The cold glint of the blade flashed as the three-foot-long edge whirled and struck in Sasuke's hands, dancing through the air with the grace of a gale.
Guidance from a legendary master, a prestigious clan heritage, and extraordinary natural talent—everything Sasuke possessed was beyond anything Kagura could hope to match.
Even though Kagura was a being created by Orochimaru using Kakashi's genetic material, she simply could not compete with Sasuke in terms of either talent or resources. Even the Kakashi genes she took such pride in were completely suppressed by Sasuke's prowess.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, Kagura had been in this world for a mere three years. Strictly speaking, she was only three years old. In terms of combat experience—especially with a blade—she was no match for Sasuke.
Currently, the only area where she could surpass him was...
"Water Style: Water Surface Slice!"
With a downward slash, water converged along the blade's edge, transforming into a pressurized canopy of liquid that surged toward Sasuke.
The Five Elements.
Like Kakashi, Kagura was born with the affinity for all five chakra natures: Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, and Earth. The water on her blade vibrated at high speeds, turning into a razor-sharp liquid edge that forcibly repelled Sasuke's sword light and lunged for his face!
Facing this strike, Sasuke's expression didn't flicker. His body remained incredibly agile as he leaped into the air. While evading the slash, lightning crackled around him, coalescing in his palm before he slammed it down toward Kagura!
A thunderous roar erupted as blue-white electricity tore through the air like a streak of fire, rushing straight for Kagura's head.
At that moment, Ichikishimahime, perched on Kagura's wrist, exerted her power. The water beneath Kagura's feet surged upward, forming a massive wall of water that blocked the hair-raising strike!
"This brat is no pushover," Ichikishimahime remarked warily, eyeing Sasuke, whose expression had remained unchanged from the start.
"Yeah. He is Kakashi's disciple, after all," Kagura replied, a bead of cold sweat rolling down her temple as she stared at the Uchiha youth. "If he were a failure, it would only mean Kakashi has terrible taste."
Since her "birth," excluding the initial cultivation phase, she had trained for two and a half years to reach her current level—a feat that had earned Orochimaru's constant praise.
But... was two and a half years still too short?
Kagura gritted her teeth, a hint of resentment in her heart. Clearly, her training was not yet enough to handle Sasuke in his Sage Seal state. She could only rely on her coordination with Ichikishimahime to barely hold her ground.
On the other side of the battlefield, Itachi Uchiha revealed his own Sage Seal for the first time.
Mysterious pitch-black markings spread across his body, eventually forming the Arabic numeral "5" on the left side of his neck. Among the so-called "Five Special Grade Combatants," he was the last to receive the Sage Seal due to his health issues, which was why he was ranked fifth.
However, that ranking was merely the order of acquisition; it did not represent his actual strength.
Feeling the abundant chakra flowing through him, Itachi's eyes narrowed. With a light tap of his foot, he leaped from the head of the Two-Tails and charged directly toward Tagorihime and Tagitsuhime!
"He's coming!"
"I know!"
Tagitsuhime's expression shifted, and Tagorihime immediately understood her companion's intent. Having lived together in Ryūchi Cave for centuries, the three Snake Princesses shared a perfect telepathic bond; a single movement or word was enough to know exactly what the other was thinking.
Suddenly, Tagorihime shrank rapidly from her giant snake form and lunged toward Itachi! Her upper body remained human, but her lower half had transformed into a serpentine tail several meters long. Not to be outdone, Tagitsuhime entered the same state, and together they flanked Itachi.
Faced with their joint assault, Itachi showed no fear. Three shuriken appeared in his hand, and he threw them at the two princesses without hesitation.
Facing such basic ninja tools, Tagitsuhime didn't even bother to dodge. Though she appeared human, it was a transformation; her true nature was that of a giant serpent, protected by diamond-hard scales. Ordinary shuriken couldn't leave a scratch on her.
Caw!
However, the moment the shuriken made contact, the sound of crows echoed across the battlefield. The shuriken vanished, transforming into a swarm of pitch-black crows that swarmed them!
Is this... Genjutsu? Tagorihime's eyes narrowed.
