However, Uchiha Itachi was surprised that Mei Terumī hadn't seized the opportunity to attack him.
Could it be—
Mei Terumī immediately understood.
She suddenly looked around.
Indeed, several powerful Chakra signatures were rapidly approaching.
Her heart relaxed slightly.
Reinforcements had arrived!
The first figure to emerge was Konoha's Blue Beast—
Might Guy!
"Yahoo!"
"How dare you launch a direct attack on the Hidden Mist Village!"
"It's obvious you don't take me, the Blue Beast Might Guy, seriously!"
Kisame Hoshigaki and Uchiha Itachi's expressions changed slightly.
Although the man standing before them often seemed unreliable, both of them knew just how terrifying his strength was.
"That precious monster again?"
Kisame Hoshigaki grinned coldly.
"Mr. Itachi, I'll leave the Three-Tails Jinchūriki to you. I still have some unfinished business with this precious beast."
In fact, Kisame had already charged toward Might Guy.
Uchiha Itachi didn't stop him. Instead, he turned his attention toward Mei Terumī.
But at that moment—
Yamato, Kitsuchi, Darui, and the others followed closely behind Might Guy and moved to intercept Uchiha Itachi.
Mei Terumī finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Uchiha Itachi, Kisame Hoshigaki, this reckless invasion of the Hidden Mist Village was a foolish decision."
"Now, even if you want to leave, you won't be able to!"
Uchiha Itachi knew that he had no chance of achieving an absolute victory against Mei Terumī and all these reinforcements.
Moreover, he understood his own physical condition better than anyone.
He was already suffering from a fatal illness and was surviving largely through sheer willpower.
Most importantly, he had no intention of sacrificing his life simply to capture a Tailed Beast for the Akatsuki.
For that reason—
"Kisame, I understand how you feel, but it seems our covert infiltration has failed."
"The two of us alone can't deal with the entire Hidden Mist Village and all these reinforcements."
Kisame Hoshigaki was somewhat reluctant to retreat.
"Heh, Mr. Itachi, even if we wanted to leave, these people probably wouldn't let us."
"It's impossible to get out of here without putting up a serious fight."
Uchiha Itachi realized that Kisame was right.
"Alright. Let's not prolong this fight."
His words were an implicit agreement with Kisame's plan.
Meanwhile, Kisame confronted Might Guy and unleashed Samehada from his back.
Might Guy had no intention of being outdone.
He immediately responded with his Leaf Hurricane!
One was the Blue Beast.
The other was the legendary tailless Tailed Beast.
The two immediately clashed in a fierce battle.
---
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Yamato sprang into action and rapidly formed hand seals.
Vines of wood, shaped like enormous snakes, shot toward Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi skillfully dodged every attack, his body gliding across the lake and between the surrounding buildings.
Kitsuchi slammed both hands against the ground.
"Earth Release: Mountain Lodging Jutsu!"
Although the technique wasn't as massive as it had been during the Fourth Great Ninja War, two enormous walls of earth still rose into the air like giants.
The ground on both sides overturned and surged upward, crushing toward Uchiha Itachi from both directions.
Itachi frowned.
His Water Clone immediately activated an explosive technique, causing all the Water Clones to detonate at once.
The resulting explosion was enormous.
However, even the combined force of the explosions couldn't stop the Mountain Lodging Jutsu.
The earth was still being violently forced inward.
Fortunately, Itachi's real body narrowly escaped the attack.
But Darui had already prepared his next move.
"Lightning Release!"
Using the water beneath his feet as a conductor, Darui rapidly approached Uchiha Itachi with his Lightning Release technique.
With no other choice, Itachi was forced to retreat again, landing on the roof of a nearby building.
But Mei Terumī had already unleashed an even greater amount of power.
For the first time, she borrowed the power of the Three-Tails, Isobu.
The immense Tailed Beast Chakra surged through her body, allowing her to unleash a Ninjutsu far beyond her normal limits.
"Water Release: Water Iron Bullet!"
A massive sphere of water roared through the air like a cannonball!
Uchiha Itachi's expression finally changed.
Even for one of the strongest shinobi in the world, dealing with so many powerful opponents simultaneously was extremely difficult.
Furthermore, the increasingly heavy rain and the lake beneath his feet made the situation even more unfavorable for him.
