Protect Sasuke.
This was the final sentence spoken by Fugaku Uchiha, the father, before his death.
I will definitely take care of Sasuke, rest assured.
Itachi maintained the posture of piercing his opponent, letting his head rest gently on his father's shoulder. This feeling made him feel as if he had returned to his childhood.
This sensation lasted only a moment before Fugaku Uchiha's body gradually grew cold as life faded away. Similarly, the look in Itachi's eyes turned icy.
At the edge of the battlefield, a pitcher plant grew out from a crack in the rocks.
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, each occupying half of the body, emerged from it.
Watching this scene, White Zetsu said with emotion, "What a truly admirable tragic song."
Black Zetsu snorted in disdain. "This is merely a part of Lord Madara's plan."
White Zetsu clicked his tongue. "Black Zetsu, you just don't understand sentiment."
However, he quickly changed the subject. "If we didn't want to recruit Itachi into the Akatsuki, I would really want to take Fugaku Uchiha's two Mangekyo Sharingan."
After all, those were Mangekyo Sharingan.
Although someone without Uchiha blood cannot deactivate the Sharingan—forced to maintain it in an active state like Kakashi, which consumes significant chakra—one couldn't ignore that the visual prowess contained within Fugaku's two eyes was incredibly powerful!
One eye held Lightning Style: Roaring Heaven God, with power comparable to an S-rank Lightning Style ninjutsu. Furthermore, it could be cast instantaneously, making its value far exceed that of a typical S-rank technique!
The other was even more of a bug, capable of reversing time for oneself. Once this technique was used, it was equivalent to gaining three to four minutes of invincibility.
As long as the user didn't die, their body's consumed chakra and sustained injuries would instantly recover once the time ended.
Imagine fighting someone to the death until both were on the verge of collapse, only for the opponent to suddenly declare that time was up and return to full health.
It was pure despair!
Deep, profound despair!
Therefore, the value of Fugaku's two Sharingan was immense.
Unfortunately, if Black and White Zetsu moved to steal these two Mangekyo, they would undoubtedly push the genius Itachi to the opposite side of the Akatsuki. Doing so seemed like more of a loss than a gain.
After all, others could not fully exert the power of these two eyes. Compared to Itachi, the value was not equal at all.
By comparison, choosing Itachi was the wise move.
As a fellow possessor of the Mangekyo, Itachi Uchiha naturally knew the importance of these eyes. Combined with Fugaku's deathbed request, he would never allow Fugaku's eyes to remain elsewhere.
Consequently, after gently placing Fugaku's remains on the ground, he reached his fingers toward the eyes.
I'm sorry, Father. I will move forward carrying your eyes.
Itachi whispered internally. But at the moment he was about to touch the eyes, an anomaly suddenly occurred!
A sense of intense crisis suddenly enveloped Itachi Uchiha. He blurred, quickly flashing to the side.
In the next second, the ground where he had been standing shattered. A long insect with an appearance like white jade opened its bloody maw and swallowed Fugaku Uchiha's remains!
"Father!"
Surging rage erupted from his eyes. His originally pitch-black pupils transformed into the Mangekyo in an instant, and his ninja blade slashed out immediately.
Carrying Itachi's terrifying fury, the sharp blade easily sliced the white insect halfway through.
Before Itachi could rescue Fugaku's remains, the white insect swelled up like a balloon.
Seeing this, Itachi had no choice but to abandon the idea of forcibly pulling his father out, choosing instead to retreat immediately.
Facts proved his choice was correct.
The moment he flashed away, the white insect's expansion finally reached its limit. Its entire body turned into a terrifying light of fire and exploded violently.
Boom!
The flames shot into the sky, adding another wound to the already scarred earth.
Itachi stared firmly at the ground with his Mangekyo, seemingly trying to discern the enemy's escape path.
Unfortunately, the Sharingan is not the Byakugan and does not possess the ability to see through the ground.
Despite this, Itachi could still perceive the enemy's approximate location through the subtle vibrations produced by the earth.
Just a second before he was about to activate Susanoo, a terrifying explosion echoed from the direction of the Uchiha compound.
Itachi was suddenly caught in a dilemma.
