Survive the Fourth Mizukage First!

Need an opening. Fast. Kakashi's mind raced even as his kunai parried Itachi's strikes. Gen won't last long against Kisame alone...

A fraction of distraction. That's all it took.

"Senpai. Distraction is fatal."

Itachi's voice, cold as grave soil, whispered behind him. Kakashi felt the kunai pierce his back.

"Impressive as ever, Itachi." Kakashi didn't turn. Blue-white lightning crackled across his "body." "But you targeted the wrong one."

ZZZZZTTT—POP!

The Kakashi Itachi stabbed dissolved into crackling plasma! Electrified tendrils snaked up Itachi's arm, locking his muscles!

Lightning Release: Lightning Shadow Clone!

The real Kakashi erupted from the earth below, Chidori's shrieking birds blazing in his fist!

"Am I?"

Itachi's trapped form showed no panic. His voice remained flat.

"Or is this the decoy, Senpai?"

Huh?! Kakashi's eyes widened.

The clone's chakra—trapped within the lightning bindings—was churning... unraveling.

BOOOOOOM!

The Lightning Clone detonated like a storm grenade! Kakashi threw himself backward, the shockwave shredding trees and hammering him through the air. He landed hard, coughing smoke.

Unhurt... but rattled.

Too dangerous... Kakashi's Sharingan whirled, scanning the debris field. The violet lightning flashes and chakra bursts from Gen's fight gnawed at his focus. No openings...

"Itachi's voice cut through the settling dust. "That eye... still doesn't suit you, Senpai."

He stepped from the smoke, unscathed. "Your chakra wanes."

"It does." Kakashi pushed himself up, breathing ragged. "But stalling you is enough. Wait for ANBU... and you both stay."

"Really?" Itachi's gaze flickered toward the violet-lit mist where Kisame roared. Then his eyes closed.

When they reopened, the tomoe were gone. Replaced by a spinning black pinwheel against blood-red fields.

Mangekyō Sharingan!

"Then witness true power."

Kakashi's breath hitched. The world warped violently.

Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi!

The World of Tsukuyomi

Darkness. Then stark, monochrome clarity. Kakashi found himself crucified on a stone cross beneath a crimson moon.

"Here," Itachi's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere, "space, time... pain... obey me."

He materialized before Kakashi, a long tanto gleaming in the non-light. It plunged into Kakashi's gut.

AGH! Kakashi arched, agony unlike any physical wound tearing through his mind.

"Seventy-two hours." Itachi twisted the blade. "We have time."

STAB! STAB!

Blades pierced Kakashi's shoulders. Screams tore from his throat. Countless Itachis materialized, infinite blades raised.

Break it! Kakashi's Sharingan spun frantically, seeking the genjutsu's weave. Find the flaw!

Nothing. Only suffocating, inescapable pain.

"Patience." A thousand Itachis spoke. "We continue—"

The legion of Itachis froze. Their blades halted mid-thrust. Kakashi's bloodshot eyes widened.

Flickering at the edge of his tortured vision...

...was a wisp of purple lightning.

---

Reality – Moments Earlier

Itachi lowered his hand from Kakashi's forehead. Tsukuyomi's backlash throbbed behind his eyes. Part of the plan.

Using the Mangekyō provided plausible deniability. He could feign exhaustion, avoid killing Kakashi. If Kisame finished the boy and arrived... Kakashi's fate was beyond his control.

As Konoha's shadow... this is enough. Sasuke needed him alive in Akatsuki. Even if his intelligence flow remained... stagnant.

The Sharingan helps him resist. He'll survive the weakened Tsukuyomi.

A thunderous CRACK! echoed from Kisame's battlefield. Itachi's gaze snapped toward it.

What—?

Through the thinning steam, chaos unfolded. Violet lightning arced like angry serpents, illuminating Gen's blurred form as he pressed a relentless assault. Kisame, normally a whirlwind of brute force, was... backpedaling? His movements looked sluggish, strained.

