Outside Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist Village.
The battle between Uchiha Itachi, Loquat Jūzō, and the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, had already entered a brutal stage. After several exchanges, all three of them had a clear understanding of each other's strength.
In simple terms:
everyone here was dangerous enough to kill the others if they slipped up for even half a second.
Loquat Jūzō lifted the massive Kubikiribōchō—the Executioner's Blade—and stared at the Fourth Mizukage in the distance, his eyes full of bitter frustration.
He originally thought he was strong enough to fight Yagura head-on.
Turns out… he had overestimated the hell out of himself.
His proud Hidden Mist Technique had been cracked almost immediately. Even worse, when the Mizukage created a Water Clone, Jūzō could barely keep up with it—even while wielding the legendary Executioner's Blade.
If Itachi hadn't been there to share the pressure, Jūzō was pretty sure the Mizukage and the surrounding Kirigakure ANBU would have already turned him into a corpse hanging from a tree.
Clang!
After dodging a sneak attack from a Mist ANBU ninja, Jūzō swung his blade and sent the attacker flying. He barely escaped the explosion of several detonating tags, then jumped back onto a distant tree trunk and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
His goal wasn't to slaughter everyone here.
His real goal was to free the Mizukage from the masked man's control and expose the truth to the ninjas of Kirigakure.
That meant he had to fight while holding back.
And fighting like that was a pain in the ass.
"Damn… this is harder than cutting someone's cock off with a dull knife," Jūzō muttered.
Whoosh—whoosh!
At that moment, Jūzō's attention was drawn to a red chakra figure in the distance.
Under Itachi's relentless pressure, the Fourth Mizukage had finally transformed into a partial tailed beast form.
Black-red chakra covered his body, dramatically increasing his speed, strength, and defense. The only side effect was that his emotions became more unstable.
When Jūzō saw this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Now the ninjas of Kirigakure would definitely notice that something was wrong with their Mizukage.
While Jūzō was feeling slightly relieved, Itachi had already fallen into serious trouble.
In his tailed-beast state, Yagura could use the power of the Three-Tails, Isobu.
After being accidentally struck by one of Yagura's palms, clusters of coral suddenly grew across Itachi's cloak, restricting his movement.
Half a second slower—and that was enough.
Yagura struck again.
Itachi tore off his Akatsuki cloak to escape, but it was still a bit too late.
Just as Itachi was debating whether he should risk using Tsukuyomi, a figure suddenly appeared behind him and blocked the incoming attack.
It was Loquat Jūzō.
Yagura didn't hesitate. He swung another brutal palm strike toward Jūzō.
CLANG!
Jūzō raised the Executioner's Blade and barely blocked it.
After saving Itachi, Jūzō quickly shouted:
"The Mizukage just used Coral Palm! Anyone hit by it will have coral grow on their body—watch out!"
Itachi nodded slightly.
However, his eyes kept shifting between the Mizukage and the distant Hidden Mist Village.
Something about this situation was extremely strange.
He and Jūzō had just infiltrated Kirigakure… so how the hell were they discovered almost instantly?
And why was the leader of the response team the Fourth Mizukage himself, a man who had barely appeared in public for years?
Even stranger—they had been fighting for quite a while now.
Where were the reinforcements from Kirigakure?
The more Itachi thought about it, the more it smelled like a conspiracy.
But the question was—
Who was the trap meant for?
Him and Jūzō?
Or someone else entirely?
Before Itachi could think further, his attention was suddenly dragged back to the battlefield.
In front of the transformed Mizukage, a pitch-black sphere of chakra was forming.
From the chakra signature alone, Itachi immediately recognized it.
Tailed Beast Bomb.
The ultimate weapon of a Jinchūriki.
A horrifying thought flashed through Itachi's mind.
Does he intend to kill his own subordinates just to eliminate us?
Without hesitation, Itachi jumped backward, trying to escape the blast radius.
But he was too late.
With a deafening sonic boom, the Tailed Beast Bomb shot forward like a cannonball—aimed directly at Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi was mid-air.
No room to dodge.
Just as the attack was about to hit him—
Loquat Jūzō appeared in front of him once again.
"Move, kid!"
He swung the Executioner's Blade and blocked the Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.
Thanks to Yagura's control, the explosion was limited in scale.
But the Executioner's Blade shattered into pieces.
One of the broken fragments pierced straight through Jūzō's body, pinning him against a massive tree.
His torso was almost completely severed.
Itachi froze.
Jūzō sacrificing his life like that… shook him deeply.
A moment later, Itachi's eyes bled as he activated Amaterasu.
Black flames instantly erupted across the Fourth Mizukage's body.
The flames devoured chakra itself as fuel, burning relentlessly. No matter how Yagura rolled on the ground or used Water Release, the flames refused to go out.
After forcing the Mizukage to retreat, Itachi walked over to the dying Loquat Jūzō.
Jūzō gave a faint, regretful smile.
"Itachi… sorry for dragging you into this mission."
"I should've done this alone."
Itachi looked at him calmly.
"The mission has clearly failed. If we find a good doctor quickly… your injuries might still be treated."
Jūzō shook his head weakly.
"No… the mission didn't fail."
"And I'm definitely not surviving this."
He looked toward the distant Kirigakure.
"I've done too many missions against my conscience… killed too many people I shouldn't have."
"At least now… I can die here."
"After all… Kirigakure is still my home."
A small smile appeared on his face.
Itachi frowned slightly.
Even though Jūzō hadn't explained everything, Itachi could guess the truth.
Jūzō had infiltrated Akatsuki for the same reason Itachi had.
To protect his village.
To change it from the inside.
But unlike Itachi…
Jūzō had already reached the end of his road.
Looking at the peaceful smile on Jūzō's face, Itachi realized something.
Jūzō had succeeded.
Meanwhile, Itachi's own mission had only just begun.
He didn't know if he would ever be as lucky as Jūzō—able to die in the village he loved… after ensuring Sasuke Uchiha could grow up safely.
For a moment, Itachi felt an unfamiliar wave of emotion.
But in the distance, Kirigakure ninjas were already approaching.
Sooner or later, they would find him.
These Mist ninjas weren't strong enough to threaten him—but there was no reason to stay any longer.
The mission was over.
Time to leave.
After moving several hundred meters away, Itachi suddenly stopped and looked at a nearby tree.
From inside the trunk, Obito Uchiha stepped out.
He glanced toward the direction where Jūzō had died.
Originally, Obito planned to kill Jūzō himself.
But that idiot had thrown himself into a Tailed Beast Bomb, saving him the trouble.
Still…
The smile on Jūzō's face before dying made Obito extremely irritated.
"A traitor smiling before death… how disgusting."
After a moment of silence, Itachi spoke.
"Madara. The mission assigned by Pain has failed. Loquat Jūzō is also dead."
"What should we do next?"
Obito snorted.
"When trash dies, it dies. Waste like him isn't worth sympathy."
Then he continued coldly:
"As for the mission… there is another one."
"You will impersonate me and temporarily control the Fourth Mizukage."
"Stay in that role until you encounter a ninja wearing a black fox mask."
"When that person appears—fight him briefly, then find a way to retreat."
Itachi accepted the task, though a trace of doubt appeared in his eyes.
"Is that person also a member of the organization?"
Obito chuckled.
"Yes… and no."
Then he added slowly,
"But he's our partner."
"And in the future…"
"Kirigakure will fall under his control."
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