Welcome to the next chapter!
Xion kuchiki 15; Thanks! It was yeah. Yeah, they'll know it has nothing to do with Ryouta.
TheGreatGodzilla; No, he didn't come back to kill her. Yeah, would be a pretty interesting idea. All of Ryouta's children will have the potential to awaken the Sharingan, depending on the child other abilities also. Ryouta and Konan have a certain understanding with one another, and we'll see more of them together in the future. They have pretty long hair right now. Yeah, he could be with them when the time comes. They'd be cool harem members. We're not that far from shippuden since we're in the Tsunade arc right now. Yes, there will be a next time. Maybe.
Morregen; Konan's an interesting character in canon, she has some pretty amazing feats if she's got the prep time needed. So, maybe we'll see some more of her potential in this story. Ryouta is yeah, he's growing all the time. They've met now, for the development of a few peoples stories going forward. Kisame and Ryouta might have a battle sometime in the near future. They could meet again in the near future. Thanks!
joharasbel; Thanks!
shephawk; Yeah, he might be there for that reason. He could meet Ophis relatively early yeah, that would be a cool Sacred Gear for him to have, thanks for the suggestions!
ShadowUzumaki55; Ryouta and Konan have yeah, they're going to have some fun interactions in the future. Konan does yeah, and the fact she gave Ryouta one, must mean that he had some impact on her. Yeah, Ryouta's going to have a lot of stuff to deal with, including that of Itachi, and Izumi, among other things going on. We'll see what Itachi is doing in this chapter, and future chapters as well.
Guest 1; She'd be cool, thanks for the harem suggestion.
Silver crow; Thanks! Glad you liked the fight, yeah Konan left a flower behind. Yeah, he's going to have a fight with Itachi this time, we'll see how he does. Yeah, Itachi can speak with Mikoto and Hiruzen at times like these. Itachi will be yeah. That's what won the poll yeah. He did his best to yeah, Konan also did her best. Maybe she's a bit aware of it yeah. Because they aren't fully aware of the situation regarding Izumi yet. Yeah, it's never really stated what Konan's paper jutsu is. Konan was flattered yeah. Ryouta's pretty strong yeah. Izumi isn't entirely with him willingly, Tobi's a major reason why she's with him. Mikoto and Itachi can do yeah. He probably wouldn't be like Aizen like that, but he'd not allow anyone to walk over him, and will be ready to deal with whatever comes for him. Even if he was, Zekram would still hate his existence due to him being an Exorcists son. They'd be cool names. Diehauser and Akira's relationship shall be fleshed out as the story goes on. Yeah, I don't know where they came from either. He could like the finer things in life. We'll see how the fight goes between Ryouta and Itachi. Yeah, he remembered what happened last time with Tsukuyomi. Kisame will be quite impressed with Ryouta yeah. That would be funny if Itachi said that. Sugaru's going to be strong since he is a member of the Akatsuki, we'll see how much when the time comes. Yeah, Akira will be quite strong. I'm sure he'll like Roygun quite a bit. Maybe we'll see some stuff with Roygun and the King piece in the future. Maybe they will be.
Sen Tobi; Thanks!
Guest 2; Seems to not be, yeah it could do.
Hinata fan; Glad you liked the fight. Ryouta did yeah, we'll see more of their interactions this chapter. We will get who got promoted pretty soon. I'm sure a good deal of them will be quite amazed to see Ryouta's power.
Skull Flame; Yeah, it seems that Samehada is pretty interested in Ryouta.
Guest 3; I'm glad you liked the fight between them! Yeah, Ryouta comes up with some interesting ways to use what he's got to work with. Haha, if Orochimaru finds out, it would be pretty fun to see. Konan did yeah, and he will keep the origami rose he got from Konan. Kisame does care for Izumi quite a bit, and doesn't want anyone insulting her, intentionally or not as was in Kakashi's case. Glad you liked the Kakashi vs Itachi fight. Yeah, we've got the reunion between them, and some heavy feelings stuff coming up in the near future. Izumi will do yeah, she's very happy to see Ryouta, even if she can't fully express it herself. Samehada is pretty interested in Ryouta for sure. Hmm, that might be answered in the future, Kisame could find out the true connection between them~ Itachi's stuff with Mikoto and Hiruzen shall be somewhat revealed this chapter. Thanks very much! Yeah, that's the story that won in the end. Lost Shinigami came joint third, the Third Sahashi came in fifth. I've been thinking of doing something like that regarding the updates yeah, I think it would be the most manageable for me to do that, thanks for the suggestion! I could see him do that with Sage Mode. Haha, bringing them all back would be pretty cool to see, seeing them ll gang up only for Ryouta to show how much stronger he's become. That would be a cool line for him to say. No worries at all, and yeah, it would be cool for him to say it!
Guest 4; Issei Replacement came in second, with a few reaching joint third place such as Lost Shinigami and Villains Hero, Miya's son came fourth, and Third Sahashi came fifth.
Guest 5; More than likely yeah she'll be appearing.
War Sage; Thanks! Yeah, it should be awesome~ Glad you liked the Satsuki stuff. Kurenai surely did yeah. Glad you liked the stuff between Konan and Ryouta. Thanks for the harem suggestions.
Guest 6; Thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Yeah, those arcs are going to be fun to cover, can't wait for it! Thank you!
Guestforce; Thanks! Thanks for the harem suggestions!
Wavelord; Thanks! Yeah, maybe they could.
Justafan; Thanks, here's the fight!
Guest 7; Yeah, still going. We'll see.
With those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
Ryouta vs Itachi!
While the entire village was secretly under attack from the Akatsuki, Satsuki remained unaware. Since splitting off from her Mother, she had begun training by herself, and was wielding the sword the way that her Mother had shown her.
It was beginning the basics, but it was good training for her as well to get the basics down and make sure that she got them down before she got into anything else.
However, as she did train, Sakura happened to come walking closer and closer.
"Hey Satsuki, what's going on?"
"Nothing, just training. What about you?"
