Let's start this from the beginning
Swordsmen of the Mist
XII
Although he knew what -and who- to look for, Itachi could not sense Kisame until he stepped out of the trees into the small clearing where he had been waiting for him. It spoke volumes of his skills that he could hide his enormous amount of chakra even from someone who knew his presence as well as he did, though Itachi obviously already knew that. It was impossible to travel and fight side by side with someone for years without getting familiar with their skillset.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here? A little kid playing hero? I heard you Konoha-nin love sacrificing yourselves for your comrades, but I thought the stories were just exaggerated."
Seeing Kisame again was different from when he saw his family again for the first time in this life. There was simply much less emotional baggage between them, much less anguish as there had been when he looked into the faces of people he had killed with his own two hands. However, it was still disheartening to stand in front of him as an enemy now.
"Giving your life so that your comrades might live is far from the worst way to die."
"Ah, spoken like a real patriot," Kisame chuckled. "I like it. But do you know what I like even more?" Then, in one swift stroke, he drew Samehada from his back and sent it crashing to the ground. "Seeing the look on my opponents' faces when they realize what they have gotten themselves into!"
Itachi wouldn't have described Kisame and himself as friends, but they were comrades. Aside from Nagato and Konan, they had probably been the only ones in the Akatsuki to consider themselves as such. He had found it almost amusing at times how differently they both handled their situation when their backgrounds shared quite a number of similarities and had even come to respect the other man.
"Kisame Hoshigaki," he said. "'The Monster of the Hidden Mist' and wielder of the legendary sword Samehada. I think I know quite well what I got myself into."
"And yet you decided to face me directly? I can't say whether you're brave or stupid."
"I prefer the term confident."
Kisame laughed, and Itachi detected genuine amusement hidden beneath the mocking tone he usually adopted to rile his opponents up. "Very good answer, kid. But can you live up to these words?"
Itachi had no illusions that the reason why he and Kisame had initially been put on the same team was to have the other man keep an eye on him. After all, Kisame was completely loyal to Akatsuki, and considering Madara knew about Itachi's true loyalties, it made sense to put someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill their teammates for the mission on a team with him.
Not that any of the other Akatsuki members would have hesitated, mind you. It was probably just more likely that Kisame could actually succeed in taking him out.
Still, while they had begun their partnership on anything but good terms, they had grown on each other with time. Towards the end, Kisame had not only kept the secret of his sickness to himself but also went out of his way to let him take it easy during their missions together, and then he even helped him confront Sasuke without his friends to interfere well-knowing that Itachi planned to die in that fight.
Yes, ultimately, they had been true comrades.
It truly said a lot about Itachi's life at this point that he was familiar enough with the painful clench in his chest that came from being forced to fight someone that by all rights should be his ally to easily be able to push it aside and focus on the confrontation ahead of him.
"There's only one way for you to find out, isn't there?"
"Heh, you're eager. Maybe it hadn't been a waste to come here after all."
Kisame didn't leave him and time to answer before raising his hands to fly through hand seals.
"Suiton: Ameshikō!" (Water Release: Four Sharks Rain)
Half a second later, he spat an enormous amount of water into the air that quickly transformed into four bloodthirsty sharks that headed directly towards him.
Itachi had seen that technique often enough in action to know that both destroying them and dodging them wouldn't be wise. If he did the former, the water would just reform into countless droplet-sized sharks while the latter could easily be countered by Kisame controlling them to follow after him.
Thus, Itachi waited for the last possible moment before they would hit him to jump into the air, not giving them enough time to readjust their trajectory and thus colliding with the ground in four small explosions.
"Smart," a chipper voice spoke up from behind him. "But you can't dodge while in mid-air!"
Samehada tore right through his torso, but instead of blood and gore, all that spilt out were dozens of crows whose number increased even more when the rest of his body followed suit.
"I stand corrected."
Kisame wanted to say something else, but just when he opened his mouth once more, a kunai with an attached explosion tag flew right at him through the cover of Itachi's crows.
His body was engulfed in an explosion a moment later.
Itachi couldn't celebrate yet, however, for he was already forced to jump away to avoid the sword strike that aimed at him from behind and instead cut right through the tree behind which he had been hidden, felling it in an instant.
Barely five seconds after the first technique had been used, they once more faced off from opposite ends of the now noticeably more damaged clearing, silently evaluating each other.
Many people underestimated Kisame because of the way he looked. Oh, his opponents were terrified of him, sure, but they still underestimated him because of it. In their eyes, he was a monster they had to watch out for only due to his monstrous appearance and immense strength. Dangerous but ultimately little more than a mindless beast.
