The Team watched on with glee. They were about to watch their new teammate Itachi in his first training session, and with the Black Canary no less. Black Canary wanted to see the full scope of Itachi's powers. Batman made it very clear to her that Itachi wasn't someone to be taken lightly. Once she determined what skill level he was at, she would be able to implement a proper team training regimen for everyone.
"Alright, remember there will be no use of lethal force. This is just a training exercise and the purpose of it is to learn, not injure. With that being said, try your absolute best and don't hold back. The winner will be declared when their opponent verbally forfeits or is in a physically disadvantageous position. Is that understood?" She asked.
Itachi nodded in compliance. He walked to his side of the platform while Black Canary stayed at her end and begun stretching. The others talked amongst themselves about the great match they were about to see.
"Who do you think is gonna win? My bet is on Canary." Wally said.
"As much as I hate to say it, I agree with you Wally. I've seen firsthand how good she is in combat." Conner answered.
"Just because you got your butt handed to you on a silver planter doesn't mean Itachi will. You saw how devastating he was against the Injustice League." Robin said coming to Itachi's aid.
"Yeah he really saved our butts there. What do you think Aqualad?" Artemis asked.
"I think Itachi should win this bout. Though you cannot discount experience and how it may come into play." He replied.
"I just hope that nothing horrible happens as a result in all of this. Things usually go off the rails when it comes to us." M'gann added as Wolf barked in agreement with her.
"What's the worst that could happen? Itachi and Canary both seem to be pretty patient so I think it will go smoothly." Wally said dismissing M'gann's worries.
"I hope you're right." She said. Everyone got quiet as the two combatants seemed ready to begin their bout. The Cave computer started its countdown for them to begin. Black Canary got her staff ready while Itachi looked ahead. The countdown was down to ten seconds. Itachi knew that somewhere behind a screen, Batman was watching this.
"Begin!" They both rushed towards each other and started trading a salvo of blows. Canary unleashed a furious volley of strikes with her staff, but all of them either missed or were blocked by Itachi. He created some distance by performing some backflips. Once Itachi got far enough away he summoned some shuriken and threw them at Canary.
Black Canary countered by twirling her staff to deflect the shuriken away. Itachi used this opportunity to rush her. He got back in range and kicked her staff out of her hands. He then kneed her in her stomach and threw her to the ground. She had to quickly roll out of the way as an axe kick came dangerously close to her head. She leapt back to her feet and started throwing volleys of punches to ward Itachi off of her. Once she saw an opening, she threw a powerful head kick towards Itachi which got caught. They were currently in a stalemate.
"Wow, they are good. I can barely keep up." M'gann said astoundingly.
"I could see them just fine. Ow," Artemis hit Wally in his good arm, "Okay, okay. Yeah they're both really good at fighting."
"It's hard to tell who's winning this. They are both amazing." Aqualad noted.
"No, Black Canary isn't on Itachi's level. This fight is done." Robin surmised.
"How can you be so sure?" Artemis asked. Robin smiled and pointed at the two combatants, "Just watch. You'll see what I see."
They looked on as the stalemate continued. Canary marveled at how quick and composed Itachi was, 'All of his movements are perfect and crisp. He's never off-balanced with his footwork and all of his attacks have a flow to it. I can see why Batman is so interested in him. He's good.'
She and Itachi stood there in a battle of wills. Canary soon noticed two things: One was that his eyes were red. 'These must be those infamous eyes that I've heard so much about.'
The other was that he still held a firm grip on her leg. She tried to pry herself loose, but nothing worked. "Would you let go of me?"
"If you say so," Itachi then threw he leg upward. It left her unbalanced and unable to defend herself as a clone emerged from the ground and delivered a hard kickto her ribs. The impact of the blow sent her to the floor. She curled up in pain from the surprise attack, but that didn't stop Itachi from continuing the assault.
Dinah hopped back to her feet and prepared for whatever attack would come next. She was reeling from that kick and mad that she allowed herself to be put in that position. Itachi dispersed his clone and charged towards his opponent. Canary tried to defend herself, but Itachi was just too much for her. Nothing she threw landed and everything he threw connected.
Itachi hit her with a quick jab, cross, and uppercut combination that was finished with him sweeping her legs out from under her. Canary moved quickly and rolled to retrieve her staff from the ground. She used it to block and parry a front kick thrown her way. She finished with a swipe at Itachi's face, though his mask took the brunt of the impact.
