"Oi, you actually used that?" Kisame Hoshigaki shouted, momentarily distracted from Might Guy as the crimson skeletal form rose. "That's definitely going to draw attention. And in your condition, was that really worth it? Is that kid really that dangerous?"
As Itachi's partner, Kisame knew exactly how costly that technique was. Even at his peak, Itachi couldn't use it lightly. And now, after casting Tsukuyomi twice?
The answer came immediately.
"Cough—!"
Before Itachi could even track Fujimoto Tōma's position, he doubled over, coughing violently.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave."
Tōma's voice cut through the chaos, calm and precise.
He had no intention of standing around. An incomplete Susanoo might look terrifying, but at this stage it was more intimidating than durable.
A compressed blade of air screamed forward.
Before anyone could react, the Vacuum Wave cleaved straight through the massive skeletal structure, slicing it apart as if it were brittle glass, and continued toward Itachi himself.
"What—?" Itachi's pupils contracted sharply.
It broke through that easily?
Vacuum Wave was already a technique that embodied pure cutting force, and Tōma's mastery over chakra nature transformation was far beyond ordinary standards. After breaking through his recent bottleneck, both his control and efficiency had climbed again.
At this point, there were very few things left in the world that could reliably stop his Wind Style.
Forced to move, Itachi retreated just in time. The shattered remnants of Susanoo bought him a sliver of space, narrowly saving him from a lethal hit.
"Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Kisame acted the instant Susanoo was cut apart. Catching Might Guy mid-shock, he completed his seals in one fluid motion.
An ocean of water erupted from his mouth, flooding the battlefield in seconds. A massive wave surged outward, swallowing everything in its path.
Tōma frowned.
He felt Itachi vanish into the water without resistance. Kisame had the advantage there. He didn't.
Fighting inside an enemy's terrain was suicide.
With a flash, Tōma used Body Flicker and reappeared on the shore.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
Kakashi forced himself to act despite the splitting pain in his head. A wall of earth rose just in time, breaking the wave's momentum.
The terrain helped. This was already a lakeside, not a narrow basin. The surge lost its destructive edge.
But the moment Kakashi finished the technique, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed. His already-fractured mental state finally gave out.
When the water settled, Might Guy hauled himself onto the shore, completely soaked and gasping.
He'd been right next to Kisame when the wave hit. If his body weren't absurdly resilient, he wouldn't have resurfaced at all.
Kisame and Itachi were gone.
They'd used the chaos to retreat.
Sasuke's unfocused gaze drifted toward Tōma. Through the haze, he remembered the towering "god" of chakra… and then remembered watching it get cut apart.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
Then his eyes closed.
Like Kakashi, he finally let go and fell unconscious.
"So strong…" Kurenai murmured.
She and Asuma had reopened their eyes once the fight ended and witnessed everything that followed.
They had fought Itachi and Kisame before. They knew how terrifying those two were.
But the moment Tōma arrived, the battle's balance flipped almost instantly.
Asuma, a Wind Style user himself, knew better than anyone that his own Vacuum Wave would never have pierced something like Susanoo.
And yet, in Tōma's hands, it might as well have been paper.
The quiet, gentle young man who used to walk Ino home had reached a level that left seasoned jōnin stunned.
Of course, they didn't know how heavily Itachi had been drained by using Tsukuyomi twice.
Tōma did.
That advantage wouldn't exist next time.
He understood Itachi perfectly now. His movements, his reactions, even his limits.
And Itachi had learned something about him in return.
Against someone like Itachi, failing to finish the fight only made the next encounter harder.
Still, this clash confirmed something important.
Itachi's strongest weapons were ineffective against him.
Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu weren't practical options. Against someone who didn't rely on sight and moved at extreme speed, they were inefficient and risky.
And Susanoo, for all its defense, was a poor match against techniques that maximized single-point cutting power.
Wind Style was its natural counter.
Even so, Tōma didn't relax for a second.
A shinobi like Itachi could turn a single mistake into death.
"I'll take a look," Tōma said quietly, lifting Sasuke.
Physically, the damage wasn't severe.
But the mental trauma left by Tsukuyomi was another matter entirely.
The brain wasn't something you could treat carelessly. One mistake, and it wasn't healing anymore. It was execution.
Tōma checked Kakashi next.
Same problem.
"Is it bad?" Guy asked, worry plain on his face.
"Yeah. Pretty bad," Tōma replied. "I need the head of the medical department."
His chakra control was sufficient, but his medical skill wasn't. The department head had the opposite issue.
Together, though, there was a good chance they could manage it.
"Then I'll carry them!" Guy declared.
Before anyone could object, he grabbed Kakashi and Sasuke and sprinted toward the hospital at full speed.
The others winced.
But… shinobi bodies were durable.
"Tōma, Kurenai and I will head out," Asuma said, then paused and bowed deeply alongside Kurenai. "Thank you. For saving our stubborn old man."
Tōma accepted the bow calmly. He'd earned it.
"If you ever need support," Asuma added seriously, "especially when you go for that seat… we're with you."
"Then it's a deal," Tōma said with a smile. "I'll head to the hospital before Guy shakes them awake."
Asuma and Kurenai watched him leave, both quietly aware of just how exceptional he was.
At the hospital, Guy greeted him with his usual enthusiasm.
"Tōma! You're late! Youth waits for no one!"
"Yeah, yeah," Tōma said dryly. "Please hand them to the nurses. Gently."
The nurses looked traumatized.
"Next time, be gentler with patients!" one snapped.
Guy scratched his head. "Ah… was I?"
Tōma sighed.
"Guy, report to the Third Hokage. I'll coordinate treatment."
"Leave it to me!" Guy flashed a thumbs-up, dazzling smile included.
As Tōma walked away, Guy suddenly froze.
"…Wait. Do I actually know what happened?"