"Finished training with Ryou-kun, and thought that I'd try and find Kakashi-sensei to see if he wishes to train or not."
"Good luck trying, he's disappeared."
Sakura tilted her head.
"Really? How come?"
"He didn't really say, he seemed to be distracted by something and quickly left."
Sakura clicked her fingers.
"Darn, I wished to train as well."
Sakura murmured, Satsuki could see that she genuinely wished to do it.
If that was the case, then she didn't mind getting in some training with Sakura.
"I'll train with you."
Sakura's eyes widened.
She didn't think that Satsuki would ever say something like that.
"Y-You will?"
Satsuki shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't have anything better to do, so might as well."
Sakura felt rather touched.
She was of course surprised.
But if Satsuki wished to train, then she wouldn't lose this chance.
"S-Sure, lets train together then!"
Satsuki felt her lips curling up ever so slightly.
It felt a little odd.
But it also felt...nice.
To train with Sakura, and to perhaps even get to know her a little more.
As Ryouta and Itachi stared one another down, the former held his sword tightly, and the latter whipped out a kunai. With their feet firmly placed on the surface of the water, Ryouta's eyes looked around the area to make sure that everyone was safe, or relatively safe at that moment in time.
"I thought that it could be a possibility, but seeing that he is here before my eyes, I can't help but wonder many things about this boy. I have heard of his exploits, I wonder how much stronger you've grown Ryou?"
Itachi had to admit that he was curious to see how strong Ryouta had done. He also thought that it would be exciting to see this fight happen. At least the amount of excitement that Itachi could muster up.
Izumi on the other hand felt her heart in turmoil right now.
The fact that they had to do so much like this, and face down Ryouta.
She knew that Itachi was not happy about fighting Ryouta either.
"Kakashi-sensei, Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei, did they..."
Before he could finish, Kakashi confirmed it with a nod of his head.
"Yes, Izumi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki took down Kurenai and Asuma."
Kakashi revealed, Ryouta looked towards Izumi.
She couldn't look back, her eyes staying below her.
"Sensei, lets fight Itachi together. He's too dangerous to handle alone."
"I agree. But remember, this man is the man that killed the Uchiha, he is highly dangerous."
"You're right, we also should get the others away from this Kisame and Izumi-chan."
"Yes, now lets go."
Kakashi twirls around his kunai, as Ryouta activates the Body Flicker.
He then vanishes from view, surprising Kisame but also exciting him.
Even Izumi was stunned by the speed that Ryouta was going right now.
She watched as several clones appeared on the surface of the water.
Yet they all didn't cast a shadow.
The surface of the water did get disturbed as the clones moved through the area.
"After Image Clones. Shisui, it seems that your brother has observed your technique, and has even incorporated it into a fighting style all his own."
Ryouta, and his clones, which Itachi counted up to seven in total, all appeared around Itachi himself.
They surrounded him and attacked from each of the locations.
Itachi used his own Sharingan to keep track of each of the attacks, and began blocking them.
Each one had mass, and he only gave Itachi a single second between blows to react to them, so he increased his speed the best that he could do, and managed to block six out of the seven of them, with the last one aimed for his neck.
"Damn..."
He didn't have the time to block, so he avoided with the blade cutting through a few strands of Itachi's hair, as Kakashi got behind him with his Lightning Blade attack, aimed right for Itachi's upper body.
"Kakashi-sensei! Keep going! I've got him!"
Itachi tried to avoid it completely, only for Ryouta to keep up the assault, with his blade Kusanagi coming down to cut Itachi down, so Itachi reached his hand up, and tried to grab Ryouta's wrist to stop him.
However, when he tried, his hand went through Ryouta's wrist.
He thought that it could have been Genjutsu, but was proved to be wrong.
"He moved his wrist out of the way for a split second, leaving his image behind for me to be momentarily confused by, and he's still coming down for me as well, he's gotten very fast."
Itachi thought fondly, as Ryouta saw what he intended to go towards Itachi in fact did go without being noticed.
Itachi weaved through a few hand signs, and from his mouth, as he said "Water Release, Starch Syrup Capturing Field." and released a fluid from his mouth that was sticky, binding Kakashi to the waters surface and paused his movements long enough for Itachi to move to the right hand side, avoiding Ryouta's blade by mere inches.
Itachi then twirled and kicked Ryouta from behind, but Ryouta used Kusanagi's extending ability to shoot the blade like an arrow for his chest, with Kakashi grabbing the blade, and ran his lightning through said blade since Itachi got out of range.
Izumi looked on, seeing how the pair, Ryouta and Kakashi, worked together quite flawlessly.
"Itachi-kun...it seems that Ryou-kun has grown rather proficient in the time that we've been away. He's so fast now, and his teamwork skills with Kakashi-san as well. Ryou-kun...you have gotten a good deal stronger, the levels you've improved are amazing."
Izumi was proud of the skills that he had achieved.
Though that also meant she was worried about the fact that Itachi could suffer an attack through his illness. Even she didn't know if it would flare up. She hoped that it didn't, but she couldn't say right now based on vision alone.
"That sword, you received it from Orochimaru. That's the Kusanagi, is it not?"
"It is, but I received it from my Mother who took it from Orochimaru."
Ryouta replied as the lightning travelled through the blade, and came inches from Itachi.
"Did you just say your Mother?"
As he asked with perplexity, Itachi avoids it by leaping to the side.
The cloak of Itachi's however becomes cut and lightning travels up the cloak towards Itachi's body, so Itachi quickly cut the electrified parts off, and harmlessly dropped it down to the ground.
But even then, Ryouta didn't give Itachi anytime, as he turned the blade downwards, and together with Kakashi, ran the electricity all through the waters surface before them, with Itachi's face not changing, but internally felt how good the pair worked together.
"Haha! That kid is good! Keep going Uchiha boy!"
Izumi gave a baffled look towards Kisame, and why he acted the way that he did.
"Erm, Itachi-kun's our teammate, and you're cheering against him?"
