Chapter 17 Night Watch

Logan's sudden stop caught Itachi off guard for a moment. Even though he had reduced his strength, the fireball continued to fly forward unimpeded for a distance before finally crashing into an unlucky tree.

Boom!

Flames erupted behind him, accompanied by crackling explosions. Logan didn't look back, 'Well, real men never looked back at explosions.'

"It's over just like this?" Itachi began to pant a little. He looked up at Logan, with a hint of confusion in his Sharingan. There was a sense of dissatisfaction in his tone. After all, the battle has only entered its prime now.

"Yeah, I guess so. We were just sparring, after all." Logan jumped over to Itachi's side and smiled, "Let's call it a draw."

Itachi was silent and didn't say anything. In the end, he put away the kunai and nodded.

On the surface, Logan seemed to have the upper hand in this sparring match. However, both sides had held back their full strength. Now that Itachi thinks about it carefully, it is indeed good to stop at this point. After all, pushing further might only lead to things getting out of hand.

After Itachi's Sharingan is opened to three-tomoe, his ability to predict his opponent's movements had become clearer. However, Logan was confident that activating his Lightning Release to increase his speed would once again level the playing field.

Nevertheless, faced with genjutsu of three-tomoe level or above, Logan wasn't so sure what to do. After all, Genjutsu isn't his strong suit.

Of course, the most important thing is that Itachi also has the ultimate move from his Mangekyo. Therefore, after a few minutes of exchanging blows, victory or defeat couldn't be clearly determined.

If it were an actual battle, the uncertainties would be even greater. After all, in life and death battle between Ninjas, there is no guarantee of victory. It wasn't impossible for a Genin to kill a Jonin.

The two dealt with the traces of the battle and extinguished the source of the fire caused by the fire ball to avoid causing a larger fire.

Fortunately, they are still in the Land of Fire. If they make such a commotion in another country, they are just trying to commit suicide.

They camped at a different place, and the night was getting darker. They were about to start resting, and the two decided to take turns keeping watch.

With the fight over, the forest quieted down. Under the moonlight, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the occasional chirping of insects could be heard from the bushes. If the threat of wild beasts and venomous snakes are ignored, this is also a place with a very natural charm.

But Logan certainly wouldn't indulge in appreciation. In the Ninja World, such places are everywhere. The nature beauty also meant danger, including the fact that the entire world is constantly at war. Hatred follows hatred. It was a vicious cycle. Many powerful individuals sought to change it, but besides Naruto, none had succeeded.

In the first half of the night, Logan kept watch. The bonfire in front of him had burned down to a flicker, barely maintaining a flame. Logan would occasionally stir it with a stick, to keep the last bit of light from disappearing.

"Sharingan, Kekkei Genkai... it's really useful." Logan sighed as he recalled his previous battle with Itachi. Itachi is working hard, and so was Logan, but Itachi's growth speed would definitely surpass his in the future. Even some minor characters who came later might leave him behind.

No one would compare this kind of thing, but Logan had his own standards in his heart. Could it be that after six or nine years, he could only watch the protagonists go through ups and downs, retreat to the second line, and become a background character in the manga scenes?

Although he has now discovered that he is still connected to Earth and could ignore the intricacies of the Ninja World as he can live stably in Earth, the unsettling phenomenon of unstable crossings and seemingly being drawn into a manga made Logan unable to calm down.

He had to figure all of this out. It felt like someone was controlling things behind the scenes, so he has to improve his strength.

'Should I study Space-Time Ninjutsu again?' Logan thought to himself, 'Everything involving Space-Time is very mysterious. The Scroll of Seals in Konoha or some secret volumes might contain information on this. In addition, the only ones that came to mind are Madara and Obito.'

'Do I also have to follow the traditional path of 'Every protagonist who travels to Naruto World will join Akatsuki'?' Logan couldn't help but chuckle at this thought. This was him poking fun at himself. But after he finished laughing, his expression turned serious.

'In order to obtain knowledge about Space-Time, I might really have to consider this method…'

In the past, Logan might not have entertained such dangerous thoughts. He is a normal person, and Akatsuki is always a place for the abnormal.

However, things are different now. He could still return to Earth, where he was just a high school student, spending his youth studying. That kind of life felt so familiar and seemed to be at his fingertips.

Suddenly, light footsteps came from behind. Logan reached for the kunai reflexively, but stopped in the middle of the movement.

It's Itachi. He had been too absorbed in his thoughts that it was already late at night.

Glancing up, Logan saw that the stars were still bright, but the moon is already descending in the lower sky.

"Senpai." Itachi naturally noticed Logan's movements, but he didn't say anything. He walked over and sat down next to Logan.

"Well, you're up." Logan said, rubbing his face and standing up, stretching his stiff limbs.

Itachi sat in front of the dim campfire, fiddled with the branches a few times, and then wiped the kunai under the flickering light of the fire.

It was silent late at night, and in the quiet atmosphere, there was only the sound of Logan checking several early warning devices around him.

"There's no problem." Logan clapped his hands, and came back and said.

Itachi showed his habitual cold expression and just nodded.

"Well, I'll go to sleep now." Logan already knew what kind of person Itachi was, so he didn't say anything more and head towards the tent.

Itachi lowered his head and wiped the kunai slowly, hesitating for a moment.

"Hattori-senpai."

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Logan stopped in his tracks, then turned around with a puzzled look.

"I accidentally overheard Senpai talking to himself just now..." Itachi's tone carried a hint of apologetic politeness, "Senpai, are you... envious of the Sharingan?"

Logan was stunned for a moment, finding it a bit odd, 'What was this about?'. He was about to say something casually when he suddenly noticed Itachi's expression at this time.

It was still somewhat stoic, but sitting alone under the dim fire, there's deep darkness behind him.

Pursing his lips, Logan thought for a moment before saying, "If you asked if I'm envious, I'm definitely envious."

"Is that so?" Itachi seemed to have expected this, as he had heard such words said by outsiders more than once.

"However, if I really have to choose, I'd still prefer to be ordinary." Logan's follow-up words made Itachi raise his head, "As the saying goes, the more you gain, the more you have to bear. The burden Uchiha Clan has to carry with the Sharingan is really not something to envy."