Their current state wasn't just for show. During their transformation, she and Tagitsuhime had "exchanged scales," allowing them to house each other's chakra within their bodies. In a sense, they had entered a "Temporary Jinchuriki" state, making them virtually immune to standard Genjutsu.
Yet, Itachi's shuriken had still turned into crows. It was clearly an illusion.
But it didn't stop there. The moment he threw the shuriken, Itachi had already closed the gap, appearing directly in front of Tagorihime and launching a kick.
Tagorihime twisted her body to evade, reaching out to grab him. But just as her fingers were about to close around Itachi's throat, his entire body burst into a cloud of crows!
For a moment, the battlefield was filled with the frantic crying of crows.
"How is this possible?!" Tagitsuhime felt a chill run down her spine. By all logic, they should be immune to Genjutsu in this state. Why were they still falling for it?
Hidden in the shadows, Itachi had no intention of explaining. Since the three Snake Princesses of Ryūchi Cave had shown themselves, they had to be prepared to die here.
Tagitsuhime's gaze sharpened with a hint of ruthlessness. This Itachi Uchiha was far too troublesome; his Genjutsu was unpredictable. However, one thing was certain: Genjutsu was still an illusion. The fake could never match the real thing. The essence of Genjutsu was using lies to distract the enemy while securing victory with a real attack.
In that case...
Tagitsuhime exchanged a glance with Tagorihime, who understood instantly. They would blow the entire battlefield sky-high! No matter how strong Itachi's Genjutsu was, he would be forced to reveal himself. Simultaneously, this would signal Orochimaru and Hiruko, who were waiting outside the barrier, to make their move.
Though the thought process was complex, the two princesses made their decision in a heartbeat.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
At 100% power!
The two Snake Princesses, who had practiced Sage Jutsu for centuries, struck with their full might. The sheer power was enough to upend the entire lake. The waters were breathed into life, transforming into roaring liquid beasts that attacked in every direction with no blind spots!
The water level dropped rapidly under the force of the jutsu, revealing the trenches at the bottom of the lake. Not only that, but even the mud and boulders at the bottom were brought to life by the Inorganic Reincarnation, turning into giant earthen serpents that tore through the surroundings to flush Itachi out!
On the other side, Sasuke and Kagura were forced to break off their fight to dodge the massive upheaval.
Watching the power unleashed by the two princesses, even Itachi was forced to temporarily retreat. He glanced at the Uchiha Flame Formation surrounding them and frowned slightly. The three Snake Princesses didn't have many tricks, but Inorganic Reincarnation was incredibly versatile.
If he wanted to end this quickly...
Itachi's eyes cast downward, and the three-tomoe Sharingan shifted into a strange, petal-like pattern.
The Mangekyō Sharingan!
Nine years ago, on the night of the Uchiha Coup, Itachi had awakened these eyes upon learning of his parents' suicide. From that grief, he obtained a dōjutsu named Iwanaga-hime.
As a child, he naturally wished for his parents to live long lives. Yet, because of the coup, they had felt forced to take their own lives. It was all a result of Itachi's choice. Even if he believed he hadn't been wrong, their deaths remained the ultimate pain of his life. Thus, he awakened the Mangekyō that represented longevity and eternity.
Iwanaga-hime.
Legend says Iwanaga-hime was the daughter of Oyamatsumi. She and her sister, Konohanasakuya-hime, were both offered to Ninigi-no-Mikoto in marriage. However, because Iwanaga-hime was considered ugly, she was sent back, and Ninigi only married her sister. Iwanaga-hime left in bitterness, leaving a curse: "May your descendants' lives be short."
The dōjutsu allowed Itachi to accelerate a specific person, event, or technique, forcing its "life" or process to reach its conclusion rapidly, thus exhausting it.
However, because it was a specific target being accelerated, that target would essentially exist in a different dimension/timeline from the surroundings during the process. Therefore, the accelerated object could not affect anything not included in the acceleration.
This was the power of Itachi's left eye—an ability born from the conclusion of his parents' lives. It corresponded to the curse of "short life."
