"Did killing your father awaken the Mangekyō?"
Homura dropped from the courtyard wall and landed in the blood-soaked yard with barely a sound. He walked forward slowly. His eyes swept over the new pattern spinning in Itachi's Sharingan.
"Why did you kill ordinary people and children?"
He'd moved as fast as he could after realizing what was happening, racing through the compound to save whoever he could. But even with his speed, he'd only managed to pull fewer than ten people from the edge of death. The rest, more than a dozen victims scattered across that street alone, were already gone. Itachi was ANBU. His strikes were precise and ruthless, every blow aimed at vital points. He didn't leave survivors.
"The Uchiha were planning a coup," Itachi said with a flat tone. "They would've destroyed the village's peace. Traitors deserve death."
He didn't want to explain himself. But he spoke slowly, buying time to let his chakra reserves recover and his body rest. The consecutive battles had drained him more than he wanted to admit.
"The ones destroying the peace are you, Danzō, and the radicals who pushed this situation to the breaking point," Homura said. He saw exactly what Itachi was doing but didn't call him on it. His own goal was to stall. As long as they were talking, people weren't dying.
"If someone has to die to restore peace, you should've done what Shisui did. Take your own life. You and the radicals could've committed suicide together, and the village would've had its peace. Why drag innocent people down with you?"
Itachi said nothing. He just stared at Homura with blood on his hands. But there was something in his eyes. Like he was thinking, you don't understand anything.
To Homura, the expression was almost funny. A kid who thought he'd grasped some greater truth, looking down on everyone else like their lives were just pieces on a board he'd chosen to sacrifice. He might even think the deaths of children and civilians were justified because he'd decided they were necessary.
A strange smile pulled at the corner of Homura's mouth. "You made a deal with Danzō, didn't you? Let me guess the terms. You help him slaughter the Uchiha clan, and in exchange, your brother gets to live."
Itachi's expression changed drastically, and his grip on the sword tightened.
"Wondering how I know?" Homura's smile turned colder. "Every Academy student from the clan has been called back. Every member who was away on missions has returned to the compound. But Sasuke alone is still outside the district. That's one hell of a coincidence, don't you think?"
Itachi's control shattered completely. His hands jerked up and more than a dozen kunai flew from them, all aimed at Homura's vital points. At the same time, his body launched forward, sword driving straight toward Homura's heart in a thrust.
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
Homura's kunai moved in a blur, deflecting each thrown weapon. Then Itachi was on him and they crashed together in close combat. Steel rang against steel as their blades met and separated in rapid exchanges.
Homura parried and dodged. While fighting, he kept talking.
"Did I hit a nerve? Your brother is a person worth saving, but other people's children deserve to die? How funny, don't you think so?"
Itachi's attacks became wilder. But Homura remained completely at ease, reading each attack before it came and countering smoothly.
Right now, Itachi's strength was at jonin level. Even with the Mangekyō Sharingan he'd just awakened, he was nowhere near the power he'd develop years from now. In the original timeline, Itachi had awakened his Mangekyō after Shisui's death and had time to train with it, to learn its abilities and grow into its power. That Itachi had achieved Kage-level strength.
This Itachi? He'd awakened the Mangekyō maybe ten minutes ago. He didn't know how to properly control it yet. The massive drain on his ocular power was unfamiliar and destabilizing. And he was already exhausted from fighting Fugaku and Homura earlier.
No matter how much of a genius he was, his age and inexperience were limiting factors. He didn't have the combat experience of someone like Kenji, who'd survived two ninja wars and hundreds of battles.
To Homura's experienced eyes, Itachi's techniques were immature. Talented, yes. Refined for his age, definitely. But still fundamentally lacking the polish that only came from years of real combat.
He left an opening in his guard, a gap that looked exploitable. Itachi took the bait immediately, driving his sword forward in a thrust that committed his whole body weight. His center of gravity shifted forward.
The instant it did, Homura moved.
He sidestepped the blade, slipping around Itachi's guard and appearing at his flank. Then he twisted and drove his elbow into Itachi's face.
CRACK!
Blood sprayed. Itachi's head snapped back and his body was launched through the air. He hit the ground hard and tumbled, leaving a smear of blood on the courtyard stones before coming to a stop.
"Use your Mangekyō," Homura said. "Otherwise, you'll die here tonight."
Itachi pushed himself up slowly, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. Something vicious flashed in his eyes, but he didn't move to attack. He just stayed there.
