Takeshi's appearance began to change. His black shinigami uniform and white captain's haori were replaced by the Akatsuki's black robe with red clouds.
His light purple hair turned black, his blue squinting eyes became red Sharingan, and a Konoha rogue ninja forehead protector appeared on his forehead.
Coupled with the changes in his face, a person who was half Itachi and half Takeshi quickly appeared.
Itachi's memories all surfaced in Takeshi's mind, similar to what Takeshi already knew. However, unlike Gin's simple revenge against Aizen for Rangiku, Itachi's situation was different.
Itachi was more filled with contradiction and pain. He detested war and loved peace, yet he was deeply entrenched in the quagmire of war.
The coercion from his clan, the suicide of his best friend, and the orders from the higher-ups.
He lived in constant torment and pain. Only the existence of his younger brother allowed him to find a glimmer of light in this endless, hellish darkness.
If not for his younger brother, he would have wanted to die long ago. But he had to protect his brother, wanting to see him grow strong enough to stand on his own. For this, even if he suffered from a terminal illness, he had to help his brother seal Orochimaru.
Some say Itachi was cold and heartless, even killing his own parents, unaware that it was a choice made out of no choice. He simply couldn't dissuade the stubborn and proud Uchiha clan from launching a coup. This was his only option.
Takeshi's eyes changed, and the Mangekyo Sharingan appeared. The ocular technique of his left eye was 'Tsukuyomi,' renowned as the strongest genjutsu attack.
This technique could pull the enemy's spirit into an illusionary space. In the Tsukuyomi world, all factors, including time, place, and mass, were controlled by the caster. The enemy would endure immense physical and mental pain in the illusionary world, and the pain suffered by the target was exactly the same as real pain. One would fall victim simply by looking into the user's eyes.
And the ocular technique of his right Mangekyo was 'Amaterasu,' renowned as the strongest fire release.
It could unleash a wide range of black flames to burn the target, and these black flames would not disappear until the target was completely incinerated. Due to the immense burden this technique placed on the caster's body, their eyes would bleed during use.
Both of these powers were strong, but they weren't what Takeshi anticipated most.
"Susanoo!" Takeshi let out a low roar.
An orange-red ribcage appeared around Takeshi's body, protecting him.
This was Susanoo's initial form, capable of manifesting arms and a ribcage, usable for various purposes such as attack, defense, protection, and control.
As Takeshi increased his magic power output, the ribcage quickly grew, instantly transforming into a giant orange-red half-skeleton.
This was Susanoo's first form, appearing as a skeleton. Chakra would completely envelop the body, and its defense would further increase, but gaps remained at the feet, and overly violent attacks could still break through its defense.
Soon, meridians and flesh appeared on the skeleton's body, looking somewhat human-shaped.
This was Susanoo's second form. Attack and defense would be further enhanced, and its flexibility was excellent. For situations that weren't highly intense, this form was most suitable.
Next, armor appeared around the Susanoo's body.
This was Susanoo's third form. With the armor, Susanoo's defense was greatly boosted again. It held the Yata Mirror in its left hand and the Sword of Totsuka in its right.
Takeshi swung the Totsuka Sword.
Rumble!!!
A distant small mountain was easily cleaved apart.
"So strong!"
Takeshi was very pleasantly surprised to see this attack power. While its destructive power was quite a bit less than Ulquiorra's Lanza del Relampago, this was just Susanoo's basic attack.
Three orange tomoe gathered in the palm of Takeshi's Susanoo.
Yasaka Magatama!
Takeshi's Susanoo threw the magatama, which landed on a distant mountain.
Boom!!!
A terrifying explosion erupted, and the distant mountain peak shattered in the orange light of the blast.
"How amazing!"
Although its power wasn't as great as Lanza del Relampago, it wasn't far off.
Susanoo's advantage was its offensive and defensive integration. In addition to its terrifying attack power, it also possessed super strong defensive capabilities.
It seemed he had underestimated Itachi a bit.
Before activating Susanoo, Itachi's strength was between Low-rank and Intermediate-rank, leaning more towards Low-rank in terms of stats.
However, once Susanoo was activated, Itachi's strength could reach Advanced-rank.
"What a huge gain."
It truly deserved to be called the 'Power of God'.
Takeshi deactivated Susanoo, then transformed into Minato, and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return home.
"Whew..."
Although he had only been out for a while, Takeshi felt that half of his magic power had been consumed.
Sure enough, the more powerful the move, the greater the magic power consumption.
However, the more he couldn't handle it, the more excited Takeshi felt. The more powerful character cards he has, the more trump cards he will have.
Due to the excessive consumption, Takeshi lied on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
The next day, nearing noon, Takeshi hummed a song and arrived at the guild in a cheerful mood.
Many people in the guild were discussing animatedly. Last night, they had heard a considerable commotion, seemingly coming from the western mountains.
Takeshi felt a bit guilty hearing this. If he wasn't mistaken, that commotion was caused by him using Yasaka Magatama to blow something up.
"Brat, why are you only just arriving? Didn't I tell you to come to the guild early today?" Makarov said to Takeshi, annoyed.
"Uh... I forgot."
Takeshi slapped his head. He remembered that the old man had told him to come early today, but he had overslept due to excessive magic power consumption. Plus, he was in a great mood after drawing two Gold cards, so he forgot about it.
"Hurry up and come over. We're about to start the meeting. We're just waiting for you."
"Coming."
Takeshi followed Makarov to the meeting room on the second floor.
At this time, several people were already seated in the meeting room, all the S-Class Mages of Fairy Tail.
"You brat, you're even later than me." Gildarts teased Takeshi when he arrived.
He was never punctual, and now there was someone even less punctual than him.
Takeshi said apologetically, "Sorry. I accidentally overslept."
Then he went to an empty seat and sat down. This seat was to Makarov's right, opposite Gildarts, next to Mirajane, and opposite Mirajane was Erza.
Makarov sat at the main table and said, "Alright, everyone's here. Let's talk about this meeting. The theme of this meeting is the 'S-Class Mage Promotion Trial'."
"S-Class Mage Promotion Trial?! Is it that time again?"
Takeshi hadn't expected this meeting. A year ago, he had participated in the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial and successfully passed, becoming an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail. He hadn't realized a year had passed so quickly.