Itachi's Sharingan spun rapidly, his sight enhanced to its limit as he looked in a direction.
This chakra…!
"Retreat!" Itachi quickly pulled Kisame's collar and pulled him at lighting speed.
Raging Fist: Herculean!
CRASH!
The axe kick missed Kisame's head and landed straight towards the ground. The crater spread like a breaking class, creating a crater while sending shockwaves that pushed both of the Akatsuki back a few steps.
"You saved me there…", Kisame muttered. A bead of sweat rolled down his face. His expression is no longer playful.
From within the dust cloud, the ferocious red eyes give chills down both them. A wave of evil red chakra visibly emanates from the figure, making the atmosphere heavy and ominous.
"Itachi… this chakra… it's 9 tails…? How…", Kisame already unwrapped his Samehada. His eyes filled with confusion more than wariness.
"...", Itachi also frowned. Even as an ex-ANBU of Konoha he had no idea. Naruto is definitely the 9 tails Jinchuriki. But why is there another?
As the dust settled, surprise flashed in Itachi's eyes. But in a quick moment, he appears calm again.
"I see… Tsuyu. I didn't expect you… or the 9 tails are…". Itachi sort of understood the matter. Both of them are twins. To have two 9 tails… it's only possible if 9 tails are split in half. As a life made of chakra, it's theoretically possible. To think she kept such a secret. No, Konoha kept such a secret so tightly even most of the ANBU didn't know.
Tsuyu stared at both of them with murderous intent in her eyes. The red demonic eyes contained a deep rage.
"Itachi… what are you doing here?".
"...". Itachi didn't respond.
Her eyes turned to look at Kakashi who looks like he just went through some torture. She then turned her gaze at Naruto and Sasuke.
She bit her lips subconsciously, a drop of blood rolled down her lips down to her chin. In an instant flicker, she appears in front of him.
She crouched down to feel Naruto's vitals. His faint pulse. His weak heartbeat. His pale skin was as if he lost a lot of blood. The saving grace is Naruto is alive.
No one makes any movement as Tsuyu checks on Naruto, followed by Sasuke. She stood up, made a hand seal and summoned 2 shadow clones.
The shadow clone picks Naruto and Sasuke up like a ragdoll. The other also went to pick Kakashi up.
Kakashi managed to raise his head.
"Tsuyu… don't be impulsive…", Kakashi quickly reminded her.
Kakashi moves his hand, reaching out to his ninja tool to get his flare. With great effort, he was able to launch it.
Whew~ Pop! A bright red flare flashed in the sky of Konoha. The clones quickly take Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi to the hospital first.
"Kisame, change of plan. Retreat-".
"Who says you can leave?".
Itachi is taken aback as Tsuyu turns her gaze towards him. Heavy chakra pressed down on him instantly.
"Why did you hurt him?". Her voice had a low, beastly tone.
"We are hired to take him away…". Itachi replied based on the script he's told by Pain.
"Who?".
"We can't divulge our client's information". Itachi muttered calmly. Kisame look at Itachi, then at Tsuyu.
…
"Hnhn… haha… HAHAHA! Damn it! Shameless!"
Tsuyu laughed out loud at the sky, startling everyone on the field. Tsuyu instantly thinks about the reason. Akatsuki, a mercenary organization, hired to kidnap or kill Naruto.
It's clear what motive this had. Tsuyu's red eyes darkened further.
"Which hidden village?".
Tsuyu already understood the matter quickly, and she wanted to know which hidden village she had to destroy first.
"She lost it…". Kisame muttered.
"I cannot divulge the information". Itachi said calmly, but his body posture shows how wary he is.
"... Hn…", she had a funny smile on her lips, the grin on her face almost reached her ears.
Itachi detected the other chakra signatures approaching them already.
"Kisame, we have no time".
Kisame had to put his Samehada on his back and quickly retreat with Itachi. Both of them use body flicker at maximum speed, running quickly out of Konoha.
"As if I would let you go!".
Tsuyu roared, chakra burst out of her feet as she quickly chased after them.
Just as Kisame look back-
Flash-
Kisame's pupil constricted as Tsuyu flashed right on to his face.
Herculean!