She smirked to herself as she finally got some leeway in this fight. Itachi stood there silently after being hit for the first time this fight. Canary used this as a moment to attack, but Itachi dispersed into a flock of crows that flew to the opposite side of the training platform. The rejoined together and formed Itachi once they were at a good enough distance.
"Giving up already? We're just getting started." Canary spoke. Itachi cocked his head to the side at how misguidedly overconfident she was, 'This match is already over. She just doesn't know it yet.'
In the blink of an eye, Itachi weaved hand signs to unleash a jutsu of his, "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Volleys of fireballs were sent towards Black Canary. She acted on instincts and used her Canary Cry to collide with the fireballs. The sonic blast colliding with the fireballs resulted in a big explosion occurring. Before the smoke was cleared though, Black Canary heard the whizzing sound of shuriken coming her way. She acted fast and used her staff to block them before they could do any damage. They were all lodged into her staff. Out of the smoke came Itachi, who showed no sign of damage or fatigue.
"A layered attack huh, I see you stopped fighting with kid gloves. Using the fireballs to hide the shuriken was smart. Too bad my Canary Cry not only neutralized the fire attack, but also slowed the rotation of the shuriken enough for me to properly defend against them. I've been through a lot of fights and seen a lot of strategies. You're going to have to do better than that." She declared.
"You say you've seen a lot of strategies, but did you happen to see the paper bombs I planted on the shuriken," Itachi asked. Canary looked at her staff and sure enough, the shuriken had paper strips on each of them with kanji that read "explode". She looked up to see Itachi weave the snake hand seal causing all of the shuriken lodged into her staff to explode. She was sent flying and landed in a painful heap. Before she could knock the cobwebs out of her head and get back to her feet, Itachi was standing over her with a kunai in hand.
"You lose," He declared.
Black Canary shook her head at the result of the battle. Itachi extended his free hand to her, which she gratefully accepted. He pulled her back to her feet and they both walked over to the Team, most of whom were shocked. Only Robin saw this coming.
Itachi had to help hold her up since she was sore from the kick to her ribs and taking an explosion head-on. Once they made it to the others, Black Canary stood at attention to address them.
"That was a productive session. It seems that the reports about your skill level were spot on Crow. Your ability to formulate a multi-layered attack and execute it flawlessly was a stroke of beauty. There aren't too many people on Earth who can keep up with me in a fistfight, but you seem to be one of them." She declared.
"Thank you. What's the next training exercise?" Itachi asked. She smiled and pointed towards Conner, "Conner hear is a clone of Superman. That makes him one of the strongest forces on Earth. Now because he is so strong he can't really test out his abilities because the rest of the Team isn't quite on his level of strength, but you are Itachi. The next exercise will be a bout between Conner and Itachi. No holding back, no holds barred. I want to see just how far the both of you are."
"I don't see why not, though I don't think Itachi will be a match. No offense, but your fire and water tricks won't work on me. I'm too powerful, plus I have invulnerability." Conner said while not trying to sound too much like a jerk.
"You think that makes you without weakness?" Itachi inquired.
"No, just makes it really hard to hurt me. Black Canary has already proven that I have much to learn, but I've trained every day. I don't see any way you could beat me if we aren't holding back and you have no kryptonite." Conner stated.
"Everyone, even Superman, can be beaten. I don't need kryptonite, I have the sharingan. Everyone has a weakness. I'll just have to show you yours." Itachi declared. He started walking back to the sparring platform to proven his point. Conner glared at the Uchiha and stomped over to the platform.
Almost everyone was really interested to see how this would go. M'gann was worried about her boyfriend doing something ill-advised. She knew he had a temper and could be overconfident in his abilities, which could spell trouble against an opponent like Itachi. They just saw him outfight and outsmart an experienced hero like Black Canary.
"I hope he doesn't get himself hurt." M'gann muttered.
"Who Itachi? Because Conner looks like he's in a break something type of mood, especially after that jab Itachi took at him." Wally noted.
"Did you guys not pay attention to the last fight? Itachi won't lose to Conner." Robin declared.
"Why are you such a big fan of his all of a sudden?" Artemis asked.
"I'm not. I'm just a realist. And if I'm being totally honest, Conner doesn't stand a chance." Robin noted.
Conner growled but kept his vision on Itachi who stayed stoic. Aqualad gave his friend and teammate a strange look, "You do know that Superboy can hear all of this right?"
"Yeah, but it won't change how badly Itachi beats him though." Robin said offhandedly.
