A Test of Mirrors
The crimson moon of the Rain Country glinted faintly through the stormclouds, casting eerie light across the soaked battlefield. Steam hissed from puddles and cliffsides, rising like ghostly breath from the land itself.
Uchiha Itachi's [Tsukuyomi] had been activated.
Its casting was seamless—an execution honed through years of blood and discipline.
But something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
He had initiated the genjutsu the moment his Mangekyō Sharingan met the stranger's gaze. The world should have instantly warped. Time should have bent to his will, drawing the opponent's mind into a realm of absolute command.
Instead, Kai simply smiled at him. It wasn't a smile of mockery or confusion, but one of recognition.
As if to say, "Nice try!"
Itachi's breath caught in his throat.
In the next instant, Kai vanished from sight.
No swirl of chakra. No burst of displacement. Just—gone.
Then the voice came, from behind him:
"Don't waste your chakra. Illusions don't work on me."
Itachi spun, his pupils dilating, Mangekyō spinning like fire.
He couldn't even sense the movement. No flicker, no chakra distortion. Even with his evolved vision, he hadn't seen a single step.
What sort of movement was that?Not Body Flicker. Not Flying Thunder God. Something…beyond.
Itachi's mind raced.
Not only was his [Tsukuyomi] ineffective—the opponent had countered it without effort. And now he was behind him.
This wasn't just a fight. This was a dissection.
He's toying with me…
But what he didn't know was far more terrifying:
Kai hadn't just resisted the illusion.
He hadn't even seen it.
The moment [Tsukuyomi] had triggered, it hadn't targeted Kai himself, but something far more vast and untouchable:
The system that anchored Kai's very existence.
A metaphysical structure that had defied space-time, rewritten destiny, and tethered Kai across multiverses. A simple genjutsu—even the mighty [Tsukuyomi]—was like tossing a paper shuriken at a mountain.
Compared to the infinite computational and dimensional processing power that Kai operated within, Itachi's jutsu didn't even register as a threat.
That was why Kai could smile.
He wasn't being cocky.
He was simply being honest.
The moment Itachi realized his illusion failed, a surge of instinct told him: Get away.
He leapt back, but not alone.
His form dissolved mid-air—bursting apart into a flurry of black-feathered crows.
[Crow Clone Jutsu]!
The birds scattered like ink in a storm, spreading in chaotic spirals across the cliffs and sky.
A classic Uchiha escape. Use the clones as cover, then reposition.
But Kai didn't bother with precision.
He simply raised his hand.
"Shinra Tensei."
The pulse of gravitational repulsion erupted outward in an instant.
It wasn't just a counter—it was a cleansing wave.
The air rippled violently. Every crow in the radius was obliterated, popping into black smoke. Even the real Itachi—masked among the swarm—was caught in the blast.
He tumbled end over end through the air, crashing down in a spray of wet earth.
But Itachi wasn't done.
The moment he landed, he activated his other trump card:
[Amaterasu].
The ultimate destructive flame—the left eye's partner.
Jet-black flames erupted on Kai's torso.
They hissed and writhed like living things, hungry and eternal. These weren't ordinary fires. They would burn through dimensions if needed, never stopping until the target was reduced to ash.
But…
They didn't spread.
They didn't consume.
Instead—
They disappeared.
Swallowed in an instant by the swirling vortex of Kai's Rinnegan-based sealing field.
Gone.
Not extinguished—absorbed.
Itachi's brows furrowed. Even [Amaterasu]... ineffective?
He had no time to reflect. A new threat surged forward.
"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"
Kisame, who had recovered from his earlier blow, flanked from the side. A colossal shark-shaped missile of water launched from his palms, twisting through the rain like a watery torpedo.
Swallowed whole.
Again, the sealing field devoured it without resistance.
Kai turned slightly, face unreadable. "Feeding me chakra, are you?"
Kisame's eyes narrowed.
This opponent wasn't just absorbing ninjutsu. He was using them to replenish his energy.
"Water Style: Rain of Four Sharks!"
