WHOOSH!
Josuke blinked in surprise as he watched Miyu being pulled away from the area of frozen time.
He had intended to check her for any Dragon Balls and take them if they were present, but the sudden intervention of her Servant had ruined the opportunity.
Homura Akemi had appeared in a burst of speed.
Recalling the red glow he had seen just a moment ago, Josuke realized she must have used a Command Spell to manifest and act within the stilled seconds.
A heartbeat later, Sakuya Izayoi appeared by his side, her eyes fixed on the retreating figures.
Compared to the maid, who looked as immaculate as ever, Homura was in a much more desperate state.
Using a burst of temporal acceleration, Homura hoisted Miyu into her arms and sprinted toward the distant city skyline.
"Don't even think about escaping!"
Sakuya wasn't about to let them walk away so easily. She immediately gave chase, disappearing after them in a blur of motion.
"Hey! Caster!"
Watching the situation devolve into a high speed chase, Josuke let out a frustrated groan.
"Fine. I guess I better follow them and make sure nothing goes wrong."
Though several small knives were still embedded in his limbs, the wounds were shallow and didn't significantly hinder his movement. He prepared to give chase.
But as he took his first step, a figure emerged from the shadows of a nearby building.
The man wore a long black robe decorated with red clouds. It was far from the typical fashion of a resident of Morioh Town.
'A Servant?'
Sensing the dense, heavy magical energy radiating from the newcomer, Josuke immediately dropped into a defensive stance.
The man's crimson eyes were exceptionally prominent, and Josuke felt a localized chill run down his spine as he met that gaze.
After a few tense seconds, Josuke realized the stranger wasn't making a move. He felt a flicker of confusion.
Unbeknownst to him, Itachi Uchiha was experiencing a rare moment of shock.
He had been monitoring the struggle between Archer and Caster from the shadows for some time, waiting for an opportunity to strike while the waters were muddy.
As a ninja, he was supremely confident in his ability to mask his presence and wait for the perfect opening.
And he had found it.
The Master of Caster was isolated.
In Itachi's mind, the plan was simple. Meet the boy's eyes, pull him into a profound Genjutsu, and then trigger the power of [Killer Queen] to erase him from existence.
But as he stepped into the light and met Josuke's gaze, he realized something was very wrong.
The Genjutsu of the Sharingan had failed to take root.
'This is...?'
Even for a master like Itachi, this was a first.
He knew there were individuals capable of breaking free from his illusions, but for the technique to simply fail to activate was a phenomenon he couldn't explain.
Without the foundation of a Genjutsu, he couldn't easily trigger the "Bites the Dust" combo.
This meant he would have to rely on his own physical power to eliminate Caster's Master.
The time and risk involved in a direct fight were far higher than he had planned for.
After all, a Servant could be recalled with a single Command Spell.
He had come here to pick up a free win, not to expose his identity in a prolonged skirmish.
"Hey! What are you doing over there, acting so brooding and mysterious?"
"You're Yoshikage Kira's Servant, aren't you?!"
Josuke clenched his fists and pointed a finger at the man in the robe, his voice ringing with anger.
Itachi didn't bother to reply. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes.
"!"
Sensing a sudden, sharp spike in the atmosphere, Josuke took a frantic step backward.
Itachi snapped his eyes open. The tomoe within his pupils began to spin and transform.
Sizzle!
"What?!!"
Black flames suddenly erupted onto Josuke's clothes and skin. He stared at his own body in horror.
'How is this possible?! I'm nowhere near him! How did he even launch an attack?!'
Before he could figure out the mechanics of the strike, he instinctively summoned his Stand.
A single tear of blood tracked down from Itachi's right eye as he watched the boy burn with a cold, detached indifference.
[Amaterasu].
It was the ultimate ocular technique of his right eye. The activation condition was instantaneous; he only needed to focus his gaze on the target.
Once ignited, the black flames would never stop burning until the target was reduced to ash.