Wally snickered as Kaldur and Artemis groaned in response. M'gann tried to ignore Robin's words and hope that nothing bad comes of this bout.
"Alright, this bout will have the same rules as last time. Remember no holding back. I need to see where both of you are before I can properly design team training regimens. When the counter hits zero, you can begin." Black Canary announced.
Once the counter hit zero both of the combatants began. Superboy charged at Itachi to try and close the distance between the two. Itachi reacted by weaving his hand signs and unleashing a fire jutsu, "Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
A volley of fireballs much bigger than before met Conner halfway. Conner halted his sprint and braced for impact. The fireballs connected and even pushed him back a few feet, but other than that he showed no sign of damage. He cracked his knuckle and smirked at Itachi before continuing his charge. When he reached Itachi he tried to make a grab for him, but Itachi was too fast and jumped over him. Itachi delivered a triple kick combination while in the air that landed only for Superboy to brush it off like nothing happened.
Superboy started throwing striking combinations of his own, but Itachi dodged every single one of them. He didn't even need his sharingan to see them all coming because Conner basically telegraphed his attacks by how out of place he was. There was only one problem as to why Itachi hadn't knock Conner on his back yet; hitting Conner felt like hitting a wall made of steel, only this wall didn't break on impact. Every punch Itachi threw connected, but it felt like more damage was being done to him than to Superboy. Itachi switched his plan up by using another jutsu, "Water Style! Water Bullet Jutsu!"
The torrents of water hit Conner like the fireballs, and like the fireballs they had little to no effect on him. Conner leapt from his spot on the platform and dove straight towards Itachi. Itachi decided to meet him up in the air to test a few things out. Itachi landed his kick first as it connected to Conner's jaw. Conner smiled as he finally got what he wanted and took a firm grip of Itachi's leg. Superboy twirled him in the air a few times and sent the vigilante hurdling towards the ground after he threw him. Itachi landed and rolled back to his feet as Conner landed seemingly unharmed. The others cheered at the action they were seeing.
"This is great! Conner has really improved." Wally noted.
"I see all of his hard work is paying dividends. A month ago, there was no way Conner could have executed a move like that." Aqualad added.
"I thought Itachi was gonna beat Conner bad? They look pretty even to me." Artemis added.
"You need your eyes checked then archer. The only reason Conner was able to pull that off was because Itachi wanted him to. He has something planned." Robin noted.
"Why can't you admit that you were wrong?" Artemis asked.
"Is that fight over," Robin asked. The others shook their head no, "Then until it is over and Conner stands victorious, shut up."
Miss Martian ignored her comrades and started to vocalize her support for Conner, "Keep it up Conner. You can do it! I believe in you!"
Conner gave M'gann a look of joy and appreciation for her words. He then turned towards his opponent with newfound confidence, "You see that? I can keep up with you Itachi."
'Oh I saw it.' Itachi thought. Conner was about to sprint again when he heard sizzling on his back. He turned and saw a paper bomb that was ignited. This was different from earlier since it had more chakra infused into it for more power behind the blast. Itachi tagged him with it back when they were in the air. It was one of the few things he wanted to test out; to see whether Conner could notice it or if he'd be too focused on Itachi to see it.
The blast that came knocked the wind out of Conner. He was on all four floors trying to catch his breath. Itachi took this as an opportunity to unleash another jutsu, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"
A gigantic fireball came rushing towards him. Conner wound up getting hit because he had no time to move or react. The others watched in shock as their friend was engulfed in flames. M'gann was visibly fearful for Conner's safety. Her fears were put to rest when Conner emerged from the flames, though without his shirt on from the fire burning it away, relatively unharmed.
He gave her a nod to show her that he was alright and then charged at Itachi with ruthless aggression. Just before he made contact with Itachi though, the vigilante disappeared into a flock of crows after uttering the words, "You lose."
The flock of crows reemerged as Itachi who came out firing off another Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Conner dodged and evaded all of the fireballs and made a beeline for Itachi. He stopped when he heard his girlfriend scream in pain. Conner turned to see M'gann had been hit with one of the fireballs and was burning alive. He desperately rushed over to her to help put the flames out. When he reached M'gann, he blew and patted the flames away so that he could hold her close to him. She was unconscious and barely breathing, even with his super-hearing he could barely hear her heartbeat. Conner started crying as he begged her not to leave him all alone again.
Itachi came up behind him with a kunai and in a taunting voice he said, "I thought it was really hard to hurt you. It wasn't hard at all."
