Chapter 26 Flame

The black flames burned quietly, bringing immense pain.

"What is this?!"

The black flames jumped out of nowhere, and there was no sign except for the spinning of the windmill pattern in Itachi's right eye.

Different from the burning sensation of ordinary flames, the maggots-like pain crawled up the bodies of Obito and Kisame. Obito's expression changed drastically, and Kisame even screamed in agony.

The severe pain made both of their faces distorted. The scorching black flames seemed like hot oil splashed on their exposed skin, turning everything it touched into ashes. The beating black flame is laughing, grinning like a devil as it devoured their lives bit by bit.

Seeing the miserable state of Obito and Kisame, Logan shuddered.

"Let's go, Senpai!"

Itachi's shout made Logan react immediately, 'This is our last chance to escape!'

'Amaterasu can be said to be the strongest Fire Release Ninjutsu, but it might not be enough to take out those two instantly.'

Logan glanced at Itachi, who was in extremely poor condition at this time. He's trembling as if enduring some side effects, and there was even a trace of blood flowing from his right eye.

Without hesitation, Logan stirred up the last bit of Chakra he has and rushed directly towards the direction outside the forest.

Itachi gritted his teeth and ignored Obito and Kisame, who were struggling with the unquenchable flames of Amaterasu. He also jumped onto a tree trunk, but after a few steps, he stumbled and almost fell.

When Logan saw this scene, he pursed his lips and slowed down his pace. And when Itachi came to behind him, regardless of whether he agreed or not, he directly pulled the other party's body and started to escape without looking back.

Feeling a surge of force coming from the front, Itachi wanted to say something but eventually held back, then both of them rushed forward with all their strength.

A hundred meters behind, Obito and Kisame could only helplessly watch Logan and Itachi leave. Kisame's eyes turned red as he used a Water Release Ninjutsu on himself, but the black flames were unharmed and continued to devour his trembling nerves.

"Why can't water extinguish it!" Kisame exclaimed in shock.

The Sharingan inside the hole of Obito's mask stared at the eerie black flames. He is very knowledgeable and said quickly: "This is Amaterasu. It won't extinguish unless the attached objects are burned to ashes!"

Kisame's eyes widened after hearing Obito's words, and the expression on his shark-like face became very anxious.

For most people, once they are hit by Amaterasu is casted, it's almost an unsolvable Jutsu, and they can only wait to die in the burning pain. However, some people can't just sit still and wait for their death. After the shock, Obito endured the severe pain in a cold sweat, and the three tomoe on his right eye began to spin.

Unable to attend to anything else under the desperate situation, Kisame took a deep breath. Looking at the increasingly vigorous black flames, he pulled out the bandaged sword on his back.

…

"They shouldn't be chasing us anymore."

With Itachi behind him, Logan continued to run without stopping. After a while, they managed to come out of the forest. However, they did not stop, and continued to run northeast instead.

With their deteriorating physical condition, the two of them had to stop midway, swallowed a few soldier pills, drank some water, hardly rested, and then rushed forward again in a straight line, stopping all the way and running with all their strength. When darkness fell, they finally breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed in a small cave.

"They won't chase us. The flames of Amaterasu can't be extinguished. Those two from Akatsuki should be dead by now." Itachi said, leaning against the uneven rocky wall and panted. Some sharp edges were very uncomfortable, but he was already extremely tired after running tirelessly all afternoon. This already exceeded the training volume he had ever done before. The overwhelming exhaustion that came over him as soon as he sat down made him unwilling to move again.

"Not necessarily." Logan was also very tired. If he could, he would definitely lie down and rest. However, knowing the opponents' perverted abilities, he would not be too optimistic, "I can't say anything about that shark face, but that man wearing the mask has strange abilities. There's a good chance that he's not burned to death by Amaterasu."

The reason Logan would say this is because there's precedent for this in the original work.

Itachi obviously wasn't very convinced. He couldn't think of any way to survive after being engulfed by flames that couldn't be extinguished or driven away. They had been rushing all afternoon, and his intention to escape was to prevent the opponents from retaliating hysterically. But he hadn't expected to run so far for their lives.

However, Logan was very determined, so he had no choice but to follow.

He had doubts in his heart, but he did not immediately argue with Logan. Logan's performance in various aspects during this trip to Amegakure had already gained his approval.