Kisame knew this and regularly played right into these believes to give himself an advantage. Itachi, on the other hand, knew exactly how clever his former teammate could be. Although he preferred a more straightforward fight, he could use underhand tactics just as well if not even better than most everyone else, and he quickly saw right through his enemies' strategies and found ways to counter them.
No, he might play the part of a monster, but he was not stupid. His next words demonstrated that very well.
"You're trying to stall me."
"I thought we had already established that." Itachi saw no reason to lie. Furthermore, Kisame had always appreciated the truth, and keeping him happy and interested was key in keeping him here.
"There is a noticeable difference between fighting someone to keep them away from your comrades and avoiding a direct confrontation through traps."
"I would be foolish to engage in a direct contest of strength where I'm at a distinct disadvantage, wouldn't I?"
He hadn't come close to Kisame's strength even as an adult and could only keep somewhat up when he enhanced his body with chakra, and while he could do that now as well, he also needed to be a bit more careful to not overdo it. After all, he was still not fully grown up and thus more vulnerable to accidentally tearing his muscles if he enhanced himself too much.
Furthermore, while he had done some healing to his arms, they weren't yet in perfect condition either. He had little enough chakra as it was, and as healing yourself was more costly than healing someone else, he couldn't afford to do more than the absolute minimum.
"After everything I have heard about the Uchiha, I didn't expect you to be this cowardly, ya know."
"You must have never crossed paths with one of my clansmen, then," he said, his lips curving up slightly. "Many of them prefer to catch their opponents off-guard any finish them with a Genjutsu."
Kisame chuckled, his stance deceptively relaxed. "Is that so? And it's alright to tell me that just like this?"
"Is there any harm in telling you something you already know?" After all, why else would he avoid direct eye contact as much as he did?
"Fair enough," he shrugged before his grin turned into something more predatory. "Well, I always wanted to fight an Uchiha. See whether that Sharingan of yours is really so special and all that, heh?"
Itachi was more than aware of that. It had been a constant hassle to avoid fighting him during the early days of their partnership and had only gotten marginally better with time.
"Well then," Kisame continued, Samehada's handle gripped tight in his hand as he leaned forwards. "I looked forward to meeting Zabuza again when I heard he was with you, but it might actually be more interesting this way. I hope you're happy, kid, because you have my full attention now!"
Happy was probably not the word he would have used, but he was definitively satisfied. Itachi might not like the idea of fighting Kisame, but he had been prepared for this from the moment he had accepted that he had travelled back in time, and if it was necessary to do so to protect his comrades, he would fight him without hesitation.
He would never look back fondly on his time spent in the Akatsuki, but he couldn't say he regretted his partnership with Kisame either. Not only had they saved each other's lives countless times, but they also unexpectedly helped each other grow as a person and learn things about themselves they might never have realized on their own.
In all honestly, Kisame had been the only person after he left the village that he had been somewhat comfortable to be around.
Considering the cruel world they lived in, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that their relationship would end in bloodshed.
With that morbid thought in mind, Itachi summoned a kunai into his hand and rushed towards the approaching swordsman in front of him.
"Well, at least this time there is no questioning whether it was a mistake to follow the Uchiha or not!"
"Silence. We don't want him to notice us, do we?"
"But he's too busy fighting Kisame anyway!"
"You of all people should know never to underestimate an Uchiha."
That wasn't wrong, he admitted to himself, but he still thought his other half was overreacting a bit. Still, he knew better than to argue with his other half, especially when they were as intense as they were no.
Honestly, White Zetzu thought while suppressing an exasperated sigh. Why can't he relax from time to time?
Itachi had known that fighting Kisame wouldn't be easy. He had been prepared for that. However, knowing that didn't make it any less troublesome when he only barely avoided Samehada cutting him to ribbons on several occasions.
In many ways, Kisame was one of the worst possible opponents he could possibly encounter:
For one thing, his enormous chakra reserves and stamina meant that there was no way Itachi with his slightly below average reserves could outfight him regardless of how sparingly he used it or how immaculate his control was. This was especially true now as he had only about half of it left after using the rest during his prior confrontation and to heal his teammates.
Furthermore, Kisame wielded Samehada, a sword that could not only absorb chakra and thus make almost every kind of Ninjutsu useless but also enhanced Kisame's offensive abilities in close combat. He was dangerous enough in that as it was, so this additional edge was more than just a little inconvenient for Itachi. While he might be faster than his opponent, it wasn't to the point where he could just blitz him, and he had a definitive disadvantage in terms of raw strength.
