Battle 3: Sarutobi vs. Itachi

On top of a large plateau stood two shinobi of tremendous power. An elderly man, the protector of Konoha and the most powerful of all Hokage in history. Standing opposite of him was a young man, an heir of Konoha's most renowned clan and now one of two sole survivors of it. Without wasting a second, the two leapt into battle with each other, the beginning of the highest level shinobi battle.

The third Hokage decided to start things off as he performed some very quick hand seals. "Katon: Karyuu Endan (fire element: fire dragon flame blast)!" A flame so powerful that it burned white shot out of Sarutobi's mouth.

Itachi decided to match the fiery attack with his own. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (fire element: grand fireball technique)!" As the two fire element attacks collided, a large explosion erupted, causing the two shinobi to lose sight of the other. From the explosion, twenty Itachi clones jumped out at the third Hokage. The elderly ninja countered by tilting his head upwards and aiming his fire dragon flame blast at the clones and attempting to dispel them.

As the clones met with the white flame, they instantly turned into shurikens, which were all aimed at Sarutobi. "A combination of Kage Bunshin and Henge no Jutsu?" The third Hokage thought to himself. "No, this is a decoy!" Instantly, he jumped backwards into the air, just a second before over a dozen kunai shot out under the ground from where he was standing. Had he jumped just a second later, his feet and body would have most certainly been impaled by them. The elderly shinobi, still airborne from his evasion of the attack, stuck his hand out and allowed one of the kunai near him to make a small cut on the palm of his hand, drawing blood. Immediately after, he spat a muddy substance onto the ground in anticipation of his opponent's next attack.

Taking advantage of the fact that his enemy was airborne, Itachi shot a grand fireball attack at the third Hokage, who would be unable to dodge it. However, Sarutobi was already prepared for this and performed a few hand seals. "Doton: Doryuuheki (mudslide barrier)!" An enormous stone wall had formed from the muddy substance in front of the fireball, blocking it from reaching its target.

"Impressive." Itachi stated as the elderly shinobi landed. "Your insight is far better than anyone's I've ever seen."

"I cannot waste any time against an opponent like him, nor can I hold back." Sarutobi mentally noted as he began to form hand seals. He then pressed onto the rocky surface of his created stone wall with his bloody palm. "Kuchiyose: Enkouou Enma (demon monkey king summoning)!" A large area of smoke blew from under his hand as Enma, the elder monkey and Sarutobi's most powerful weapon, appeared. "Enma, quickly, transform into the Kongou Nyoi (free forming diamond pole)."

The elder monkey looked around, his eyes then fell on one person. "Uchiha Itachi?" He whispered. Acknowledging the urgency of the situation, he jumped by his partner's side and transformed into his ultimate weapon. "Henge!" Sarutobi quickly grabbed a hold of the pole in front of him and began his offensive.

The two created a very powerful combination. Enma knew exactly when to extend himself as Sarutobi made violent swings to attack his opponent. They moved as is they were one being of much offensive and defensive power. However, Itachi has the sharingan, the fearsome bloodline ability of which one of its abilities allowed him to clearly visualize movements before they are made. With swift and precise movements, Itachi dodged all of the vicious pole attacks with ease.

"That level of taijutsu is no match for me." Itachi said as he closed in on the third Hokage. As he approached his opponent, the sharingan user performed a few taijutsu moves of his own. A roundhouse kick shot out at the Hokage, who countered by blocking with the pole weapon. Kicking off of the pole, Itachi flipped into the air, circling over and behind his opponent. When he landed, he threw a straight punch at the Hokage's head.

Quickly twirling around, Sarutobi dodged the punch and hooked the extended arm with one end of his pole while aiming for Itachi's feet with the other end. Itachi gave a quick hop to avoid the attack, and with the extension of his leg, the hop became a front aerial kick. Releasing his hold on the pole, Sarutobi grabbed the incoming foot with both hands and swung Itachi to the ground, slamming his body onto the rocky surface with enormous strength. Continuing his attack, the third Hokage kicked his pole up from the ground into his hands and, taking advantage of his opponent being on the ground, aimed the pole at Itachi's head, extending and shooting it.

Itachi quickly pressed off the ground with his hands and dodged the attack, then ran up to the Hokage with another roundhouse kick, but the elderly shinobi already had shortened the pole enough to redirect the attack elsewhere. Itachi kept his centripetal momentum and gave a sweep kick, which caused his target to jump slightly off the ground. That was enough for Itachi to perform his next maneuver. He raised one of his hands up, blocking the dropping pole attack that Sarutobi gave and grabbed it. His other hand reached out at the Hokage's neck, but was then knocked away by the other end of the pole. As the pole knocked away his hand, Itachi grabbed it as well and prevented it from making any other movements. As Sarutobi wrestled for control of his weapon, Itachi placed his face just a few inches in front of his target's.

