Chapter 47: Ambushed
(Shikomu POV)
It didn't take long before we restarted our movement to the Hidden Leaf.
We all got into our normal formation, and once again Kiba and Akamaru were right with me while we were all running.
I couldn't help but wonder why I didn't get paired with the silent Shino, or the shy Hinata who would barely speak at all.
As we were running, I suddenly felt the shadows at the edge of my senses of a couple hundred meters moving differently.
A group of people were moving towards us at a ridiculous speed that I have only seen Killer B move at during his fight against Kakashi sensei.
I wondered if just recently getting control of my senses was tripping me up, so I turned to my side to see Kiba who had a frown on his face.
Akamaru himself began to growl crazily, as if his livelihood was being threatened.
So I wasn't going crazy, something was chasing towards us with extreme speed.
Shino, who was with Team Asume, raised his hands and a straight line of bugs formed, which was one of the predetermined signals for being found by enemies and them coming towards us.
The Jonin immediately tensed in front of us, and the formation became slightly tighter as people moved closer to protect me.
This was all happening within seconds where the enemy was getting closer and closer towards us.
I used my shadow senses to see what was going on in my surroundings, and what I saw frightened me to my core.
It was a squad of 4 people, donned in long black cloaks adorned with red clouds, white interiors and high collars.
They also wore conical straw hats and distinctive individual accessories.
I was obviously able to recognise each of the 4 people, since each of them had a unique name inside of the shinobi world.
As all 4 of them appeared right in front of the entire group, we essentially stood in a standoff.
"Well well well, what do we have here? A bunch of Leaf Shinobi trying to protect their precious cargo. This is going to be interesting. How about we have a little chat before things get messy?" Kisame Hoshigaki, The Monster of the Hidden Mist said.
"There's no need for unnecessary violence, Kisame." Itachi Uchiha made his presence known, as he walked in front of Kisame at a slow, undisturbed pace.
"Don't look at his eyes!" Kakashi sensei shouted, so everyone either closed their eyes or looked down.
"Surrender the Jinchuuriki and we can avoid further conflict." Itachi's calm voice spread throughout the surroundings.
I was still looking at him, but through my shadows, since there were no eyes for him to make eye contact through my gloomy shadow.
I could fight without seeing in combat, albeit it would be much harder since I had yet to have gotten used to my powers.
"YOU BASTARD!" Sasuke shouted the second he saw Itachi, but I quickly used Shadow Binding to stop him from moving and closing his eyes and mouth.
"Smart move." Kisame commented.
"What's the fun in that!" Hidan shouted, as he rested his triple bladed scythe on his neck.
"Oh fine, let's hear what they have to say."
This is way too soon…how the hell were we supposed to even help in this sort of matchup?
Sure, we have 4 Elite-Jonin against their members, but each of their members are Kage level shinobi.
Naido and Kakashi sensei should be able to survive, but I am not even sure about Sora.
Asuma and Kurenai might as well have been genin too. Asuma might be strong in his own right, but I don't think he was ready for this battlefield.
And what the fuck was Kurenai going to do? Use Genjutsu against Itachi fucking Uchiha?
"Let's make this quick." Kakuzu, the other immortal of the group, said, lining all members of the Akatsuki into a row, as they looked down on us from the height advantage of trees.
"Time is money, and I'm not interested in wasting either. Hand over the Jinchuriki and no one has to die today."
"I think we are going to keep her. Thank you very much." Naido sensei replied in a calm tone.
"Keep them? Oh this is going to be fun after all! I will be able to spread the word of Lord Jashin today!" Hidan said with a maniacal smile on his face.
"How the hell were you even able to find us so soon?" Kakashi sensei asked.
"Our sources are vast Kakashi, we have our ways of knowing things normal people wouldn't." Itachi replied.
"Itachi, aren't we talking too much? Let's kill them all." Kisame said, to which Itachi had no reaction either.
"So what is it? Naido." Itachi asked Naido sensei directly, who didn't seem particularly bothered by the fact that 4 of the most wanted people in the world were in front of us.
"Go fuck yourself." Naido sensei calmly said.
"SO BE IT!" Hidan shouted, while he and 2 other members of the Akatsuki dashed into battle, all towards me.
Right before the trio could reach me though, Kakashi, Naido sensei and Sora blocked their attacks, while I had to watch in shock at their incredible speed.
"Shikomu, move on with the mission." Naido sensei replied as he swung his arms and a massive Earthen spike emerged from the ground against Hidan.
As he said that, I used Shadow Steps to disappear from everyone and began to run in the direction of the village.
Sure, I was a couple of days from the location, but the point is for me to trust Naido-sensei's words.
He has to have a reason for this.
"Where do you think you are going?" Itachi asked, the second I rematerialised as he stood in front of me.
Great, now I have to get past Itachi Uchiha when I am a Jonin? How the hell was this fair?