His right eye, meanwhile, corresponded to Iwanaga-hime's status as a Goddess of Stone.
Eternity and Longevity.
In contrast to the left eye, if the left was "Acceleration," the right was "Delay." It could delay Itachi's own state, the state of others, any technique, or even life itself. It could extend the duration of his Sage Seal, delay the onset of injuries, or even push back the moment of his own death.
It could even delay the "Acceleration" of his left eye.
He could take a process that originally only lasted ten seconds under acceleration and stretch it to thirty. During this stretched time, the "Acceleration" would still be active, preventing the technique from affecting the environment.
For example, if a Tailed Beast Bomb has a thirty-second explosion duration, the acceleration of the left eye might end before the explosion finishes, allowing the remaining twenty seconds to cause destruction. But by using the right eye to delay the left eye's duration, the entire acceleration process is lengthened, perfectly neutralizing the threat.
This was the power of the Goddess of Stone: Eternity and Longevity.
Facing Tagitsuhime and Tagorihime's attempt to level the battlefield, Itachi activated his left eye without hesitation.
Acceleration.
In an instant, silent ocular power took control of the field. Tagitsuhime, Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and Kagura were all pulled into the scope of the acceleration. Even the Inorganic Reincarnation was included.
The roaring currents and the earthen serpents began to move like a movie set to 8x speed, flickering and jumping frames in an unnatural manner.
From the perspective of those trapped, the Uchiha Flame Formation was shattered, Itachi was forced into the open, and the Genjutsu was broken. Everything seemed to be going their way.
But in reality, they were no longer in the same dimension as Itachi, Sasuke, or the ten Uchiha shinobi nearby. Or rather, they were no longer on the same timeline.
When the process ended, they would be thrust back into reality. Not only could they not interfere with their surroundings, but Itachi himself could not interfere with them—unless he included himself in the acceleration.
"It's over!"
Tagorihime saw the Uchiha Flame Formation shatter and Itachi appear in a disheveled state. She smiled, ready to signal Orochimaru and Hiruko.
But the scene before her shattered like a mirror. In a blur, the world changed. The Uchiha Flame Formation still stood strong, and Itachi showed no signs of the exhaustion she had just seen.
"Is it... Genjutsu again?" Tagorihime blurted out, but she immediately dismissed the thought. The massive drain on her chakra told her that everything she had just experienced was real.
If it was real, why was there no change to the environment? What had just happened?
"It's... his Mangekyō Sharingan technique," Kagura said calmly, staring ahead at Itachi, who had a trail of blood leaking from his left eye.
"A Genjutsu-type dōjutsu?" Tagitsuhime frowned, trying to analyze the intel.
But she quickly retracted that theory. Just as she had thought before, a fake could never be made real. The emptiness in her chakra reserves confirmed that what had happened was a reality, not an illusion.
"Is this your dōjutsu?" Tagitsuhime tried to bait information out of him.
But Itachi had no intention of handing over his secrets. He simply pressed one hand against the surface of the water, which had returned to its original state. While they were in a different timeline, he couldn't hurt them, but that didn't mean he had been standing idly by waiting for the acceleration to end.
During that "stolen" time, Itachi had already set up his own technique.
He spoke in a low voice:
"Sage Art: Uchiha Flame Formation."
Within the original Uchiha Flame Formation, a second barrier of fire erupted! This new wall of flames instantly expanded, trapping the three Snake Princesses and Kagura together!
"What on earth happened?!" Ichikishimahime hissed from Kagura's wrist. Despite being a snake, her "expression" was clearly one of dread.
They were destined to never understand the power of Iwanaga-hime. And they had no more time to think, for the Uchiha Flame Formation that surrounded them was rapidly beginning to shrink!
Before long, they wouldn't even have a place to stand.
"I didn't expect things to develop to this extent," Orochimaru murmured from outside the barrier.
He didn't care about the lives of the three Snake Princesses. Since they had teamed up with Hiruko to coerce him into this reconnaissance mission against Itachi, their old bond was effectively severed.
However, Kagura was a masterpiece Orochimaru could not afford to lose. He would not allow his creation to die here.
"It's time to act."