Chapter 60: Fire and Lightning

*Ding*

The gentle sound of a bell echoed through the forest. A pair of travellers slowly emerged from the morning mist, walking forwards with an undeniable confidence. The pair wore similar black coats with red clouds. While one wore a straw hat with a single bell on it, the other had a huge sword on his back, wrapped in cloth.

The duo travelled silently through the forest, their destination was clear, Kumo. Where the objective of their mission lay.

"Huh? A tavern in this place?" The shark-faced man spoke up as they neared a tavern in the middle of the woods. "What do you say we get a bite to eat? I could eat a feast!" the man suggested to his compatriot who simply nodded.

The two approached the small wooden hut with wooden tables in front of the hut that served as both tables and chairs and occupied one of them. There were two more customers, both busily eating a whole tray of dumplings.

As the duo sat down, a middle aged man hurriedly came to them, "Welcome customer! Would you like some food? We have a very special drink that we are offering on launch discount!" The man smiled brightly at the duo.

"Yah, just give us something to eat." The shark-faced man tossed a few notes at the middle aged man who gladly accepted them and ran inside.

After a few minutes he brought them two glasses of fresh, sparkling yellowish drinks. The shark-faced man picked up the glass and started to drink, "Oh~ this is sweet." he commented.

The middle aged man nodded enthusiastically, "Ofcourse, Lemonade is always sweeter if someone else makes it after all."

As the shark-faced man went for another sip, his companion knocked away the glass from his hand but before he could complain, the man's eyes had turned red as he stabbed a kunai into the middle aged man.

"Itachi what are you-!" Before he could finish his thought he saw the middle aged man turn into a pile of bamboo leaves that got blown away with a sudden gust of wind. Kisame immediately held his sword up and looked towards the only other people here, the duo that were still busy eating dumplings as if nothing had happened.

The red eyed man also looked at them and spoke in a clam voice, "It's been a while… Shin." Kisame looked at Itachi and then at the duo, "You mean the Demon Cat of Konoha? Heh, didn't think poison was his style. I should pay him back!" he stared at the duo as they slowly got up and turned towards them.

One of them was a young boy in jet black robes with red highlights and the image of red bamboo shoots on the lower part of the robes. The other was a big fat panda with his face stuffed full of dumplings.

"It wasn't poison, just poetic." Shin smiled lightly, his hand gripping his sheathed sword. "It's been a while, Itachi. I just thought it's about time I wound up the loose ends." Shin turned to the panda next to him, "I'll take the animal, you take the shark." The panda simply nodded while swallowing the enormous amounts of the dumplings that were in his mouth.

"Hehehe, looks like he really hates you huh Itachi." Kisame chuckled at the insult beofre he turned to look at the panda who would be his opponent. "Seriously!? A panada? Aren't you underestimating me, Demon Cat of Konoha?"

Shin ignored him, his gaze fixed on Itachi just as Itachi's was fixed on him. Itachi looked at Shin and wanted to find an opportunity to explain things to him, to tell him the truth about himself and the Akatsuki but he needed to find the right moment.

Shin, seemingly able to read his mind, simply chuckled, "I am not here to talk, Itachi. I know everything you want to say. About the other Uchiha, the Akatsuki and the tailed beasts you guys have been rounding up." Shin slowly moved to pick up the lemonade on his table before continuing, uncaring about the abrupt change in the expressions of the Akatsuki duo.

"No matter how many you guys gather, you will never be able to get all of them anyways so the plan Pain thinks he has come up with has already failed." Shin sipped before making a sour face and putting the glass down again, "As I thought, sour."

"Oi oi oi, Itachi, who does this guy know all this? What should we do?" Kisame held up his sword with a serious look on his face.

His mind was a mess, 'How does he know all this? He even knows about the leader!? And that we are gathering the tailed beasts. Does this mean the Hokage knows this too?' In the end Itachi decided to ask the question that was bothering him, "What do you mean that the plan has already failed?"

Shin grinned, "Obviously because you will never be able to collect all the tailed beasts. I already have two of them in my possession." Shin's grin deepened as he answered an unasked question, "And no, the Hokage doesn't know… he has no need of it. I am only telling you two because you two are already dead." Shin slowly unsheathed his sword and dropped the sheath to the ground with a light *thud*.

[Name Itachi Uchiha

Level 120(+50)(-10)

Age: 18

Title: Jonin of Konoha

Notice: Target is ill.]

"You've gotten stronger since I last saw you, Itachi." Shin's eyes turned red as he activated his Sharingan, "But I am afraid I'm in a different realm entirely." His eyes shifted again and his pupils turned into the shape of a curved shuriken with four sides.