Oh, and then there was of course also the distant annoyance of Samehada being able to disturb Kisame's chakra flow by injecting some of its own into his system, meaning Genjutsu wouldn't work as easily on him as they would on others.
His only consolation was that this went only so far. Kisame had Samehada in his possession for long enough at this point for their signatures to have become similar, consequently limiting the effect their chakra could have on each other. After all, it would be impossible for them to merge if they rejected each other. Thanks to that, he would probably not be able to throw off a Genjutsu cast through direct eye contact. At least not quickly enough for it to matter.
However, just to be sure, Itachi planned to cast it not only with his Sharingan but rather his Mangekyō. And while he would prefer not to be forced to resolve to use Tsukuyomi, Itachi knew that it would be foolish not to if the chance presented itself. Even if a normal illusion created by his Mangekyō should be enough to give him an opening, there was no absolute guarantee that it actually would. He didn't want to underestimate Kisame and risk missing his chance just because he wanted to spare his eyes- especially because he knew him better than most and thus was well-aware of just how dangerous he was.
No, it would certainly be wiser to accept the damage his eyes would suffer from this one use when it guaranteed his victory in return. As much as he might dislike both the harm to his sight and the idea of killing Kisame, it was a necessary evil as taking out the swordsmen would be an immense blow to Akatsuki.
Itachi had in all honestly been unbelievable lucky so far in that he had barely been in situations where he needed to use his Mangekyō. In fact, the only times he did use it were when he first informed the Sandaime about the future and when he protected Anko and himself during their first mission together. He had also activated it for a short time during his brief confrontation with Orochimaru, but considering he hadn't used any techniques with it, the harm from that should be almost non-existent.
Because of all that, his vision had barely diminished since his return to the past even though he possessed the Mangekyō for over seven years already. The only times he noticed any difference at all was when he needed to squint to see some details on things that were far away, and even that was only the case when he didn't have his Sharingan activated. With it, even that stopped being a problem.
While the Mangekyō constantly harmed his eyes from the moment of its awakening, the damage didn't accumulate linearly. It depended on how regularly and how much he used it, so when first awakened, there was almost no harm whatsoever.
Activating it without using any techniques was harmful but didn't accelerate the speed with which his sight deteriorated. Almost the same was true when he used it to cast 'normal' Genjutsu with it, though that did harm his eyes a bit more.
True damage only occurred when he used one of his eyes' three techniques. It was almost negligible the first few times one used them, but each subsequent use of them did a little bit more damage than the last one, resulting in an exponential increase of damage. And as if that wasn't already enough, these techniques also increased the general speed with which his eyes got worse outside of active use.
As long as one used the Mangekyō not only sparingly but smartly as well, one could avoid blindness for quite some time. Itachi had proven that in the other timeline when he managed to keep his sight at least somewhat intact for eight years even though he was semi-regularly put into situations where it was impossible not to use his Mangekyō altogether.
He grimly thought this situation was one of those while he dodged another swords strike.
Itachi leaned back as far as he dared to without losing his balance to let Samehada soar harmlessly above him before letting himself fall to the ground completely and roll backwards to escape Kisame's follow-up attack. However, while that saved him from being mauled into countless little pieces, it left Itachi in a position where he was forced to block his next punch instead of dodging it like he would have preferred.
His arms, still not entirely healed from his last fight, throbbed painfully at the impact, but as Kisame had apparently not hit him with full power, it resulted in no damage. Besides, it also gave him the excuse he needed to let himself be pushed further back without arousing suspicion from his opponent.
Just a little bit more, he thought. We're almost there.
It was the slight widening of Kisame's grin that told him that something was wrong. Most people probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but after working with him for as long as he did, Itachi was more than capable to see even the most subtle signs on his face and read the smug anticipation in that little gesture.
It was only thanks to that advantage that he was able to jump into the air to dodge Samehada when its hilt suddenly extended, allowing Kisame to use it more like a whip than a sword.
Even so, it still came close enough to tear his flak jacket apart, leaving Itachi with only his black shirt for protection. Although considering how often he had watched Kisame kill his opponents with this trick, he really couldn't complain. At least he wasn't injured.
"Well done, brat," the swordsman congratulated him sarcastically when he suddenly appeared right in front of him. "However, you really shouldn't get distracted this easily. Even a little prodigy like you can't dodge an attack without paying attention."
Samehada ripped straight through his body.
Half a second later, Itachi dissolved into a croaking murder of crows.
"And I stand corrected once more." There was no disappointment in his voice when he said that. If anything, he sounded vaguely amused. "Though I have the feeling that I will grow annoyed at these pesky little birds sooner rather than later."
