Chapter 363: Mere Tsukuyomi

A few hours later, under the cover of night, Team 7 successfully reached the coastline.

This time, their landing was smooth, there were no guards, and no shinobi intercepting them. They entered the Land of Waves without issue and safely escorted Tazuna to the civilian district.

Before long, Tazuna led them to his home.

In the house, there was only a seven- or eight-year-old child, living alone with Tazuna. The child's father, Tazuna's son, had died years ago in the struggle against Kado's tyranny.

Upon returning home, Tazuna took out what little dried meat he had to offer his guests.

Seeing the modest conditions of the house, the members of Team 7 finally understood why Tazuna had concealed the truth about the mission, he simply couldn't afford to pay more. Hearing the commotion, the neighbors quietly approached.

Recognizing Tazuna, they sighed in relief and began telling him about the recent events in the village. As Tazuna listened, his eyes tightened, and he silently vowed to complete the bridge no matter what.

After the neighbors left, Tazuna turned to Kakashi and the others. As if making up his mind, he said, "Can I hire you to protect me until the bridge is finished? I'll find a way to pay you later."

Kakashi exchanged glances with his team. After a brief moment of silent communication, he responded, "No need for payment. Kado has hired rogue shinobi from Konoha, we will take care of them."

Hearing this, Tazuna was overwhelmed with emotion and dropped into a deep bow of gratitude. Kakashi reached out to stop him, then turned his gaze toward the forest outside. Squinting slightly, he addressed Naruto and the others, "Itachi Uchiha is here. Let's go outside and meet our enemy."

With that, Kakashi disappeared from the house in a flicker, and Naruto and Sasuke followed closely behind. Once outside, they saw Itachi Uchiha and Kisame, fully armed and ready. Their arrival didn't come as a surprise.

The moment Team 7 decided to continue the mission, they had already prepared for battle.

Upon seeing Itachi, Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Itachi Uchiha… I'm not the same as before. I'll show you the results of my training!"

Itachi was momentarily taken aback, then smiled.

It seemed Shisui had been training Sasuke these past few days. However, Itachi doubted Sasuke was ready to face him. If his hatred were strong enough, he would have already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.

With that in mind, Itachi spoke calmly, "The last lesson didn't seem to leave an impression on you. Looks like I need to help you remember what happened that night… and maybe add some new memories this time."

Itachi then cast his gaze towards a certain distance, "If your comrades and teacher get in the way, I could always break their limbs and throw them into the sea~."

Hearing Itachi's words, Sasuke could no longer hold back. He vanished in a blur, drawing his sword and lunging at his brother.

Itachi's eyes flashed as he flicked several kunai at Sasuke. However, when the kunai pierced Sasuke's body, they didn't stop, they went straight through, stabbing into the ground, leaving only the handles exposed.

Itachi grimaced. He quickly realized what had happened. Sasuke had used Shisui's Shunshin no Jutsu, a version of the Body Flicker that left behind an afterimage.

Seeing Sasuke master such an advanced technique, Itachi felt a sense of relief.

As long as Sasuke didn't face elite jonin of renown, he wouldn't need to worry about his safety. Kakashi had initially wanted to stop Sasuke, but after seeing him hold his own against Itachi, he decided against interfering.

Whatever Itachi's true objective was, he had no intention of killing Sasuke, not yet, at least. Even if Sasuke lost, he would only suffer a few injuries. Meanwhile, the rest of Team 7 needed to focus on dealing with Kisame.

With that in mind, Kakashi and Yamato, who had been hiding in the shadows, launched an attack on Kisame.

Facing the combined assault of Kakashi and Yamato, Kisame felt helpless. In a one-on-one fight, he was confident he wouldn't lose. But against two formidable jonin working together, he doubted he could last ten minutes.

There was no helping it, Lightning Release and Wood Release countered him too well. As Kakashi and Sasuke engaged in battle, Naruto glanced at Kisame, then at Itachi, before ultimately deciding to join Sasuke's fight.