He had used this move specifically to end the fight in the shortest time possible.
Unless the boy's Stand possessed a specific counter for the "Inextinguishable Flames," he would be dead within seconds.
"What is this fire?!"
Watching the black flames spread across his torso, Josuke let out a shout of alarm.
His mind raced through every possible solution, and then, a spark of pure, desperate genius struck him.
"DORA RA RA RA!!!"
[Crazy Diamond] slammed one fist into the pavement while the other unleashed a barrage of blows against the flames. Ignoring the searing pain of the heat, Josuke forced his ability to manifest in a way it never had before.
Itachi's eyes widened in genuine disbelief.
"There! That should do it!"
"Man... that required some seriously delicate finger work."
The flames were gone from Josuke's body, leaving behind a series of scorched, blackened marks on his clothes and skin. He didn't seem to care, pointing instead to a jagged sphere of stone on the ground where the black fire was now trapped.
Using [Crazy Diamond]'s restoration power, he had used the debris from the ground as a sort of "Glue."
He had "Fixed" the black flames to the broken pieces of pavement, effectively wrapping the never-extinguishing fire in a structural shell of rock.
Crackle!
"Whoa... that stuff is persistent. Too bad for you, you're not getting out of there."
The black fire continued to burn against the inner walls of the stone sphere, but Josuke simply kept the "Fix" active, ensuring the cage remained sealed.
WHOOSH!
In that exact moment, a throwing knife whistled through the air from behind and buried itself in Itachi's shoulder.
He didn't even need to turn his head to know that Caster had returned to her Master's side.
He had hoped for a simple, clinical assassination, but Caster's Master had proven to be far more resilient and inventive than he anticipated.
The Genjutsu had failed, and [Amaterasu] had been neutralized by a power he had never seen before.
'A failure in calculation.'
That was the only way he could describe the situation.
"Slinking around in the shadows... are you really a Saber class?"
Sakuya stood with another handful of knives, her gaze fixed on Itachi with a look of cold accusation.
SHTUCK!
Itachi began to turn, but several more knives suddenly materialized in the air around him, pinning him to the spot like a butterfly on a board.
Sakuya didn't bother with a conversation. She had no intention of giving him a chance to recover.
She was already suspicious that Yoshikage Kira's Servant possessed some kind of bizarre, unconventional power.
She used a burst of temporal acceleration combined with a complex web of refracted throws to ensure he was neutralized.
But as she saw her knives pierce his body, her suspicion only deepened.
Even with the advantage of time, defeating an enemy this easily felt far too convenient.
POOF!
Sure enough, Itachi's body suddenly dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.
When the haze cleared, the only thing remaining was a wooden log, pierced by a dozen of Sakuya's silver knives.
"What the?"
Josuke stared at the log in complete bewilderment.
How did a person turn into a piece of wood?
What kind of logic was that?
"?"
Sakuya watched the birds circling in the sky, a feeling of unsettling familiarity washing over her.
Reimu Hakurei had once performed a very similar trick.
'Did he have a decoy prepared in advance?'
The man's presence had vanished, leaving only the sound of cawing crows in the air.
"Hmph. Talk about a dangerous guy."
Now that the threat had seemingly departed, Josuke let out a long breath and slumped to the ground.
His Servant was fine, but he as the Master had taken quite a beating.
Unfortunately, [Crazy Diamond] couldn't heal his own injuries. These burns were going to require a trip to the hospital.
"You still have a long way to go in your training."
"Hey! Is that any way to talk to your Master? I'm lucky I'm even alive after that freak show."
"His power makes absolutely no sense. I was just standing there and suddenly I was on fire!"
Josuke grumbled his complaints as he looked at Sakuya, but the maid was already lost in thought, analyzing the clues they had gathered.
Black flames... a substitution trick similar to Reimu's [Fake Body]...
Was this man really a Saber?
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]