Itachi stepped into the open from where he had hidden behind a tree a dozen metres away from his opponent, careful to keep a safe distance between them. "You can always leave if they irritate you that much."
"Heh, already trying to get rid of me? Quite a difference to the confident spiel you put on earlier. Are you already regretting your decision to fight me?"
"Not at all," he said, keeping his voice intentionally calm. "It's not I who is bothered by mere birds, after all."
Itachi saw the mixture of anger and excitement that lit up in Kisame's eyes just a moment before he let Samehada crash to the ground next to him. "You certainly know how to pull off a front, don't you?" The anticipation in his voice mirrored the look on his face. "Still, I don't think you understand the situation you're in. While these crows of yours are annoying, they're nothing but little pests. Bothersome but ultimately harmless." His grin widened, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. "Sharks, on the other hand, are apex predators. They kill and maim however they please, ripping off big chunks of flesh with a single attack and swallowing their prey whole, and you will soon learn why they're so successful in what they do."
Well, he always loved his shark metaphors. Not that Itachi could really fault him for that, of course. Not only were they quite effective as an intimidation tactic in combination with his appearance, but they actually did fit whatever narrative Kisame wanted to spin. At least objectively. Itachi vividly remembered the story the other man told him during their first meeting about how sharks killed each other in their mother's womb as a way to prove that it was natural that people couldn't trust each other and that only violence was true.
"In the end, it's always the crows that feast on the corpses of those that have died who are the true victors of any given conflict."
Kisame chuckled, genuinely amused by his reply. "And yet being depended on others to get their food can hardly be called a victory."
"That doesn't change that regardless of who of us dies, it will be their stomachs where we ultimately end."
'Might is Right' and 'All Are Equal in Death'; neither of them addressed each other's silent message but both understood what they were trying to say.
Itachi found it somewhat eerie how similar and yet different this was to their first conversation in the old timeline, but maybe he shouldn't be too surprised.
"Well," Kisame said after a few seconds of unexpectedly comfortable silence. "Why don't we test whether you can throw your fists as well as you can your words?"
With that, Kisame rushed forwards once more, ready to resume their fight.
Itachi had been waiting for just that, however. After all, it would have been stupid not to use the time he spent waiting for him to arrive to prepare some traps.
Kisame managed to make only a few steps before he reached the point where he wanted him, and the moment he did, Itachi immediately threw a kunai at him.
He didn't expect it to hit, of course, so he wasn't surprised in the slightest when Kisame dodged it without even slowing down by merely tilting his head out of the way, letting the weapon fly past him harmlessly. However, hitting him had never been his goal to begin with. In fact, it would have been disastrous if Kisame had decided to block it.
He didn't, though, and thus the kunai accurately cut through the wire Itachi had prepared in advance.
He could see the moment Kisame realized that something was wrong by the slight shift of his expression, but by then it was already too late and dozens of kunai flew at him from every direction.
Half a second later, the explosion tags attached to all of them went off.
Itachi wasn't naïve enough to think that this attack would have done any damage worth mentioning, so he didn't hesitate and instantly flew through hand seals.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)
Just like it had been before with his kunai, he didn't expect this attack to do any worthwhile damage. After all, even if they actually hit Kisame, he would be able to just heal himself with Samehada.
No, the reason he chose to attack him with such a relatively harmless attack was to give away his position, and like a shark that has smelt blood, Kisame came rushing out of the cloud of dirt Itachi's explosions had stirred up straight at him.
Itachi didn't dodge or try to fall this time back and instead drew a kunai to block the descending sword a few centimetres above his head regardless of the pain that shot through his arms as a result.
At the same time, the ground beneath Kisame's feet broke open and revealed two in green chakra coated hands.
Now, Itachi had planned to use Chakra Scalpels to cut first the muscles in his opponent's legs and then do the same with his arms afterwards to disarm him. Then, once he managed to part Kisame from Samehada, he would go for the killing blow.
That plan unfortunately fell apart the moment his clone's hands touched Kisame's legs as the body immediately dissolved into water.
"Suiton: Suikōsandan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Shark Shot Technique)
Things became only worse from there because the clone that had dissolved right in front of him provided a perfect source of water for Kisame's technique. Due to that, even Itachi couldn't fully evade the shark that had formed from the liquid before it even hit the ground. The only reason he could avoid a direct hit at all was that his clone hadn't been idle either and threw itself between him and the attack.
Even so, the explosion was still powerful enough to inflict many small cuts all over his body as the shockwave hurled him across the clearing.