Izumi asked, Kisame shrugged.
"I wanted to fight the Uchiha boy, I didn't get that chance, did I?"
Izumi was still curious about the way that Kisame was thinking right now.
However, she watched as Itachi leapt high into the air, and landed on the other side of the large body of water. Izumi and Kisame stood on the side with the passed out Kurenai and the nearing passing out Asuma.
Itachi exhaled, as he felt a small pang within his body.
He knew what it was.
The illness that he had was slowly creeping up towards him.
But he dispelled that for the time being and watched as Kakashi and Ryouta stood together.
However, he also saw something else, two snakes wrapped around Asuma and Kurenai, and was taking them away.
"So, that was a distraction huh..."
Itachi mused within his mind, as Kisame notices the snakes travelling.
He smirks.
"I didn't even see that until this moment, damn boy kept my eyes on him, and that damn Kakashi."
Kakashi took exception to that, while Izumi watches the snakes deliver them away.
Kisame went to raise his hand, when Ryouta turned his eyes back to the shark like human, Kisame gave an intrigued stare.
"Hahaha! This boy has good eyes as well as a good sense! I can see it in his face that he will brawl with anyone! That's good enough for me, move Itachi, I'll fight the kid!"
Izumi released a breath, part of her was curious, and another part was worried about Kisame and what he was intending to do.
Meanwhile, as that was going on, seeing her son before her eyes, Mikoto was overwhelmed with emotions. She hadn't seen him since the day of the massacre. The last memory she has of him was him cutting both down her, and Fugaku.
Though she was aware why he did what he did and what little choice that he had, so she had many emotions within her. All of them were swimming through her, and she wished to express them towards him.
Hiruzen looked at the clone of Itachi.
"Itachi, welcome back to Konoha."
"It is good to be back." Itachi revealed, his eyes glancing at his Mother, but guilt made him face another way. "Hokage-sama, sorry for my unexpected arrival. But I needed to speak with you directly. Though with Kisame Hoshigaki and Konan of the Akatsuki with us, I wasn't able to come in person."
"Yes, that's very understandable. But by your words, that means..."
Itachi confirms what Hiruzen thought to be true.
"Yes, the real me, Izumi and those I mentioned are within this village. The last time that I had checked, it seems that Kakashi had come to realize that we were there, I cannot say what is happening now."
Hiruzen stroked his chin.
"I see..."
As Hiruzen pondered what Itachi said, Mikoto couldn't hold back what she was feeling anymore.
Seeing her son, one of her two children before her, after so long…
It was equal parts difficult, as it was a blessing to see her child again.
Even if the circumstances didn't allow them to have long together, it meant the world to someone like Mikoto.
"Itachi...after so long, to see you...even if it is in the form of a crow clone like this..."
Mikoto moved closer.
Itachi wished to resist, not believing he deserved his Mother's love.
"What's wrong Itachi?"
"...Nothing, but you don't have to hug me."
"Hmmm? Why not?"
Mikoto wondered, so Itachi exhaled deeply.
"Because I nearly killed you that day. And I killed nearly all other Uchiha. I also killed Father. You shouldn't have to come close, much less express any affection for me."
Mikoto thought that could be the reason.
Even after all this time, guilt was Itachi's constant companion.
"I was made aware of why you did what you did Itachi. The burdens you must carry through your life now, a Mother wouldn't want her son to suffer through anything like this alone."
Itachi felt touched by her words.
Even after all these years, she was still just as caring, and comforting.
"I know that I am putting you in a position that you shouldn't have to be in. But right now, I carry these burdens for the sake of the clan, Ryou and Satsuki can become the heroes of the Uchiha."
"It might be easier for others. But what about you? How can it be easier for you Itachi? It isn't something that I want for you."
Hiruzen thought the same thing as Mikoto, and wished that this situation wasn't like this.
"I can take all of the burdens of this, the Uchiha clan, Mother. Those that have seen the Uchiha as the aggressors, they can be seen as something entirely new with the two Uchiha of the future. Ryouta and Satsuki are that future."
Mikoto didn't like the idea.
She understood the theory behind the idea, and why Itachi wished for what he did.
But she also felt for her eldest son, and what he and Izumi was going through.
"Ooh yes...Izumi-chan, is she..."
"She's with me, she's quite a strong woman, both in and out of battle. Her will is something that I have to admire. Even though she lost many things, she still is the same optimistic woman that I..."
Mikoto leaned closer as Itachi ceased going any further when speaking about Izumi, and jabbed a finger towards him.
"Love?"
Itachi didn't reveal one way or the other, and kept his gaze away from his Mother.
Mikoto knew better, and could see past the stoic expression that he had on.
Mikoto's arms then firmly wrapping around his body.
Even though a clone, the real Itachi would receive the information later on anyway, so in a sense, she was giving the real Itachi a hug and to Mikoto, it was something that she couldn't express how happy she truly was about this.
Back with Ryouta and the others, Itachi exhales as Ryouta and Kakashi push together.
Itachi could also see that Kisame was becoming even more wild than he usually was. His eyes sharply upon Ryouta, so he had to make sure that Ryouta didn't get drawn into a fight with Kisame.
"So, what do you say kid? Want to fight me? Because I know we'll have the best fight. Itachi-"
"Fire Release, Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Itachi weaved through the hand signs at rapid speed, and from his mouth, he spat out a two story house sized ball of fire, causing Kisame to huff at the sight before him, and frown ever so slightly that he didn't get the chance to fight Ryouta.
Ryouta weaved through his own hand signs, as Kakashi nods.
"Water Release, Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Creating a destructive Dragon of water, Kakashi leaps onto its head, and Ryouta sends it out towards Itachi's giant flaming sphere.
They clash in the centre, but Itachi notices that the flames suddenly burst, and the water Dragon keeps on going, with Kakashi riding on top of it.
Confusion came briefly, but then believed that Kakashi used some paper bomb to detonate the flames before they reached their target.
So that allowed the giant Dragon of water to continue for him.
