Kisame noticed blood seeping from between Itachi's fingers. It was a sight he was familiar with. Itachi would exhibit such symptoms whenever he overused his Mangekyo Sharingan.
He turned to glance at the young man not far away. Compared to Kakashi, who had fallen in the blink of an eye, this young man didn't seem to have sustained any significant damage.
"Tsukuyomi failed?"
"Let's leave first!"
Kisame didn't ask further questions. He and Itachi immediately withdrew from Konoha. With their combined strength, if they truly wanted to break through, no one could stop them.
Besides, the Konoha ninja behind them were in poor condition and didn't dare pursue them.
The Ethan who had just confronted Itachi also suddenly collapsed, much like Kakashi. He dropped to one knee, panting heavily.
Kisame, who had already walked quite a distance, turned back and happened to see this scene. Without any further suspicion, he continued to retreat with Itachi at full speed, vanishing from view.
It wasn't until they were far from the Leaf Village, in a remote and hidden area, that the two finally stopped.
Itachi, who had been covering his eye, suddenly collapsed to the ground. He reached behind him, pulled out several pills, and swallowed them all in one go.
"Antidote pills?"
Kisame only speculated internally, not voicing the thought. He watched Itachi's movements in silence, inwardly wondering when his partner had been poisoned.
After a while, Itachi seemed to feel somewhat better. He opened his eyes, then lifted the hem of his robe and noticed a petal stuck to his pant leg. Using a kunai, he carefully removed it and flung it far away.
"A terrifying young man... Ethan, was it?"
The Ethan who had just been called terrifying by Itachi was now putting on a brilliant act, pretending to be mentally drained from genjutsu trauma.
"Kakashi, Ethan, hold on. I'll get you to the medical squad right away."
The enemy had retreated. Asuma wasn't sure what had just happened or what Ethan had done to make Uchiha Itachi, who clearly had the upper hand, suddenly retreat. But the two were in no condition to explain. Getting them medical attention came first.
But Ethan disagreed. He forced himself to stay conscious and looked at Asuma seriously.
"Take me to the Hokage. Right now."
Asuma looked at Ethan's expression and didn't try to argue. He immediately nodded.
"Hang in there!"
When a ninja says they need to see the Hokage at a time like this, it means they have something extremely urgent to report. Their own injuries can wait.
After giving Kurenai brief instructions, Asuma carried Ethan on his back and rushed toward the Hokage's office at full speed.
Given Asuma's identity, it wasn't a problem for him to barge into the Hokage's office directly. After all, he was the biological son of the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Third Hokage was in the middle of reviewing documents when his son burst in with an injured Ethan on his back.
He knew Asuma had matured and wouldn't act recklessly unless something serious had happened. Especially now, carrying a wounded Ethan—this was clearly no small matter.
"What happened?"
"Hokage-sama, please dismiss anyone nonessential."
Hiruzen glanced at Ethan, then decisively cleared the room of all but the core personnel, leaving only himself, Asuma, Ethan, and the ANBU in the shadows.
Ethan originally wanted to ask for the ANBU to be dismissed too, but after thinking it over, he decided it wasn't necessary. Once the others had left, he straightened up. There was no trace of injury on him at all.
"Ethan?"
Although Asuma trusted Ethan not to harm the Hokage, this sudden development startled him. Instinctively, he moved to stand in front of Hiruzen.
Hiruzen, however, remained calm and met Ethan's eyes without concern. Ethan quickly explained.
"Just now, Asuma-senpai and I encountered Uchiha Itachi..."
That one sentence was enough for Hiruzen to understand what this was about.
"Uchiha Itachi..." After a moment of silence, Hiruzen sighed. He glanced at Asuma, then instructed the hidden ANBU in the room.
"Everyone, withdraw. Do not let anyone approach."
Once the command was given, only three people remained in the room.
"Itachi... did he have something for you to tell me?"
"Yes."
Asuma's hand loosened its grip on his weapon. The situation had caught him completely off guard, but as a seasoned ninja, he could sense what this meant— Itachi was actually a spy for Konoha.
"Hokage-sama, I may need to offend you next."
"Using genjutsu?"
Hiruzen showed absolute trust in Ethan and nodded, allowing him to cast the genjutsu.