Conner head popped up, and in a fit of rage, he lashed out by swinging back at Itachi. When his hit connected Itachi turned into a flock of crows that just flew around in hysteria. He turned back around when he heard M'gann speak.
"I thought that you were invulnerable. Right now, you look pretty vulnerable to me." M'gann said before she too turned into a flock of crows. Conner backed away in shock and fear. Pretty soon Conner could hear all of the crows start to speak, and because of his super-hearing he could distinguish every voice he heard. From Superman to Black Canary, and Kaldur to M'gann, every one of his superiors and teammates were bombarding him with comments on how weak he was and how he would never escape Superman's shadow.
The torture of it all almost drove Conner mad. Itachi stood a ways back and watched as Conner dropped to his knees and clutched his head in pain. Itachi took no pleasure in watching this so he ended to genjutsu he placed Conner under when he tried to charge at him the second time.
To everyone watching the fight, it looked like Conner just stopped out of nowhere and stood still like a statue as Itachi just stared at him. Then when he knelt down and started crying they grew concerned, but it wasn't until he started screaming and clutching his head in pain when they intervened.
M'gann was the first to make it to Conner and tried to shake him out of whatever he was suffering from. The others along with Itachi joined shortly after. M'gann had a look of desperation and fear when she turned to address Itachi, "I feel so much mental unrest inside of him. What did you do to him?"
"I placed him under a genjutsu; an illusion basically. He'll be fine. His brain still thinks it's in the genjutsu. He'll come back to reality soon but I suggest you back away from him." He explained.
"I can help him! All I have to do is-" Itachi cut M'gann off, "No, you can't. Just back away from him now. He's in a lot of pain and-"
Conner's eyes snapped open from hearing Itachi's voice again and he lashed out at the vigilante. He threw the hardest punch he could currently muster at Itachi and since they were so close, Itachi knew that if it connected with him he could die.
Itachi couldn't jump out of the way because Robin was standing behind him and that would mean he'd take the hit instead, so he used the one thing he could that would protect him. Conner's fist connected, but not with Itachi. Instead, he hit something hard. Once the effects of the genjutsu wore off and his eyes were no longer in a blurry haze, he saw a huge red ribcage had surrounded Itachi. There were slight cracks in the ribcage from his fist, but Itachi was unharmed from his positon inside the defense.
"There is nothing more dangerous than a man in pain." Itachi finished.
Conner immediately felt guilty that he almost harmed Itachi. The ribcage soon dissolved and the others quickly came to Conner's aid. He needed help standing and his senses still felt wobbly at best, but Itachi assured them that those would all wear off soon. The Team took Conner to a bench to get his wits back and to make sure that he was truly okay.
"I guess we know who won that fight." Wally commented which got him a glare from a few of his teammates.
"This spar wasn't about who wins or loses, it was about determining skill levels. Connor still has a ways to go." Itachi said.
"What type of illusion did you put him under?" Black Canary asked.
"I wanted to see how he'd react to seeing a teammate get hurt. He basically broke down which allowed me to see all of his other weakness. I wanted Conner to see that just because he's invulnerable, doesn't mean that he can't be hurt." Itachi answered. He purposefully kept the details of the genjutsu vague for Conner's sake.
"He couldn't have been in that illusion for more than a few minutes though. To cause this much damage is insane." Artemis commented.
"You can spend your entire life strengthening the muscles in your body, but when I'm your opponent, the only muscle that matters is the one that's in your head. All I need to do is make eye contact or point with my finger in order to put someone under a genjutsu." Itachi responded.
"If you could have done that just by pointing or eye contact, why did you not start off with a genjutsu?" Kaldur asked.
"Like I said earlier, this spar wasn't about who wins or loses, it was about skill level assessments. If I had started off with that, our teacher wouldn't be able to determine where Conner and I are at skill wise." Itachi answered.
"He's right. Even in that short little exchange of blows between them, I got a good sense of where Conner and Itachi are at." Canary added.
"And where are Itachi and me ranked then?" Conner grunted.
"Strong points I saw in you Conner: You have made great strides in your hand-to-hand combat training. Keep on this path and I see you becoming a great hero in your own right. As for what needs to improve: you still need more real life combat experience. You rushed in without giving any thought as to what Itachi's plan was. You just thought that whatever it was you could just take it and keep fighting, but you were wrong. If this were a real fight, you would have gotten a lot yourself hurt badly or even killed, not to mention your teammates. You must learn how to assess fighting strategies on the fly, even without prior intel on your opponents." She assessed.