[Name: The Overlord of Chaos (Shin Hirano)

Level: 161(+50)(+80)(+240)

Title: Chunin of Konoha/ Other worlder/ Disciple of the Grandmaster/ The Black Cat of Konoha/ The Cat Demon of Konoha/ Baron of Anu Village/ Prince Consort of Princess Youhi/ Noble of The Land of Fire/ Marquess of Haron Castle

Age: 16

Stats:

Strength: 135

Vitality: 145

Agility: 135

Sense: 190

Chakra: 185(+1440)

Control: 180(-20)

...…

Chi: 360(-1)

Chi Control:360]

Kisame flinched as he saw Shin's eyes and hurriedly turned to Itachi, "Itachi! What's going on!? Why does that guy have eyes like yours!? I thought you killed all the Uchiha!" he yelled, if it weren't for the threat he felt from the person in front of him, he would have already held Itachi from his collar, demanding all the answers.

But before Itachi could answer, Shin answered for him, "Oh he did. And now Vengeance is here for him. To give him the death he deserves! Graveless and with no one to mourn him! This is what a kin-killer like him deserves!" Shin spat in fury and disgust. To someone like him, who has had his family taken from him, ripped away from him… the thought of killing your own parents and friends and family was simply revolting, no matter the reason.

"Lei, keep the shark busy while I put down this wild mutt!" Shin spoke with hate before he slammed his palm in front of him and the air exploded with such force that the Ataksuki duo shot into the forest at breakneck speeds, crashing through the trees, knocking them down as a shockwave flattened everything for 50 meters in front of Shin.

Itachi slowly got up, 'What kind of jutsu was that? Such force and there were no hand seals so I couldn't dodge at all!' He looked around, Kisame and himself had been separated.

*Crackle*

Lightning struck several meters infront of him as Shin appeared, covered in lightning. Itachi's expression turned as he saw him appear, 'Such speed! I couldn't even see him! I have to take this seriously!'

Instantly he activates his Mangekyou and his left eye starts to bleed and he tries to pull Shin into a Tsukuyomi. He was confident that he would be able to win even if Shin was stronger than him but in an instant, he felt the chakra in his body go berserk. He looked at Shin and was surprised, just to see Shin's right eye starting to turn counter-clockwise.

'Of Course! It's the power of Yukia's Mangekyou!' Itachi remembered but a step too late, Shin had already disappeared from his sight in a flash of lightning.

Itachi barely caught the sight of the sword and ducked just in time to dodge a horizontal slash where he had been.

*Bhoom*

The area behind him exploded as lightning ripped through the trees behind him, leaving them shattered and charred black.

*Boom*

A violent kick launched him backwards but as he hit the trees it exploded into crows.

'A clone.' Shin muttered. Clones made of physical things like snakes or crows were harder to distinguish but his sense stats with now 190. He could literally feel the chakra and natural energy around him.

He turned around as a massive ball of flame came towards him from the sides. Shin slammed his hands onto the ground and pillars of earth shot up into the air, blocking the fire ball as it exploded. But the earth pillars didn't stop and kept sporting out of the ground and quickly spread all in all directions, fishing out the prey.

Itachi jumped into the air and spat forth several fire balls that rushed towards shin at great speeds from all directions.

Shin weaved the hand seals and using a mix of qi and chakra, he used the improved form of the 'Wind release: Pressure damage'. A hurricane swept in all directions, expanding and intently covering dozens of meters and the wind-type energy shredded everything in its path around Shin.

When the winds died down Shin saw Itachi covered in a skeletal form of an orange sonasoo. Itachi looked at Shin with surprise and regret, 'He has grown so strong but he has also been blinded by his hatred. I'm sorry Shin.' Itachi's right started to bleed as black flames materialized on Shin.

"I'm sorry Shin, but the battle is over. The fire of my Amaterasu cannot be extinguished." The orange energy skeleton evaporated as he saw the black fire burn where Shin was.

"Oh I am very well aware. Thank you for giving it to me. I've been wanting to collect it." Shin's calm voice sounded from the fire, shocking Itachi.

"Impossible! How can you not be affected by my Amaterasu!?" Itachi's eyes bulged as Shin simply passed through the fire and appeared before him, completely unharmed, his left eye having shifted to an exact copy of Obito's.

"That eye! Madara!? It's impossible! How!?" Itachi's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts but none of them made sense.

"You can not defeat Itachi, just like that orange masked idiot. But you are right, the battle is over." Shin's eye shifted again to match Itachi's as the latter felt pain burn through him as black flames erupted on his body.

Shin moved swiftly as Itachi was caught up in the abrupt pain and confusion and snatched away Itachi's eyes, "Don't worry. I'll deliver them to your brother just as you delivered her's to me. Consider this my last courtesy to the person I once called my friend."

Shin watched fire eat away at the writhing man before he simply turned away towards the distant and massive globe of water. 'Lei seems to be having fun, though we should finish up.'

Shin gave one last glance at the fire behind him before he sped away in a flash of lightning.