With that, Itachi quickened his pace again.

But just then, a woman's voice came.

"Sasuke just wants to know the truth, and not just Sasuke, I want to know too."

Izumi appeared in front of Itachi without him noticing and spoke. Caught between two attackers, Itachi stopped in his tracks.

"Still hesitating? Some things, if left unsaid, will be regrets forever. No one knows the truth of what happened back then better than you. Sasuke has been through so much; he has the right to..."

"Ge knows the truth," Quan said earnestly, looking at Rong.

The two victims of the massacre are standing here, and these two victims were also very close to him.

Itachi knew he could no longer run away. This is a very long story…

In the office of the commander-in-chief at the Allied Forces Headquarters in Yunren Village.

Mashiro was holding Shiro and looking at the intelligence summary since the outbreak of the war.

Just then, an intelligence ninja knocked on the door and said, "Hokage, the special team has reported that they encountered Itachi Uchiha, resurrected through the Reanimation Jutsu, and the rogue ninja Sasuke Uchiha. Izumi has now caught up with them alone. Should we send reinforcements?"

"I understand. I'll handle this. You may leave now," Mashiro said softly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The intelligence ninja quickly left. Mashiro continued reviewing the intelligence.

"Master, aren't you going to save Izumi-neechan? As far as I know, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke are both very strong rogue ninja," Haku said. "Don't worry, Izumi will be alright," Mashiro whispered.