"Come on."
The moment Gojo heard that, he vanished from where he stood and appeared right in front of Itachi in an instant, driving a fierce punch straight toward his stomach.
Itachi took the blow head-on and was sent flying.
Heh.
Seeing that his punch had connected, the corner of Gojo's mouth could not help but twitch upward.
But in the very next moment,
Bang
The Itachi who had been blasted away turned into a wooden log.
"What the?" Gojo hurriedly looked around.
"That was the Substitution Technique, one of the basic skills of a ninja," Itachi's voice came from the right.
"Interesting. Then I'm going all out now."
Gojo threw another punch, this time moving even faster than before, instantly closing in on Itachi again. Itachi hurriedly raised an arm to block.
"So fast..." Itachi could not help but say.
When that strike failed, Gojo arched a brow slightly, then lashed out with a powerful kick. Itachi blocked with both arms, using the force to launch himself backward through the air. As his body spun midair, he hurled several shuriken at extreme speed.
The shuriken sliced through the air and shot toward Gojo at terrifying speed. But just as Itachi wondered why Gojo was not dodging, the shuriken that had nearly reached his body suddenly stopped in place, hanging motionless in midair as though someone had pressed pause.
"They stopped?" Itachi frowned.
Gojo glanced at the suspended shuriken, then casually snapped his fingers.
Clang, clang, clang!
The shuriken dropped to the ground.
[Limitless Cursed Technique!]
"This is the Gojo clan's technique, [Limitless Cursed Technique]. There's an 'infinity' between my body and everything around it. To put it simply, it's a defense. Limitless creates 'relative stasis', the closer something gets to me, the slower it becomes, until it can never actually reach the body of the technique's user."
Gojo explained it to Itachi.
"I see. That really is a powerful technique."
Then Itachi directly activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, and the moment Gojo saw those eerie eyes, he immediately averted his gaze.
"I noticed it. Your genjutsu probably only works if someone looks directly into your eyes, right?"
Without lifting his head, Gojo extended a finger.
[Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!]
A blue orb of cursed energy the size of a fist condensed at his fingertip, then shot rapidly toward Itachi. The vegetation in its path was dragged inward, as though it were being sucked into a miniature black hole.
Even without raising his head, Gojo could still clearly sense Itachi's position.
This was...
The Six Eyes!
Only once in several hundred years might a bearer of the Six Eyes be born. These beautiful, pure blue eyes granted Gojo Satoru an overwhelmingly terrifying talent.
The Six Eyes had three abilities.
The first was three-hundred-sixty-degree perception with no blind spots. Even if his line of sight was blocked or he had his back turned to an enemy, the Six Eyes would still detect their presence.
The second was the ability to see through the structure of another person's technique.
The third was that the Six Eyes were an essential talent for using the [Limitless Cursed Technique]. Without them, the precise control required for [Limitless] was impossible.
Others besides Gojo had inherited the Limitless Cursed Technique, but the only one who could actually use it was Gojo Satoru, the one who possessed the Six Eyes.
Sensing the power of [Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue], Itachi closed his eyes, gathering ocular power within them.
Now that I think about it, after evolving into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, I still haven't used it yet. And the gift the Sage of Six Paths gave me... my body is stronger, and my chakra, no, cursed energy, has increased too. Is it a Sage Body?
As thoughts raced through his mind, Itachi suddenly opened his eyes.
[Susanoo!]
First came the bones, then flesh, then armor.
In no time at all, a crimson half-bodied giant appeared, holding the Totsuka Blade in one hand and the Yata Mirror in the other.
(The same form of Susanoo Itachi used when sealing Orochimaru.)
The giant raised the Yata Mirror in its left hand and blocked Blue without even the slightest tremor. A divine artifact possessing every nature transformation, it could alter its own properties according to the nature of the attack and nullify it completely.
"What the hell is that? A Gundam?" Gojo shouted in disbelief.