The pain was manageable, however, allowing Itachi to remain aware enough to notice the approaching figure to his right in time to push himself off his hands and out of Kisame's trajectory just in time to avoid the sword slash that split the ground where his head had been less than a second ago.
"I didn't take you for someone who would send a clone ahead." In all the years Itachi had known him, Kisame had rarely ever used a clone for such a purpose. Creating a lot of them to overwhelm an opponent or to use them in combination with the Water Prison Technique was one thing, but to use them like this was entirely out of character for him.
The swordsman chuckled while continuing to rush after him, not bothering to pause their battle again just to talk. "Well, I took you for someone that favours clever little tricks over direct combat," he said as he swung Samehada once more towards his head. "I had to prepare for that somehow, didn't I?"
Itachi didn't waste time with a reply and instead made a single hand seal that set off all the paper bombs he had prepared in advance beneath the ground.
After all, he would have been foolish to set everything on one plan only.
Kisame would probably expect him to use this opportunity to fall back again, so he did the exact opposite and rushed towards him, allowing Itachi to surprise his opponent. Furthermore, while Itachi's sight in the whirled up dirt wasn't perfect either, it was still miles ahead of Kisame's whose proficiency in the Silent Killing technique would be useless in the aftermath of all the noises the explosions had made as well.
This assumption was proven correct a second later when Itachi found him amidst the dust cloud and managed to come close enough with his kunai to nick his cheek.
Using his smaller stature to his advantage, he successfully first duck under Kisame's reflexive counter-attack with Samehada and then roll beneath the following kick to position himself behind him before trying to destroy his spine with one precise stab that even Kisame wouldn't be able to heal himself quickly enough from to avoid a subsequent attack.
Kisame managed to move slightly to the side, however, transforming an attack that would have been lethal into one that might be painful but ultimately useless in even slowing him down.
Knowing that he would be prepared for him trying to use his size to get into his guard this time, Itachi instead created another Crow Clone faster than normal eyes could follow and attacked him from left and right at the same time.
His kunai thrust was easily blocked by Samehada while his clone's attack failed when Kisame grabbed its wrist before it could harm him. That didn't discourage him, though, as it didn't interfere with what he had planned.
Rather than following up with another attack, his clone twisted in their opponent's grip until it was head-over with one leg extended towards Itachi who reached for it as soon as it was in range. Kisame obviously noticed that something was wrong as well and went to throw the clone away, but by then, Itachi had already caught his clone's limb. Consequently, Itachi was catapulted with it.
And this suddenly brought him into a position where there was nothing between him and Kisame to stop an attack, with his opponent's body itself being a barrier to keep Samehada away.
Or at least that would have been the case if Samehada hadn't decided to act on its own and follow after Itachi the very moment he got away from it.
He had seen the sword in action often enough to know how dangerous it was, especially when it tore the bandages that normally kept it in form apart and revealed its true shape as it had done now.
Although he managed to twist out of the way before Samehada could bite him in half, Itachi could feel the skin on his left shoulder ripped open when its shark-like scales grazed him, and he didn't even need to see it destroying his clone to recognize the sound of tearing flesh and cawing crows for what it was.
The wound was only a superficial one, fortunately enough, but he really could have done without the burning sensation of it.
He didn't waste any time and immediately jumped away as soon as his feet touched the ground.
Kisame didn't follow after him, however. Instead, he began waving hand seals of his own.
"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!" (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave)
There was an enormous build-up of chakra that he would have been easily able to feel even if he couldn't already see it with his Sharingan, and Itachi had seen the results of what it could do if given the chance often enough to know that the entire area would soon be flooded with water. The danger of being hit by the shockwave aside, the advantage it would give Kisame to fight in such an environment was a complete game changer and not something Itachi could allow to let pass.
He had hoped to avoid giving him the chance to use such a technique by keeping him constantly occupied with attacks and traps, but that had obviously failed.
It was fortunate that he had never truly expected that to work anyway.
Three things happened during the short time in which Kisame prepared his technique:
First, the clone that Samehada had destroyed reformed right in front of him. Kisame, obviously expecting it to try to stop his technique, immediately backed away, and that was his mistake. While Kisame was indeed fast enough to get out of its reach, Samehada wasn't, and as the swordsman needed both hands to form hand seals, the sword was forced to try and get away on its own. Consequently, while Itachi's clone missed Kisame, it was more than capable of kicking Samehada hard enough to throw it far away regardless of the damage its leg took in the process.
Second, three more Crow Clones that he had created before the fight had even begun and that had kept themselves hidden until now appeared around Kisame, and together with Itachi himself, they formed a square around their opponent.