Should he pursue his father's remains, or return quickly to the Uchiha compound to help the village end the coup and protect his younger brother?
Itachi, take care of Sasuke.
Fugaku Uchiha's voice rang in Itachi's ears once more.
While Itachi hesitated, a figure emerged before him.
It was Black and White Zetsu, who had been peeking nearby.
"Leave the matter of retrieving your father's remains to me. You can rest easy and go resolve the other matters, Itachi Uchiha."
White Zetsu looked at Itachi and spoke.
Itachi's gaze stayed on them for only a moment before he confirmed their identities.
Members of the Akatsuki.
There was no helping it; the black robes with red clouds were simply too conspicuous.
Although he didn't know the ultimate goal of this organization, since both sides were currently in a cooperative relationship, the Akatsuki could be trusted to a certain extent as long as they still needed him.
At the very least, an exchange of interests could be conducted.
Thinking of this, Itachi made an immediate decision.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Compared to his father's remains, the village and Sasuke were obviously more important.
After all, the former was already dead.
"Don't worry, just leave it to us!"
White Zetsu patted his chest with great confidence.
Black Zetsu, however, said calmly, "Idiot, the enemy is almost out of range. Hurry up and pursue!"
"I know!"
White Zetsu grumbled with dissatisfaction.
Nevertheless, the two quickly reached a consensus. They used the Mayfly Technique at maximum speed, following the tunnel created by that insect.
Seeing that the Akatsuki members had already given chase, Itachi no longer hesitated. He moved swiftly toward the Uchiha compound, aiming to suppress the Uchiha clan's coup as quickly as possible.
While returning to the compound, Itachi naturally encountered many small-scale battlefields.
In this war, besides the so-called "big figures," there were many more ordinary Uchiha clansmen and ordinary Leaf ninjas.
"It's Itachi!"
Upon seeing Itachi, those Uchiha clansmen erupted in joyful smiles.
To be honest, not many people knew that Itachi had chosen to betray the family and stand with the village.
Even Fugaku Uchiha, as the clan leader, had only confirmed it after the coup was launched.
Therefore, the first reaction of these clansmen seeing Itachi was that the battle at the high-end power level had already been won. Only then would a powerful force like Itachi be able to sweep through the lower-level battlefields.
The Leaf ninjas fighting them thought the same thing, so their faces were almost completely drained of blood.
The situation, which was already difficult to settle, would inevitably become one-sided with Itachi's intervention.
This was the influence of top-tier combat power on the state of the war.
Itachi's figure landed on the Uchiha side, just as expected.
"Itachi, you've come at the right time. Hurry up and help us deal with these guys!"
"The Clan Leader should have successfully controlled the Hokage by now. The next Hokage will be from our Uchiha..."
Before they could finish speaking, Itachi's Mangekyo instantly appeared before their eyes.
Under the impact of the powerful visual prowess, their spirits dithered for a moment. Then, crimson blade light flashed past, and the ninja blade in Itachi's hand pierced through their chests one after another.
Until death arrived, these people looked at Itachi, the genius of the Uchiha clan, with faces full of shock.
"Itachi, you actually..."
Facing their confusion and anger, Itachi's face showed no change.
He felt no guilt toward the radicals in the family; instead, he felt only anger and resentment.
If they hadn't been bound by narrow clan-centrism and insisted on tying the entire family to the war chariot of a coup, he wouldn't have had to make such a painful choice.
As of now, things were beyond retrieval.
He gently flicked the ninja blade in his hand, letting the blood bloom on the ground.
Itachi stood with his back to the Leaf ninjas, his crimson gaze slowly turning toward them. "Leave this battlefield immediately."
His icy tone made all the Leaf ninjas standing dazed on the spot tremble.
It wasn't that their professional quality was poor, but rather that what was happening before them was simply too bizarre.
A member of the Uchiha clan actually chose the village over the family in this battle?
Was this still those prideful Uchiha?
Not to mention, this person was the famous Itachi Uchiha.
There was no helping it; only the Leaf higher-ups knew that Itachi was a spy embedded in the Uchiha by the Anbu. It was only natural for these ordinary ninjas to be shocked, as they could not access such secrets.