Itachi Uchiha stood calmly in the clearing in front of me.
His Sharingan was calmly scanning the environment.
[8 Gates- 4th Gate of Pain: Open]
Instead of my normal greenish aura while opening the 8 Gates, a grayish aura formed around me due to the difference in my chakra now.
I felt like I could still use any Aspect skills, but not any normal Ninja Skills, just like the normal limitations of the Ninja world.
I hardened my resolve, and I decided to not summon my Shadow Serpent, right now it was still of the Genin rank so Itachi would break it in a heartbeat.
I would rather try my luck with the manipulation of the surrounding shadows.
Itachi moved first, forming hand seals with blinding speed.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he declared, releasing a massive fireball toward me.
With a swift motion, I melded into the shadows, the fireball passing harmlessly through the dark space I had once occupied.
I reappeared behind Itachi and swung an Odeachi made by the shadows at him, going for a decisive strike.
Itachi's Sharingan predicted the movement, and he countered with a kunai, the blades clashing and sparking.
The force of my attack pushed Itachi back, but he swiftly regained his footing.
"Impressive," Itachi said, his voice calm. "But not enough."
He activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, attempting to cast a genjutsu.
However, my unique ability to perceive through shadows rendered the illusion ineffective.
Quickly realizing this, Itachi quickly shifted tactics.
I used this opportunity of him having to change tactics and waste time to launch a series of rapid strikes, each one infused with the Shadow Chakra making my body at the level of that of an Elite-Jonin, which is only slightly below the sick Itachi.
Itachi dodged and deflected, his Sharingan predicting my movements with relatives, but the relentless assault began to take its toll, especially since using Shadow Dance my offensive footwork slowly became similar to his own.
However, ever calm, he used his next technique against me.
"Amaterasu," he whispered, black flames igniting on me.
But there was a problem with the flames, since from the second I saw Itachi I had to be careful of this Jutsu.
I covered myself in a rudimentary shell of the shadows with shadow manifestation so the flames didn't burn me but my armor.
From the shadows, Chakra wires were shot from me, with the intention of binding Itachi. I would have preferred to use the Shadows itself, but I didn't have enough control over my Shadows to use it at such high proficiency.
He evaded most, but one wrapped around his arm, pulling him towards me. With a surge of strength, Itachi broke free, forming the hand seals for another technique.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Itachi intoned, summoning a massive dragon made of water that crashed towards me.
I couldn't help but be surprised at the sudden usage of a different element from his normal one, but one had to remember Itachi probably mastered multiple elemental changes by now. He was a once in a generation genius after all.
He also body flickered quite far away, building distance between us as he continued to weave some hand signs at ridiculous speeds.
I once again dissolved into the shadows, but this time it cost a fair bit of my Chakra since Itachi was so far away.
When I launched another attack with my shadow blade, Itachi twisted away just in time, narrowly avoiding a fatal strike.
While he was in the air, he rotated his body to swing right towards my head and landed a blow.
The battle slowly developed as I struggled to keep up my insane pace of Chakra consumption and tried to breach the gap of experience between Itachi and me.
His Sharingan allowed him to easily stay ahead of me at every step of the way.
Anytime I moved even in a slightly awkward angle I would feel the threat of death looming around me as he swung a kunai to kill me.
In a desperate move, I summoned all my power, my shadow blade glowing with an intense, dark light.
I lunged at Itachi, aiming for the heart. Itachi, seeing the attack through his Sharingan, responded with a flurry of shuriken, each one imbued with chakra, creating a barrier of spinning steel.
I pushed the mastery of my shadow dance, copying Itachi's own footwork and weaved through the barrage with my blade moving alone to protect me at any given moment.
With a swift motion, Itachi formed another set of hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he declared, creating multiple clones that surrounded me.
The clones attacked simultaneously, their kunai slashing through the air.
I tried my best to fight back, using my blade to cut down each one by one, but me being distracted was exactly what Itachi wanted.
With a precise strike, Itachi lunged at me, his kunai aimed at a vital point.
I barely managed to block the attack, but Itachi anticipated the move, delivering a swift kick to my midsection, sending me staggering back.
At this point, I felt like I was being toyed with. While in theory, I should even be moving faster than him with all my buffs, it still felt as if I was slower than him.
Maybe it was also because I didn't master the usage of the sword, and swinging it around like a kunai was not smart, but if I didn't have even a modicum of distance, I wouldn't be able to activate shadow steps to run away when needed.
Without breaking any sweat whatsoever Itachi prepared for the next move.
I however was beginning to feel the exhaustion as I tried to gather my remaining strength, but before I could continue my attack, I heard a voice that didn't bring me any reassurance whatsoever.
"I am here to help." Kurenai said as she arrived right beside me.
Was that supposed to reassure me?
…
Authors note:
This weeks goal: if we hit the top 10 ranking by Sunday, for 181+ days section, you will get an extra chapter :))
You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator