"Hey. How's your body holding up?"
Outside the village, Kisame Hoshigaki set Itachi down, eyeing him with clear concern.
"Still breathing," Itachi replied, coughing lightly. For him, this state was almost routine.
"I wouldn't call that 'fine.' You shouldn't have wasted Tsukuyomi on that copy ninja and your little brother," Kisame said bluntly. "That was pure stamina drain."
"…You're right. I underestimated things," Itachi admitted quietly. His mind replayed the brief clash with Fujimoto Tōma, and his eyes narrowed.
That boy didn't fight by sight. Even when Itachi could read his movements, he couldn't replicate them. And worse, none of his Mangekyō abilities truly worked against him.
Unless he forced out a more complete Susanoo.
But Itachi dismissed the thought immediately.
He knew his body. If he pushed Susanoo any further, he wouldn't live long enough to see Sasuke grow. And if he died before passing on these eyes…
That was unacceptable.
Itachi closed his eyes. Sasuke had seen it. The Susanoo. And more importantly, he had seen it cut apart.
This mission was supposed to deepen Sasuke's hatred, to carve despair into his heart and drive him toward power.
Instead, Fujimoto Tōma had shattered the image of invincibility Itachi had carefully maintained.
If Sasuke believed Itachi could be defeated without relying on the Sharingan…
Things were slipping out of control.
Still, there was no turning back now. As long as Sasuke hated him, the path remained, even if it bent.
"So what now?" Kisame asked. "The Nine-Tails isn't in the village."
"We withdraw," Itachi said. "Recover, confirm the Nine-Tails' movements, then return. It's far too early to attempt a capture. With just the two of us, it's unrealistic."
He coughed again.
Konoha wouldn't let the Nine-Tails leave unguarded. Whoever was escorting it was almost certainly someone on Jiraiya's level. And Tōma had likely marked either Naruto or Jiraiya already.
Engaging now would only mean running into him again.
"And I don't like those odds," Kisame muttered, nodding. "Fair enough."
At Konoha's medical center, Kakashi and Sasuke's treatment plan was finally taking shape.
The head of the medical department supervised closely while Fujimoto Tōma carried out the procedure. Progress was slow. Painfully slow.
Tōma's chakra control was excellent, but his medical experience wasn't. The department head corrected him step by step, deliberately slowing things down and explaining every detail.
Tōma absorbed it all like a sponge.
Eventually, both patients regained consciousness.
"You two really are something," Tōma said, pulling a chair around and sitting backward on it. "Master and student, taken out by the same guy on the same day."
"…Itachi."
The name surfaced simultaneously from Kakashi and Sasuke.
Kakashi was still shaken. Genjutsu that couldn't be resisted. A crimson skeletal warrior made of chakra.
The Sharingan had depths he'd never imagined.
If he can use it… can I?
The Mangekyō pattern he possessed might not be the same, but it was clearly the same tier.
Maybe he'd avoided it for too long.
Sasuke's thoughts went elsewhere.
The nightmare was still there. But so was the image of Susanoo being cut down.
The man he had believed invincible had been wounded. Beaten back.
Hope seeped in through the cracks.
If Tōma can do it now… then so can I, someday.
He would still visit the clan's secret site. He knew it likely involved hatred and power.
But he didn't want his entire life to be built on that.
Revenge would be a chapter, not the whole book.
Seeing their silence, Tōma stood. "Get some rest. If you want separate rooms later, tell me."
"No need," Kakashi said, coming back to himself. "Thanks, Tōma."
"Good. I've got other things to handle."
"The negotiations?" Kakashi asked.
"Done," Tōma replied with a faint smile. "Surprisingly smooth."
Sand and Leaf had jointly petitioned the daimyō to strip Otogakure of village status, reclassifying it as Orochimaru's rogue base. Sand was already mobilizing, desperate to strike back after confirming the Fourth Kazekage's death.
They needed to prove their strength as much as Konoha did.
"This isn't really a war," Tōma added. "More like an extermination. Orochimaru doesn't have the resources for anything bigger."
Kakashi nodded. That sounded right.
Sasuke, meanwhile, felt completely lost.
Since when were things this big?
"I'll head out," Tōma said, noticing Kakashi's intent to speak privately. He left without another word.
Once alone, Kakashi leaned back.
"Sasuke… do you want to hear a story from someone who lost everything?"
Sasuke hesitated, then nodded.
Kakashi began to speak.
Tōma returned home that evening. Things were settled for now. Daimyō approval, scouting, and mobilization would all take time.
He did the math in his head.
I should make a trip to Mount Myōboku.
As for why?
Simple.
Sage Mode.