"Not bad, it seems that he's proficient with Water Release as well."
Itachi leaps right to avoid the attack, only for Kakashi to come in with a kick for Itachi's face, who dodges, only for Kakashi to place his hands on the ground after weaving through some hand signs.
The ground opens up below Itachi with an Earth Release, and threatens to swallow him whole, only for Itachi to avoid it with quick movements.
While landing, Itachi noticed the giant water Dragon come and try to pin the young man down with colossal force. At the same time, Kakashi weaved through some hand signs, and using his chakra, he caused the water nearby Itachi to rise up, and form a water Dragon as well, coming in from a different direction.
Itachi weaves through some hand signs, and shoots out a torrent of flames for the water Dragon of Ryouta's own, clashing violently and pushed it back, but with the other water Dragon coming in, he created an exploding clone, and leapt around it, and slammed into it, exploding it away from Itachi's body to protect himself.
The attacks of Ryouta's, and Itachi's cancelled one another out, with heavy steam rising between them.
But even then, Itachi saw at the last moment that Kusanagi was extending through the steam, and coming right for Itachi, who widened his eyes, and moved his neck to avoid, receiving a slice across his cheek, to the shock of both Izumi and Kisame himself.
"Itachi-kun received a cut. Did his illness slow him down? Or, was Ryou-kun fast enough to land a blow on him? Whatever it is, this isn't going to turn out well if Itachi-kun is being cut like this, we might have to wrap this up quickly."
Izumi thought about it, while Ryouta saw Kakashi panting.
Because he was fighting Itachi beforehand, along with the chakra consuming it was to use the Sharingan, Ryouta knew that Kakashi couldn't keep going forever, and had to take a small break, so he flashed to Kakashi's side.
"Sensei, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath."
Ryouta understood what this meant.
Because Kakashi was using the Sharingan, his stamina was draining faster than he'd like it to.
Since Kakashi wasn't an Uchiha like Ryouta, Kakashi couldn't keep the stamina that natural born Uchiha would when using the Sharingan.
He didn't want Kakashi to suffer because of this, and knowing that he'd need Kakashi right now, he pulled forward.
"Please back me up Sensei. Rest, and intervene at your discretion."
"But Ryouta..."
Kakashi wasn't so sure about the idea, considering how strong Itachi truly was.
Plus with no sign of backup, he didn't know how long this was going to be.
"Sensei, I know what I'm saying. Please watch me, I'll fight Itachi Uchiha."
As Ryouta said it, his eyes shifted from normal Sharingan, to his Mangekyou.
Having decided that this was the best way to fight, and with the level of skill he had seen from Itachi, he knew this would be the best thing to do right now.
Itachi saw the eyes, and so did Izumi.
With Itachi, he didn't exactly know both powers of Ryouta's Mangekyou.
He knew roughly of one, but not the other.
He didn't even know how skilled he was with Susanoo either.
But if Ryouta was going to use his, then Itachi knew he'd need his own as well...
As that was going on, the combination of Anko, Karin and Haku chased after Konan through the area that was covered in trees. So they hopped through the trees at a rapid pace, being able to keep some ground on her.
The fact that she was going so fast through the air, was something difficult to deal with. So Haku weaved through some hand signs, and created dart like blades of ice within the air.
"Get her!"
Karin yelled, and watched Haku's ice darts fly through the air, with Konan looking down, and turned her paper wings down, firing off a multitude of paper spears, clashing with the ice darts to the degree that they couldn't get through.
"Have these!"
Anko thrusted her arms up, from her sleeves, snakes erupted and chased down the woman.
However, Konan flew like an acrobat, and avoided the snakes, before summoning paper spikes, shooting them through the snakes upper body and took them out within moments.
Anko gritted her teeth.
"She's a tricky one alright."
"Yes, she is Sensei. What are we to do?"
Haku asked.
Anko didn't know, since she wasn't the best at long range, and neither was Karin.
Haku was good at long range, but it seemed that Konan was just as good at being able to fight at a distance.
"If we could trap her somehow..."
Anko mused.
But she didn't know where to begin with that.
Haku however looked on and saw that Konan suddenly made a shift in direction.
"Where is she going?"
"Probably to her comrades."
Karin murmured, feeling the chakras of the others radiating from that direction Konan changed into.
Anko ground her teeth when she heard that.
"Damn, if she gets to her comrades...but we'll be with ours as well. Even then, lets keep trying to fight her!"
""Yes Sensei!""
Together with Anko, Haku and Karin did their best to fight Konan.
She had an answer to most attacks, if not all of the attacks they launched.
But they didn't give up, and kept charging ahead towards Konan in the hopes that they'd be able to stop her.
Meanwhile, with Ryouta and Itachi, the pair of them revealed their Mangekyou's to the other. Kisame looked on, and became even more intrigued to see what was going on, he couldn't contain the excitement that he had, and moved forward.
"Alright Itachi, you've had your fun. This boy is mine."
Itachi could see the blood lust within Kisame's eyes.
It couldn't be contained for much longer.
"Kisame-"
"No, he's mine!"
Kisame rushed forward, and brandished his blade up high.
Ryouta twirled Kusanagi, and went to retaliate, however something unexpected happened before his eyes.
Izumi got between them.
Izumi's actions made Ryouta have hope that she was still thinking of him.
Kisame's blade stopped short of reaching Izumi's body, he pulled his hand back, and the sword laid by his right hand side.
"Best friend? What's going on?"
"Kisame-kun, please keep back for the time being."
"I don't understand, why do you want me to do that?"
Izumi pulled closer, and moved to his side.
"I know that you wish to fight this boy, but this is also important to Itachi-kun. You understand, right?"
"Ugh...but best friend, I want to fight him too."
"I know." She soothed, while glancing at Ryouta who in turn looked right back at her with sad eyes. "I'm sure you will, lets keep watching. Don't tell me you aren't curious as to what Ryouta Uchiha can actually do against Itachi?"
