Sasuke's sudden "Brother" almost made Itachi faint on the spot. He drew two deep breaths and asked,
"Sasuke… what did you just call me?"
Sasuke turned his head away with a tsundere huff, muttering,
"I called you brother! What? Is there a problem with that?"
Itachi fought back the tears, his voice catching in his throat,
"No problem, no problem at all! I'm… I'm really happy."
Hearing the tremor in Itachi's voice, Sasuke turned his head back with a conflicted expression and said softly,
"Brother, I've been thinking a lot these past few days. I realized I was such a fool… to even doubt your love for me."
Itachi listened in a daze as Sasuke went on,
"The truth is, I was cold to you because I never knew how to face you. But now I've figured it out. I've already lost too much… but at least I still have you—the brother who loves me the most. I can't lose you again, no matter what!"
"Sasuke..."
Itachi couldn't hold back anymore. Tears poured from his eyes as he stood up and hugged Sasuke tightly, uncaring of the stares around them.
"Your brother will never leave you again!"
Sasuke rested his chin on Itachi's shoulder, closed his eyes, and said nothing.
...
In another restaurant not far away,
Kaito suddenly chuckled while eating with Kurenai. She looked at him curiously and asked,
"Kaito-senpai, what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, I just overheard a conversation between two brothers. Really entertaining!"
"Brothers? Is Kaito-senpai talking about ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi and his younger brother Sasuke?"
"Hm? How do you know that?"
Kaito blinked in mild surprise. Was Kurenai's guess really that accurate?
Kurenai smirked proudly and explained,
"I heard from Yugao that the new ANBU Captain is a total ...constantly talking about his little brother. And the moment he gets off work, he bolts home like the place is on fire, saying he has to cook dinner for him!"
"..."
Kaito was left speechless. So Itachi's little-brother-complex was already common knowledge, huh?
...
Meanwhile, at a certain lake,
Obito was lying across the Three-Tails' belly, soaking in its warmth.
Before arriving, he had let Tobi's personality take over, but now he had switched back to himself.
Up in the air, Deidara shouted down at him,
"Hey! Tobi! How long are you gonna lie there? Time to wrap this up!"
Obito didn't respond. He just rolled over as if asleep.
No one saw the tears beneath his mask. After all, the Three-Tails had once been sealed inside Rin. And because of that, she had chosen to die at Kakashi's hand.
Lying on the beast's body, he had hoped to feel a trace of Rin's presence… but she was long gone. All that remained was endless sorrow.
Deidara sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"I really don't get you. And why the hell did Leader have to stick me on a team with you!?"
From his perspective, Tobi was just comic relief. From beginning to end, it had been him doing all the work to capture the Three-Tails.
But what he didn't know was that underwater, it was Obito's genjutsu that had subdued the beast. Without it, how could one clay bomb have so easily taken down a creature famous for its defense?
Switching back into Tobi mode, Obito slowly rose from the Three-Tails' belly and shouted up cheerfully,
"Deidara-senpai! I dozed off just now! Did you say something?"
Deidara snapped back irritably,
"I said get off the damn turtle already! We need to move before Kirigakure shinobi show up!"
"Oh, oh! Got it, Deidara-senpai! Let's make a run for it!"
"Idiot! This isn't running away—it's a tactical retreat! Learn the difference!"
Deidara bit back the urge to blow Tobi to pieces. Instead, he sculpted a massive clay dragon to carry them and the Three-Tails away.
...
Moments after they left, Mei Terumī arrived with several Kirigakure shinobi.
"Lady Mizukage! The Three-Tails' chakra signature has vanished!" the sensory unit reported.
Mei's face darkened as she stared at the lake. Losing a tailed beast was no trivial matter for a hidden village.
Kirigakure had once possessed the Five-Tails as well, but its Jinchūriki—Han—had defected, making him a rogue shinobi. That meant their village had completely lost its tailed beasts.
For a hidden village, tailed beasts were like nuclear weapons. You didn't have to use them, but you had to have them.
After Obito's earlier schemes, the Mist was already weakened. Now, with their tailed beasts gone, it was disaster upon disaster.
Mei clenched her teeth.
"Damn it! Who could have done this!?"
Ao spoke from the side,
"Lady Mizukage, my guess is Akatsuki. Only they would have the nerve and power to capture a tailed beast."
At the mention of Akatsuki, Mei's expression grew even heavier. That organization was made up almost entirely of S-class rogues. Any single member was beyond the ability of a small village to handle.
Even Kirigakure couldn't be certain of destroying them. After all, Sunagakure's Kazekage, Gaara, had recently been captured by Akatsuki. His beast was extracted, and he barely survived.
Mei fell silent, her mind turning over Akatsuki's true purpose in collecting tailed beasts. The more she thought about it, the more an ominous sense of crisis gnawed at her.
At last, she exhaled heavily. Thinking further was pointless now. The Three-Tails was already gone. All she could do was tighten the Mist's defenses and prevent Akatsuki from striking again.
...
The news of Kirigakure losing the Three-Tails quickly spread across the shinobi world, and Akatsuki's presence was fully revealed.
Upon hearing, Ōnoki of Iwagakure immediately dispatched scouts to locate the Four-Tails' Jinchūriki, Roshi. He was still wandering as a monk outside the village, and if Akatsuki reached him first, things would be grim.
But even Ōnoki's swift action was too late. With Kisame now defected to Konoha, Roshi instead faced the overwhelming force of Pain's Six Paths.
In a forest, the Deva Path of Pain looked down coldly at the battered Roshi, who struggled to rise.
A black rod extended from Pain's hand and stabbed into Roshi's body.
Thud!
The rod pierced him, and Roshi gave a muffled groan before going limp.
Konan descended from a nearby tree, raising her hand. Countless paper sheets fluttered out, wrapping Roshi's body and lifting it into the sky.
Pain glanced upward and said in a flat voice,
"The Four-Tails has been secured. Next, only Kumogakure's Eight-Tails remains."
Konan nodded.
"They say the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki has an exceptionally high level of synchronization with his beast, and he rarely leaves Kumogakure. Capturing him won't be easy."
Pain's eyes narrowed, his voice cold.
"The Eight-Tails must be taken. No matter where he is."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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