Seeing that Itachi wasn't taking the bait, Homura stopped talking and charged. Ocular power surged through his Sharingan. Golden chakra exploded outward, taking form in an instant. Susanoo's skeletal structure materialized around him, ribs locking into place to protect his torso, a skull forming overhead. Then the massive skeletal arm rose up high, carrying terrifying force as it hammered down toward Itachi.
"Tsukuyomi!"
At the critical moment, violent ocular power erupted from Itachi's left eye. The Mangekyō spun rapidly, accelerating until the pattern blurred. Blood leaked from the corner of his eye socket, streaming down his cheek in a crimson line.
Homura, mid-charge with Susanoo's fist descending, suddenly went rigid. It was like all the strength had been drained from his body in an instant. Momentum carried him forward for another step before he toppled and crashed to the ground. The golden Susanoo around him flickered and dissipated.
"Ahh..."
Itachi clutched his left eye and dropped to one knee. Sweat poured down his forehead. Using a Mangekyō technique for the first time put a burden on him far beyond what he'd imagined. The drain was enormous, and the pain was like needles being driven into his brain.
"Itachi!"
Mikoto, still kneeling by the wall where she'd been waiting for death, cried out in alarm. She tried to rush to her son's side.
"Don't come over!" Itachi snapped.
He forced himself to stand despite the searing pain in his eye. He had no idea how long Tsukuyomi would keep another Mangekyō user trapped. Homura's eyes were clearly powerful, maybe powerful enough to break free quickly. He had to finish this now while he had the advantage.
His hand shot to his weapons pouch. He pulled out three shuriken and hurled them at Homura's prone form with all the strength he could muster. But just before the shuriken struck, Homura's body vanished like an illusion dissolving.
"What?"
Itachi's eyes widened. He spun around, scanning the courtyard desperately for any sign of where Homura had gone.
"No need to look. I'm right here."
The voice came from the courtyard wall. Itachi's head snapped up and his stomach dropped.
Homura stood atop the wall in the exact same position he'd been in before. Completely unharmed. Not a scratch on him. It was like he'd never moved at all, like the entire fight had never happened.
Itachi's expression went rigid.
Genjutsu? He immediately flooded his chakra system, disrupting the flow. Nothing changed. Homura remained standing there, perfectly fine.
A clone? No. He'd watched the entire fight. There had been no opportunity for a substitution, hand seals, or puff of smoke. And his Sharingan would've detected a clone technique.
Some kind of teleportation jutsu? But there'd been no chakra signature or spatial distortion.
He knew with certainty that Tsukuyomi had hit. The technique had worked. He'd felt the connection establish. But somehow, Homura had escaped with zero consequences.
This could only mean one thing. Homura's own Mangekyō ability was at work.
I can't drag this out any longer, Itachi thought.
If he couldn't defeat Homura, the entire plan would collapse. The Uchiha would be annihilated by Konoha's leadership under the banner of suppressing a rebellion, including Sasuke. Everything he'd sacrificed, everyone he'd killed, would be for nothing.
He made his decision.
His right eye snapped open. The Mangekyō pattern spun again, faster this time. More blood poured from his eye socket, streaming down his face.
"Amaterasu!"
Black flames appeared out of nowhere on Homura's body. They ignited instantly, spreading across his clothes and skin like living things. Within seconds, the black fire had engulfed him completely.
"AAAHH!"
Homura screamed. His body jerked and he fell from the courtyard wall, crashing to the ground below. He staggered to his feet and ran toward the pond in the courtyard, clearly trying to put out the flames.
He threw himself into the water with a massive splash.
But the flames of Amaterasu didn't go out. They continued burning on the surface of the water, on his submerged body, consuming everything they touched. Black fire and smoke rose from the pond.
After a few moments, Homura's body went still. It floated to the surface. The black flames continued to burn.
Itachi didn't relax. He stood there, eyes locked on the pond. The earlier "disappearance" had taught him not to trust what he saw. He waited, watching for any sign of deception.
"Still didn't take the bait."
Sure enough, Homura's voice rang out from the courtyard wall again. Itachi looked up.
Homura stood there perfectly fine. And in the pond, the body that had been floating there moments ago was gone.
It was likely an ability that could undo what had already happened.
Time manipulation?
Itachi stared at Homura. He understood now. The opponent he was facing was far stronger than he'd imagined.