His mother had once told him that the Sharingan was highly effective against ordinary shinobi, but not so much against Jinchūriki. Even if a Jinchūriki was caught in a genjutsu, their tailed beast could disrupt it.

Still, to be safe, Naruto reached out to Kurama. Borrowing its chakra, he let the red aura of the Nine-Tails cloak his body and charged at Itachi.

Itachi had been treating this as a sparring match with Sasuke, but when he sensed the Nine-Tails's chakra, his expression darkened.

Taking a few steps back, he swiftly formed hand seals and muttered, "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"

A series of small fireballs shot toward Naruto, hitting their mark. But the attack barely had any effect. The chakra cloak of a Jinchūriki was simply too tough, it rendered most conventional attacks useless.

Taking advantage of the moment, Naruto closed the distance and threw a punch at Itachi.

Itachi raised his arms to block and immediately felt the terrifying force behind the strike, it was as if he had been hit by a boulder. The impact sent him skidding back several meters.

Regaining his footing, Itachi scrutinized Naruto with a hint of suspicion.

When did Naruto learn to harness the Nine-Tails' power? If he had mastered it earlier, why hadn't he used it in their previous battles?

"Well… it seems you've grown stronger."

Standing beside Naruto, Sasuke smirked. "Right back at you. And you've learned some strange new tricks, like that eerie Body Flicker technique."

The two exchanged a grin before launching another assault on Itachi. Realizing their true strength, Itachi stopped holding back.

His ninjutsu and taijutsu weren't particularly remarkable, compared to other elite jonin, they weren't anything special. But his genjutsu was Kage-level. More importantly, he excelled at seamlessly combining all three disciplines, using them at the perfect moments.

This was why Itachi was rated as a Kage-level shinobi.

In the ninja world, aside from a handful of "monsters" without weaknesses, most Kage-ranked shinobi had only mastered one domain at the highest level.

For example, Naruto could exhibit Kage-level strength, if he fully surrendered his body to the Nine-Tails and underwent complete transformation. His raw destructive power would be comparable to that of a Kage.

After a few exchanges, both Naruto and Sasuke felt immense pressure.

They couldn't find any flaws in Itachi's defense. Instead, every time he attacked, they found themselves in a tight spot, even Kurama was getting frustrated. The fox even suggested that Naruto let go of control and allow it to take over.

Naruto ignored the offer. He wasn't about to entrust his body to Kurama, since who knew what the fox would do?

At that moment, Sasuke let his guard down for a split second. Itachi's genjutsu seized the opportunity.

With a single strike, Sasuke was sent crashing to the ground.

Naruto, distracted by his conversation with Kurama, left a fatal opening. His Tailed Beast Cloak was pierced, and his body was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing hard onto the ground.

Struggling to his feet, he glanced at the unconscious Sasuke beside him, then at Kisame in the distance.

Kakashi and the ANBU shinobi Yamato were too preoccupied to help, and he himself wasn't a match for Itachi Uchiha.

There was only one option left, he had to make a deal with Kurama and let the fox take control, even if only temporarily.

---

Just then, a figure in an Akatsuki cloak appeared on the battlefield.

It was none other than Byakuya, who had been silently observing the fight for some time. As the mastermind behind the events in the Land of Waves, he had a habit of showing up at the most critical moments.

Lifting Naruto from the ground, Byakuya spoke casually, "Naruto, you just finished training, and now you're fighting a shinobi of Itachi Uchiha's level. Don't you think that's a bit arrogant?"

Naruto scratched his head awkwardly. "Byakuya-senpai, it's not like I wanted to fight Itachi. But if I want to complete my mission for the village, I have no choice. Oh, right! Go check on Sasuke first, he passed out."

"Yeah, yeah…" Byakuya waved off Naruto's request dismissively.

Approaching Sasuke, he placed his hand over him and activated a medical ninjutsu. Within moments, Sasuke's eyes fluttered open.

