"And that's only one of them. There's another old monster with five hearts who can use all five chakra natures at once. He's basically a walking artillery platform."
"On top of that, there's an Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan. If you look him in the eyes, you're finished."
The moment she heard the words Mangekyo Sharingan, Yugito's heart sank.
She was proud, but she wasn't stupid. The abilities Akira was describing really did sound impossible to deal with.
"I still don't fully believe you," Yugito said, biting her lip. "That one with the Sharingan... he's a missing-nin from your Konoha, isn't he?"
"That's right. Uchiha Itachi," Akira said without hesitation. "You should know what those eyes mean."
Yugito frowned. "I'm a perfect jinchuriki. The Tailed Beast inside me can break me out of genjutsu. The Sharingan shouldn't be that much of a threat to me, should it?"
Akira looked at her as if she had said something painfully naïve.
"You're more innocent than I thought. Ordinary genjutsu, maybe. But we're talking about the Mangekyo."
"And who told you the Sharingan is the only thing that can instantly control a jinchuriki?"
Before she could respond, Akira suddenly reached out and lightly caught her by the chin, forcing her to raise her head.
The instant their eyes met, Yugito felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her pupils lost focus at once.
Her whole world collapsed.
She fell into a bottomless abyss of darkness, her body wrapped in countless chains, even her soul trembling under an unbearable weight.
Then, just as suddenly, Akira let go and gave her shoulder a light pat.
Yugito snapped back to herself with a violent gasp, sucking in air in ragged breaths. Her entire body was drenched in cold sweat, as if she had just clawed her way back from death itself.
"What... what was that? What just happened?"
Even the Two-Tails inside her was trembling.
"Yugito, that man's spiritual power is like something divine. For that instant, even I felt frozen solid."
If Akira had wanted to, she would have died hundreds of times over in that single moment.
Yugito's face had gone pale, and even her voice shook.
"How did you do that? You don't even have the Sharingan!"
Akira turned his back to her, leaving only a calm, unreadable silhouette in the moonlight.
"How I did it doesn't matter. All you need to remember is that feeling of helplessness."
"I can play you like a puppet without the Sharingan. If you ever run into a real Mangekyo Sharingan user, your end will be even uglier."
Yugito gripped the railing so tightly her knuckles turned white.
That conversation had shattered the pride she carried as a perfect jinchuriki.
"Can someone with the Mangekyo Sharingan really cast genjutsu that terrifying?" she asked, her voice dry.
What Akira had used just now was actually the power of the Rinnegan, something far beyond the Mangekyo.
But he had no intention of explaining that. As long as she walked away with enough caution, that was all that mattered.
Akira glanced back at her, a faint, meaningful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"To be precise, their genjutsu isn't on my level. But it's still more than enough to wreck everything you think you know. Is that clear?"
Yugito lowered her proud head and fell into a silence so deep it might as well have been death.
Akira watched her, clearly shaken, and smiled in satisfaction.
Good. That was exactly the effect he wanted. Fear made people listen.
"Beyond the Uchiha's famous Sharingan, there's another freak in the Akatsuki with an immortal body."
"That madman can put his head back on after it's cut off. If you ever fight him, don't let him draw blood. The moment your blood falls into his hands, a death curse ritual begins."
"And his partner, the one who handles the money, is an even worse monster. He has mastered all five chakra natures and can freely unleash high-level jutsu from every element."
"The scariest part is that he's hoarded five lives through a forbidden jutsu."
"Unless you can destroy all five of the hearts still beating inside him in one go, he's basically impossible to kill."
"There's also a missing-nin from Iwagakure working with them. That one mixes chakra into clay and turns it into living bombs."
"The destructive force those explosions release is insane. Some of his so-called ultimate works can hit as hard as a small Tailed Beast Bomb."
Yugito felt a chill crawl down her spine. Her gloved hands tightened around the cold metal railing in front of her.
"So every member of this so-called Akatsuki is a lunatic beyond common sense?"
Akira's lips curved slightly into an unconcerned smile.
"That's only the tip of the iceberg. The ones who haven't shown themselves yet are just as troublesome."
"The only thing I can promise you is this: every one of those rogue ninja has genuine Kage-level strength."
Yugito was silent for a long time.
Then she turned and stared straight at him.
"If you're telling me all this classified information, what exactly are you after?"
The ninja world was built on deception. Lies and manipulation were part of everyone's training from the beginning.
Yugito wasn't naïve enough to believe Akira was telling her all of this just because he found her interesting and didn't want to see her die for nothing.
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