Chapter 92: Encounter(Part 2)
"Something's wrong—this slash didn't land on the real body!"
Izumi's expression changed as her blade cleaved through Dodai, a deep sense of unease blooming in her chest.
The figure she had cut cleanly in half suddenly melted into a mass of yellow, viscous fluid. The substance twisted and writhed like tentacles, rapidly wrapping around her limbs. It was just a Lava Release Clone, created by Dodai the moment her vision was blocked by the "Protective Membrane Wall."
"Lava Release: Membrane Prison!"
Dodai's true body emerged behind the clone, spewing an enormous amount of that same sticky yellow fluid. It surged forward, engulfing Izumi and a wide swath of the battlefield around her.
The substance solidified quickly, forming a thick, airtight cube—smooth on all sides. Izumi, entangled by the clone, hadn't been able to break free in time. She was trapped.
The Membrane Prison was a powerful containment technique. The sticky yellow substance flowed like a liquid at first, locking the target in place from all sides. Once it hardened, it cut off air, sealed off movement entirely, and left no room for forming hand seals or even drawing a weapon. Escaping it by conventional means was nearly impossible.
With Izumi captured, Dodai used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside the sealed cube. Placing one hand on its surface, his eyes flashed coldly as he raised the katana in his other hand.
"I'm sorry, little girl. But this is war."
Dodai was no stranger to battle. He had fought in multiple great wars and didn't allow sentiment to cloud his judgment—age didn't matter on the battlefield. Though he had considered the possibility of capturing her alive, he was too wary of ninja trickery. Better to eliminate the threat now than regret it later.
A circular tunnel—roughly three centimeters wide—formed in the membrane where his palm pressed against it. Without hesitation, Dodai drove his katana through the narrow opening, aiming straight for the girl inside.
But—nothing.
There was no resistance, no sensation of flesh being pierced. No blood flowed from the tunnel. Dodai's eyes widened. She was gone.
"Impossible!"
He had seen her trapped, bound by the clone. Under those circumstances, no one should've been able to use a substitution jutsu or escape technique. Shocked, Dodai immediately raised his guard, anticipating a counterattack.
Suddenly, a wave of killing intent surged from behind. Acting purely on instinct honed by years of combat, Dodai dropped into a crouch and rolled sideways—just in time to dodge a double slash from Izumi that would've split him in two.
Heart pounding, he didn't have time to process how she had escaped. But her presence was undeniable—she was targeting him again.
Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique!
Dodai immediately sank into the ground with an earth-style jutsu, buying himself a moment to recover.
Izumi, spotting him burrow underground, leapt to the branch of a nearby tree to prevent being ambushed from below.
Underground, Dodai used a special sensory jutsu to track her movements through the soil. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the pattern in her eyes—sakura-like markings embedded in her pupils.
"That's no ordinary Sharingan… Could it be—the Mangekyō Sharingan once wielded by the legendary Uchiha Madara?"
As a strategist of Kumogakure, Dodai was well-versed in intelligence and ninja lore. He had never seen a Mangekyō Sharingan in person, but he had studied accounts and documents that described its power.
Izumi had escaped Dodai's Membrane Prison using the other ability of her Mangekyō Sharingan—aside from her "Mokkenzan (Sight Severance Slash)"—an ocular technique known as "Shin'i Flash" (Mind-Intent Blink).
Shin'i Flash allowed Izumi to teleport instantly to any location she focused her intent on. However, the technique came at a price: the farther the destination, the more chakra and ocular power it consumed. Because of that limitation, it couldn't be used for long-range teleportation like Flying Thunder God. It was a combat-centric ability—an enhancement to short-distance movement.
But within the context of a fight, this technique was devastating. With the instantaneous mobility it granted—faster and more unpredictable than the Body Flicker—Izumi's blade became virtually impossible to block. In terms of close-range movement, she had already surpassed legends like the Yellow Flash and Shisui of the Body Flicker.
"So that's how she escaped my Membrane Prison, and how her strikes came so quickly I couldn't react… it must be the ability of her eyes!"
Dodai's mind raced. Now convinced her eyes held the Mangekyō Sharingan, he began searching through everything he'd learned about the Uchiha and their forbidden techniques, trying to formulate a strategy to counter her elusive and deadly mobility.
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Elsewhere on the battlefield, Itachi had gradually lured Yūgito Nii to the outer edge of the combat zone.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Crimson Claw!"
"Mouse Hairball!"
A barrage of flaming shuriken launched from Itachi's hand met Yūgito's counterattack—a spray of flame-like projectiles shaped like burning buckshot. The two attacks collided and dissipated mid-air.
Yūgito narrowed her eyes. "You're trying to lure me to the edge of the battlefield," she said coolly. "But in truth, I wanted the same thing. Now that we're here, I can finally unleash the power of the Tailed Beast without worrying about friendly fire."
Though Itachi hadn't shown any technique powerful enough to fatally wound her, he was undeniably crafty. His precision and tactics had made it difficult for her to land a solid hit. In her current state, defeating him wasn't going to be easy.
At first, she had hesitated to fully transform, fearing collateral damage. But now that he had "helped" guide her away from the others, she was more than happy to play along.
Itachi now stood atop a massive boulder, calmly looking down on her from above. His expression was unreadable, but there was no mistaking the sudden shift in his eyes.
His Sharingan spun—the three tomoe morphing into a new shape: a rotating pinwheel, sharp and ominous. His voice was level, but it carried a quiet finality:
"Whatever strength you think you have… it means nothing before these eyes."
Yūgito's breath caught in her throat. "What… what is that? Is he about to use a Sharingan genjutsu?"
Though she sensed danger, she didn't fully understand what was coming. In her mind, as a Jinchūriki, she was immune to most genjutsu—especially ocular genjutsu. Even the Uchiha, famed for their illusionary prowess, shouldn't pose a real threat.
"Tsukuyomi."
The moment the word left his lips, the world around Yūgito began to twist.
Colors melted into red and black. Her surroundings dissolved into a blood-hued void. She found herself bound to a cruciform structure, unable to move. Behind her loomed the massive form of Matatabi, the Two-Tailed Monster Cat—also shackled by enormous spiritual chains.
Even her tailed beast had been caught in the illusion.
This was no ordinary genjutsu. It was a Mangekyō Sharingan technique so powerful that it suppressed both the host and the beast inside her.