Chapter VII: A Battle of Sharingan
Gaara's cluster of sand quickly shifts to form a sword, then hardened. Waving his left arm to manipulate the mass, the Kazekage swings it at Itachi. After just two such swings, the sand blade manages to slice the Uchiha's body in half.
On impact, Itachi's body transforms into several squawking black crows. The crows would then eventually fly close together until his body reformed.
"So, it's true. You possess your late father's ability... you manipulate sand with your chakra," Itachi says.
"That's right. And I know that you use that Sharingan of yours to ensnare your enemies in genjutsu, but that won't work on me so long as I have Shukaku inside me," replies Gaara.
Sand would then suddenly wrap around Itachi's body. The Uchiha looks down to notice a small hole present in the ground below his feet. The sand that now trapped him was pouring from this hole. Itachi chuckles softly at the sight. He realizes that Gaara's earlier attack was meant to distract him from the trap.
"Now you're done for," Gaara says as he holds his arm out. With a single movement, he could crush the Uchiha with his signature Sand Burial jutsu. Itachi smiles before looking Gaara right in the eyes, his Mangekyou dangerously blaring in the sunlight.
"Before you attempt to finish me off, I suggest you take a good look at yourself," Itachi says calmly.
Gaara blinks a few times before gasping out, immediately noticing thathewas instead encased in the sand. Itachi was spotless.
"You put me in a genjutsu," the former Kazekage mutters, wincing a little.
How did he get through Shukaku that easily? Was I already under his spell before I even began my attack?!
"Genjutsu is my specialty, as you already know," Itachi starts, he slowly raising his arm. Gaara grits his teeth, glaring at the Akatsuki member.
"You were correct in your assertion that as a Perfect Jinchuriki, your Tailed Beast would dispel any genjutsu casted on you. However... what if I were to put the beast itself into an illusion first? I did just that, and it seems I did it without fail," Itachi explains.
With a slight smile, the Uchiha closes his eyes, extending his arm out. Multiple crows with swords tightly held in their beaks appear from under his arm and quickly fly towards Gaara. The immobile red-haired shinobi braces himself, all the while questioning if he was still under Itachi's powerful genjutsu.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" a new voice yells from behind Gaara.
A sizeable wall of earth suddenly rises in front of the crows to block their attack. The crows dispel into black feathers on impact, the reinforced wall lowering soon after.
Kakashi Hatake, donning a full Leaf Anbu uniform, was now standing next to Gaara. The veteran ninja quickly became a captain of his own Anbu squad after the Fourth Great Ninja war ended.
Gaara looks up at Kakashi, not surprised with his sudden entrance.
"It's been quite some time, Kakashi," he says, the sand encasing his body slowly retreating back into his gourd.
"Something felt fishy to me, so I went ahead of my squad. I'm glad I did, or you would've been seriously injured just now," the white-haired man says. Itachi scoffs at his former comrade, his Mangekyou closely watching the Leaf ninja in case he prepared any sudden attacks.
"Kakashi, I'll be blunt... I'm disappointed in you. For you are still among the corrupted force of the Anbu Black Ops," he says. Deidara smirks widely, also looking over to Kakashi.
"Hmph! This is perfect for me! I'll be able to finally exact my revenge on you! I'll pay you back in spades for what you did to me back then!" the blonde yells at him. The embarrassing memory of losing his arm to Kakashi's Kamui jutsu was forever burned into his head. The elder Hiruzen walks forward after carefully observing everything from the sidelines.
"Kakashi, you're going to regret coming here," the Third Hokage tells him. After slapping his hands together, Monkey King Enma is summoned to his side. His old companion transforms into his staff form to be used as Hiruzen's weapon.
"Go, Enma!"
The end of the staff quickly stretches towards Kakashi. The white-haired male jumped in the air to dodge it. First Hokage Hashirama also steps forward, performing multiple hand seals as his eyes lock on the Anbu captain.
"Forgive me," Hashirama mutters to himself.
Secret Wood Style Jutsu: Deep Forest Emergence!
Barricades of trees suddenly emerge from the ground and rise in the air, trapping Kakashi in their confines. More trees and vegetation form until an entire forest was created atop the roof.
"Never thought I'd be able to see Lord First's Wood Style," Kakashi mumbles as he lands on a sturdy tree branch, his trained Sharingan eye darting around quickly.
Hashirama performs more hand seals. Large branches covered with explosive tags form on the trees.
"It's over!"
The branches close in on Kakashi and trigger a catastrophic explosion, setting numerous trees on fire. Upon the explosion, Kakashi's body turns into a log and poofed away, indicating he used a Substitution Jutsu to avoid the attack. With his Sharingan, he was able to detect the buildup of chakra stemming from the First Hokage. So long as he possessed the Uchiha clan dojutsu, all sneak attacks were made meaningless.
The white-haired Anbu captain silently reappears in the air way above Hashirama, electricity dangerously crackling in his hands. He quickly flies at the first Hokage, shoving his arm forward.
Suddenly, Itachi appears in front of Kakashi, smashing a heavy knee into his chest. Kakashi crashes down to the ground, sliding against it as a result of the blow. He winces and looks up, finding himself to be looking into the eyes of a shadow clone Itachi had already created.
"A true heir of the Sharingan can't be bested by a mere borrower," the clone says.A single streak of blood runs down its right eye.
"Die..."