"Itachi." Musashi spoke, his feelings complicated.
Itachi said coldly, "Put them down, and you can leave."
If I put them down, why the hell did I even come here? Musashi thought.
Taking a moment to compose himself, he spoke, feigning calmness.
"Itachi, give me some face."
"Let me take the two of them and leave. Deal?"
"I don't care what you've done, or what your goal is. I just want to take these two away. Is that okay?"
Itachi's expression remained unchanged.
"Put them down... or die."
Izumi looked guilty. If not for her, Musashi might have already escaped.
"I'm sorry, Musashi..."
"Cut the crap. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. He was probably waiting here the moment I broke his Shadow Clone."
"No, you didn't have to come in the first place. Put me down. I'll try to stop him... you take Aoi... and go."
Izumi said.
Musashi is strong, but he probably isn't a match for Itachi.
Having grown up with him, she knew very well that Itachi's strength had reached Jonin level long ago.
And she had said such harsh words to Musashi not long ago.
She had no reason to ask him to risk his life for her.
In the Uchiha district, there were no other living souls.
The clansmen were dead. Her parents were dead.
Adding her to the pile didn't seem like a big deal. It was just a pity for Aoi.
She turned her head to look at the little one, who had gone quiet from sheer terror, holding a sliver of hope in her heart.
Musashi, take her away. If Aoi lives, I'll be grateful to you even in death.
"Still talking crap!"
Musashi snapped back at her.
He placed the little girl into Izumi's arms and said, "If we start fighting, don't just stand there watching. Run toward the Hokage Building."
It was a pity Guy and Kakashi were out on missions. If they were here, he might have felt more confident.
Izumi took her sister, looking at Musashi with complex eyes.
"Itachi." Musashi tried to keep his tone relaxed and calm.
"Whatever you want to do, whatever your goal is... two more won't make a difference, two less won't matter. How about we make a deal? Let me take them."
"Musashi. Leave, or die here with them."
"FUCK YOU, ITACHI UCHIHA!"
"Have you lost your damn mind?!"
"Izumi is your girlfriend! This little thing is barely a toddler!" Musashi couldn't suppress the rage in his heart any longer.
"Are you an animal?!"
Itachi remained unmoved. "There is no need for words. Leave them, or you will die too."
Musashi roared, "Fuck! You think you're omnipotent? Try me!"
Itachi said coldly, "Dealing with a Dead Last like you won't take much effort."
Suddenly, his eyes widened. Blood-red light shone from within.
Cold, yin ocular power swept over instantly.
Freezing. Deathly silent.
A primal fear surged from the depths of the soul.
The scenery before his eyes shifted. A hollow, hazy sky. A ground flowing with blood.
Musashi realized that unwittingly, his consciousness had been pulled into a genjutsu space.
Giant iron spikes nailed him firmly to a wooden cross.
Is this... Tsukuyomi?
A spacetime landscape like a bloody hell. A body unable to move.
And agony piercing deep into his soul.
"Itachi, is this your method? Using genjutsu!"
Itachi's figure flashed into existence right in front of Musashi.
"That's right. This is the genjutsu cast by my eyes."
Itachi revealed his eerie, blood-red Mangekyo Sharingan, staring directly at the immobilized Musashi.
His voice echoed from every direction.
"In the world of Tsukuyomi, space, time, and mass are all under my control."
"Here, the pain you feel is exactly the same as in the real world."
As he spoke, a blade appeared in his hand, and he stabbed it viciously into Musashi's chest.
Splurt~
Blade piercing flesh. Blood flowing.
Intense agony washed over him.
Musashi grinned, baring his teeth. "So, you're going to torture me to death too?"
"No." Itachi slowly pulled the blade out.
"I am merely telling you that before these eyes, any method you have is meaningless."
Musashi said, "So what? How will you use these eyes? Use them to kill me, kill Izumi, kill everyone in the Uchiha clan?"
Itachi said, "In the world of Tsukuyomi, even if days pass here, only an instant passes outside. I could indeed kill you slowly here."
"However, there is no hatred between you and me. Therefore, I will try to let you die without pain."
"Hahahaha..." Musashi laughed. "What thoughtful friendship, Itachi."
"But listening to you, Tsukuyomi really is powerful. Is it unbreakable?"
Itachi: "Regrettably, for a Dead Last like you... no."
"Is that so?"
Musashi began attempting to mobilize his mental energy.
Throughout his years of training, he had valued mental energy just as much as Taijutsu.
The ninja world didn't have specific methods for training mental energy.
Generally speaking, it was something innate.
It would grow with age and experience, but only to a limit.
Since he started formal training, he had intentionally tempered his mental energy.
Daily practice of multitasking—splitting his mind into two, then three.
Using Yin-Yang Release chakra to constantly nourish his mental strength.
Plus, as a reincarnator, his mental control was already superior to ordinary people.
His mental energy should be far more tyrannical than others.
Right now, inside the Tsukuyomi world, he tried to mobilize his mental energy—that familiar Yin power within his mind.
He firmly believed that a person's strength lay in the foundation of their life: the purity and strength of their soul and body.
Tsukuyomi's power lay not only in the jutsu itself but also in the Uchiha clan's innately powerful mental energy.
Otherwise, why would they produce so many mentally unstable people?
But the power of a jutsu has a limit, based on the user.
Itachi's Tsukuyomi might be powerful, but let him try using it on an Eight-Gates-open Guy, or try using it on Kaguya.
Since the jutsu has a limit, he could try to see if he could break that limit.
Sense. Mobilize.
Yin Release training slowly activated.
Itachi's expression began to change.
Under his suddenly surprised gaze, the image within the Tsukuyomi space actually began to tremble!
The genjutsu world constructed by ocular power... the realistic image began to glitch, pixelating like a corrupted file.
"I didn't expect this! Musashi, you actually possess such mental strength!" Itachi didn't hide his surprise.
" really? It seems my image as a Dead Last is firmly rooted in your heart."
Itachi slowly shook his head. "However... it's useless."
"Your Taijutsu is good, and your mental energy exceeds my expectations."
"But as I said, before these eyes, all your jutsu are meaningless."