Asuma didn't even have time to issue a warning before Ethan and Hiruzen completed the transfer of information.
Looking at his father and confirming he was fine, Asuma let out a sigh of relief and confirmed one thing: Uchiha Itachi really was a spy loyal, and the old man had never doubted either Itachi or Ethan.
Through the genjutsu, Hiruzen not only received the intel from Itachi, but also experienced Ethan's mental battle with him, almost firsthand.
Overall, Ethan's strength this time appeared much weaker than when he fought Orochimaru, which fit the explanation that he had relied on environmental advantages back then.
But when it came to genjutsu, it was clear everyone had underestimated Ethan's talent. Despite several attempts, Itachi's genjutsu couldn't overpower him. Ethan even retaliated using genjutsu of his own.
That particular moment was rather interesting.
Of course, that so-called genjutsu attack was actually Ethan using the medium of genjutsu to send a message to Itachi: Use the same genjutsu you used on Kakashi on me.
What followed was a battle inside the mental world. Ethan directly pointed out all the signs of Itachi holding back, and questioned the so-called Uchiha massacre: there were too many inconsistencies. It was simply impossible for one man to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan in such a short time.
Of course, Ethan was working backward from the outcome, which made things much easier compared to those still trapped in confusion.
"At its core, the whole thing is suspicious..."
Naturally, Itachi didn't reveal his true identity just because Ethan raised some suspicions. However, the two had enough time to feel each other out and communicate.
The mental battle lasted three days within the Tsukuyomi world. In the final half-day, Ethan barely earned Itachi's trust and was entrusted with the task of delivering his message.
Itachi didn't speak the information outright, but instead left it inside Ethan's mental space using genjutsu, telling him how to transfer it: only when facing the Third Hokage and using the correct genjutsu could the data be successfully delivered.
Otherwise, any attempt to forcibly remove it would destroy the information and possibly cause severe damage to Ethan's mind, even killing him... or so Itachi believed. In reality, Ethan already understood the message as the transfer happened.
As for dismantling the genjutsu? Ethan could break it anytime he wanted. Even dismantling it eight times wouldn't trigger any genjutsu trap.
Afterward, the two left the Tsukuyomi space and coordinated to put on a convincing performance. What surprised Itachi was when Ethan told him, "You've already been caught in my jutsu. You'll feel it when you leave this place."
The moment they exited Tsukuyomi, Itachi noticed the anomaly. Even if he didn't cancel the genjutsu himself, his body could no longer sustain such a powerful illusion technique.
This wasn't enough to defeat him, but it was enough to justify retreat. After all, the main purpose of this visit wasn't to capture Naruto, but to deliver a warning to the Leaf—and to remind them he was still alive, and that they should not forget the deal they had made with him.
Since the Third Hokage hadn't died in battle, he didn't need to go further like in the original timeline. This was enough for now.
Through the message from Itachi, Hiruzen understood everything. What troubled him the most was the organization known as "Akatsuki."
"They're all extremely dangerous individuals."
A terrifying organization like that was targeting Naruto? What was their goal? How should the Leaf respond? Just thinking about it gave Hiruzen a headache.
Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about Naruto's safety in the short term. With Jiraiya watching over him, not even Akatsuki could easily snatch Naruto.
Another bit of good news was that Itachi was still loyal to the Leaf, proving that Hiruzen hadn't misjudged him all those years ago.
"You've done well. Rest and recover."
Ethan gave a bitter smile. He really was injured... at least on paper. Besides, this information couldn't be made public. Itachi's identity was top secret. Only a few people in the entire village knew about it, and now that included Asuma and Ethan.
Luckily, both of them were trustworthy. No extra explanation was needed. As for how to deal with Akatsuki? That was a matter for the future. Hiruzen would soon be stepping down as Hokage. How to respond would be left to Tsunade.
"Like a useless old man passing his problems to the next generation."
Hiruzen sighed to himself.
Asuma personally escorted Ethan back to his home. Given Ethan's "injured" status, walking back alone would draw too much attention, so Asuma helped cover for him.
Unexpectedly, they encountered another member of the Uchiha clan along the way.
"Sasuke?"
(To be continued.)