Kisame walked right into the trap. Itachi's Mangekyō instantly dissected the scene. His own mist became a conductor for that lightning...

His focus narrowed on the crackling purple energy wreathing Gen's hands. Not Chidori. Something... more.

Shape transformation... nature transformation... pushed to an extreme. The flexibility was astonishing, no blinding charge needed, just devastating precision. Even its instability spoke of terrifying potential.

Only the Third Raikage approached this level... Itachi's analytical mind reeled.

ROAR!

Kisame burst from the violet storm, hurtling toward Itachi's position! Tendrils of purple lightning snapped at his heels like hungry wolves.

At that exact moment, beneath Itachi's hand, Kakashi's Sharingan flared—the crimson world of Tsukuyomi shattering like glass as a phantom wisp of violet energy brushed its edges!

Kakashi gasped, consciousness slamming back into his body just as Kisame crashed down beside them, Samehada screeching as it deflected the pursuing lightning.

KRAKOOM!

A fresh explosion of dirt and splintered wood erupted. The two groups stood apart, the battlefield scarred and smoking.

Gen landed lightly nearby, violet sparks still dancing along his skin. His clothes were torn, shallow cuts marring his arms and torso—gifts from Kisame's desperate counters.

Kisame looked worse. Much worse. Burns crisscrossed his exposed skin, his breathing ragged, one arm hung partially limp. Fury warred with shock in his shark-like eyes as he glared at Gen.

"Tch. Persistent pest..." Kisame spat, hefting Samehada.

Gen just smiled, the purple energy around his fists flaring brighter. "Ready for round two, Shark-face?"

Kisame snarled, muscles coiling—

"Enough, Kisame." Itachi's voice cut through the tension, cold and final.

Kisame froze, glaring at his partner. "Itachi? He's—"

"The mission parameters have shifted," Itachi stated, his Mangekyō still faintly visible. "ANBU proximity is high probability. Engaging further risks unacceptable losses."

He turned his unnerving gaze fully on Kakashi, who was swaying slightly but standing, Sharingan active. "Another time, Kakashi-senpai."

Kisame looked ready to argue, but a sharp glance from Itachi silenced him. With a final, venomous look at Gen, Kisame shouldered Samehada. "This isn't over, brat."

Gen just raised a crackling purple hand. "Looking forward to it. Try not to trip over your own sword next time."

SHUNSHIN!

In twin puffs of smoke, the Akatsuki vanished.

Silence descended, broken only by the crackle of dying flames and Kakashi's labored breathing. He swayed, the strain of Tsukuyomi and the fight hitting him all at once.

Gen was at his side instantly, the violet lightning snuffing out, replaced by a faint green medical glow at his fingertips. "Sensei! Your chakra..."

"I'm... fine," Kakashi managed, though his pallor suggested otherwise. His visible eye, however, burned with fierce pride and lingering shock as he looked at Gen. "That technique... the purple lightning... you..."

He shook his head, a weary, incredulous smile touching his lips. "Remind me never to make you pay for ramen again."

Gen grinned, helping Kakashi steady himself. "Deal. But first..." He glanced toward the smoldering remains of the palanquin. "...we should probably figure out why a B-rank noble was carrying enough explosive tags to level a fortress."

Kakashi followed his gaze, the exhaustion momentarily replaced by sharp focus. "And why Akatsuki wanted him dead badly enough to send those two."

He took a deep breath, the weight of the encounter settling heavily. "Let's search the debris. Carefully."

As they moved toward the wreckage, Gen's system flashed silently:

[Side Quest: Kakashi's New Crescent Moon – Complete!]

[Exclusive Quest: But They're My Sworn Brothers! – Progress Updated]

A notification only he could see. His gaze lingered on the spot where Itachi vanished, a thoughtful frown replacing his earlier bravado.

Phase two... begins.