Kisame reacted quickly and crossed his arm to block-
The punch sends massive force to Kisame's hands deep into his bones while sending him crashing into a few trees, causing a few to fall and dust to roll.
"Ha…", Kisame felt embarrassed. That girl is faster than he assumed. He stood from the small crater. He wiped the dust off his cloak, twisted his neck and arms to pop it right back in place. The bones of his arms are cracked even, but it quickly healed in seconds from Samehada healing power.
"Itachi-san. Since we cannot take the other… let's just take her".
Itachi flickered next to Kisame. Tsuyu squinted her eyes, seeing Kisame is tough enough to receive her punch and he could heal too…
Itachi's gears turning. He's not sure if they could outrun Tsuyu. Her body flicker speed with 9 tails chakra is terrifying. As for using distraction like mist or shadow clones… Kisame is already angry and agitated.
"You two are not leaving this place alive…". Tsuyu looks coldly at the two. Bubbles of dark red chakra form from beneath her skin, eventually coating her body into an image of a fox beast overlapping her with 7 tails. Her body hunched over slightly.
"7 tails… Kisame, I will leave her to you". Kisame is more suited to fight a jinchuriki directly after all. Itachi quickly retreated to let Kisame be at front while he would act as support.
Haa… She let out a mouthful of turbid air.Taking a deep breath, the branch beneath her feet snapped as he lunged towards the two of them.
Kisame quickly swung his Samehada to face her attack.
"Die!".
Her fist hit the blade head on. Parts of her chakra cloak seemingly tore apart and were eaten away by Samehada upon contact. The remaining force still pushed Kisame backward until he crashed into a tree.
Tsuyu frowned seeing Kisame receive seemingly no damage at all. Tsuyu looked at herself in confusion. Her chakra cloak is left with only 1 tail left.
So that's Samehada… 1 of the Seven Sword of the Mist… I cannot underestimate him. I didn't think its chakra absorption was so terrifying.
She had never thought anyone could resist a full blown punch from her version 1 of tailed beast cloak directly.
Seeing Tsuyu's loss of ferociousness, Kisame gained superiority and confidence.
"Haha. Samehada really likes the taste of your chakra. He's in such a good mood. Hehe… I wonder if fox meat tastes good".
Tsuyu's chakra cloak dispersed.
"It doesn't taste good". Tsuyu replied coldly. The cursed mark on her shoulder pulsed… black, vine-like patterns spread slowly from her shoulder, creeping up to her neck. The mark creeped up onto half of her face, one of her eyes turned entirely black, leaving a yellowed iris and a dark slit pupil.
Earth Release: Earth Armament! Both of Tsuyu's arms turned heavy like lead, with black luster of metal gleaming. The curse mark tattoo crawled onto her arms in burning heat colour.
Can you take senjutsu chakra too? Tsuyu had a dark grin on her expression as she once more launched her assault.
Kisame grinned as well as he received her blows. Each of her fists and kicks explode with chakra on contact. Kisame dodge and counter, swinging his Samehada towards Tsuyu's fist.
Clang!
Samehada once more absorbed the chakra expulsion from Tsuyu's black fist. But Kisame noticed something was wrong!
Tsuyu grinned seeing Samehada wiggling in discomfort, as if it had a stomachache. The chakra force from her punches becomes more effective over time.
Tsuyu flickered and launched another fist towards Kisame. Kisame tried to block with Samehada, but this time the force was not reduced at all!
The force managed to deflect Samehada up, leaving Kisame open to attack. Now! Tsuyu uses a palm filled with chakra right onto Kisame's abdomen.
Kisame didn't expect Samehada to stop absorbing chakra, and he was hit directly. "Kuh-!". Kisame was launched forward without stopping, crashing into multiple trees before stopping.
It's done… Tsuyu had an evil grin all of a sudden - successfully leaving a hidden mark on him.
Itachi quickly replaced Kisame's position that was sent flying, seizing a gap in Tsuyu's movement after her attack.
With the closed distance, and Tsuyu's eyes already on his - his sharingan spun rapidly, turning into a three-pronged windmill. Blood drops from the corner of his eye.
"Tsukiyomi!".