His [Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue] had slammed into it without even kicking up a speck of dust. For a moment, Gojo genuinely began to wonder whether his Six Eyes were malfunctioning... or whether he had already fallen under an illusion.
"Susanoo. The power of the Mangekyo Sharingan," Itachi said calmly.
Outside the field, Geto and Shoko were completely dumbfounded. They had never imagined Itachi's strength would be this terrifying. This kind of power was probably beyond even special grade.
"And also, Gojo, my genjutsu doesn't require direct eye contact." Itachi smiled faintly.
[Tsukuyomi!]
This was the unique ocular technique of Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan, an illusion that could not be broken.
The scene abruptly changed. In the blink of an eye, Gojo found himself bound to a cross, surrounded by a world painted entirely in blood-red.
"This is..."
"This is the Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu, [Tsukuyomi]," Itachi said, appearing before Gojo as he explained. "Here, space, time, and mass are all under my control. Don't underestimate it just because you think it's an illusion. The pain here is not false. It is exactly the same as in reality."
"What a powerful ability," Gojo said with genuine admiration. Then, with a grin, he asked, "So can you stab me once? I've never been hurt in my life, and I kind of want to know what it feels like."
"..."
Even Itachi was left speechless by Gojo's request.
He took out a kunai, lightly drew it across Gojo's hand, and then released Tsukuyomi.
"It really does work. I can actually feel the pain."
Gojo raised his uninjured left hand and examined it from every angle.
Seeing that the two had stopped fighting, Geto and Shoko walked over.
"Looks like Itachi won," Geto said with a smile.
"Oh ho~ Looks like someone got a taste of defeat for once~" Shoko teased, waggling her brows at Gojo.
"Hah! Once I learn Reverse Cursed Technique, I'll be even stronger." Gojo crossed his arms and turned his head away, refusing to look at Shoko's face.
At that moment, Geto asked Itachi, "Are your eyes something you were born with too, like Gojo's Six Eyes?"
Hearing Geto's question, the other two stopped bickering and looked toward Itachi as well.
"A family inheritance?" Gojo asked.
"You could say they're innate, but they need to be awakened later," Itachi said slowly. "My clan is called the Uchiha clan, though we refer to this kind of inheritance as a kekkei genkai."
"The difference is that the Sharingan is not as rare as the Six Eyes. Every Uchiha has the potential to awaken it."
"I see... so are all Sharingan as strong as yours?" Geto continued, while Gojo followed up with, "And if your clan was this powerful, how come I've never heard of it?"
"No. Normally, the limit is the three-tomoe Sharingan. The Mangekyo Sharingan comes at a price. It only evolves after witnessing the loss of someone dearest to you."
After answering Geto's question, Itachi fell silent for a moment.
"...As for the Uchiha clan... I'm the only one left."
"Sorry."
"Sorry."
The moment those last two lines sank in, both Gojo and Geto were hit with crushing guilt. They had actually made Itachi recall something so painful. The two of them practically felt like scum.
"You two, at least sound sincere when you apologize," Shoko said, not knowing when she had already lit a cigarette.
"It's fine. It's all in the past now." Itachi smiled and shook his head, sounding unconcerned.
But the three of them could still sense the sadness and loneliness beneath his calm expression.
"I'll treat everyone to food!" Gojo suddenly raised a hand and shouted. "The old fossils in my family have money to burn anyway. Order whatever you want. Don't hold back."
"Then I want high-end sushi."
"Same here."
"As for me... tricolor dango."
"Huh? Itachi, you like sweets?" Gojo looked a little surprised.
Itachi looked this cool and cold, yet he actually liked sweet things.
"You could say that. I do like them quite a bit."
"Alright! Then let's take a car into Tokyo!"
Gojo threw an arm over Geto's shoulder and another over Itachi's, walking off with the two of them in tow, while Shoko followed beside Itachi, smiling faintly with a cigarette between her lips.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Good Reviews/Ratings are greatly appreciated
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!