By the small lake of Konoha, Itachi and Kisame walked side by side, their footsteps steady and unhurried.
Suddenly, both stopped at the exact same moment.
"Long time no see, Itachi."
"Uchiha Itachi!"
One voice sounded like a casual greeting from an old friend.
The other was full of hatred.
Hidan and Sasuke emerged from behind them.
The two Akatsuki members slowly turned around and lifted their hoods.
"It's been a while, Hidan. Sasuke."
Itachi's calm gaze settled on his younger brother.
Kisame eyed the newcomers with mild curiosity. He wasn't in any rush — these two clearly had a personal connection with Itachi.
"Uchiha… Itachi!"
Hidan didn't speak, but Sasuke's voice shook with fury as he shouted a second time.
Enemies meeting face-to-face — even if they were brothers.
Sasuke couldn't hold back anymore. He charged forward, shuriken already drawn.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
Cling! Cling! Cling!
Itachi flicked several shuriken of his own. They easily knocked Sasuke's aside and continued flying straight back toward him.
Sasuke spun and deflected them all with precision.
"Itachi, need me to help?" Kisame asked lazily. "That's your little brother, after all."
"No. Better keep your eyes on that man."
Itachi's glance flicked toward Hidan.
Hidan watched the brothers' exchange with interest. He had no intention of interfering — Itachi wouldn't kill Sasuke anyway.
"Oh? Is he strong?" Kisame asked, grin widening. The strong were his favorite hobby.
"Very strong. If you're careless, you'll die."
Itachi's voice was calm, but he remembered Hidan's curse ability clearly — as long as he got your blood, the ritual could kill even a monster.
"Don't bleed," Itachi added quietly, a warning disguised as advice.
Kisame understood instantly. If Itachi said that, he meant it.
"…Chidori!!"
Taking advantage of their brief distraction, Sasuke burst forward with Chidori blazing in his hand. His speed surged, closing the distance in a flash.
Itachi's eyes widened slightly — he didn't expect Sasuke to already master such a high-level technique.
But the gap between them…
Was still too big.
Even powerful ninjutsu wouldn't close it.
Sasuke had no chance of beating Uchiha Itachi. Not yet.
Itachi simply tilted his body. Chidori passed harmlessly by — then his foot drove into Sasuke's stomach with terrifying force.
Blood spilled instantly from Sasuke's mouth.
He flew across the lake's surface, skipping violently before crashing to a stop.
"Kh…!"
Sasuke coughed hard. That single kick had done more damage than he expected — even his limbs weren't listening to him properly.
"Itachi, you sure don't hold back against your own brother," Kisame muttered, honestly surprised.
To him, Itachi never acted like a true villain.
Itachi gave no answer. His cold eyes stayed fixed on Sasuke as he began walking toward him.
Kisame stopped paying attention to the brothers and turned toward Hidan, gripping Samehada tightly.
"Well, since they've started… why don't we have some fun too? Hope your chakra can satisfy Samehada."
Hidan grinned. He knew plenty about Kisame — the so-called "tailless tailed beast."
A bottomless chakra pool combined with Samehada's absorption…
A nightmare combination.
A swirling distortion formed in Hidan's right eye — Kamui.
From the vortex, he pulled out the Decapitating Carving Knife.
"Zabuza's blade… so you really did take it," Kisame said quietly. As a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, the sight stirred something deep in him.
Hidan didn't reply. Lightning crackled in his left palm — Chidori — as he lunged straight at Kisame.
He wanted to test whether Samehada was really as unbelievable as rumors claimed.
Chidori screeched as it slashed forward—
Kisame swung Samehada down.
The blade didn't cut Hidan.
Instead, Hidan felt his chakra tearing out of him through the Chidori, flowing violently into Samehada.
If he kept the jutsu active, Samehada would keep devouring him — and grow larger with every pulse of chakra.
"Heh… what a fresh, vigorous chakra. Samehada's getting excited."
Kisame grinned. Maybe this guy wasn't as terrifying as Itachi implied.
Hidan's violet eyes flickered. He forcefully pushed off the ground, retreating several meters to widen the distance.
"It really is worthy of Samehada. No wonder you're called a tailless tailed beast."
He had to admit it — this combination was absurd.
Unless someone like Killer Bee appeared, or someone overwhelmingly stronger, Kisame and Samehada together were practically untouchable.
Kisame's power far exceeded most Kage.
But Kisame wasn't planning to let Hidan rest.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
The lake surged upward. Under Kisame's chakra, a massive water dragon spiraled into shape and lunged toward Hidan.
Hidan looked up, completely unpanicked, forming hand signs with ease.
"Fire Style: Flaming Tempest!"
Flames burst from his mouth — then twisted violently as Kamui distorted the air around them.
The flames twisted into a massive tornado.
It swallowed the water dragon whole, evaporating it instantly into a plume of steam.
And the blazing vortex didn't stop — it roared forward, rushing straight toward Kisame—
"It's useless!"
