Torune turned around, staring at the desperate scene behind him. No textbook had ever taught him how to handle a situation like this—he had to come up with some unconventional strategies to gain the upper hand.
Torune halted abruptly and turned to face the massive wave surging toward him.
His insects were too small to form an insect wall, unlike most members of the Aburame clan. Even if they could, such a defense would be useless under these circumstances.
But he still had options. He slashed his tanto through ten of Kisame's water clones attempting to attack him, internally scoffing at the shark-man's cheap tricks. Though these water clones were much stronger than average ninja, they were practically no match for him.
Focusing, Torune allowed the tidal wave to crash directly into him, enduring the full impact of Kisame's Bursting Waterfall Technique. The tremendous force felt like it was tearing him apart from within.
There was no way he could survive an attack of this magnitude.
"Torune!" Fu cried out in despair—but it was already too late.
Would he survive this battle? Did he even stand a chance against Kisame?
In the end, none of that mattered anymore.
His partner had already fallen.
Kisame couldn't help but chuckle as he observed Torune's actions.
What was that guy thinking? As the wave subsided, a lake now filled the crater where there had once been dry ground. Kisame and Fu stood atop its surface.
Gazing at Torune's corpse, Kisame said,
"If not for me, he might still be alive... such a shame..."
Fu saw Torune's lifeless body floating face-down nearby, unmoving on the surface of the artificial lake.
Yet in that corpse, Fu sensed a flicker of triumph. Torune hadn't given up. Instead, he chose a path that only seasoned partners could understand.
Torune's sacrifice wasn't in vain—now, Fu's mission was to survive and see his partner's plan through to fruition.
##Danzo VS Itachi##
Danzo had to admit—Itachi's Susanoo was truly a formidable presence. Its very presence alone was enough to strike fear into countless ninja before a single blow was landed.
But Danzo possessed strength capable of matching it. He had learned how to counter Susanoo by carefully studying the battles of both Naruto Uzumaki and Itachi.
He understood three ways to defeat Itachi, one method involved dragging the fight into a prolonged endurance struggle.
As Itachi's Susanoo swung its ghostly blade down toward him, Danzo decided to temporarily adopt attrition warfare as his main strategy. There was no need to rush—he would wait for an opening, then seek an opportunity.
He had to brace himself for a long battle.
Controlling Susanoo, Itachi swung the massive sword, attempting to cleave Danzo in two. But Danzo leapt high into the air, channeling wind chakra through his mouth to boost his ascent.
"You certainly have impressive reserves of chakra," Itachi remarked, commanding his Susanoo to pursue Danzo midair. "Still, Naruto Uzumaki controls Wind Release chakra far better than you do—but even he fell before me."
"He defeated you," Danzo countered, once again expelling wind chakra from his mouth to dodge another strike from Susanoo. "He just didn't finish the job."
"He reached his objective. You did not."
He taunted Itachi for throwing away his life for Sasuke. "Do you realize the pain you've inflicted on Sasuke? Itachi, you shouldn't have interfered in the first place!"
"Don't lecture me!" Itachi barely managed to conceal his fury as he wielded his Susanoo and pursued Danzo.
Danzo kept retreating, using Wind Release to accelerate his movement.
Suddenly, the form of Susanoo vanished, and Itachi charged straight at Danzo. "Today is the day you die!"
Danzo noticed that Itachi was trying to make eye contact—a deadly mistake when fighting a Sharingan user, even one with a Mangekyo Sharingan.
There could be only one reason for this—to defeat Danzo utterly with genjutsu.
With no other choice, Danzo focused his chakra on the Sharingan in his right eye socket. 'You cannot use Tsukuyomi on me.'
Using his unique Sharingan ability, Danzo sent Itachi a subtle mental command, forbidding him from using Tsukuyomi.
He knew if Itachi actually used Tsukuyomi on him, he was finished. After all, he wasn't well-versed in genjutsu, even with a few unique techniques up his sleeve.
As Itachi approached Danzo, he seemed to change his mind. But he didn't stop attacking—just didn't use Tsukuyomi.
"Amaterasu!" At Itachi's command, the black, indestructible flames of Amaterasu struck Danzo, engulfing his body instantly in fire.
Yet Danzo's body didn't fall—it simply vanished into thin air.
"As expected," Itachi muttered to himself.
He had no idea where Danzo would reappear next, so he remained on high alert, scanning every shadow for signs.
He felt lucky he could now wield Susanoo without fear of blindness. If he'd had this strength before, he wouldn't have had to sacrifice everything to protect Sasuke.
"You hesitated, Itachi?" Danzo's voice suddenly came from behind him, snapping him out of thoughts of Sasuke.
Damn! Now was no time to lose focus—doing so could get him killed.
[Wind Release – Vacuum Wave!] Standing in Itachi's blind spot, Danzo fired several small air bullets at him. "This battle is meaningless, Itachi." As Danzo spoke, Itachi skillfully dodged the attacks.
"You're merely fighting out of habit—victory won't come that way."
Angered by Danzo's words, Itachi shot back:
"There is only one goal in my heart—that is, to fight for Sasuke! My heart, my hope—everything I am belongs to Sasuke! Everything I've done has been for him!"
After speaking, Itachi unleashed Amaterasu once again, attempting to consume Danzo in flames. But again, Danzo's body vanished. Itachi's eyes narrowed sharply.
"If that is truly your resolve..." Danzo's voice echoed from all directions. "...then you have already lost. Your reasoning doesn't hold up at all. You don't even understand what you're fighting for!"
Itachi noticed Danzo reappearing and immediately gave chase. He had to find out what strange evasion technique the latter was using.
"I will complete my unfinished mission—for the village, and for myself!" he taunted Danzo. "Root has long outlived its purpose. You're like a cancerous tumor, siphoning the lifeblood from Konoha, and even the entire ninja world."
"Do you think I haven't heard such insults against Root before?" Danzo replied. By now, Itachi had already reached his position.
Danzo had always thought that even at his peak, he could never match Itachi Uchiha's speed. Now, it seemed he was wrong.
"Peace doesn't come free. Outside the village walls, enemies are always lurking. Root's duty is to eliminate these threats while they're still in their infancy!" Danzo began forming hand seals.
Unfortunately for him, Itachi was faster. Itachi completed the seals first.
"Too slow! Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!" Itachi copied Danzo's jutsu and countered. Razor-sharp gusts of wind tore through Danzo—yet again, his body vanished, leaving behind fresh wounds on Itachi's body.
"Foolish," Danzo's voice echoed again. "That's exactly why I rarely use Wind Release techniques in battle—even against Uchiha with the Sharingan active. My Wind Release ninjutsu cannot be controlled by ordinary ninja. Even a minor mistake can backfire on the user."
Indeed, even Naruto—who trained under Danzo years ago—only mastered one Wind Release technique—[Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere]. Later, expanding on it, he created his own signature technique: [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken].
Unlike other piercing techniques, Naruto's focused on raw power. Its advantage, though, was that it required no hand seals—a truly impressive feat.
As Itachi treated his wounds, he felt fortunate none were deep.
If Danzo had been just slightly stronger, Itachi wouldn't have walked away so lightly.
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