Chapter 367: Before the Storm (Part 2)
The scarlet color in Itachi's eyes was only a fleeting flash, and his black pupils quickly returned to calmness.
No one spoke.
Zetsu looked at Itachi, whose face was unperturbed, only lowering his eyes, hiding everything in his heart.
For a time, only the crackling sound of branches burning in the bonfire could be heard.
A long time passed.
"Uchiha Sasuke..." Kisame's sudden voice broke the silence. He turned to look at Itachi. "Itachi, is he the only relative you spared back then?"
Itachi didn't lift his head, just stared coldly at the merrily dancing flames in front of him, his lips as if glued together, not saying a word for a long time.
Kisame kept looking at him, waiting for an answer.
After a long time, just when he was about to lose patience, Itachi slowly nodded: "Yes."
"Is that so?" Kisame sneered, grinning. "I didn't expect someone as iron-hearted as you, who slaughtered his own clan, to have a moment of softness! Sparing your younger brother even after killing your parents, you must love him very much, right?"
"No."
Itachi's voice was as cold as the wind in winter.
"Between me and Sasuke..." He raised his head, his eyes devoid of emotion, and said coldly, "There is only hatred."
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold, and killing intent quietly permeated.
Kisame stuck his large sword into the ground, creating a deep pit, squinted his eyes and said coldly: "Then, if we meet him later, I won't show mercy!"
Itachi remained silent.
Zetsu interjected: "Mr. Kisame, that Ice Style girl is left to you, and you also want to deal with Itachi's brother. Are you going to take on two people at the same time?"
"Hmph..." Kisame snorted coldly, holding the Samehada sword and said, "You are wrong about one thing. According to the latest intelligence, Haruno Sakura's best skill is not Ice Style, but Water Style..."
"It's rare to meet a Water Style master. I really want to meet her!"
"As for Itachi's brother Uchiha Sasuke, he is not a genius like Mr. Itachi after all. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, his strength is limited..."
Kisame said confidently.
"Why do I feel like you'll be beaten to a pulp? Hehe..." Zetsu sneered. "Haruno Sakura is very powerful, and even more powerful than before, I can tell... As for Sasuke, he shouldn't be underestimated either. He is an Uchiha after all!"
The words of the two were a bit tit-for-tat.
"Alright, stop arguing about this." Seeing the smell of gunpowder getting stronger, Itachi raised his voice slightly and said, "We are here to retrieve the Seven-Tails, not to provoke Konoha ninja! Try to avoid these two people during the mission to retrieve the Seven-Tails. Unless absolutely necessary, don't create extra problems..."
"Neither Haruno Sakura nor Sasuke are easy enemies to deal with. We have suffered losses at Haruno Sakura's hands so many times. If we still underestimate her, that would be truly foolish! As for Sasuke... never underestimate an opponent with the Sharingan!"
Kisame and Zetsu quieted down.
Itachi's wisdom and Mangekyo Sharingan kept Kisame respectful towards him.
"Itachi, I'll listen to you," Kisame licked his lips and said, "but let's make it clear, if I meet Sasuke, I won't show mercy..."
The expression in Itachi's eyes was waveless, as if Kisame was talking about a stranger completely unrelated to him.
"Do as you please." He said.
Kisame pulled up Samehada and stood up: "That's all for today then. I'm going to rest."
Night had now shrouded the entire land. Stars were embedded in the night sky, twinkling brightly, and a round moon hung high in the sky.
The silver moonlight sprinkled on the earth, illuminating the small campsite in the forest brightly; Kisame walked to the bed laid aside by the light and lay down to sleep. Before long, a soft snoring sound was heard.
Only Zetsu and Itachi were left by the bonfire, silent.
"Does Mr. Itachi also think those two are troublesome?" After a long silence, Zetsu added a few pieces of wood and asked suddenly.
"I am not clear about my brother Sasuke's current strength," Itachi stared at his palm and said, "but Haruno Sakura is indeed a formidable enemy. Although Kisame is very confident, I can see... Kisame may not be her opponent."
Zetsu casually poked the bonfire, glanced at Itachi, and said: "It seems you also noticed what happened last month..."
"Is there new intelligence?"
"Yes. It has been ascertained that the opponent Haruno Sakura fought at that time was likely Orochimaru." Zetsu said slowly. "Moreover, he used the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu."
"Who did he summon?"
Zetsu stood up and glanced at Itachi. He seemed interested in Orochimaru's intelligence...
"It was the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama." Zetsu slowly sank into the ground while speaking. "He is very skilled in Water Style, but was obviously suppressed by Haruno Sakura's Water Style."
"Haruno Sakura defeated those two by herself. So... you have to be careful too."
"Is that so...? I understand." Itachi lowered his eyes and said softly.
From his indifferent eyes and calm expression, Zetsu couldn't tell what Uchiha Itachi was thinking deep down.
This man always hid himself in a fog, and no one could see through his thoughts.
Did Itachi completely betray Konoha and cut ties with it completely? Or was he still connected to Konoha?
Did Itachi hate his brother deeply, or love him deeply?
No one knew. Zetsu had been secretly carrying out the mission of monitoring him for almost ten years, but still hadn't gotten an answer.