Conner dropped his head down, but M'gann and the others assured him that he did great which lifted his spirits up. He was determined to get better for the Team.
"Don't tell him I said this, but even Superman needs improvement so you should be fine Conner." She said trying to keep the young heroes confidence up. The others chuckled, minus Itachi, at her jab. Canary coughed to get their attention since she wasn't finished.
"And for you Itachi, your hand-to-hand combat skills are extraordinary and your fight IQ is second to no one I've ever fought. Your ability to assess your opponent's abilities and come up with a sound strategy to combat them was truly a sight to behold. You never looked rattled or like you didn't have the entire situation cased mentally. Even when Conner gained an advantage when he threw you out of the air, you came right back at him with a well-placed paper bomb that went off without a hitch. I may not know much about genjutsu, but if it's potent enough to make a kryptonian drop to his knees in pain, then that doesn't bode well for normal humans. And as for what needs improvement: Nothing from what I saw in your spars, though I'd like to see how you perform in a drawn out fight. Maybe next time Diana could help with that. You seem to be the perfect fighter, which is astounding considering your age."
Itachi knew he was far from the perfect fighter. He was just advanced in comparison to the fighters of this Earth. Now that Conner was feeling better, Robin took it as an opportunity to gloat to his teammates.
"I told you guys. Conner didn't stand a chance against Itachi." Robin gloated.
"And why were you so sure about that? Conner is Superman's clone for heaven's sake." Artemis challenged.
"Because Alfred showed me the tape of when Itachi kicked Batman's butt. If he could beat Batman, that there was no way he'd lose to Conner, kryptonian or no kryptonian." Robin answered smugly.
Artemis had completely forgotten that Itachi had defeat Batman before. Had she remembered, she'd have picked Itachi too. Wally and Aqualad were shocked to hear that Itachi fought and won against Batman. Canary couldn't help but laugh.
"You must have been why Batman had such a sour mood at one of our past League meetings. I knew it had to have been something because for some reason all he did and said were grunts and mumbles. For a second I thought he was the Flash when he zoomed out of the meeting so fast when it concluded. This is too good, wait till Ollie hears about this." She said excitedly.
Itachi really wanted to avoid that happening because Batman would only wind up blaming him for that. M'gann got curious about something and decided to ask Itachi, "What else can you do with your eyes? And what was that ribcage that you summoned out of nowhere?"
"Yeah, when Conner lashed out at you, I thought you were about to be turned into a human piñata." Wally added.
"My sharingan allows me to do a lot of things. One of which is enhanced perception, it's why Conner and Black Canary both had a hard time hitting me. I knew their every move before they even did. They only got the few moves off that they did because I wanted to see if they'd notice the traps I set up for them. The more advanced the sharingan is, the more proficient the added perception becomes. There are two broad functions of the sharingan; they are the Eye of Insight and the Eye of Hypnotism."
"Wow that sounds complicated. Do you mind breaking it down for us?" Artemis asked.
"The Eye of Insight allows me to see chakra, which isn't possible through normal means. I can also see people on a cellular level if the case need be. Because of the increased perception, I can do things like read lips, mimic body movements, and in combat, I can see and assess fast-moving objects that normally can't be seen. I can also anticipate an opponent's next move based on the slightest muscle tension in their body and act accordingly. But even with all of that, I need to be physically capable of reacting to the visual information or else I'd just end up seeing me being punched in the face a few seconds before it actually happens. And lastly after I establish eye contact, I can enter a target's mind and do things like seep through their memories." He explained.
"Geez with powers like that how could you ever lose a fight Mr. 'Perfect Fighter'." Wally remarked with a hint of sarcasm.
"I am in no way a perfect fighter. I have plenty of flaws, as we all do. I'm just better at hiding mine than you are at hiding yours." Itachi countered as Wally felt deflated.
"You can go through into people's minds? Are you sure you're not a Martian like M'gann?" Robin joked.
"I'm sure of what I am. Now as for the Eye of Hypnotism; it's what you just saw Conner get hit with. Genjutsu is a main staple of the sharingan. Though it can be used in other ways, the best known manifestation is to suggest thoughts and actions to a target in order to get them to divulge information or act in a particular way, all without them even knowing. In extreme cases I can take complete control over a target's body and force them to do anything I wish. I can also control multiple targets at once, though the more targets under my control, the easier it will be for them to break free since my attention is so divided." He finished.
"You can do some of the things I can. That's amazing." M'gann complimented.
