Hearing Takeru say this, Kakashi gave him a deep look and could only sigh deeply. If he wanted to stop Sasuke, his current condition made it simply impossible.
"But don't you think that's strange? They've infiltrated the village, so finding Naruto inside the village should be easy, right? Itachi knows what Naruto looks like!" At that moment, Asuma spoke up.
"It's not strange at all. They were just discovered by us first. Also, the point is, Naruto is currently with one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. They wouldn't act rashly. Of course, most importantly, they aren't collecting the Tailed Beasts randomly. Their visit here is simply for reconnaissance."
Regarding Asuma's confusion, Takeru directly explained.
Hearing this, Kakashi gave Takeru another deep look. Logically, Jiraiya taking Naruto away was something only discussed with him. Clearly, Takeru possessed some advanced source of intelligence.
"Then, why are you so sure Sasuke definitely won't be in danger?" Hearing Takeru's words, Kakashi regained his composure and asked seriously.
"Simple. Sasuke is the person Itachi cares about most. The vast majority of what he has done is to protect Sasuke. Just know that." Hearing his words, Takeru revealed another shocking piece of information to them.
"Impossible!" Hearing Takeru's words, everyone was stunned. Kakashi even voiced his disbelief.
Because they couldn't see any sign of Itachi caring about Sasuke. On the contrary, they were well aware of the immense hatred Sasuke held for Itachi.
Seeing their completely disbelieving looks, Takeru just smiled lightly and didn't elaborate further. This was part of Itachi's brilliance: making Sasuke hate him. Firstly, it gave Sasuke the motivation of hatred to grow stronger. Secondly, others wouldn't think to use Sasuke to threaten him.
Moreover, after negotiating terms with the Konoha's higher-ups, Itachi managed to let Sasuke live safely in relatively secure Konoha Village.
"Alright, I've told you what I can. I'll take my leave now." With that, Takeru directly left the spot.
Seeing Takeru's quickly disappearing figure, they were stunned. They wanted to stop him, as they still had many questions for Takeru, but he vanished too quickly.
Now that Takeru was gone, they hesitated, then gathered to discuss whether they should believe Takeru's words.
Takeru naturally couldn't be bothered with all that. He had told them. Believing or not was up to them, and it had no impact on him.
…
Meanwhile, prompted by Takeru, Sasuke had gone directly to search for traces of Naruto.
But compared to Itachi and Kisame, his speed was still a bit slower.
Itachi and Kisame directly knocked on the door of the room where Naruto was.
Knock knock!
Naruto, who was training, was startled by the knocking sound and randomly dispelled his Multiple Shadow Clones.
"What's this, he's already back from being dumped?" Hearing the knock, Naruto spoke without thinking.
Knock knock!
"I know, coming, coming, I'll open the door!" Listening to the increasingly loud knocking, Naruto helplessly called out.
As Naruto opened the door, he saw Itachi with his Sharingan activated. Itachi's gaze was somewhat gloomy at the moment.
'Sasuke... it's not him... who is this? He has the same Sharingan as Sasuke.' The moment he saw Itachi, Naruto's first thought was of Sasuke.
"To think this little brat contain the Nine-Tails." At that moment, Kisame also appeared in front of Naruto and spoke calmly.
'Why do these guys know about the Nine-Tails?; Hearing Kisame's words, Naruto was stunned.
"Naruto, please come with us, outside." Without paying attention to the shocked Naruto, Itachi still politely spoke to him.
'These guys aren't ordinary!' Sensing the terrifying aura emanating from Itachi and Kisame, Naruto broke out in a cold sweat. Not daring to resist further, he directly went to their side.
"Hmm, Itachi-san, it would be troublesome if he ran away. Should we cut off one of his legs first?" Out of caution, Kisame spoke expressionlessly, his hand already gripping Samehada on his back.
Hearing Kisame's words, Naruto was shocked. Only Itachi remained silent, as if tacitly approving Kisame's action.
As Kisame stepped closer, Itachi suddenly spoke, "Long time no see, Sasuke."
"Uchiha Itachi!" Looking at Itachi with an extremely dark expression, Sasuke's whole body trembled slightly… not from fear, but from the excitement of potentially being able to kill his enemy.
