...
"It’s over..."
Seeing the sharp kunai thrust towards him, Shisui prepared to close his eyes in despair.
However, at that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Shisui, revealing a three-tomoe Sharingan.
"Itachi!"
Seeing the familiar figure, Shisui was slightly stunned, and then his desperate expression turned to one of relief.
"What, Itachi?!"
Yuja, also shocked upon seeing Itachi, clearly hadn’t expected him to appear at this moment.
"What?!"
At the moment of Yuja’s surprise, his body suddenly sank into a soft space as if enveloped by a cushion. His kunai stopped in mid-air just before hitting Itachi.
"Is this a genjutsu?"
Even though he knew it was Itachi’s genjutsu, Yuja remained motionless, feeling the real pain.
The illusion Yuja was experiencing was indeed Itachi’s genjutsu.
The feature of this technique was that the person trapped in the illusion would feel as if they were enveloped in a soft mattress, losing all bodily freedom and experiencing physical pain.
Itachi’s genjutsu could restrain the opponent’s movements without needing hand seals, activated merely by looking at the target with his Sharingan.
"Swish!"
Seeing Yuja trapped in his illusion, Itachi drew the ninja sword from his back and swiftly stabbed Tamo in the heart.
Being in the Anbu, Itachi naturally had the means to kill without hesitation. If he didn’t eliminate Yuja, Danzo would surely cause him trouble upon discovering who saved Shisui.
"Yuja!"
Seeing Yuja fall to Itachi, the ninjutsu-maintaining Tamo screamed in panic.
"Take care of yourself first!"
A low voice rang out as Sasuke suddenly appeared behind Tamo, fiercely swinging his sword down.
Tamo, an elite ninja, perhaps sensing the danger, stomped hard on the ground, tilting his body to the left and successfully dodging Sasuke’s attack.
However, by moving, Tamo could no longer maintain his Earth Release, and the earthen chains binding Shisui's legs immediately crumbled.
As the chains broke, Shisui collapsed weakly, but Itachi caught him in time.
"Sasuke, let me handle him!"
Worried that Sasuke couldn’t defeat Tamo, Itachi shouted immediately.
"Brother, you take care of Shisui. I’ll handle this!"
Smiling confidently, Sasuke replied firmly.
Hearing Sasuke’s words, Tamo became angry and sneered, "You brat, you dare to underestimate me?"
Facing Itachi, Tamo might not be confident of winning, but being underestimated by a child who looked only six or seven infuriated him.
"Enough talk. Come at me..."
Sharingan spinning, Sasuke suddenly gripped his sword tightly, stomped hard on the ground, and charged at Tamo.
"Later, I’ll capture this Itachi’s little brother and use him to force Itachi to hand over Shisui..."
A cunning plan flashed in Tamo’s mind, and he sneered. His right arm suddenly solidified into stone, forming a massive stone fist.
Using Stone Fist Technique, Tamo faced Sasuke’s attack fearlessly. He stepped forward and clashed his stone fist against Sasuke’s sharp blade.
"Clang!"
A sharp sound of metal against stone echoed from their clash.
Though his attack was blocked by Tamo's stone fist, Sasuke didn’t relent and continued slashing with his sword.
Tamo remained cautious, using his stone fist as a shield, defending tightly.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
With intense attacks and defenses, sharp sounds of metal and stone clashing reverberated continuously.
As the fight intensified, Tamo, initially dismissive of Sasuke due to his age, began to feel a bit surprised.
He didn’t expect Sasuke to attack so swiftly. If this continued, defending against him would become too exhausting. Swinging a heavy stone fist was tiring, even with years of practice.
"I need to finish this quickly. If other Root members hear about this, they’ll mock me endlessly."
A thought flashed through his mind, and Tamo’s face turned sinister.
"Clang!"
Blocking another sword strike, Tamo suddenly appeared behind Sasuke using Body Flicker Technique.
"Brat, this is the end!"
Confident he could defeat Sasuke with one punch, Tamo swung his stone fist down hard.
"Sasuke, watch out!"
Seeing Tamo’s attack trajectory, if it hit, Sasuke would be severely injured if not killed, losing his ability to fight.
Realizing this, Shisui, watching the battle, and Itachi warned simultaneously.
"Bang!"
As the massive stone fist struck, Sasuke’s body immediately turned into a log accompanied by a puff of white smoke.
"Body Replacement Technique?"
Seeing the shattered log, a look of confusion flashed in Tamo’s eyes. Then, his pupils suddenly shrank to pinpricks, and his face showed horror, making him look particularly grim.
"Uchiha Style - Blast Sword!"
With a soft shout, Sasuke, who had used Body Replacement Technique to deceive Tamo, appeared behind him and slashed with a fiery blade.
"Ahhh!"
With a scream, Tamo collapsed heavily, his pale face still showing a trace of fear, unable to believe he had fallen to Sasuke.
"Sasuke, you’ve grown so much!"
Seeing Sasuke’s performance, Itachi nodded in satisfaction.
"Sasuke... You used Blast Sword, amazing!"
Despite the pain, Shisui took a deep breath and smiled at the approaching Sasuke.
"Shisui, I’m sorry we were late."
Seeing Shisui’s pale and wounded state, Sasuke’s eyes turned red, and his voice grew hoarse.
Before he could react, Shisui’s body suddenly trembled violently, blood pouring from his mouth.
"Brother, do you know anyone in the Uchiha clan who knows medical ninjutsu?"
Knowing Shisui’s condition was critical, Sasuke asked urgently.
"Let’s find Izumi!"
Upon hearing Sasuke’s words, Itachi immediately carried Shisui on his back and left without hesitation.
Not knowing who this Izumi was, Sasuke hurriedly followed.
After Sasuke and Itachi left, the area fell silent again, except for the lingering smell of blood indicating a fierce battle had taken place here.
The silence didn’t last long. It was broken by the sound of rustling through the bushes, followed shortly by many Root members arriving.
Finally, Danzo slowly appeared on the ground, staring incredulously at the three bodies. After a moment, he took a deep breath.
"Lord Danzo, Yuja was under a genjutsu before he died. It must have been someone from the Uchiha clan who saved Shisui!"
A Root member carefully inspected the bodies, then gulped and reported in a deep voice.
Hearing this, Danzo closed his eyes slightly. When he opened them again, they were filled with murderous intent: "Uchiha clan! Soon, there will be no one left who knows of this clan!"
As he finished speaking, Danzo turned and left, his face exceptionally grim.