After sitting for a while and regaining some strength, Logan tended to his left hand's wound and then got up to take out the simple map from the ninja pouch, frowning as he recalled the route they took during the day.

'We have... probably entered the southwest border of the Land of Grass right now."

"We actually traveled that far?" Itachi sighed bitterly upon hearing this news.

Logan nodded helplessly, "Surviving is what matters."

After another half an hour, when the two had stabilized their breaths a bit, Logan clapped his hands and stood up. The sky outside was getting darker, and the cave they were in was just an inconspicuous place at the foot of several mountains, surrounded by uninhabited natural surroundings. As autumn approached, the nights would be a bit cold. Logan slowly walked to the entrance of the cave and said, "It's getting late. I'll go get some firewood."

Itachi's eyes flickered slightly, and he silently stood up, "I'll go, Senpai."

Logan felt a little troubled when he looked at Itachi, who didn't want to just sit still and do something. Sometimes, he didn't know whether this kind of arrogant refusal to give up was good or bad.

"Then you go get some food and water. We've finished what we brought earlier." Logan gave Itachi another task, which he had thought of doing while looking for some branches.

Itachi nodded, and the two returned shortly after being out for more than fifteen minutes.

Soon, as the dim light of the moon moved away from the entrance of the cave, a small orange flame was lit.

They had considered it when they settled down, so that Logan and Itachi didn't have to endure the cold wind outside at night. The temperature inside the cave gradually increased, and after replenishing some energy, they finally relaxed their stiff bodies.

In the cramped space, after a simple cleaning, Logan and Itachi sat facing each other across the fire, and chatted for a few words. As the stars outside twinkled and a wolf howled, the atmosphere gradually became quiet.

"Senior, regarding the transformation of my Sharingan at that time..."

After contemplating for a long time, Itachi decided to explain the matter about his Mangekyo Sharingan to Logan. After all, when they were surrounded by the Amegakure's Ninjas, it could be regarded as him hiding his strength. At that time, the situation was equally critical, so not informing his companion would have been irresponsible.

"Yes, I know, it's the Mangekyo Sharingan, right?" Logan said without surprise, holding a branch in his right hand and poking the fire, 'As your Senpai, I still have some knowledge about it."

"This... ah." Itachi looked at the warm flames in front of him. Different from Amaterasu's curse-like black flames, these were harmless orange flames, "Then..."

Itachi wanted to say something more, but he was interrupted by Logan raising his hand, "Everyone has their own secrets, it's okay."

"..."Itachi fell silent.

"Oh, right." Yu Logan remembered something and spoke up, catching Itachi's attention.

"I heard that the Mangekyo Sharingan has serious side effects, and seeing your action during the day confirmed it. So you should use it with caution in the future." After Logan said this, he felt that this was a bit redundant. After all, in the original work, Itachi cherished his ocular power very much, "Tsk, anyway, young man, take good care of yourself."

"Huh, why are you looking at me like that?"

'Nothing."

Itachi rubbed his forehead, "Senpai, you're making a big deal out of nothing..."

'Wow, so losing eyesight and becoming blind is nothing?' Of course, Logan wouldn't comment on that.

"Young man, you're not getting too emotional, are you?" Logan slapped Itachi's shoulder playfully.

Itachi's face immediately regained the cold expression, "No, Senpai, go to sleep."

"Oh, then who is keeping watch?" Logan asked casually.

This question is crucial.

"..." The two suddenly stared at each other.

"Cough, come on, let me teach you a game called rock-paper-scissors." Logan was the first to break the deadlock.

In the Land of Grass, there wasn't much rain. Under the cloudless night sky, the boundless moonlight swept across the earth, creating a different scene.

On the other side of the forest where Logan and Itachi fought with the Akatsuki's members in the afternoon, two figures wearing tattered red clouds with black background cloaks were on their way back to Amegakure.

"Is there really no need to pursue them? They seemed to be in bad shape." Kisame asked unwillingly, glancing back into the deep night.

"No need." Obito said calmly. He touched the skin that still faintly felt scorched, and there was also a gaping hole in his cloak at the back. The terrifying black flames and unyielding lightning flashed back in his mind.

"Those two, they harbor flames in their hearts. One day, they will come."