Chapter 141

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Gwaa gwaa gwaa~~

Amid the harsh cries of the crow perched on Itachi's shoulder, the battle officially commenced.

Gensou's hands moved swiftly, each finger holding a shuriken between them. Under the insight of his Mangekyō Sharingan, he threw them with precise accuracy.

The shuriken collided mid-air, then veered off at strange, unpredictable angles, raining down on Itachi from all directions.

At the same time, Itachi mirrored the same action.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

A barrage of shuriken clashed mid-air, sparks flying as the sound of metal striking metal echoed through the area.

In a short time, the ground around them was littered with shuriken.

Despite the intense exchange, neither Gensou nor Itachi had so much as a scratch on their clothing.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two sharp sounds of movement cut through the air as the two ninja rushed toward each other without hesitation.

Supported by the powerful visual prowess of the Mangekyō Sharingan, their actions were swift and precise, each strike aimed at the other's vital points.

To Gensou's surprise, the seemingly frail Itachi was not only proficient in genjutsu and ninjutsu but also skilled in taijutsu.

Gensou had almost forgotten that in the manga, even in his Edo Tensei state, Itachi could hold his own in taijutsu against Naruto in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. And now, Itachi's body hadn't yet deteriorated to the point it was in during his final battle with Sasuke.

Even though Gensou had immediately ramped up the intensity of their close-quarters combat to the highest level, Itachi did not falter. In fact, once Itachi realized Gensou only had one Mangekyō Sharingan, he deliberately shifted his attacks to Gensou's left side.

Gensou's left eye was a normal one, and while the right Mangekyō Sharingan could still cover the left side, it was a fraction slower in the heat of battle against a skilled opponent.

As a result, Itachi seized a fleeting opportunity and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick, catching Gensou off guard and forcing him to block. The impact sent Gensou sliding backward.

Itachi immediately followed up with a pursuit.

"Chidori!"

As he retreated, Gensou calmly extended his right hand, and a fierce bolt of lightning enveloped his entire palm.

Itachi, closing in, remained unfazed.

Though surprised, having already experienced this jutsu before, he accelerated and, with a graceful spin, narrowly avoided the Chidori, preparing to close in on Gensou.

Gensou's Chidori suddenly transformed, slicing horizontally like a laser.

In an instant, Itachi was sliced in two.

"Chidori's shape transformation, huh?" Itachi remarked calmly.

The next second, his bisected body dissipated into dozens of crows, cawing loudly as they scattered.

Gensou was about to react when—

Thud!

A powerful hand suddenly pierced through Gensou's chest from behind, blood splattering instantly.

Itachi had appeared behind Gensou without warning, his hand having gone straight through Gensou's heart. His Mangekyō Sharingan locked onto the white spiral mask mere inches away as he spoke calmly:

"I'm curious to know who you really are."

Hagoromo Gensou? His presence felt off.

Another Uchiha? Even if someone possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, it was no small feat to wield it with the same proficiency as its original owner.

Itachi was determined to uncover the true identity of the person before him.

Hearing this, the blood pouring into his mouth, Gensou had no strength left to speak. He slowly raised his left hand and, under Itachi's gaze, brought his index and middle fingers together and gestured behind Itachi, signaling him to look back.

Realizing the person before him could no longer resist, Itachi turned his head.

Thud!

A slender hand, crackling with condensed lightning, pierced through Itachi's heart from behind.

Another Gensou appeared behind him, staring at him with cold eyes.

"Genjutsu, huh?"

As the "Gensou" that Itachi had impaled with his own hand vanished like a burst bubble, he remained expressionless despite the blood trickling from his mouth.

Gensou looked at him. "If you want to know who I am, you'll have to show your true skills, Uchiha traitor."

"I understand," Itachi said, slowly closing his eyes.

In the next moment, both Itachi and Gensou found themselves back where they had started.

To be precise, they had never actually moved.

At this moment, a cold wind howled past.

There were no shuriken embedded in the ground, and neither Gensou nor Itachi bore any signs of their previous wounds.

Everything—the shuriken exchange, the taijutsu clash, the crows, the Chidori—had all taken place within a genjutsu.

This is the power of the Uchiha.

Among the shinobi, they were voted the least desirable enemy to face.

Unlike other battles, when facing an Uchiha, you might never even realize how you died.

This was Gensou's first experience with such a high-level genjutsu duel.

He had to admit, this kind of silent confrontation was rather fascinating.

Fortunately, after implanting the Mangekyō Sharingan into his clone's eye socket, he had specifically studied the usage of the Sharingan from the Uchiha clan.

Otherwise, in this opening round, his clone might have easily fallen behind.

As for Sasuke's ability to engage in a genjutsu battle with Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan using only his three-tomoe Sharingan, it was certain that Itachi had held back significantly during that fight.

Even Gensou would rather face a straight-bar Mangekyō Sharingan than a curved-bar one.

Jutsus like "Kotoamatsukami," which could ensnare you without your knowledge and leave you completely unaware of the need to break free, were, in Gensou's eyes, far more threatening than techniques like Amaterasu or Susanoo.

Gwaa gwaa gwaa~~~

The crow on Itachi's shoulder cried out once more.

However, unlike before, under Itachi's command, the crow carrying Shisui's other Mangekyō Sharingan on its shoulder cawed one last time before vanishing into white smoke, returning to its original location.

The person before him was different from any enemy Itachi had faced before.

Even Itachi himself couldn't afford to be careless during this battle.

Thus, he couldn't allow the other person any opportunity to reclaim Shisui's other Mangekyō Sharingan.

Itachi could fully imagine the power of wielding two Mangekyō Sharingan with two "Kotoamatsukami."

The only question was whether the "Kotoamatsukami" in the Mangekyō Sharingan of the person before him was still on cooldown.

Given Danzo's personality, it was unlikely that he hadn't used it during his battle with Gensou.

(End of Chapter)