This was a unfathomable man...
Even Obito was wary of him!
Zetsu silently turned these thoughts in his mind, and then probed: "Can't you do anything about her either? Madara said that your Mangekyo Sharingan is invincible, and even figures like Orochimaru were defeated under your gaze. It can be said that no one in the world can stop you!"
Itachi's expression remained calm, not showing a ripple because of Zetsu's words.
"You overestimate me..." The black-haired young man said slowly. "The power of the Sharingan is far from invincible."
He hid some words in his heart, which he might never have the chance to say in this life.
If the Sharingan was really that strong, why did Shisui commit suicide for righteousness? Use the Mangekyo to control the Third Hokage and Danzo, make them hand over power to the Uchiha; or control Fugaku and the clan elders to stop their coup plan, wouldn't peace be achieved? The result was that Shisui was in a dilemma and was forced to jump into the river to commit suicide.
Itachi understood Shisui's feelings and helplessness very well, because not long after, the same thing happened to him.
Only at that time, the situation was uncontrollable. Even if he chose to commit suicide, he couldn't retrieve the arrow that was the Uchiha clan once it had left the bow string.
Otherwise, why would he slaughter his own clan with his own hands?
The world always misunderstood the power of the Uchiha, including the Uchiha clan themselves, who often overestimated themselves.
The power of the Sharingan seemed invincible, but it was only seemingly invincible. This was one of the reasons why the Uchiha clan was exterminated.
The Uchiha clan lacked true magnanimity, that is, the magnanimity to correctly understand themselves and face their own shortcomings.
"What about your Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi?" Zetsu asked, unwilling to give up.
"The power of ninjutsu is not absolutely omnipotent..."
"Is that so... then, I'll go first." Zetsu knew he wouldn't get more answers if he asked again, so he sank down until only his head was exposed above the ground.
"You should rest early too. Tomorrow, there might be a fierce battle!"
Before disappearing into the earth, Zetsu said finally.
Before Itachi could respond, he sank deep into the earth and disappeared somewhere.
Human voices were lost around, and in the silence, the sound of insects became clearer.
Haruno Sakura didn't expect the Takikage to make a decision so quickly.
She didn't know what soup (persuasion) Fuu fed him, but the next day, the Takikage added her name to the list of classes participating in this Chunin Exam.
"The class participating in the Chunin Exams held by Konoha this time is a three-man squad led by Ryoko Shiraishi. The members are Yawara, Kurozuka... and Fuu." The Takikage announced loudly on the stage. "I hope you can display the spirit of the Waterfall Village and show the strength and style of Waterfall ninja in front of various ninja villages and Daimyo!"
Fuu, dressed in sexy clothes, sat quietly below the stage, gentle and elegant. She only stood up to bow to everyone when her name was called, no longer looking lively and active like yesterday. It seemed she had known the result long ago, so she was so calm.
"It seems to be a temporarily formed class." Sasuke glanced at the three Genin whose names were called and guessed from the fact that they sat far apart and lacked eye contact with each other.
"Probably." Sakura shrugged and said indifferently.
Temporarily formed teams can gather the strong ones from various squads into one team, greatly improving the strength of the Genin class. This is an unwritten convention for small ninja villages to contend with large ninja villages.
However, a team formed by the three strongest individuals may not be the strongest, because they lack the tacit understanding cultivated by long-term training, missions, and battles.
Not to mention, the Chunin Exams itself will specially set exam questions to test teamwork.
Candidates lacking team spirit and tacit understanding can easily fall into pitfalls.
Questions testing teamwork are generally placed in the first two rounds. Teams with only individual strength but no team tacit understanding and spirit may not even pass the first two rounds, let alone enter the final battle competition testing individual strength.
Sakura kept staring at Fuu. The only thing about the Waterfall Village that surprised her was that they actually dared to send the Jinchuriki out. I'm afraid they are overly confident in their Tailed Beast sealing jutsu, believing that Fuu will not leak Tailed Beast chakra, so Konoha won't be able to distinguish that she is a Jinchuriki.
To some extent, they almost achieved this. If Haruno Sakura, a newly promoted Kage-level ninja, hadn't seen the scene of Fuu flying with partial Tailed Beast Transformation, Konoha really wouldn't be able to tell that Fuu was a Jinchuriki.
"Look, she's peeking at you again." Haruno Sakura poked Sasuke's waist with her elbow and whispered.
Sakura said in the report that Fuu's personality was cheerful but a bit frivolous, not because her clothes were avant-garde. As long as she wasn't an exhibitionist, what clothes Fuu loved to wear was her freedom, and she looked quite sexy and beautiful dressed like that—except her chest was a bit small.
The truly frivolous part was that she was easily attracted by a handsome guy.
Of course, it is normal for girls of this age to be love-struck.
But as a Jinchuriki, the highest combat power of the Waterfall ninja, Fuu was not qualified to be willful.
The Waterfall Village might have done perfectly in sealing the Tailed Beast, but in terms of cultivating the Jinchuriki's character, it was not perfect enough. They could obviously have done better.
Compared with other villages, they went from one extreme to another.
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