Chapter 32: Tsukuyomi

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Itachi had just dodged and appeared behind Oden before he had to dodge again, this time it was very close, as a bit of his hair strands fell down.

"You're stronger than expected," Itachi said. He was already slightly tired from using his mangekyou Sharingan on Kakashi earlier, but it seemed like he didn't have another choice right now as they needed to escape before things escalated.

Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and stared into Oden's eyes.

"Tsukuyomi!" Itachi said, even slightly surprised at how easily Oden had fallen into his strongest jutsu.

Everyone stopped as they heard Itachi. Both might Guy and Asuma knew what happened to Kakashi so they were worried about Oden.

Oden was looking around, he was on a cross and the sky was totally red.

"This is Tsukuyomi, my own..."

"Spare me the nonsense," Oden said as he activated his Mugengan.

His sclera became black, he used lots, and lots of chakra to break free from the cross and land in front of Itachi, who was looking at Oden in surprise, no one had ever broken the rules of his Tsukuyomi before.

"How..." Itachi asked.

"I have infinite chakra, I can just force myself out with that. But let's skip the chitchat. As your Hokage, I am giving you new orders." Oden said

"I am a missing-nin, a traitor.... in case you don't remember." Itachi said, not knowing what Oden was intending, as he finally understood that Oden had allowed himself to be caught in the Tsukuyomi for unknown reasons.

"As I told you before, spare me the nonsense, I already know everything, about Danzo, Madara and Tobi..." Oden said, making Itachi take a step back in confusion.

"How?" Itachi couldn't help but to question.

"I am Oden Zaraki, nothing is hidden in front of my eyes." Oden decided to brag about his status and clan a bit, after all, it's not often you meet a genius kage-level shinobi from a rival clan.

"I know you're keeping an eye on the world for Danzo, and trying to get information on Madara to keep the village safe... but from now on, cut all ties with Danzo." Oden commanded.

"That's not possible, after everything that has happened... I have my reasons..." Itachi tried to avoid the subject.

"No, this is a command from your Kage, you are to cut ties with Danzo. And don't worry about Sasuke, As long as I am Hokage, my shinobi will be under my protection." Oden said.

Itachi's eyes grew in surprise. In truthfulness, he always felt that the third Hokage was a righteous and morally upright man... but things had ended up as they did for the Uchiha clan because the third Hokage was too passive...

In the end, Itachi as a young teenager did what he thought was the best for the village and Sasuke... as Danzo manipulated everyone behind the scenes.

At that time Both the Third Hokage and the Uchiha patriarch were on two sides of the extreme... And Itachi tried to reason with both of them but neither wanted to listen.

In the end, he found out that he had an incurable disease and was dying, so in his lowest and worst state, Danzo played everyone like puppets.

The overwhelming feeling of his best friend's death, his own disease, the clan's rebellion, the passiveness of the third Hokage, and the arrival of Madara, made the young Itachi easy to manipulate, so he fell for the schemes of others, in hopes of finding someone to lean on, and someone that could guide and lead him.

Today Itachi had grown older and wiser, and knew he should have acted differently. But there was no point in regretting it, as he didn't have much choice at the time and the only ones that he could turn to, used him for their own gains.

The only thing he could do was to protect Konoha from the shadows while keeping the village safe... Until his brother became strong enough to end his misery and avenge their clan.

But now the young Hokage seems to know everything and is telling him to change his path... Itachi couldn't help his hands from shaking slightly as he tried calming down. His face didn't betray a single emotion, and his clenched hands were hidden inside his long sleeves.

"You're to break off all your contact with both Danzo and Orochimaru... and next time you meet your brother, give him enough hints to make his sight slightly wider than just killing you, right now he's in a state where he would betray Konoha to gain the strength to kill you. He doesn't care about anything but to kill you, even at the cost of his own life." Oden said.

Although Itachi had intended for Sasuke to avenge their family, he had also hoped for Sasuke to grow up, rebuild the Uchiha clan and live a fulfilling life... but from Oden's words, it seemed like his plan had backfired.

"Isn't he... happy with friends that care for him?" Itachi asked, for the first time his voice had a hint of worry.

"Did Danzo tell you that? For a genius, you're brilliantly dumb. No, Sasuke has built walls around his heart, he has teammates that care deeply about him but he hasn't allowed them in, in fact, I believe he is using them so he can evolve his eyes." Oden said as Itachi took another step back, becoming pale.

"Danzo misled me." Itachi whispered.

"They are in cahoots, Orochimaru wants Sasuke's body so he can become immortal... And Sasuke is about to betray the village to fall into the temptation of training under Orochimaru..." Seeing Itachi almost broken, Oden decided it was time to stop all this nonsense.

"You don't have to mind Orochimaru and Danzo, they are both about to die, I'll leave Danzo to Sasuke, But next time I come across Orochimaru, I won't spare him. I'm giving you three new orders that you're to follow. first of all, break off all contact with Danzo, he won't touch a single hair on your brother's head. Second of all, give enough hints to Sasuke so he can start searching for the truth, and not be so hellbent on simply killing you. Third of all, when all of this drama is over, you are to return to your post as Anbu, and then help recreate the Uchiha clan for as long as you have left of your little life. Have I made myself clear?" Oden spoke commandingly.

Itachi fell to his knees, bowing as Anbu do.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Itachi felt like there was hope for the first time since he was young. He felt like as long as he followed Oden's orders, Oden would shoulder all of his troubles.

"Good." Oden said as he started releasing gigantic amounts of chakra, so great that the red skies started to crack until it broke as if it was glass.

Asuma and Mighty Guy just saw Oden's eyes turn into the Sharingan as he fell into Tsukuyomi, but not even a second went by as his sclera turned black and the Sharingan broke off.

Oden had defeated Tsukuyomi and Itachi fell on a knee with blood coming out of one of his eyes.

Kisame saw how things had turned out and realized that he had underestimated Oden, they needed to escape before it was too late.

Just as Oden was about to move, Kisame appeared near them creating a gigantic mist wave that pushed the Konoha ninja away, and after everything cleared... the missing-nin were gone.

"What's going on, did they escape? Should we follow Hokage-sama?" Might Guy asked.

"No, it's not necessary..." Oden said as he stared in a certain direction. After that, Oden together with Asuma and Might Guy, went after Kurenai that had taken Kakashi to the hospital.

After they arrived the jonin felt relief that Kakashi was fine.

"Come to the Hokage office tomorrow for your reward, but for now you can leave, I need to talk to Kakashi." Oden said as he addressed the Jonin.

They looked at each other, understanding that the Hokage was about to go all serious on Kakashi, so they bowed and went out.