***
Tsuyu opened her eyes, finding herself in a dark place. Her body is nailed into a cross, as if the steel nails penetrating her body are real.
Her eyes glared at Itachi, holding her pain in.
"Tsuyu… you have grown strong". Itachi said coldly, taking step by step towards her.
"Ha… You should understand what it means to take away Konoha's 9 tails. You really want to see Konoha get destroyed? How could the mighty Itachi take orders for a mere mercenary organisation!".
Itachi takes a step closer. Stabbing his blade into Tsuyu's chest without mercy.
The blade tore her flesh, sending pain into her entire body. "Ack-… Fuck…", Tsuyu gritted her teeth in pain, her limbs tense holding herself. Her eyes bloodshot glaring at him.
"You dare touch my brother… but don't you forget I could take yours". Tsuyu said in resentment and anger.
For once Itachi's eyes had emotions in them. He stabbed another blade into Tsuyu's abdomen, twisting it cruelly.
"Hnhnhn… Hahaha… HAHHAA!", Tsuyu laughed from the pain.
"Hah… Mangekyo sharingan… this illusion… I cannot break it normally. Itachi, I cannot defeat you in a fair fight". Tsuyu admitted, but her grin tells Itachi something is wrong.
Crack. Crack. The dimension started to crack all of a sudden, white lining spread like spiderwebs, bursts of red chakra infiltrated the space.
!!! What?
GRRR… Damned Uchiha!!! Itachi's eyes contracted, the roar of the fox apparition in front of him caused his illusion to end.
Itachi felt shocked. She had cooperation with the 9 tails! But he quickly regained composure to block a few punches from Tsuyu that's already awake. 9 tails had trauma with mangekyo, of course he would help Tsuyu to get rid of him.
As he retreats, he takes a breath in and casts another jutsu.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Tsuyu quickly dodged to the side. The fireball exploded onto the ground and burned the trees in the surrounding area.
Just then, a water release from Kisame hit the burned area, causing the whole forest to be filled with mist.
"Tch".
Her expression grew heavy as the mist covered her senses.
This fog is not normal fog. It's filled with chakra, disrupting my senses.
She could blow the fog away with Heaven's Roar or use wind release. But she had no time as he felt two figures on her left and right. Kisame is already difficult enough. Itachi too is powerful. 9 tails chakra and Cursed Seal would consume her stamina and drain her too fast and Kisame would eat at her chakra. She will die in a prolonged fight.
Therefore…
"Foul play? Fine…". Flying Raijin!
***
Itachi's sharingan only sees Tsuyu's chakra disappear instantly. Kisame, too, felt she went missing entirely.
"Itachi, can you sense her?".
"No…".
The mist eventually dissipates after seconds. Both of them thought Tsuyu had retreated somehow.
"Let's retreat. Konoha ninja should be near". Kisame just nods. But both of them always felt something was very wrong with the situation.
***
I will show you then, how you play foully!
3 tails, 6 tails, 7 tails… she transformed into bijuu chakra mode; bones overlapped with her dark-red coated body. The 7 tails represented by her hair formed into a claw shape - gathering positive and negative energy.
Itachi and Kisame that's on the run felt the large amount of chakra gathering a few hundred meters away from them.
"She's… is that bijuu bomb?!". Kisame frowned in confusion, looking back at the red light visible amongst the canopy of trees.
Itachi felt something was definitely wrong. She can't be planning to shoot from there. It's too far, she can miss too easily. Did she have a way to make sure she hits?
"Kisame, run faster. Don't let her hit you".
"Okay!".
Both of them move in a zigzag pattern across the forest while looking back at times. Their distance gets farther and farther away from Tsuyu.
And from here it should be very difficult for her to hit even if bijuudama has a massive attack range.
Just what is she…
***
The dark mass of the chakra sphere grows bigger and bigger. The senjutsu from curse mark add even more fuel into the already sinister sphere. The grin on her face almost reached her ears. The ground and the trees around her shook, the earth beneath her trembled and cracked from the mass of chakra she gathered. The air vibrated, the birds and animals ran away.
The massive mass of black-purple chakra sphere had signs of unleashing its terror after tens of seconds of uninterrupted channeling.
DIE! Flying Raijin!