Kisame wasn't done.
From the rain itself, four water sharks leapt, splitting midair into hundreds of miniature clones. Thousands of razor-tipped water bullets arced like falling needles toward Kai.
To the untrained eye, it was a storm.
To Kai?
An offering.
He stood still.
The defensive sealing field expanded, shimmering like a sphere of hungry light. Every droplet that approached was devoured—transformed into chakra and funneled into Kai's reserves.
But Kai paused.
Something was off.
Why was Kisame continuing the assault even though it was useless?
A feint?
Kai's Rinnegan pulsed. Instantly, he fired another wide-range [Shinra Tensei].
This time, it wasn't targeted.
It was a sweep—a battlefield cleanse.
Kisame and Itachi were caught in the blast—and burst.
One into water. The other into mist.
Clones.
"...Smart."
They had retreated.
Not bad, Kai thought. Not many would have made that call.
Nearly a kilometer away, the real Itachi and Kisame sprinted at full speed.
Rain whipped around them. The air itself seemed to compress as they blurred through the forest edge, tearing up roots and puddles with every step.
"Mr. Itachi," Kisame panted, "I've fought a lot of monsters in my time. But that guy? He's… something else."
"He absorbed [Amaterasu]," Itachi said darkly. "And your chakra-based ninjutsu. He wasn't just immune. He was evolving with each technique."
"That's what I thought too." Kisame's grip on Samehada tightened. "He's not fighting to kill. He's testing us."
"We need to—"
They both skidded to a stop.
He was in front of them again.
Kai.
No sound. No chakra disturbance. No smell. No physical signal. Just—presence.
"It's teleportation," Itachi whispered.
"No…" Kisame muttered. "It's faster."
They didn't have time to analyze it further.
Kisame stepped forward. "I'll hold him. You go."
"No," Itachi said.
He raised his arm—and six kunai flew from his hand.
They arced through the air, aimed perfectly for Kai's heart and throat.
Kai didn't flinch.
The kunai hovered midair.
Not blocked.
Suspended.
Held in place by a thick electromagnetic field radiating from Kai's body.
Lightning danced across his skin like threads of divine energy. The kunai began to glow—red-hot—then melted into liquid metal in midair.
Kai extended his palm.
From the molten remnants, he molded a small sphere. The electromagnetic field twisted it, shaping it into a threaded armor-piercing round. A warhead of high-density molten iron, rotating with devastating momentum.
Electricity crackled. The temperature surged.
A glowing channel of lightning arced outward, forming a railgun barrel from compressed magnetic fields.
Kisame stared, horror rising in his throat.
"Hey—Itachi! That thing—that thing's going to kill us!"
Itachi didn't reply.
He already knew.
And the worst part?
He recognized the buildup.
It was a hybrid technique.
Not just Rinnegan. Not just magnetism. Not just ninjutsu.
This was something else entirely.
"Uchiha Itachi," Kai said.
"Show me your [Susanoo]."
The name alone made Kisame's chest tighten.
Even among Akatsuki, Itachi's Susanoo was legendary.
A towering guardian of flame and chakra, cloaked in divine armor, wielding the Yasaka Beads and the Totsuka Blade.
And shielding itself with the most elusive of all defensive weapons—the Yata Mirror.
That was the secret.
The final puzzle piece.
The Yata Mirror wasn't just a chakra shield. It reflected all energy, physical and spiritual.
If anyone could withstand what Kai was building…
It was Itachi.
But even he wasn't sure anymore.
The cannon was nearing full charge.
The barrel screeched as electromagnetic energy twisted the warhead into a state of perfect acceleration.
Kisame fell back instinctively.
Itachi activated his Susanoo.
The skeletal frame burst into existence, ribs of ethereal chakra rising around him. A second later, it evolved—flesh, armor, weapons.
The mirror hovered in front of him, humming softly.
Kai smiled.
"Let's test that mirror."
The warhead rotated once more.
Then—
"This electromagnetic cannon…"
He raised his hand.
"…Can your [Susanoo] withstand it?!"