"...I suppose that apart of me is curious as to what can actually happen when two Uchiha clash. But I get the next fight with him."
"Okay, that's fair."
Itachi was still amazed to see that Izumi could keep Kisame at bay.
Not with power, but with her words, and her general kindness as a result of such things.
Kakashi watches Kisame back down and Izumi herself does the same thing.
Ryouta turns his sword towards Itachi, as Itachi himself stares towards Ryouta with intrigue.
"Are you resorting to those eyes?"
Itachi asked, Ryouta sharpened his own eyes.
"If necessary."
"You must hate me if you're to use those eyes."
Itachi noted, but Ryouta shook his head.
"I hate what you did, and I want answers for that night. For everything that happened. These eyes are the power my brother gave me, I will use it to protect everyone. Even if I shall go blind, I will use them against you."
Ryouta activated the Body Flicker, and increased the movement of his body.
Itachi thought that it was quite like how Shisui would do it, but something seemed different at the same time, and wondered how this was going to go.
Dashing across the water, Itachi followed with his Sharingan, and sees Ryouta appear to the right hand side of him, so Itachi blocks with his arm, hitting Ryouta's arm so the blade that was coming for him would be diverted.
Not being deterred, Ryouta swings for Itachi, who blocks with a kunai.
However, the kunai was sliced through so Itachi had to dodge Ryouta's onslaught of slashes towards his body.
"This boys pretty fast, and that blade makes it so I can't block. I'll have to use a Genjutsu on him and end this fight."
Moving faster and faster, Ryouta's blade came closer and closer to Itachi, so when it was going to connect, Itachi blocked, and dug his fist into Ryouta's upper body so hard that he spat out bile, and launched him back.
Kakashi winces, only to see that Ryouta, as he was being fired back, sent the blade of Kusanagi right towards Itachi with its elongating ability, the blade coming in close to strike him down, but Itachi dodges out of the way, only to see flames erupting from the sword, and spreading out towards Itachi.
Itachi dodges as Ryouta leaps into the air, and weaves through hand signs.
"Fire Release, Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Rather than release one, he released multiple shots of flames down towards Itachi, who swiftly danced through the water, avoiding the bursts of fire that created heavy steam all around Itachi's form.
As it did, Ryouta prepared his next Jutsu as he thought about what was going on, and released one of his Jutsu's which was blanketed by the deep steam that surrounded the area.
"Damn, Itachi's capabilities, he's more skilled than Orochimaru was. The way he moves, and then there's his Genjutsu. He's going to try it at some point, I have to be prepared for it. Plus since he has the Sharingan, he'll be able to predict what my next techniques are going to be. However..."
As Ryouta went to move down towards the ground faster, cutting through the steam were four tendrils of water.
They came shooting out and surrounded Ryouta's form.
All four of them looked as if they were going to pierce the young man.
But he took Kusanagi, and swung it out rapidly, slicing through the water at such speed even Kakashi was surprised by it, and dropped the water down towards the ground in large clumps.
"Fire Release, Phoenix Sage Flower Jutsu!"
Itachi produces shurikens and adds flames towards them, launching them up towards Ryouta's form at high speeds. The shurikens of fire come at Ryouta who's falling down, so Ryouta exhales out of his mouth some flames.
"Fire Release, Running Fire!"
Moving his neck like a whip, he breaths out flames in a wheel like motion that catches the shurikens up and sends them right down towards Itachi, added with the spinning wheel of fire that was burning through the air.
"Damn, he used Itachi's Jutsu against him. The flames from Itachi's added to the fire wheel that he created!"
Kisame looked rather excited to see what was to come next.
"Water Release, Water Fang Bullet."
Itachi simply weaves through some hand signs, before the same water tendrils come shooting up, and bombards the wheel from four different sides. The intensity of the water managed to douse the flames of Ryouta.
Landing on the waters surface, Ryouta exhales, while Itachi tilts his head.
"You've learned a few new tricks. It seems that you have improved a good deal haven't you?"
Ryouta stared at Itachi hard.
"I trained for a long time to match high level opponents."
Though right now, Ryouta knew in terms of capabilities, Itachi was superior to Orochimaru.
Even then, Ryouta wasn't out of tricks yet.
He hoped that maybe Itachi would make a mistake, unlikely but could happen, or he caught Itachi off guard somehow.
He also thought that if this kept going, then Itachi would potentially win, so now that he had the Mangekyou out...he was going to use it against Itachi and make sure that he was taken down for the time being.
Just then, Kisame's eyes widened when realizing something was coming in from behind.
He turned to see a green blur with its leg shooting out towards him, so he raised his sword, and blocked what came for him.
It revealed to be a kick, which pushed Kisame back ever so slightly.
"Konoha's Noble Green Beast has arrived! What's shakin Kakashi?"
Kakashi was relieved to see the person that had attacked Kisame, was in fact Guy.
Ryouta was also relieved to see Guy having arrived, Izumi on the other hand was worried that the more that knew, the more difficult it would be for them to move away from this fight and escape should the situation become dire.
Back with Mikoto and the others, Itachi felt awkward about the fact that Mikoto was hugging him. He wasn't used to such things. But at the same time, it also felt...good to receive such affection from his Mother.
He didn't think he deserved it, but Mikoto didn't mind about that and kept hugging her own son after so long.
"My son...after all this time...you've grown into such a handsome young man...you've..."
Mikoto was overcome with emotion, she couldn't even get her words out at all.
Hiruzen was feeling something similar, he didn't think that he'd see Itachi in such a setting.
As he watched the pair hugging, even if it was quite reluctant on Itachi's part, Hiruzen found the scene before him rather touching, he even felt the emotions flooding through him, and he wasn't even apart of their family.
"Itachi, you've returned. Can I presume it had to do with Orochimaru?"
"That, and other things Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
"Other things?"
"Yes, to do with Naruko Uzumaki."
"What do you...The Nine Tails..."
"Yes. The organization that Izumi and I are with, have made the Tailed Beasts their target. Is Naruko within the village?"