"Oh, he has the Sharingan, and he looks a lot like you. Who exactly is that person?" Seeing Sasuke, Kisame also asked curiously.
"My younger brother." Hearing Kisame's words, Itachi didn't hide it, as this matter couldn't be hidden anyway.
"I heard the entire Uchiha Clan was wiped out, killed by you." Kisame continued.
"Uchiha Itachi, I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke also looked at Itachi with hatred.
Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto then understood that this man was Sasuke's older brother, the one Sasuke had always wanted to kill.
"I've done as you said: hated you, despised you, and lived until now... all to kill you!" As he spoke, the Chidori quickly took shape in Sasuke's hand. Accompanied by its piercing screech, even Naruto could sense its power.
However, this scene fell upon Itachi's eyes with extreme calmness, not causing the slightest ripple. He did recognize it, though: Kakashi's original technique, Chidori.
"I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke shouted, using Chidori to scrape along the wall as he charged at Itachi.
"Die!"
With Sasuke's roar, a huge explosion sounded inside the inn, and a large hole was blasted through the wall, raising thick smoke.
But as the smoke dissipated, Naruto could only discover in shock that Sasuke's Chidori attack was directly stopped by Itachi with one hand.
Of course, Itachi didn't 'block' the Chidori attack itself… he grabbed the arm Sasuke was using to release Chidori, making it impossible for him to resist.
'What's going on? Sasuke's Ninjutsu was broken so easily? It's bad, I need to think of something!' Noticing Itachi applying force to Sasuke's arm, Naruto quickly formed hand seals.
As Naruto formed seals, red Chakra quickly condensed around him.
Naruto's actions instantly drew the attention of Itachi and Kisame, as the Nine-Tails' Chakra was simply too conspicuous since it was vast and violent.
"So this is the Nine-Tails' Chakra." Kisame said understandingly.
Sasuke here still wanted to resist, but Itachi, finding him troublesome, directly broke the joints in his hand.
Intense pain surged, making Sasuke cry out in agony.
Hearing Sasuke's cry, Naruto became furious and formed another hand seal. "Ninja Art: Summoning..."
"Too slow!" Seeing Naruto's move, Kisame directly swung Samehada at him. Instantly, the red Chakra surrounding him vanished completely.
"Huh? I can't feel Chakra? Damn it, why is this happening!" The unbelieving Naruto kept trying to gather Chakra, but no matter what, he couldn't condense any.
"My Samehada can also shave off and devour Chakra." Looking at the agitated Naruto, Kisame explained calmly.
At the moment, Samehada, though wrapped in bandages, was wriggling constantly, as if it had a life of its own.
"Letting you use Ninjutsu would be troublesome. Rather than cutting a foot, let's cut off that hand first." Kisame pointed Samehada at Naruto and said.
At the critical moment, accompanied by a puff of smoke, Samehada collided with a piece of metal, producing a clear ringing sound.
"What?" Sensing something blocking his attack, Kisame was stunned.
When the smoke cleared, he saw a frog wearing a special metal ring. This frog had used its equipped ring to block the attack.
Poof!
Then, behind Naruto, another puff of smoke appeared.
"You guys really don't understand me well enough. A man like the Great Jiraiya wouldn't be seduced by a woman… he's better at sweet-talking to deceive women. I wouldn't be lured by a woman's beauty!"
"For a man like me, women come to me on their own!" Carrying the woman previously hypnotized by Itachi, Jiraiya made his entrance and spoke in a Chuunibyo manner.
However, Jiraiya's words and actions instantly cooled the atmosphere. Everyone just stared at him blankly.
"You were so excited by that cheap trick of a woman batting her eyelashes. Stop trying to show off, Pervy Sage!" Naruto mercilessly exposed Jiraiya's attempt to look cool.
"I told you not to call me that in front of others!" Hearing Naruto's words, Jiraiya was more concerned about the nickname.
"Heh heh, so you've come, the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. Even though you're a super pervert, I didn't expect you to be tricked away so easily!" Kisame also said with a wicked smile.
"Eh? They even know Pervy Sage's true nature?" Hearing Kisame's words, Naruto realized in shock that the two actually knew Jiraiya's identity and character.
"That... can't really be called my 'true nature'..." Hearing Naruto's words, Jiraiya still tried to salvage what little remained of his image.