Third, they used a technique of their own.
"Uchiha Kaenjin!" (Uchiha Flame Formation)
The four of them slammed their palms on the ground at the same time as Kisame began spatting out an unbelievable amount of water, creating a blood-red barrier all around him before the water could reach them.
The area inside the barrier was filled to the brink within mere moments, destroying the clone that had kicked Samehada away in an instant.
It was true that Itachi had hoped to stop Kisame from using any of his big techniques at all, but he had never truly expected to be able to accomplish that. Consequently, this was what he had come up with: a barrier that was strong enough to keep him and whatever amount of water he might summon imprisoned but wasn't too chakra expensive as to exhaust him.
It still took a considerable amount of chakra, of course. As things were now, Itachi had maybe one-fifth of his reserves left, though it was probably even less than that.
However, his plan didn't stop here. While it was nice and all that he had 'captured' him, this didn't actually end their fight. Not only did this nothing to actually finish him off as Kisame could breathe underwater, but it also wasn't as if he could hold him there indefinitely.
And judging from the shit-eating grin on Kisame's face, he knew that as well.
With that in mind, Itachi didn't waste any time and continued with the next part of his plan.
Slowly but surely, he and his three clones began walking towards Kisame, continuously shrinking the space within the barrier with every step they took.
At the same time, the amount of water inside of it obviously remained the same.
Now, while members of the Hoshigaki clan could certainly endure much more pressure than any normal human being, there was still a limit to that ability, and they were rapidly approaching that limit right now if the way Kisame's grin transformed into a startled gasp was anything to go by.
Considering the water in question wasn't just normal but heavy, chakra infused one instead, it was no wonder that the pressure was increasing at such a quick rate.
Itachi couldn't be entirely sure, but it probably wasn't a scratch to claim that Kisame was the strongest water user in generations, maybe only surpassed by the likes of the Nidaime Hokage. In fact, he was so talented in the use of his element that he could manipulate it in such a way that it wasn't just normal water he summoned but distilled water instead. Considering this meant it didn't conduct lightning which was usually one of its biggest weaknesses, this talent was usually one of Kisame's greatest strengths and something that no one had ever used against him.
Which was exactly why Itachi had designed this very strategy many years ago just shortly after they had first teamed up with one another in case he would ever need to fight him. After all, people rarely expected their trump cards to be used against them, leaving them wide open to attacks whenever it actually happened.
He could feel the moment Kisame began fighting back by the increasing difficulty it took him to continue to walk forwards as his opponent began pushing the water outwards away from himself. This, Itachi knew, would ultimately be successful; no matter how strong his barrier might be, he simply lacked the chakra to keep it up long enough, especially when his reserves hadn't even been full at the start of the fight. With his monstrous reserves, Kisame would overpower him sooner rather than later.
However, that didn't matter to him. While it would have been nice to finish him off with this, that had never been his goal to begin with. Much more, he had captured him only to keep him in a place where he could see him. The entire act of slowly increasing the pressure was only a pretext to keep him occupied and stop him from noticing that Itachi was preparing his true attack.
Or, to be more precise, stop him from noticing that the tomoes in Itachi's eyes had spun around to form his Mangekyō and that he had closed his right eye while simultaneously channelling chakra into it.
After all, the Amaterasu hit everything within his vision, so having Kisame trapped right in front of him with no way to escape left him all but defenceless against it.
Unfortunately, he never got the chance to actually take advantage of that because it was then that Samehada reappeared.
Itachi's lips thinned. I hoped it would have flown away too far away to intervene, he thought, his mind racing. My clone either didn't kick it hard enough or it was fortunate and got caught in some unusual high reaching tree branches. Regardless of what was ultimately the case, the crux of the matter was that this rendered his entire plan useless. Samehada could easily break through his barrier due to its ability to consume chakra and consequently not only weaken him but also free Kisame without breaking a sweat.
And as there was no way he would be able to use Amaterasu before that happened, his plan had effectively already failed.
Time for Plan B, then.
Rather than waiting for Samehada to break through his barrier and steal his chakra, Itachi and his clones all simultaneously stopped their technique before jumping towards their opponent.
Kisame, who could not notice the reappearance of his sword because it had approached him from behind, had no way of preparing for the sudden collapse of the barrier, not when he could clearly sense that Itachi wasn't out of chakra yet and that the barrier itself was not yet close to breaking, and was therefore caught off-guard. That lasted only for a fraction of a second, of course, but that was enough to close the distance between them.