Hiruzen shook his head.
"No, she's with Jiraiya right now."
"I see, even then you have to be made aware that the Akatsuki will come for the Nine Tails. Even if it isn't now, though with four of us here, and she isn't in the village, I can't be sure but perhaps it might be decided to try and at least go towards Naruko."
"Damn it..."
Hiruzen showed a dark scowl, while Mikoto exhaled slowly.
"Then perhaps Hokage-sama, I and a few elite Ninja can go and provide support?"
"But if we leak too much information or if we appear to be acting with knowledge that we shouldn't have, it could compromise Itachi and Izumi-san."
Hiruzen warned, Mikoto gave a solemn nod of her head.
"Yes, you're right Hokage-sama. Still, we have to be prepared to make sure that Naruko is safe."
"We will do, we have to play this just right to make it seem as if Itachi hasn't had any communication with us."
Hiruzen said seriously, with Mikoto nodding.
"There are a few other things I need to mention as well..."
The clone of Itachi began, and the pair of them listened deeply.
Everything that was being said, they drunk it in and some of the news wasn't so shocking.
But some of it was.
And that shocking news, was something that made the pair of them wonder what else they could do.
Back with Ryouta and the others, Itachi felt pain beginning to erupt inside of him. He knew that this was the illness that was beginning to come out over him once more.
Even though he was trying to suppress it, he knew he'd have to end this fight very quickly.
Guy came towards Ryouta's side, and then turned to Kakashi with a grin.
"Leaving it to the newly promoted, are you Kakashi?"
"Heh...you could say that for the time being."
"Man, you're so cool Kakashi!"
Kisame gave a dry expression.
"Who is this green man anyway?"
Guy twitched his eyebrow, and looked towards Kisame.
"I am your opponent!"
"No thanks."
Kisame rejected him, with Guy being perplexed.
"You're denying me?"
"Yes, because I do not want to fight you. I want to fight the Uchiha boy, so if you don't mind, you can leave now, okay? In fact, if you don't leave, I will cut you down and rip you to shreds!"
Kisame aggressively yelled that out, with Guy being unconcerned.
"Haha, and it seems that Itachi and Izumi Uchiha have also arrived. My, you've grown to be quite beautiful, Izumi-san. My Lee would definitely want to date you now!"
Izumi gave half bemused eyes, with Guy grinning ear to ear.
Guy then turned towards Ryouta.
"So, it seems that you've been handling Itachi, care to keep doing that while I deal with the shark guy over there?"
"My name is Kisame, and don't forget it either."
Kisame scowled out, Guy tilted his head, as Ryouta nods.
"Yes, I'll fight Itachi."
"Then I'll go for the shark sword wielder!"
Guy shot off like a rocket, and crossed the distance rather quickly. Getting up close, Guy delivered a half moon like kick towards Kisame who blocked it easily enough, and then swung his blade for Guy, who managed to dodge.
But felt from the swing that Samehada had stole some of his chakra.
"My chakra..."
"As I said, I don't care to fight you. I want to fight the Uchiha boy, that's all I really want right now. Itachi, you can have this green man, I'll switch with you and fight the young Uchiha boy. How about it?"
Itachi shook his head, as Guy came at Kisame, who sighed and moved to deal with him.
While Guy battled Kisame, Ryouta turned back to Itachi.
Seeing the way that he was moving and how he was fighting, he knew that his physical skills wouldn't be enough to get Itachi to stop. Plus with Itachi having Mangekyou as well, Ryouta did wonder what he could pull with that.
"Even if you use those eyes, you still cannot defeat me."
Itachi spoke up, almost as if he was reading Ryouta's mind.
"How would you know if my eyes would or not? You don't know my powers, while I know yours."
Itachi had to admit that was true.
Ryouta did have a secret Mangekyou power that even he didn't know about.
The only one he knew was the ability to produce the acid that melted through everything.
"Even if that is true, you might have grown stronger, you might have those eyes, but you haven't reached my power."
"Maybe you're right, but I don't go down without fighting. Just ask Orochimaru."
Itachi could hear the strength behind the words Ryouta used.
He was a realist, if he genuinely believed that Ryouta was stronger, then he'd say so.
If he believed the opponent was stronger, then he'd say so.
But what Itachi liked was the fact that Ryouta never gave up, even in the face of overwhelming odds.
So, what he had to do next made Itachi feel low.
"You don't have enough hate to defeat me. Only my sister will, when I kill you. And those eyes of yours, shall belong to me."
Izumi's eyes shifted away as her hand tightened.
Even if this was apart of the evil facade that Itachi was building up, she didn't like Ryouta being threatened like this.
Even with the threat, Ryouta didn't back down.
"Enough hate? You're right, I never will have enough hate, because I'd never give into hate, I'd never lose myself to power like other Uchiha have before me. My brother, and Father were never people that gave in despite the things they had lost, and neither will I. So spout your nonsense to someone that cares Itachi."
Izumi stifled her laugh.
She found his reply to Itachi as very Ryouta like, a very good thing indeed.
Showing that even after all this time, he was still the kind and loving boy he was when he was young.
Yet, he was also someone that knew of the reality of the world, he wasn't blind to situations like this.
"Damn Ryou, did you go to Yukine's school of burning people...wait, he said he did see his Mother...don't tell me that Orochimaru...that sick son of a bitch did that to my Ryou...ooh, I hate him so damn much..."
As Izumi realized it, Kakashi himself exhaled and felt the corner of his lips tugging upwards ever so slightly.
Ryouta looked on, and then saw that Kakashi hadn't recovered yet, and with his own options limited, he thought about the best thing that he could do right now.
Ryouta then activated the Body Flicker, and vanished from sight.
When Ryouta got in close, Itachi and Ryouta's eyes locked together for the briefest of instances...
"Ryou...help me..."
A voice rang out in Ryouta's mind.
Ryouta was shocked to hear who's voice it was.