He was primarily skilled in Fire Release, yet the battlefield was now completely saturated with water.
Trying to defeat the entire Hidden Mist Village using Water Release alone was practically impossible.
Unless—
He used the ocular power of the Mangekyō Sharingan!
BOOM!
The Water Iron Bullet exploded upon impact.
Uchiha Itachi's body was struck by the tremendous force and seemingly shattered apart!
But in the next instant, the scattered flesh and blood suddenly transformed into a flock of crows.
The crows let out hoarse cries as they scattered into the air.
"It's... a Crow Clone?"
"Damn it!"
At that moment, even more reinforcements were arriving.
Among them were Neji Hyūga, Rock Lee, and Tenten from Team Guy, as well as Sai and Karin from Team 11.
There were also shinobi from other villages, along with powerful ninja from the Hidden Mist Village itself.
Uchiha Itachi knew he couldn't delay any longer.
He took a deep breath.
Then—
His right Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly opened!
A drop of blood immediately trickled from the corner of his eye.
At the same time, pitch-black flames suddenly erupted from his gaze.
"What is that...?"
Before anyone could react, the black flames tore through the curtain of rain and landed directly on Mei Terumī's body.
"What is happening?!"
Mei Terumī immediately screamed as an intense burning sensation spread through her body.
Fortunately, Isobu reacted instantly.
Its power surged forward, and Mei Terumī immediately entered a partial Tailed Beast transformation.
A cloak of Tailed Beast Chakra enveloped her entire body, covering the black flames of Amaterasu.
Then, Isobu manipulated the Tailed Beast Chakra.
The Chakra cloak peeled away from Mei Terumī's body, taking the Amaterasu flames with it.
However, even after being separated from her body, the black flames continued burning fiercely.
Even after consuming the surrounding Chakra, the flames continued burning on the surface of the lake!
"Black flames that never go out?"
"I remember that the Mangekyō Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan possesses a terrifying ocular technique..."
"Amaterasu?!"
Mei Terumī trembled in fear.
If Isobu hadn't reacted in time, she would have certainly died!
The others immediately rushed toward Mei Terumī, surrounding her and protecting her from further attacks.
Taking advantage of the opening, Uchiha Itachi quickly withdrew from the battlefield.
Kisame Hoshigaki noticed this and laughed.
"My precious beast, it seems today isn't the day for us to decide the winner between us."
"Next time we meet, let's fight to the death!"
He suddenly placed Samehada back onto his shoulder.
Then he rapidly formed hand seals and slammed both hands into the lake.
"Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique!"
In an instant, countless water sharks erupted from the lake.
It was as though the ocean itself had suddenly been brought into the Hidden Mist Village.
Thousands of water sharks surged and rolled through the battlefield, completely covering the area.
Might Guy was stunned.
"What the heck is this?!"
Yamato, Kitsuchi, Darui, and the others all frowned.
They immediately used various Ninjutsu techniques to block the incoming sharks.
However, they could only suppress the attack temporarily.
Might Guy opened the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates Formation—the Gate of View!
Power surged through his body as he unleashed one of his strongest Taijutsu techniques.
"Morning Peacock!"
Yamato also unleashed Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.
Kitsuchi, meanwhile, defended against the sharks with a massive Earth Flow Wall.
Darui used Storm Release through the surrounding water, destroying countless sharks in an instant.
Mei Terumī gasped for breath before immediately activating Water Release to counter the remaining attack.
With the combined efforts of so many powerful shinobi, Kisame's Thousand-Eating Shark was quickly defeated.
But by then—
The silhouettes of the two men had already disappeared.
"Search for them!"
"They can't have gotten far!"
"Yes, Mizukage-sama!"
A large number of powerful shinobi immediately spread out and began pursuing Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki.
However, the two had already escaped from the Hidden Mist Village.
They were heading toward the coastline, taking advantage of the heavy rain to conceal their movements.
Suddenly—
"Hmm?"
Uchiha Itachi stopped.
He sensed an extremely familiar Chakra signature.
Ahead of them was a curtain of torrential rain.
Through the heavy downpour, a figure slowly approached.
The figure's blood-red Sharingan gleamed through the rain, filled with unmistakable hatred.
________________________________________
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