One of his clones was intercepted by Samehada, but his other two and he himself didn't have any such problems. Kisame managed to block his punch to his guts by catching his fist in his hand and avoided the kick to his head from one of Itachi's clones by ducking beneath it, but he was unable to do anything about the second one hitting the back of his left knee.
Considering his clones had created a chakra scalpel beforehand, this meant that all the muscles at that spot were cut without any resistance, forcing Kisame to his knees.
Immediately spotting his chance, Itachi rammed his own knee into his face to the accompanying sound of shattering teeth.
He didn't have the chance to exploit that moment and further, however, for rather than letting him go, this action only tightened Kisame's grip on his hand, and half a second later, he threw him right towards where his two clones were preparing for another attack of their own with enough force to dislocate his shoulder.
Itachi clenched his teeth at the sudden surge of pain that shot through him, but he didn't let that distract him from the fight.
It was because of this that he saw what his third clone, the one that had been trying to go past Samehada, was doing even with the crows of the two clones that had dissolved when he smashed into them impairing his vision.
Grabbing the outstretched hand with his good arm, he let himself be flung back into the direction he had come from.
The clone was destroyed by Samehada just a moment later.
It had already fulfilled its purpose, though, so that mattered little to him.
Twisting in mid-air, Itachi arrived at his opponent with a flying kick. Kisame blocked it just in time, but due to having only one good leg at the moment, it was powerful enough to make him stumble backwards and thus leave him open for his follow-up punch to his liver.
After all, while he might be able to withstand physical attacks better than most, being hit there hurt everyone regardless of how tough they were.
The painful gasp Kisame let out was proof of that.
Not stopping there, Itachi formed a chakra scalpel with one hand and thrust it forward, only barely missing Kisame's throat when the swordsman tilted his head out of the way while simultaneously throwing a punch of his own.
Itachi saw the attack coming in time to be able to dodge it, but he didn't. Instead, he forced his dislocated arm between his body and Kisame's fist and took the attack head-on.
The power behind the punch was enough to not only break his already battered arm but also crack some of his ribs, knocking all the wind out of him and bringing involuntary tears to his eyes.
However, it also gave him just the opportunity he had been hoping for.
The attack had lifted him into the air and into the perfect position to send a kick to Kisame's chin, making his head snap upwards and crushing some more teeth in the process. But it was not the damage he did with the attack itself that he was after. Rather, it was the fact that thanks to this, their eyes met for the first time since their fight began.
His plan to use Amaterasu might have failed, but that wasn't the only technique Itachi could use with his Mangekyō.
A part of him felt bad for it, but it was already far too late for regrets.
"Tsukuyomi!"
"Heh, what a terrifying technique…"
Itachi didn't bother with a reply, choosing instead to spare his breath and collect his strength while thinking about how to progress from here.
He was currently crouching on one knee about a dozen metres away from Kisame, his left eye closed to help it recover from the aftereffect of his technique and his injured arm nestled in front of his chest. Furthermore, he was painfully reminded that his rips, too, were in anything but good condition with every breath he took. It didn't make him look forward to moving any time soon considering that would make things only worse.
And then there was also the matter of his completely depleted chakra reserves…
The only good thing about the situation was that Kisame was just as battered as he was. Not physically, of course. Samehada had naturally already healed his injuries. However, no matter how much chakra the sword provided him, even Kisame couldn't heal mental damage with it.
The effects of that were quite visible: although he appeared to be fine at first glance, the fatigued on his face was clear for everyone to see. His usual grin was absent for once, his eyes were bloodshot, and his shoulders slouched. Even his words came across as exhausted, and he knew the swordsman good enough to realize that he wouldn't show such weakness if he could help it.
Unfortunately, Itachi was also quite confident that Kisame was still in better condition than he himself.
It appears that even several weeks of torture aren't enough to keep him down, he thought grimly.
He didn't have enough chakra to use Tsukuyomi to its fullest potential and imprison him for what would have felt like years, but he had hoped that what he had would be enough to at least incapacitate him. That was clearly not the case, though.
Not that he was too surprised by that, of course, but it was still troublesome.
Now all I can do is hope that my escape plan works out as intended.
Itachi had prepared something just in case something like this happened, but there was no guarantee that it would be enough. In fact, it was just as likely to backfire and kill him as it was to actually save him. He still had another ace up the sleeves that would guarantee his safety and bring him victory in this fight as well, but considering the cost of that technique was quite severe, he would prefer not to be forced to use it.