Especially since he had attempted to cast a Genjutsu on Itachi, knowing that Itachi would cast a Genjutsu on him the instance that their eyes locked together.
"He switched the Genjutsu on me..."
Ryouta thought as the vision of what was Shisui came to his eyes.
But it was Shisui that was covered in blood, wounds, and bladed weapons piercing through his body.
Shisui came towards Ryouta, as chains came from the sky, and bound around Ryouta's neck and body. His arms, and legs were also bound. The sky tinged red, a deep blood red colour that caused even Ryouta to feel disturbed by such a thing.
Thick large nails came from the sky, and pierced Ryouta's arms and legs.
"Aaah!"
Ryouta let out his voice as Shisui came towards him.
Placing his hand on Ryouta's face, Shisui showed a dark expression.
"You let him kill me..."
That voice echoed in his mind over and over.
The way Shisui looked sad, how alone he looked, caused Ryouta to feel many emotions.
He knew it was a trick of Itachi's.
He was infamous for Genjutsu.
This was meant to cause Ryouta to become unconscious through mental trauma.
It wasn't exactly Tsukuyomi, but it was still very strong.
The Shisui before him got right in Ryouta's face, showing something Ryouta never thought he'd see directed at him.
Shisui's anger.
"Why did you let him kill me!?"
Shouting that in Ryouta's face, the young boy could feel the rage exuding from his brother.
The pain in his eyes.
The sadness within his face.
The anger that he was displaying.
Seeing this, Ryouta steeled his will.
More and more, Itachi using Shisui against him...was something Itachi would soon come to regret.
In the real world, Ryouta stood perfectly still, with Itachi taking a kunai out from his pouch.
He moved towards Ryouta, with Kakashi widening his eyes.
"Itachi don't!"
Kakashi tried running closer, as Itachi placed the kunai towards Ryouta's upper body.
He held regret within his heart to hurt someone that he did care for.
Izumi held pain within her as she didn't want to see anything happen to Ryouta.
"Do not use him against me Itachi!"
Suddenly, accompanied with his yell, Ryouta shattered the Genjutsu with his mastery of the Sharingan, to the shock of Itachi, and then saw that the Genjutsu he cast on Ryouta, had become one that affected him instead.
Around his arms, his neck, his upper body and his legs as well, strong metal wire that cut into his flesh. Strangling him, binding Itachi so he couldn't move at all.
The vision of Shisui appeared before Itachi, took out a kunai and pierced him through the neck, Itachi's eyes widening as he did feel the effects of it on his mind.
"Do not try this with my brother again you bastard."
Shisui's voice was cold, unforgiving.
Unlike the one in Ryouta's vision, this one didn't yell.
But, it became even more scary to see the unspoken cold rage within vision Shisui's eyes.
Almost like he had betrayed him, which to Itachi hurt mentally quite a bit.
Itachi realized what Ryouta had done.
"He reflected the Jutsu right back at me. His skills at Genjutsu are fantastic...Shisui, you would be proud..."
Itachi used his Sharingan and mastery of Genjutsu to break said Genjutsu.
As he broke the Genjutsu, he saw that Ryouta coming in with his blade, stabbing for his body.
Ryouta's blade came to pierce Itachi's body, but Itachi grabbed his wrist at the last moment.
"Forget something Itachi?"
Itachi widened his eyes as Ryouta's blade extended unnaturally long.
Feeling the cold steel pressing on his stomach, Itachi immediately placed distance between them, avoiding being stabbed.
However, a shadow was cast on the water from up above.
Itachi looked up and saw a giant hand coming down.
Rather than skeletal, this had flesh this time. The pure colour of Ryouta's Susanoo shined on, and the speed of the hand was more than Itachi had anticipated, smashing Itachi down into the waters surface, with Izumi being shocked at the sight, Kakashi looked overjoyed, while Kisame grinned ear to ear.
"That's it boy! Yes, I'm fighting that!"
Kisame yelled out excitedly while duelling Guy, Izumi looked baffled by Kisame's yell, though she presumed Kisame was getting too much into the fight. She didn't even know how he really felt about Itachi, beyond respecting his strength.
Itachi was blasted under the water, and though Itachi managed to use his own Susanoo to block the attack as Itachi summoned the hand of Susanoo for that brief moment as he didn't want to waste anymore stamina, it did push him under the water and went down to the lower surface…
When Itachi's eyes widened, seeing something he didn't expect.
Two clones of Ryouta, shooting for him.
He didn't know that when Ryouta and Itachi fought with their Fire Releases, with the steam blocking sight, he managed to sneak two clones into the water to prepare for this, and now with them coming for him.
"He's got better with Susanno it seems. He has had Mangekyou just as long as I have, so he must have been able to become accustomed with many of its usages, and come up with some good ways to use the power."
Itachi quickly shot some shuriken through the water, and pierced the clones.
But they erupted in a good sized explosion.
The shockwave of the attack was more than enough to carry Itachi to the waters surface, only to see Ryouta swing his sword right for Itachi at super close range.
Itachi repelled Ryouta's wrist with his own hand, and managed to stab Ryouta's shoulder slighty, but Ryouta managed to kick Itachi away before the blade could go very far.
Itachi was quite happy despite nearly being sliced.
Seeing the progress Ryouta was making, and how he managed to cut Itachi, he could see the potential Ryouta had, and what he'd be capable of doing in the future.
Landing on top of the waters surface, Itachi looks on as Ryouta stares deeply at the older man, his hand on his wound, and healed it in a matter of a few moments, Izumi was happy Ryouta kept up with his Medical training that she had taught him all that time ago.
Itachi had to admit to being surprised by this turn of events.
Being caught in his own Genjutsu, and even receiving a wound like this.
Even Izumi was surprised by this.
"Itachi, tell me about the past."
As he said it, he leapt at Itachi and began fighting him.
"There's nothing to tell. You witnessed with your own eyes what happened. I killed the Uchiha Clan."
Itachi replied, repelling Ryouta's attacks, albeit with increasing difficulty due to the illness inside of him growing.