The first thing Sasuke saw was Naruto and Byakuya. He exhaled in relief before asking, "Naruto… Byakuya-senpai… Did you defeat Itachi Uchiha? How long was I out?"

Byakuya shook his head and pointed toward the distance.

"We didn't beat Itachi. Look, he's still standing right there."

Following Byakuya's gaze, Sasuke saw Itachi standing motionless in the distance.

His previously calm emotions reignited into a storm of rage, and he tried to get up, determined to finish his brother off.

Byakuya stopped him in his tracks and said bluntly, "Don't go rushing to your death. Itachi isn't someone you can handle. Even the Hokage couldn't stop him when he defected from the village, do you think you're stronger than the Hokage? Go back and train under Shisui properly."

Sasuke froze, his expression shifting to one of shock.

Byakuya knew about Shisui? Did that mean the new leader of Root was somehow connected to Byakuya? Could that be why Shisui hadn't made a move this time?

Naruto, meanwhile, turned his gaze back to Itachi and spoke urgently, "Byakuya-senpai, we have to do something about Itachi, or we won't be able to leave here. My gut tells me… he's not even using half his strength yet. If you can just buy me some time, I can let Kur-"

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, Byakuya was already walking toward Itachi. His expression darkened.

Naruto knew Byakuya was one of the strongest shinobi in the world, but Itachi was no pushover either. Even Yamato wasn't confident in facing him.

However, something seemed off.

Byakuya was moving unhurriedly, showing no sign of tension. He understood Itachi's abilities well, apart from Amaterasu, none of Itachi's techniques could truly threaten him.

Watching Byakuya approach, Itachi's composure wavered slightly.

He had some knowledge of Byakuya's abilities. This was a man who could go toe-to-toe with the Raikage in taijutsu, who could use Wood Release to suppress Tailed Beasts, a monster whose true strength was unknown.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Byakuya-dono… We have no personal grudge."

Itachi tried to talk his way out.

Byakuya wasn't interested. Before Itachi could continue, Byakuya vanished in a blur, appearing instantly behind him.

With a swift strike, Byakuya's blade sliced through the kunai Itachi had raised to defend himself.

In the next moment, Itachi's body dissolved into a flock of crows, dispersing and reforming atop a tree branch some distance away.

Realizing his opponent was too dangerous for restraint, Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Tsukuyomi.

It was one of his most feared techniques, a genjutsu capable of dragging his target into a world where time and space were entirely under his control.

But Byakuya didn't try to resist. He allowed himself to be pulled into the illusion.

---

In the Tsukuyomi world, the sky was a deep crimson, the ground bathed in eerie red hues. Byakuya found himself bound by thick iron chains, unable to move.

Itachi's voice echoed through the void.

"Byakuya, I have no intention of making you my enemy. If you cease your attack, I will release the genjutsu immediately."

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "And if I refuse? You plan to keep me trapped here until I die of old age?"

After a brief silence, Itachi responded, "No… But I can make you suffer. I will torment you over and over again. In this space, time lasts for seventy-two hours."

Byakuya smirked. "Go ahead, then."

Itachi frowned but proceeded with his technique.

In the illusory world, he repeatedly attacked Byakuya with kunai and shuriken, expecting him to break.

However… something was wrong.

In Tsukuyomi, Itachi was supposed to be invincible. His attacks, formed from chakra constructs, should have been absolute.

But Byakuya remained unscathed. Kunai clashed against him, but they didn't cut. Shuriken struck his body, yet they bounced off harmlessly. No matter how many times Itachi tried, he couldn't injure him.

"You're missing something, Itachi." Then, Byakuya, still bound to the ground, suddenly chuckled. "I can break free from your illusion, I just wanted to see your Tsukuyomi in action."

Before Itachi could process those words, the Tsukuyomi world cracked like shattered glass.

Reality snapped back into place. Itachi stumbled slightly, gasping for breath, his chakra reserves drained.

Byakuya, however, remained perfectly composed. The gap between them… was now painfully clear.