***
In an instance, a terrifying dark mass of chakra sphere instantly appeared in front of Kisame. His eyes widened in shock, his mouth agape. And before he could react, Tsuyu already blasted the massive dark sphere right towards him at a meter distance!
Itachi quickly flashed towards Kisame… his mangekyo spun rapidly-
Tsuyu covered herself in a mass of 9 tails chakra, using Earth nature transformation making a thick shield of dark-red chakra cocoon.
Susanoo! Mirror of Yata! In a split second Itachi summoned full-body Susanoo in an instant!
The terrifying Supercharged Tailed Beast Bomb broke its limit right after.
BOOM!
The susanoo blocks the terrifying explosion. The powerful wave of red chakra force engulfed Susanoo's body entirely. Its body cracked inch by inch, corroded into its muscle form… and then into its skeletal form, eventually leaving only its rib.
Crack - crack - the Susanoo cannot withstand it anymore and shattered completely! The remaining force heavily blasted onto Itachi and Kisame hurling them to crash into trees and the ground.
Cough! Itachi spat a mouthful of blood. Kisame is in the same situation. Blood flowed from a corner of his mouth.
Itachi gritted his teeth and used his sharingan to observe where Tsuyu was.
The dust clouds settled. Only devastation and wasteland remained within 100 meter radius, as if it was flattened by a nuclear strike.
From a crack on the ground, an arm stretches out, pulling herself out.
"Ha…ha… Mm- Cough-", blood coughed out from Tsuyu's mouth. Contrary to the situation, she let out a small chuckle of disbelief and frustration seeing those pair at the far distance clearly alive.
"How can he even block that…haha…". Tsuyu felt this world was really nonsense. He saw for a split moment, some giant chakra construct blocking it. She truly didn't expect it.
Tsuyu's eyes met with Itachi's a hundred metres across the wasteland.
"Nnh-", Tsuyu tried to step forward, but her knees gave out. She almost kneeled on one knee. She couldn't muster much strength at all. Her chakra network too is injured and in disarray.
Itachi suddenly frowned, feeling his body condition worsening as he coughed blood out again. His eyes look more blurry than before. He used a full body susanoo and tanked all of the supercharged bijuu bomb after all. And that already includes Mirror of Yata.
Kisame that's in better condition after being healed by Samehada quickly pulled and dragged Itachi away to retreat.
Apart from that 'monster' Tsuyu that plays unlike a shinobi at all - other Konoha shinobi are already coming here from the explosion just now. Kisame still felt how close he was to death facing such immense force. He had never seen anything able to destroy Itachi's Susanoo. But then he had never seen a fully powered uninterrupted Tailed Beast Bomb either. Now he knows.
Konoha shinobi arrives within a minute after seeing and sensing the massive explosion of chakra before.
Jiraiya looked worried as he went to Tsuyu. Ignoring the 100 meter radius wasteland she created, he went to check her vitals.
"You are injured…".
She just nods before her legs really give out. Jiraiya catches her quickly.
"Those two are injured… Finish them off…". Tsuyu muttered the sentence.
Jiraiya is taken aback at her words at this moment. But still, the other shinobi nodded to each other and went to chase after the tracks of those two.
Damn it… I am not strong enough. Tsuyu thought she had gained enough strength, but she realised today she's wrong entirely. There are different monsters in this Shinobi World.
Not enough…
She felt frustrated at the fact that she couldn't kill them. In her heart, she wanted to avenge Naruto, even if it's not what Tsuyu would say why she's feeling so frustrated right now.
Jiraiya left Tsuyu to an ANBU medic, deciding to chase after Itachi and Kisame.
Itachi… why are you harming Konoha at this time… Jiraiya asked himself as he chase after them.
***
Danzo personally visited the site of the wasteland to observe. Tsuyu's control over 9 tails is truly terrifying. But... what's more unreasonable is how Itachi escapes alive even facing such terrifying power.
Danzo felt a sense of wariness. "Susanoo of the Uchiha...". Danzo recalled the scenes he sees when Madara back then use it. Itachi must have had it too.
Itachi... you dare to harm the village now. Did you really think I don't dare to touch your little brother? You crossed my limit...