Kisame laughed viciously, lifting the massive Samehada in front of him.
When the fire tornado slammed into him, the flames — born from chakra — were devoured instantly. The blazing heat vanished as soon as it touched Samehada's scales.
After gulping down the violent chakra, Samehada shook all over, its barb-like scales rattling with a displeased crackle-crackle.
"Oh? Little too hot for you?"
Kisame raised a brow at his sword's reaction, then casually dunked Samehada straight into the lake beneath him.
Samehada: …Now it was even more annoyed.
Hidan: Compared to Killer Bee, this guy just uses Samehada like a tool. Bee would've probably comforted it…
————
"Your eyes. What is going on with your eyes?"
Itachi had already knocked Sasuke to the ground and locked him in Tsukuyomi. But now, his gaze was fixed on Hidan, who had just used his explosive flame technique.
He could feel it clearly — that chakra.
That ocular power.
It was the same origin as the Uchiha clan… the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
And even more shocking—
His visual prowess strength surpassed Itachi's.
But how is that even possible.
Hidan was not Uchiha.
He knew that better than anyone.
So where did this man get eyes like that?
And how did he awaken a Mangekyō?
"What's wrong, Itachi?"
Kisame halted the attack he was about to launch, glancing toward his partner.
"It's his eyes."
Itachi's voice carried a rare tremor — disbelief, confusion, even fear.
As a genius of the Uchiha, he could not comprehend such a thing.
"Oh? So he actually has eyes similar to yours, Itachi."
Kisame narrowed his eyes. "Didn't you say the Uchiha clan only had you and your little brother left?"
He turned and stared more closely at Hidan's Sharingan, genuine surprise flickering on his face.
Hidan smiled faintly, and in his Eternal Mangekyō, Itachi saw the reflection of another Uchiha entirely.
"If someone isn't Uchiha, they can't awaken a Mangekyō? Itachi, you're still too naïve."
Hidan spoke half truth, half mockery. There was no chance he would reveal his ability to steal bloodline limits.
Besides — there was already another example.
Kakashi.
Non-Uchiha, yet still a Mangekyō wielder.
"Itachi, don't forget our agreement. And don't pretend you haven't learned the news passed down by Konoha."
Hidan shifted the topic. He didn't believe for a second that Uchiha Itachi truly held his clan so lightly in his heart.
At first, Hidan had admired Itachi.
But as the years went on, and as he witnessed more than enough to judge him fairly, his feelings twisted into a single thing: disgust.
Family was everything to Hidan.
And Itachi… let him slaughtered his own.
What village?
What mission?
What worthless ideology?
To Hidan, Itachi's choices were insanity.
If he had a clan that loved him like Itachi's did, he wouldn't hesitate to tear the world apart to protect them.
Itachi sank into silence. When he finally spoke, his voice carried a gentle pain:
"That technique… would only disturb the souls of the dead. Why force them to return and burden the living again?"
Hidan stared at him, stunned for a moment.
He actually believed Itachi still held some nostalgia for his clan.
But hearing this...
This man was completely swallowed by the village.
People said the Uchiha were a clan of love — that the depth of their love led to darkness when lost.
But looking at Itachi now…
Was this really someone who loved his own family?
"I have to say, Itachi… you disappoint me."
Hidan shook his head with genuine regret.
"People grow, Hidan," Itachi answered, face unreadable, calm like stagnant water. "Another thing — everything you do is under my observation. Including your recent loss of control. You are no longer fit to remain in the village."
Hidan blinked.
What?
He stared at Itachi strangely, unable to understand what he meant.
His confidence told him Itachi could never monitor him unnoticed.
But Itachi was not someone who spoke without purpose.
Hidan's pupils narrowed. The Eternal Mangekyō spun slowly, radiating danger.
His instincts screamed — something had changed in Konoha.
Something unexpected.
Something that would affect all his future plans.
"No matter what changes… they're meaningless."
His Eternal Mangekyō dimmed, fading back into its original violet hue.
"In the face of true power, all things are bubbles."
But Itachi and Kisame's expressions stiffened.
They did NOT relax when the Mangekyō vanished.
They grew more alert.
"Eight Gates Released Formation — Seventh Gate: Gate of Shock… OPEN!!"
Under Itachi and Kisame's stunned gaze, blue vapor burst violently from Hidan's body.
The air trembled.
The seventh of the Eight Gates — the Gate of Shock — opened.
Hidan's skin flushed red, muscles swelling from the overwhelming physical force.
The chakra erupting from him was monstrous.
Kisame and Itachi together — a chakra thief and a genius with insane intellect — they truly were a dangerous pair.
But to Hidan...they were nothing.
"What incredible chakra!" Kisame exclaimed, gripping Samehada tightly without realizing it.
"Be cautious," Itachi warned, Mangekyō blooming in his eyes.
"This is the Eight Gates. Chakra is only the surface. The true terror of this forbidden art… is pure taijutsu."
He knew it well.
As a former Konoha shinobi, Itachi understood exactly what Hidan just unleashed.
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