Sarutobi noticed this and quickly jumped back away from his opponent, letting go of his weapon. "So that was your plan." He said as Itachi threw the pole a good amount of meters behind him. "You were distracting me with your taijutsu while waiting for an opportunity to trap me with your sharingan."

"Again you impress me." Itachi replied. "I did not think it would be easy to catch you with my genjutsu." Just then, the elder monkey, Enma, returned to his original form and leapt at the Uchiha member. "I have not forgotten about you, monkey." With a swift turn of his head, Itachi looked straight into the eyes of Enma, rendering him paralyzed. A quick and powerful jab to the solar plexus quickly dispelled the summoned creature.

"Your sharingan is getting troublesome to deal with." Sarutobi muttered as he performed another set of hand seals. "Kokyangyo no Jutsu (bringer of darkness technique)." Instantly, the plateau that the two shinobi fought on turned into a shadowy plane. "With this technique, your sharingan will be useless."

Itachi grinned. "This level of genjutsu, you truly underestimate the powers of my bloodline."

"What?" The Sarutobi gasped, as the footsteps of his opponent rung closer and closer.

"This level of genjutsu will not blind me at all." Itachi explained as he neared the Hokage. "Nor will it hinder my sharingan the slightest, you've only managed to blind yourself."

"You fool." The elderly ninja smirked as his hands ended on the seal of the tiger. "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" His head tilted up as his mouth shot a stream of flame into the air, creating a bright light in the dark plane. At the same time, it gave the Third Hokage a long and wide shadow that connected with the vast darkness. Living up to his nickname of the "Ninjutsu Professor", he continued with the famous jutsu of the Nara clan as his hands performed more hand seals. "Kage Mane no Jutsu (shadow bind technique)!"

The quavering shadow of the Third Hokage easily reached Itachi's due to its elongated length. "Kage Mane no Jutsu?" Itachi asked. "So it is true that you hold all of Konoha's ninjutsu. This is quite the useful jutsu."

"Damn it." Sarutobi grunted, noticing what Itachi had done. Just a few seconds ago, as the two shadows met, Itachi had copied the seals that Sarutobi used, and also performed Kage Mane no Jutsu. Once the shadows touched, it was merely a battle over chakra, which Itachi easily won. And now, the Third Hokage found himself bound by Itachi's shadow, with only defeat ahead of him. "Even if I fall, the village of Konoha will still stand strong." Sarutobi said. "And you will still be sought for punishment. We will not forgive you, Uchiha Itachi."

"That," Itachi said as he forced the elder shinobi to look into his eyes. "That is the least of your worries. Mangekyou Sharingan (kaleidoscope sharingan) technique: Tsukuyomi (god of the moon)."

In a second, Itachi withdrew his shadow hold on the unconscious Sarutobi. But though it happened in a second, it felt like days for the victim of the fearsome sharingan technique. The strain of the painful visions that Itachi embedded within the elder shinobi proved to be too much for his body to handle. Nearly unscathed from the fight, Itachi walked away from the laying body of the Third Hokage.

Winner: Uchiha Itachi

"Tch." Kisame scoffed as waited on the beach. "What is that Uchiha brat doing? I'm getting bored. You three had better provide some entertainment for me."

The sand of the beach started to create a sandstorm around the Akatsuki member as three shinobi stepped out and surrounded him. The three had large weapons of their choice attached to their back: three large scrolls, a giant folding fan, and an enormous gourd.

"Well, what should we do?" The one with the three scrolls asked as he turned to his siblings.

"This guy, he's powerful right?" The female of the group noted. "This could be trouble."

"No." The crimson haired boy stated. "I'll finish this quickly. Temari, Kankurou, leave this to me."

"Can't do that, Gaara." Tenmari replied. "We're backing you up."

"Are you going to stop talking anytime soon?" Kisame asked. "Hurry up and come at me, one of you. Or better yet, why don't all three of you come at me at the same time?"

Kankurou laid down his scrolls and summoned his puppets as Tenmari grabbed the fan on her back. "Arrogant bastard." The puppet controller spat. "As you wish."

Next Chapter: Sand Team vs. Kisame

3v1 and another Akatsuki member! How will the Sand Shinobi fare against this monster of the Hidden Mist? In the manga, even the entire Gai team could barely hold its own against Kisame, and he was only using 30 percent of his chakra! But then again, Gaara was almost a match for another one of the Akatsuki members, and his siblings aren't to be underestimated either. Yes, this is the future version of the three Sand Shinobi by the way. Well its up to you reviewers to decide who should win the following battle. Note the beach terrain, with plentiful amounts of sand and water.