In this way, on his way back to the compound, Itachi used the suppression of the Mangekyo Sharingan to deal with over a dozen Uchiha.
Among them was an Uchiha elite who realized Itachi might have betrayed the clan and took the lead to ambush him. Unfortunately, a terrifying chasm exists between the Mangekyo and the ordinary Sharingan, which ordinary Uchiha simply cannot cross.
After a brief battle, Itachi took the victory as a matter of course.
Under Itachi's continuous fighting, the Uchiha offensive quickly stalled.
Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was engaged in a terrifying fierce battle with Naruto.
Naruto in his Six-Tails state already possessed extreme power. The terrifying aura brought by the Tailed Beast chakra turned into a heavy weight of fear pressing on everyone.
Chakra like lava flowed over the surface of his body. Furthermore, a beast-like skeleton emerged from Naruto's body.
Particularly his head; those grim, sharp teeth were daunting to behold.
He opened his mouth, and a large amount of chakra condensed into a crimson energy ball inside. The dangerous aura contained within made Hiruzen Sarutobi, an experienced ninja, startle inwardly.
Although this attack was not as heart-stopping as a Tailed Beast Bomb, if it landed in the village, it would still cause immeasurable losses. It had to be stopped!
Without any hesitation, he quickly condensed a large amount of chakra in his palms and pressed down hard against the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth-Shaking Palm!"
Countless cracks spread out from his palms, and a large area of the ground in front of him collapsed into fragments.
Just as the energy ball in Naruto's mouth was about to fire, the ground beneath his feet suddenly crumbled. The monster-like body tilted, and the energy ball originally aimed at Hiruzen Sarutobi changed its trajectory.
A high-speed, ear-piercing whistle sounded. The energy Naruto released missed instantly, melting a large number of earth blocks before finally landing in the nearby Forest of Death.
And then...
Boom!
Dazzling red light expanded, eroding a hemispherical crater into the ground.
Then the flames rushed toward the sky in a swarm, blooming like a giant mushroom.
"That's too terrifying. Is that a Tailed Beast Bomb?"
The ninjas in the distance swallowed hard, feeling their throats go dry.
An older-looking ninja nearby shook his head and corrected him. "The power of a Tailed Beast Bomb is much greater than this. A single shot can destroy half of the Leaf. The strength the Nine-Tails is displaying right now is likely less than half."
This middle-aged ninja, who had personally experienced the Nine-Tails incident, found his voice trembling unconsciously when mentioning the Nine-Tails!
The young ninja froze for a moment and then said, "I hope the Hokage can successfully seal the Nine-Tails."
In the center of the battlefield.
Hiruzen Sarutobi panted as he looked at Naruto, who was about to grow a seventh tail, his eyes full of solemnity.
I have no choice but to use that move!
Four clones, separated at some unknown time, appeared from different directions, surrounding Naruto in an equilateral pentagon shape.
"Earth Style: Earth Movement Core!"
The ground trembled violently. The earth Naruto stood on suddenly caved in, forming a cubic deep pit.
"Water Style: Giant Waterfall Jutsu!"
Surging currents erupted from the deep pit, submerging the Nine-Tails within.
Then, the remaining five clones moved together.
One pressed both hands to the ground, causing giant rocks to rise and smash heavily toward the Nine-Tails.
One formed hand signs and spat scorching flames from his mouth, wrapping around the flying rocks.
One spat out a gale, forming a terrifying air current that increased the rocks' impact.
One held his hands out, releasing a large amount of lightning that attached to the rocks.
The last one summoned a surging current to heavily suppress the Nine-Tails as it tried to stand.
"Five Style: Great Combo Jutsu!"
The pinnacle of combined ninjutsu. Five attributes fused together at this moment, carrying Hiruzen Sarutobi's strongest determination as they crashed heavily toward Naruto.
Boom!
The five mixed chakras exploded instantly. The entire earth wailed, and the blast's impact swept across the whole battlefield.
Having done all this, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not stop to rest.
He knew well the terror of the Nine-Tails. Even a fusion attack of five chakras could never make it lose its combat capability.
Therefore...
He looked at the Adamantine Staff in his hand and said, "Are you ready? Enma."
A voice came from Enma, who had transformed into the staff: "Go, Sarutobi."