Far from the quiet halls of the League of Shadows, the battlefield was chaos.
The sky above the ruined waterfront trembled from the sheer amount of power being unleashed.
Two members of the Akatsuki stood at the center of it.
Itachi Uchiha.
Kisame Hoshigaki.
And surrounding them were some of the most powerful beings on Earth.
The Justice League.
The battle had escalated far beyond what either side originally expected.
Itachi stood calmly despite the pressure, his Sharingan spinning slowly as he observed the battlefield. His mind was working constantly, calculating trajectories, predicting movements, evaluating threats.
Direct victory here was impossible.
That fact had been clear almost immediately.
Not because the two of them were weak.
But because of the number of enemies present.
Wonder Woman.
Superman.
Martian Manhunter.
The Flash.
Green Lantern.
And others.
Even two Kage-level shinobi would struggle against that level of combined power.
Which meant survival was the objective.
Not victory.
Wonder Woman moved first.
Her speed alone rivaled high-level shinobi movement, and her strength was monstrous. Her blade cut through the air toward Itachi with divine precision.
But Itachi had already predicted the attack.
His body shifted just slightly, the sword passing within inches of his cloak.
At the same time, his eyes flashed.
A genjutsu activated.
Wonder Woman's mind resisted immediately.
The Amazons possessed powerful mental discipline, and her willpower was extraordinary. The illusion disrupted her perception for only a moment.
But that moment was enough.
Itachi leapt backward, avoiding the follow-up strike.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Kisame roared with excitement as he swung Samehada toward Superman.
The massive sword absorbed energy from anything it touched.
But Superman's strength was overwhelming.
Their clash sent shockwaves through the street as Samehada barely deflected the punch.
Kisame grinned.
"This world is interesting!"
He slammed his hands together.
"Water Release: Great Shark Bullet!"
A massive shark-shaped torrent of water erupted forward.
Superman blasted through it with brute force, dispersing the attack, but Kisame had already shifted positions.
Water flooded the battlefield.
The terrain was slowly transforming in his favor.
Above the water, Martian Manhunter descended toward Kisame, his eyes glowing.
His telepathy pressed outward, attempting to read Kisame's mind.
But Kisame's mind was chaotic and battle-focused.
Not easy to infiltrate during combat.
Kisame responded with a massive water surge, forcing the Martian to shift into intangibility to avoid the impact.
Even so, the pressure of fighting two League members simultaneously was immense.
Kisame was already bleeding from a deep wound across his shoulder.
Meanwhile, the Flash moved.
To normal perception, he was nearly invisible.
But to Itachi's Sharingan, he appeared as streaks of red lightning tearing through space.
Still incredibly fast.
Still dangerous.
The problem was not seeing him.
The problem was catching him.
Flash launched a rapid flurry of attacks, each strike aimed to disorient.
Itachi dodged most of them with minimal movement, his perception compensating for the speed.
But even then, several hits landed.
Enough to push him back.
Still, Itachi's eyes never stopped working.
Genjutsu after genjutsu activated in quick succession.
The Flash's mind moved quickly.
Almost too quickly.
His thoughts raced at incredible speed, making it difficult to fully trap him inside an illusion.
But the constant disruption slowed him down slightly.
His perception stuttered.
His timing became less precise.
And that small reduction in efficiency made a huge difference.
Nearby, Green Arrow collapsed to one knee.
Moments earlier he had locked eyes with Itachi for only a fraction of a second.
That had been enough.
Now he was trapped inside a carefully crafted illusion, completely removed from the battlefield.
The Justice League began tightening the circle.
Superman advanced again.
Wonder Woman repositioned.
Green Lantern constructs formed overhead.
The Flash circled rapidly.
Even Martian Manhunter prepared to engage again.
Itachi analyzed the battlefield instantly.
This fight was reaching the critical point.
If it continued much longer, the odds would shift from dangerous to fatal.
They needed to leave.
Now.
At that exact moment, the ground beneath the battlefield cracked open.
Black Zetsu emerged silently.
His dark form rose from the earth like a shadow coming to life.
Without hesitation, wooden structures erupted from the ground around Itachi.
Wood Style barriers.
Temporary cover.
Not strong enough to stop the Justice League.
But strong enough to create a moment.
A single moment.
Itachi immediately understood.
His body dissolved into a swarm of crows.
The technique activated instantly.
Crow after crow scattered through the battlefield as his true body vanished.
Reverse summoning.
Gone.
Kisame saw the signal.
Perfect timing.
He grinned wildly.
"Time to swim."
He leapt backward toward the nearby river.
The moment his body hit the water, he disappeared beneath the surface.
For Kisame, water was home.
Tracking him underwater was nearly impossible.
Within seconds, his chakra signature vanished completely.
The battlefield fell silent.
The Justice League stood among the broken terrain, scanning for any sign of their enemies.
But the Akatsuki members were already gone.
Retreated.
Escaped.
And more importantly…
They had survived a direct confrontation with the Justice League.
Which meant something important had just been proven.
The Akatsuki were not an ordinary enemy.
They were a force powerful enough to clash with the world's greatest heroes and still walk aw