"You know, I wanted to fight someone with those eyes for a while now," Kisame continued when Itachi didn't reply, repeating what he had said at the start of their fight with a hoarse and laboured voice. "I really looked forward to it as well, actually. Who would have thought that it would result in something like this…"
"Being able to regret is a privilege of the living," he said while trying to suppress a wince at how much worse his voice sounded compared to Kisame's. "Only the dead can truly be content."
"Who said anything about regrets? This is the most fun I had in a long time. There is nothing to regret!"
Itachi hesitated for a moment before he replied, pondering whether it would be wise to say what he was really thinking or whether he would be better off remaining silent, but he ultimately decided on the former. "Most people wouldn't consider being tortured as having a good time." He paused. "Although I guess someone who finds themselves deserving of punishment might disagree."
He knew that Kisame perceived the world in black and white; in good and bad people. Oh, he was capable of understanding that bad people could do good things just as easily as good people could do bad things, but he still clung to that worldview.
Itachi also knew that he quite firmly placed himself into the former category. Embraced that role, even.
Their conversation during their first encounter on the pier all these years ago demonstrated that clearly.
Rather than getting angry, Kisame began to laugh, though that quickly turned into a coughing fit. It would have been the perfect opening for an attack weren't it for Samehada at his side; while Itachi was confident that he could connect an attack even in his weakened state when Kisame was occupied with coughing, he doubted he would be able to do so with the sword ready to defend its master.
Unfortunately, Kisame never got the chance to reply, for it was just when he opened his mouth that a piercing cry rang through the air.
Kisame's eyes widened in surprise, and while it was hard to say whether that was because of the sound or because of the sudden presence of another chakra signature that quickly closed in on them, the answer to that didn't really matter.
So, while Kisame's attention was still focused on what was coming towards them from behind him, Itachi gritted his teeth to suppress a wince before he forced himself to his feet, turned around, and began to run away as fast as his condition allowed.
After all, while he might not like it, he wasn't too prideful to retreat when a fight was clearly lost.
"Hey, where do you think-"
Kisame's words were cut off when a disfigured girl jumped out of the trees and threw a punch at his head. He was able to turn around and raise Samehada in time to block it, but with how battered he was, the force behind it still pushed him back when he should by all right be the more powerful one. Furthermore, judging from the surprised gasp Itachi could hear, the girl's fist was probably not torn apart by Samehada's scales like it usually happened to those unfortunate enough to make direct contact with it.
Considering Itachi had experienced her strong defensive powers himself, he couldn't say he was too surprised by that.
In fact, it was his belief that this would happen that had prompted him to use her in such a manner.
Even when injured by his chakra scalpels, she still healed at an impressive speed, forcing him to redo the damage again and again before she had a chance to fully heal. However, that was obviously not an option during the fight, meaning there was nothing stopping her from recovering and beginning to attack again.
It was for that reason that he had left her alone not too far from where he had waited for Kisame after sending his team away. After all, she would surely rush towards the source of all the disturbances in the area as soon as she was able to. Itachi had known that his fight with Kisame wouldn't last for too long because his own reserves had been so low from the beginning, so it stood for reason that she wouldn't make an appearance before it was over regardless of which one of them had won by then.
It would have been troublesome if he had won and she appeared to attack him afterwards, of course, but he judged that the pros far outweighed the cons and went through with this plan anyway.
And considering she now allowed him to flee by keeping Kisame occupied, that had turned out to be the right decision.
He was under no illusion that she could possibly kill him. Weakened as he was, Kisame wouldn't allow himself to be beaten by what was little more than a rampaging beast. However, that mattered little as long as she kept him busy for long enough to allow Itachi to get away.
It irked him that he had to use the girl like this when she had already suffered so much, but when it was a decision between that on one side and his life on the other, the answer was clear. Also, as much as it would have been beneficial to examine her body back in Konoha to find out more about Orochimaru's experiments and his Curse Mark, getting out of here alive was more important than that.
There was truly no other way.
The only other thing he regretted was to end his fight with Kisame like this. Itachi was tired of fighting people he considered comrades, and deciding to fight Kisame with the intent to kill hadn't been easy. He could force himself to do it again as many times as it took, yes, but he seriously would have preferred to finish things here and now.
But that didn't work out, so they would most likely be forced to fight again in the future.
Sure, Kisame had been killed in the last timeline as well, the fact that the Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails carried Samehada during the Fourth Great Ninja War was proof of that, but Itachi had a feeling in his gut that he wouldn't be fortunate enough to have someone else take this burden away from him in this timeline.
Anyway, this wasn't the time to worry about things like that. He could do that later. For now, he needed to put all his attention on running away without fainting.
He had a team to catch up with, after all.
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