"Yes, just not as well as you. For me to do those things takes a lot of chakra, but you do it naturally without any drawbacks. There are other abilities of the sharingan, but they are forbidden to use because of the cost." Itachi stated solemnly.
"What is the cost of these forbidden moves," Aqualad asked. Itachi remembered what happened when he used the Izanami while fighting Kabuto, "They cause permanent blindness."
Everyone was shocked at such a steep price. They figured whatever the techniques were must be powerful enough to be worth the blindness. Conner remembered the red ribcage he punched and asked Itachi how he conjured it up, "So that illusion that I saw was a genjutsu huh. What about the ribcage?"
"That is the sharingan's strongest ability. It is called the Susanoo and is only unlocked by achieving mangekyo sharingan," Itachi activated his mangekyo sharingan to show them. The others watched in awe as they saw his eyes literally changed to form a type of pinwheel. Wally commented on how cool it was, but Itachi couldn't disagree more. It wasn't cool having to watch Shisui die in order to unlock it.
"The mangekyo grants me additional powers on top of a normal sharingan. I can use Amaterasu, which is the black heavenly flame, and the Tsukuyomi, which is the most powerful genjutsu ever created. With Amaterasu I can burn anything since the flames lasts for seven days and seven nights. The only way they are extinguished is if the target is burned to ashes. The Tsukuyomi is a genjutsu that allows me to control everything in the illusion, including time and space. I can make three seconds in the real world feel like three years in the Tsukuyomi. It leaves the victim in severe psychological trauma and in extreme cases dead. The Joker is the only person who's experienced it without showing signs of severe mental trauma." Itachi summarized.
"Trying to make the Joker go crazy is a lost cause man." Robin added
"Your powers sound overwhelming. How is it that you've remained off the radar for so long?" Canary asked.
"My eyes mean nothing if I'm not skilled enough to wield them properly. And to answer your question I've lived under a rock all this time," Itachi answered as a call back to when he first met Carson. The others chuckled at his answer while their teacher shook her head. She got their attention and told them that that was it for individual sparring and now they'd focus on team exercises. The Team went to the obstacle course to practice new fighting formations as Black Canary and Kid Flash watched.
A few hours later the Team had finished all of the exercises for the day. Since they didn't have any new missions sent by Batman, Canary decided to give them the day off early for the hard work they put in. Itachi was off by himself when Artemis came up next to him. She asked about her mother and how she was doing. Once Itachi told her about her sister, her great mood turned sour quickly. He made sure to leave out the flirting part.
"Of course that witch would take mom. Sorry, I have to go get my mom. And here I thought this was going to be a relaxing afternoon." She vented.
"Do you want me to accompany you to find her?" Itachi offered.
"No, no that's fine. I know where she's been taken. No need for both of us to waste our afternoons. I'll be sure to let her know you were thinking of her though. Bye." She said as she rushed to be zeta-tubed back to Gotham.
"Hey man. Can we talk…away from the others?" Conner said awkwardly. Itachi nodded at him and walked further away from the group to avoid being eaves dropped on.
"I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like I did. I could have hurt you." Conner said sadly.
"No need. You're head wasn't all the way back. I don't hold grudges." Itachi replied in order to dismiss Conner's worries.
"Thanks man. And thanks for not telling everyone about the illusion I saw, especially M'gann. I take it you know that me and her are together." He said shyly.
"Yes." He answered.
"What gave us away?" Conner asked.
"Back when we sparred and you threw me, everyone on the Team gave you praise, but you didn't turn to acknowledge it until M'gann ultimately spoke up. That and I've seen how you interact with her while on missions. You tend to be more overprotective and concerned about her than anyone else. If that keeps up it will get your teammates hurt one day, especially if your first reaction to seeing her dying is to break down." Itachi advised.
"So what?! You want me to just break up with her then!" Conner growled as his temper rose. Itachi stayed calm and gave his honest opinion.
"I didn't put you in that genjutsu to give you the idea that you should break up with her, I did it because not everyone is as blind as Artemis and Wally is. If a villain picks up that you and her are in a relationship, it could compromise not just the two of you, but the entire Team. Do you want to be responsible for any of them getting hurt? What about M'gann? You think she wants that?" Itachi asked.
"No, she wouldn't. I guess I still have a long way to go." Conner said sounding disappointed.
"Yes, but that's what your teammates are here for. M'gann, or anyone else for that matter, isn't a weakness to you; they are your strength. We all want you to succeed. You don't have to worry about walking in Superman's footsteps; you can make your own, right here with the Team." Itachi responded.
