308 - Amaterasu and Orochimaru

Itachi stood in the corridor. "Did you need something, Father?"

Arms folded, Fugaku looked at him. "Itachi, you did well. If it hadn't been for you, Sasuke might have been killed by those Akatsuki criminals."

Learning that an Akatsuki member had slipped into the Uchiha compound during the chaos and abducted Sasuke had both shocked and enraged him.

First Hiiragi Uchiha had disappeared, then Sasuke had been taken. The Uchiha were one of the shinobi world's great clans, yet their enemies were treating the compound as though they could come and go as they pleased. As clan head, Fugaku found that intolerable.

Itachi shook his head slightly. "I'm his older brother. Protecting him is my responsibility."

"That's my son!"

Fugaku's usually stern face broke into a rare smile.

He knew how gifted Itachi was. Barring some unforeseen disaster, his son would grow into another Uchiha as powerful as Shisui. As the clan's talented younger shinobi matured, its standing in the village would inevitably rise. Even the Hokage's faction would struggle to prevent it. After all, the only notable shinobi of their own younger generation was Kakashi, the Fourth Hokage's student.

In truth, Fugaku's desire to rebel had faded considerably by now.

The pressure from outside was simply too great. Ever since Hiruko's success in developing a forbidden technique to steal other people's Kekkei Genkai had come to light, Fugaku had regarded him as the clan's greatest enemy.

If that technique spread, every shinobi with a Kekkei Genkai would have reason to fear for their life.

What Fugaku did not know was that this particular fear was unnecessary.

Hiruko's Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual required a perfect combination of timing, location, and preparation, along with several other conditions. It was not something others could easily reproduce.

Even Hiruko himself had barely survived it.

"Where were you going?" Fugaku asked.

"To visit Shisui."

Fugaku nodded, then added, "The area around the village is under lockdown. Don't go wandering off."

At Shisui's home.

After hearing Shisui's full account of that night, Naoki combined it with Suzu's information and what he had witnessed himself. He now had a reasonably clear picture of what had happened.

Obito's real target had never been Naruto.

He had abducted Naruto to draw Team 11 out of the village. More precisely, he had wanted Shisui out of the way so Hiruko could impersonate him, assassinate the Third Hokage, and provoke an internal conflict in Konoha.

Had that plan succeeded, the village would have been severely weakened.

Orochimaru's motive was equally clear: the Sharingan.

He might have learned about Hiruko's planned attack through Shinno and decided to exploit the chaos, striking when the Uchiha compound was at its least defended.

Shinno had probably been thinking along similar lines. While Konoha was in turmoil, he could secretly devour Shion and her priestess powers, making another great leap in strength.

As for Danzo, Naoki did not even need to guess why he had attacked Shisui.

Fortunately, all of them had their own agendas. Otherwise, Konoha might not have weathered that night so well.

Shisui looked at him. "Senior, what should we do next?"

Naoki glanced at his bloodless face. "For now, stop worrying about everything else and recover. We can discuss the rest later."

"Senior, my injuries aren't that serious!"

Naoki shook his head. "We can't afford to underestimate the Akatsuki. Get well first. Once you've recovered, we'll decide our next move."

Shisui could only nod. "All right."

As Naoki left the house, he met Itachi at the entrance, arriving to visit Shisui.

Itachi immediately stepped forward and bowed. "Senior Naoki."

Naoki smiled and nodded. "Impressive work, Itachi Uchiha."

Shisui had just told him how Itachi had rescued Sasuke from an Akatsuki associate. What Shisui did not know was that the young woman accompanying Shinno was no peripheral member of the organization. She was Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin.

In the original timeline, Itachi had also defeated Orochimaru almost effortlessly. But he had been thirteen then, and had already possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

This Itachi was only eleven and had no Mangekyo Sharingan. Rescuing Sasuke from Orochimaru under those circumstances was an extraordinary feat.

Itachi glanced around, then lowered his voice. "Senior, there's something I need to tell you."

"Come with me."

Before long, they reached a secluded grove.

Naoki scanned the surroundings with his Byakugan. Once he was certain they were alone, he said, "Go ahead."

Instead of answering, Itachi activated his Sharingan.

His dark eyes turned scarlet. Three tomoe spun rapidly in each one, then merged into the shape of a three-bladed shuriken.

Naoki froze. "You... you awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan?!"

Itachi quickly deactivated it and nodded. "Yes. The enemy I faced that night was incredibly powerful. She nearly killed me. I awakened these eyes when I was about to die."

He did not realize he had actually awakened them earlier, the instant he passed Shinno while Orochimaru was carrying Sasuke away. It had happened a full year earlier than in the original timeline.

Recovering from his surprise, Naoki asked, "Did you kill her?"

Itachi nodded.

'Orochimaru died just like that?!'

For a moment, Naoki had no idea what to say.

After a long silence, he asked, "Are you sure she's dead?"

Itachi hesitated slightly. "I used my Mangekyo Sharingan's visual jutsu. It's called Amaterasu, and it can burn through anything. I saw her turn to ash myself. Unless she had some special way to escape, she must be dead."

"Amaterasu..."

Naoki considered it more carefully and concluded that Orochimaru was probably still alive.

If Amaterasu could have killed him that easily, Itachi would not have needed the Totsuka Blade to seal him in the original timeline. Between the Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique and his extraordinary bodily modifications, killing him without a sealing technique was extremely difficult...