"Yes, but..."
Itachi's Sharingan detected the Three-Tails' chakra.
However, there were at least seven or eight other powerful chakra signatures nearby.
Kisame understood immediately. "We're not alone..."
"But there's no other option. We can't stay hidden for long, and this opportunity won't last forever."
"What do you say, Mr. Itachi? Shall we continue?"
Itachi took a deep breath.
Then he shook his head.
Kisame grinned mockingly, his hand already resting on the hilt of Samehada.
The figure that emerged from the rain was none other than Mizukage Mei Terumī.
Nearby stood the shinobi of the Hidden Mist Village, including Ao, Chōkichi, Gonbei, and several others.
Wearing her Mizukage hat, Mei Terumī stepped forward and looked at the two formidable enemies before her.
"I understand."
"Kisame Hoshigaki, who defected from the village and took Samehada..."
"And Itachi Uchiha, who slaughtered the Uchiha clan."
Itachi calmly greeted her. "Lady Mizukage."
Ao responded coldly, "Hmph. Kisame Hoshigaki, you breached our defensive barrier and infiltrated the village, didn't you?"
"Unfortunately for you, you underestimated the village's sensory capabilities."
Kisame chuckled. "Is that the Byakugan?"
"Chōkichi is here too..."
"No wonder we were discovered so quickly."
Ao's Byakugan gave him exceptional perceptive abilities, while Chōkichi was also a powerful sensory-type shinobi.
Kisame glanced at Itachi.
"It looks like we're going to have to fight, Mr. Itachi."
Itachi shook his head indifferently. "A short fight."
Kisame immediately understood what he meant. If the battle dragged on, reinforcements from the Hidden Mist Village would soon arrive.
For that reason—
Without hesitation, he quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Bursting Water, Colliding Waves!"
Suddenly, a massive torrent of water erupted from Kisame's mouth and surged through the streets toward Mei Terumī and her group.
The terrifying volume of water instantly submerged numerous streets, houses, and buildings, transforming the entire area into a vast lake.
Mei Terumī and the others reacted quickly. They defended themselves and landed on the surface of the newly formed lake, rising and falling gently with the waves.
"As expected of the Tailless Tailed Beast, your chakra reserves are truly enormous."
Mei Terumī praised him, but her actions were equally ruthless.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Her chakra reserves were equally impressive.
In the original story, it took an entire Water Release team to counter Madara's Great Fire Annihilation. Yet Mei Terumī had been able to counter it single-handedly, demonstrating the tremendous size of her chakra reserves.
Moreover, she was now a Three-Tails Jinchūriki, which had increased her chakra reserves even further.
What would normally be an ordinary Water Dragon Jutsu instantly transformed in her hands into a massive blue dragon.
The dragon roared, baring its teeth and claws as it violently charged toward Kisame.
Kisame's eyes lit up.
"Beautiful."
"Water Release: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"
Instantly, a massive shark-shaped projectile of water shot out from the surface of the lake.
The water shark was equally enormous and covered a wide area, effectively countering Mei Terumī's Water Dragon Jutsu.
Two powerful Water Release techniques collided violently.
Boom!!!
The lake suddenly became turbulent, while the surrounding houses and buildings were shattered by the tremendous impact.
When it came to Water Release, these two were undoubtedly among the strongest shinobi in the modern ninja world.
It remained to be seen who would emerge victorious from this battle.
Mei Terumī and Kisame were locked in a fierce confrontation.
Meanwhile, the others immediately launched their attack on Itachi.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
Ao activated the Hidden Mist Jutsu, causing the surrounding rain and water vapor to transform into an all-encompassing mist.
The fog gradually thickened, completely obscuring visibility.
Itachi immediately understood Ao's intention.
He wanted to block the vision of Itachi's Sharingan.
The Sharingan could perceive enemies through the color and flow of their chakra, but the thick mist would make visual contact extremely difficult.
This would also prevent Itachi from using his most powerful genjutsu techniques, many of which required eye contact.
However, Ao possessed the Byakugan, while Chōkichi had incredibly powerful sensory abilities.
The two of them could therefore guide the rest of their team and continue attacking Itachi even without relying on their eyesight.
Itachi praised them inwardly.
It seemed that the Hidden Mist Village had prepared thoroughly and trained specifically for situations like this.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!"