"Superman…I don't understand him. I'm his clone, but he treats me like I'm some mistake of his. I couldn't care less about walking in his footsteps or his approval." Conner gruffly said.
"That's not true and you know it. He's a part of you and as much as he'd like to deny it, you are a part of him too. Remember though he may be super, at the end of the day he is still a man which means he isn't perfect. Just give him time and let him get to know you." Itachi advised.
"I'll try, but no promises. Thanks for the advice. I hope we can spar again sometime," Conner said. Itachi nodded at him and Conner went to rejoin M'gann. Before he left he made sure to shout, "And no genjutsu next time. It's cheating."
Itachi shook his head at his friend and went back to deciding what his next move should be. He still had no idea who this great enemy was he had to face, and he's been on this Earth for months. The lack of progress made him sigh with frustration.
"You look pretty stressed." Black Canary commented.
"I have a lot on my mind." Itachi replied.
"I'm sorry to interrupt then. I just wanted to let you know that we have training again, but at three tomorrow. The kids all have school to attend to." She informed Itachi.
"I see. I'll be sure to be there."
"Do you go to school," She asked him. He shook his head no to her. Itachi hasn't seen a class room since he was seven, "I work during the day."
"Where do you work at?"
"The Chinatown Mask Shop over in Gotham." He answered.
"You know, with powers as advanced as yours you should be in the League." She confessed.
"You all don't trust me enough yet, which is understandable." Itachi replied.
"For what it's worth Shazam seems to trust and like you. And I see no hidden evil inside you either." She said trying to smooth things over.
"I see. Is that all?" Itachi asked politely.
"Two things actually: How does someone defeat the sharingan." She asked.
"One on one it's virtually impossible. It can be done, but it would take an extremely high level of discipline since you'd essentially have to fight without looking into their eyes. The shortcut way of doing it would be by finding someone else with the sharingan to fight me. Only someone with my blood can fight out of genjutsu such as Tsukuyomi. The only other way would be to have multiple opponents fight me at once. If I'm split between multiple opponents I won't have time to successfully cast a proficient genjutsu, which means the fight would most likely stay physical. But I must warn you, if I get to the point where my Susanoo is needed to be summoned, almost no attack against me will succeed. Its defense is very potent, though if it makes you feel comfortable I can show you some of its weak points." He answered.
"Why would you tell me how to defeat you in combat?" She asked genuinely confused. Itachi figured Batman instructed her to ask him this.
"You asked and because I want you to feel like you can trust me. I don't want there to be secrets that I need to keep. We are all on the same team." Itachi explained.
Black Canary smiled at her subordinate for his answer, "I trust you Itachi."
He nodded before asking her about the second thing she wanted to know, "Oh, you're going to be getting a visitor at work tomorrow morning. He's very interested in finally talking to you personally." She informed him.
"From who?" He asked.
"I don't want to ruin the surprise." She replied teasingly before leaving. Now that the conversation was done Itachi decided that he'd head to Gotham. He wanted to check on Carson and Ms. Yumi. It was still day time so he decided that he'd help Ms. Yumi with whatever repairs to the shop she needed after the plant attack in Gotham and then he'd check out for the day. He decided that he'd let Batman handle the patrols in Gotham for the night, Itachi just wanted a good night's rest after some hectic past few days.
James was currently at Argus headquarters. He handed the vial over to his bosses who immediately started working on manufacturing a clone. He looked on through a glass window as the doctors worked with a new sense of urgency that he hasn't seen before. Amanda Waller walked up to him and patted his shoulder.
"Because of you we will have a fully operational clone of the Crow ready soon." She announced.
"How soon?" James asked. He wanted the League dealt with now.
"By the end of the week, that's the deadline. The doctor's jobs are on the line." She answered.
"What happens when the clone is operational? How will it work?" James asked curiously.
"The clone will have all of the abilities of the Crow. Our engineers are already working on a controlled dark matter fusion reactor to energize the cells of the clone so that it can be at its maximum peek. Any meta power he has to unlock will be unlocked." She replied.
"Okay it'll have all of the Crow's powers, what about combat style and personality traits?" James inquired.
"Oh we have someone who will personally oversee that." She answered with a smirk.
"Who," James asked. Waller showed him an image of the person on her tablet, "Professor Ivo. He designed and created the Amazo android. It had the abilities to copy all of the powers of the Justice League and nearly brought them to their knees. Our clone will copy all of the surveillance footage we have on Crow, along with the fighting styles of only the elite of fighters. We will use Ivo's memory depth technology to imprint memories of the Crow unto our clone until it reaches the point where it hates the Crow. The clone will destroy the Crow and all of his comrades at all costs. The fall of the Justice League begins now."