"Then tell me who Tobi is."
Ryouta demanded, getting behind attack to slice him.
"Tobi is not your concern."
Itachi's response came as he bent forward and slammed his foot into Ryouta's body, only for it to be replaced with a log.
"He is when he's a danger to my life as well as the lives of those I care about. You know him, are you working with him?"
Ryouta wanted answers, as he got towards the right hand side of Itachi, swinging his blade to cleave Itachi up.
But as he did, Itachi deflected, and breathed out flames for Ryouta.
The young man did the same thing, and clashed violently with Itachi's own flames.
"As I said, it doesn't concern you."
"Then tell me...why did you take Izumi-chan with you?"
Izumi placed a hand on her heart, and felt sadness building inside of her.
More and more, it echoed through her being, and it caused her sadness.
Itachi however replied as he did his best impression of a dark smirk.
"Because she does as I say, even if she doesn't wish to, for your sake. Now do you hate me?"
Ryouta didn't respond immediately as the flames died down.
Unless Itachi was lying, from his words, Ryouta came to a conclusion that made sense to him.
"...You forced her..."
"Do you hate me? Because I took her away from you?"
Itachi asked again, this time a little more forcefully to hear the answer.
Ryouta again didn't answer for a few moments, as he contemplated what to say.
To convey what was truly within his heart.
But then he came up with the best thoughts that he could give at that moment in time.
"She...I will save her from you. Even after all this time...I never forgot about her...she is the only...family that I have left now. She might not be my actual sister...but, she was always there for me...she's just as good as a blood sister...and I will bring her back to this village!"
Those conviction filled words made Izumi feel touched.
It also carried its own share of burdens as well, feeling the pain of what it meant to not be around Ryouta for all this time, and how much it hurt him.
She wished that she had a choice back then, that she could have stayed with him.
But Tobi, wouldn't have allowed that, for his own twisted desires.
Even now, she couldn't simply go over, and tell Ryouta how she truly felt.
She knew right now, Ryouta wasn't ready to deal with the likes of Tobi.
Neither where they.
Especially the village, they could see the mayhem it had been caused by the likes of Orochimaru, so seeing how Ryouta going this hard for her, did make her happy, and she wished one day, she could be beside him again.
But while that was going on, in the sky, Konan flying towards them, with Team Anko hot on the trail.
"We should make our leave, the girl isn't here. Lets go for Naruko while she's not here."
"Understood."
Itachi replied, as Kisame repelled Guy.
"No fun, I didn't even get to spend time with one of my new favourite Uchiha."
Izumi looked at Ryouta, and though despite being so close, she felt so far from him right now.
All she wanted to do was go over, wrap her arms around him and whisper how she truly felt.
But as of right now, she didn't have the luxury of doing that.
"No, you can't leave!"
Ryouta tried to move, when Izumi got a nod from Konan.
So she pulled out a scroll, and opened it wide.
From the scroll, Izumi released many senbon needles.
However, something was different about these needles.
Dripping from them, were poisonous substances.
Kakashi, Ryouta, Guy, Haku, Karin and Anko watched as Izumi directed the senbons towards each of them.
A massive amount released towards them, so Kakashi moved towards Ryouta, and Guy, using a Water Release to create a giant omni directional wall to protect them, all the while Haku created a large ice dome to protect them all.
As they did, Ryouta and some of the others noticed something odd happening.
The water was changing a different colour, possibly from the poisoned needles that fell into said water. However, because they had their shoes on, the poison didn't soak into the skin, otherwise it would have been something dangerous, though Izumi secretly made it so that even if they did get hit, they'd only be out for a day or so.
Ryouta watched as the four of them departed at fast speeds.
While doing so, Konan laid many paper bombs across all of the area that she was going in, covering their escape. It laid far and wide, to the point they'd have to make a detour to simply get across.
He also thought that the fight right now, would be difficult to win, as with the drained chakra of the likes of Kakashi, and the unconsciousness of Asuma and Kurenai who had thankfully been taken away, they were short on people right now.
"They're getting away…!"
Karin yells, as she feels their chakra disappearing from even her senses thanks to Izumi's drug.
However, Ryouta had one last surprise.
"Itachi is indeed very strong, and going now, with all four of them together...that's why we need strong Ninja, even with my Mangekyou, I couldn't fight all four of them. However, seeing their skills in action...sorry Itachi, I'm not finished with you yet. This isn't the last time you see me today, and they mentioned something about Naruko-chan...so, they're after Naruko-chan, most likely for the fox inside of her. Over my dead body, I wont let her get caught by these guys."
During the beginning of the fight, Ryouta had planted a snake on Itachi, in the case that they did make a get away like this.
The snake was filled with Ryouta's chakra.
Because of that, the drug Itachi used, wouldn't effect the snake.
And because Karin was great at sensing, especially his chakra, they could regroup with new allies, and go after Itachi once more.
The snake was even very small, and weighed quite little, so the chances of Itachi finding it quickly were low.
With this, Ryouta hoped that they'd be able to track them down, and with others of Konoha assisting...then maybe, just maybe they'd be able to get the win.
End chapter!
So this chapter focused on the fight between Ryouta, with Kakashi assist, vs Itachi, and despite Itachi being very strong, Ryouta did pretty well, breaking his Genjutsu, reflecting it back and getting some serious hits out on Itachi. Even when Itachi tried to anger Ryouta, he showed restraint, and the dedication to those that he loves, Izumi still being his driving force. Ryouta even managed to impress Kisame enough that he wanted to rebel against Itachi and fight him there and then.
Though they seemingly got away, Ryouta had one last trick up his sleeve, planting a snake on Itachi for Karin to track down once they've regrouped. Knowing chasing them right now with those exhausted around would cause problems, we'll see who goes after Itachi next time. Mikoto and Itachi managed to have sometime together, with Sakura and Satsuki even becoming a little closer.
Well, until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Gaara (fem), Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko, Samui, Hanabi, Mabui, Temari, Pakura,