The lake beneath Itachi's feet suddenly erupted.
In an instant, a massive sphere of water formed around him.
Once trapped inside, breaking out through sheer physical strength would be extremely difficult.
However, Itachi reacted immediately.
His body retreated at incredible speed, allowing him to evade the attack.
But at that exact moment, four enemy figures appeared simultaneously from the front, back, left, and right.
All four used the same Ninjutsu.
"Water Release: Water Stream!"
This was one of the Hidden Mist Village's preferred techniques.
The shinobi transformed their chakra into powerful water whips, using them to bind their enemies and restrict their movements.
Once formed, escaping from the restraints was extremely difficult.
Four Water Stream whips appeared simultaneously, covering every direction around Itachi.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
After several sharp sounds, Itachi's body was tightly bound.
The four shinobi were delighted.
"It worked!"
But just as they were about to capture their opponent, Ao suddenly shouted.
"Watch out!"
The next moment—
Boom!!!
Itachi's body suddenly exploded.
The four Hidden Mist ANBU shinobi were blasted into the air by the violent explosion.
Because the explosion occurred at such close range, they had no chance to escape. They immediately coughed up blood and crashed onto the ground.
At that very moment, Itachi's real body emerged from beneath the surface of the lake.
"This..."
"A Water Clone?!"
"Not only can it lure enemies in and evade attacks, but it can also cause such a terrifying explosion?!"
This was Itachi's Clone Great Explosion, an extremely sinister and deadly technique.
In the original story, Kurenai Yūhi had nearly fallen victim to this technique.
Fortunately, Kakashi noticed what was happening in time and rescued her.
In an instant, Itachi had incapacitated four elite ANBU shinobi.
Chōkichi and Ao exchanged glances.
Both of them could sense just how troublesome their opponent was.
Itachi calmly said, "You won't be able to defeat me."
Despite his confidence, Chōkichi and the others knew they had to find a way to stall Itachi.
Otherwise, Lady Mizukage and the Three-Tails would be in danger.
Moreover, if they could keep Itachi occupied, reinforcements would arrive soon.
A large-scale battle like this could not possibly escape the attention of the rest of the village.
However, Itachi was fully aware of that as well.
He secretly formed seals hidden beneath his sleeves, making it impossible for his enemies to detect what he was preparing.
The next moment—
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
Several enormous rotating columns of water suddenly erupted from the lake.
Ao, Chōkichi, Gonbei, and the others were horrified and immediately retreated to evade the attack.
However, before they could recover—
An even more powerful attack was already waiting for them.
It was as though Itachi had predicted every movement they would make.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet Jutsu!"
The rotating columns of water instantly transformed into sharp, piercing water spears.
They shot toward the backs of the four shinobi.
All four were caught off guard and were sent flying by the impact of the water spears.
As Ao struggled to regain his footing, a pair of blood-red Sharingan suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"This..."
"Oh no!"
Before he could react, his consciousness was completely dragged into a world of genjutsu.
His entire body suddenly felt as though enormous iron spikes had been driven through it.
I can't move!
"This... is Genjutsu?!"
The technique was Itachi's Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.
In the original story, Itachi had used this technique to defeat Orochimaru and force him to abandon his ambitions of joining the Akatsuki.
If even Orochimaru could not withstand it, there was no need to mention ordinary Jōnin.
In an instant, all four elite members of the Hidden Mist Village had fallen under Itachi's control.
Itachi raised his head, removed his hat, and allowed the rain to fall against his body.
Behind the gradually dispersing mist, Mei Terumī and Kisame were still locked in a fierce battle.
Kisame activated Four Sharks Rain and launched four enormous water sharks toward Mei Terumī.
Mei Terumī refused to back down.
She immediately countered with Water Release: Water Formation Wall, surprisingly managing to suppress Kisame for a brief moment.
However—
When Mei Terumī suddenly spotted Itachi on the other side of the battlefield, her heart sank.
"Ao and Chōkichi, along with the ANBU elites, were defeated in such a short time..."
"Just how strong is Itachi Uchiha?"
The situation had suddenly become much worse.
Mei Terumī was now fighting alone against two opponents.
Kisame Hoshigaki was already a formidable opponent by himself.
With Itachi joining the battle, Mei Terumī had no chance of winning.
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