"Where is professor Ivo?" James asked. She expanded the image on the tablet to full view, "In Belle Reeve Prison where we left him. We will pick him up shortly, we're just waiting on something first."
"I see. Do you need anything of me?" James asked.
"You've done enough. Now, it's our turn. Just stay on standby, just in case." She ordered.
"Yes Ma'am." He saluted her before walking away. He'd finally get his wish of a world without metas or aliens, and he'd use Itachi to achieve it.
It was about ten in the morning and Itachi was currently working his shift in the mask shop. Thankfully the shop didn't need too many repairs done it and could be opened today. Not everyone was so lucky though. The plant attack on Gotham caused a lot of property damage to the city. Fortunately, Lex Luthor, Oliver Queen, and Bruce Wayne all gave generous donations towards the repairs needed for the city. Construction was already beginning and the buildings damaged should be repaired soon.
One of the buildings damaged was Carson's and Paula's apartment complex. It needed major repairs and until it was done, they both needed to find new places to sleep. Paula and Artemis were staying in a former home of their not too far from the apartment. Carson was currently staying with Carla in her home. Carla's Café was also badly damaged in the siege. Carla was beginning to wonder if her café was cursed or something.
Since she didn't have class today and her place of employment was currently under construction, Carson was offered a job by Ms. Yumi to work in her mask shop. She was currently working her shift with Itachi. You could imagine the look on Itachi's face when he went to open up and he saw Carson in work clothes. He looked at Ms. Yumi and she shrugged by saying that he was moving too slow for her taste.
Itachi had to sit there and watch as guy after guy came in and flirted with Carson right in front of him as if he couldn't set them on fire at any moment. She just ate the attention up and made sure to try and get a rise out of Itachi. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction though as he'd just simple ignore her and work on polishing more masks.
"You can't tell me that working together is that bad?" She asked in a childlike voice.
Itachi simply ignored her. She thought he was jealous, but he just had no intention of giving in to her petty games. If he did she would win, and they both knew that. Ms. Yumi was just amazed at all the customers that were coming in after such an attack. In her head she just knew she made the right decision hiring Carson. Even though she struggled at times at Carla's Café, here in Chinatown Mask Shop she is a natural.
A plain looking customer walked in. Carson decided that Itachi could handle this and decided to go check on the masks in the back. Itachi asked if the customer knew which mask he wanted, and the customer smiled and replied.
"I'm looking for a crow mask. You wouldn't happen to have one would you? He asked.
Itachi looked up and eyed the customer again. His face and voice felt familiar to him, but when he looked into the man's eyes he immediately knew who it was. Even with glasses on, Itachi could still tell that the man he was speaking with was none other than Superman.
"Yeah we have a crow mask. I never got your name. It is?" Itachi asked.
"Kent. Clark Kent. And you," Clark responded. Itachi looked back to make sure Carson couldn't hear who he was talking to, "Itachi Uchiha."
"Nice to formally meet you…Crow."
"Same here…Superman." He responded.
"Why don't we finish this somewhere more private? I know a great place in Metropolis. The pie there is amazing." He stated.
"Carson, I'm going on break. Don't wait up," Itachi called out to Carson.
Carson shouted from out back, "Huh?!"
Itachi shook his head and had to stop from groaning. Clark smiled at the young vigilante and led him outside. Itachi waited before they were more secluded before asking, "Are you flying us over there? In broad daylight?"
Clark responded by taking off his disguise and revealing his Superman attire, "You and Batman may be used to the whole night shtick, but there are heroes who actually work during the day. Have you flown before?"
"I've ridden on Miss Martian's bioship before," Superman had to stifle a laugh, "Not what I meant. Better buckle up."
"What are you-" before Itachi knew it, he was high up in the air as Superman held him by his arms. He could hear Superman laugh as they blasted through the air as high speed. Itachi looked up at Superman who had the biggest smile on his face. Itachi felt the wind fiercely brush against his face and as much as he wanted to be put down, he looked down and figured he'd wait until they were a couple thousand feet lower to the ground. He knew one thing; whatever Superman wanted to talk to him about had better be worth it.
That's it for this chapter! Thank you for all the faves, follows, and reviews. Some of them really make my day. We aren't that far away from the first big boss so watch out. See you guys and gals next time!