Chapter 49: Hidden Leaf
With precision, I swung my sword towards Itachi's eyes in a horizontal slash, hoping to catch him off guard.
As my blade neared his face, a reddish, bone-like structure appeared around him, protecting him from my attack.
The clang of my sword against the ethereal armor echoed through the forest.
"Impressive technique," Itachi said calmly, his voice sending chills down my spine, "but futile."
Refusing to back down, I launched a series of rapid, precise strikes at Itachi, each blow met with the unyielding defense of his Susanoo.
The frustration built within me as I realized the futility of my attacks against this impenetrable shield.
Obviously I knew about how overpowered the Susanoo is, any normal attack couldn't damage it, but that didn't stop me from trying something.
I couldn't run, since Itachi would just kill me.
I just had to wait until someone stronger came to save me.
I channeled more energy, my aura intensifying as I tried to find a gap in Susanoo's defenses.
I aimed for the spaces between the bones, hoping to exploit any weakness. Itachi anticipated my moves, his control over Susanoo flawless.
The bone-like structure shifted, blocking each of my attempts effortlessly.
With a swift motion, Susanoo's arm backhanded me, sending me flying through the trees. I crashed to the ground, pain radiating through my body.
This was even after the game only let me feel 10% of the pain.
If the gloomy shadow didn't enhance my body, I would have had several broken bones by now due to the 8 Gates and this attack.
I struggled to my feet, my aura flickering as I tried to regain my composure.
"You are strong," Itachi said, his voice cold and detached, "but not strong enough."
Ignoring the pain, I charged again, my sword glowing with dark energy.
I leapt into the air, bringing my blade down with all my might, aiming to cleave through Susanoo. Itachi's Susanoo raised an arm, blocking the attack effortlessly.
The clash sent shockwaves through the area, but Susanoo remained unscathed.
In an instant, Susanoo's hand grabbed me, lifting me into the air. I struggled against the crushing grip, my aura flaring wildly.
Desperation filled my heart as I realized the gap between our powers.
With a swift, decisive motion, Susanoo slammed me into the ground, the impact creating a crater. I lay there, battered and broken, my aura flickering weakly as I struggled to move.
"The Jinchuriki." Itachi demanded to which I reluctantly reached for the storage item I was given to Itachi.
"Good." That was the last thing I heard before I saw a bone fist crashing into my face and I was kicked out of the game.
…
Opening my eyes, I found the water from the pod I was inside draining, and I was slowly dried by the pod too.
Walking out of the pod, I thought out what just happened. Did I die in the game?
Then why didn't I see a [Game over] sign?
I looked down at the gloomy shadow who seemed to be staring down at the floor, not particularly doing anything.
"What do you think?"
The shadow obviously didn't respond, but he stared back at me as if I was an idiot.
Right, I did read somewhere that if this happens it meant my character was unconscious and I just needed to wait. I could probably log back in a day.
Maybe it was time for me to go exploring around this new city.
And that was just what I did.
Walking around in the fresh inside of the real world also felt amazing.
I made sure to shower once again before leaving for my trip.
It was a nice relaxing time, and I was able to spend time with my parents too. My brother was busy with his new job so I couldn't see him at all.
After all that, I logged back in.
It had been 4 days in game time, and I opened my eyes to being back in the village. It didn't really make any sense though since we should have been 5 days out from the village.
"Shikomu." I heard a calm voice, and opened my eyes to see my sensei sitting right at the edge of my hospital bed.
"What happened, sensei?"
"Well where do I begin?" He said with a sigh. "After you went on for your battle with Itachi Uchiha, the remaining Akatsuki members kept us all busy.
Sasuke, Naruto and Kurenai managed to slip by.
Hidan the immortal kept me busy, so I wasn't able to use my Jutsu against his style of fighting. I counter elemental Jutsu but am not as strong against Taijutsu."
I nodded at the explanation which made sense. While I truly did believe sensei was amazingly strong, I didn't know if he could beat 8 Gates Guy or not.
"Anyways, once Itachi came back with the Jinchuuriki Seal, they decided to retreat and here we are."
"I see…sensei how did we make it back to the village so quickly? And how am I still alive?"
Naido sensei stood up from his seat and moved the curtain to my right slightly.
There I saw a battered Naruto and some other genin squad.
I was slightly shocked, since most of them seemed to be in worse, or just slightly better condition than me.
But they were quite a distance away from me, so none of them could hear me at all.
It seems like my intuition was right, this world has been buffed. While Itachi was strong, using his Mangekyo so easily while not putting any stress on his eyes was surprising.
Well if he did stress his eyes, he at least didn't show it.
"You're alive because some of the Jonin and I carried all of you and rushed you here. We were able to give you rudimentary treatment. But…"
But?
"Kurenai Yuhi, the Jonin, is in critical condition now. Her brain seems to have suffered permanent trauma from Itachi."
I see…that makes sense? But how the hell did Sasuke survive then?
"I am sorry for failing the mission sensei." I told him after remembering what I handed over to Itachi.
If that had even the remote chance of saving my character I would do it.
I am sure I have shown enough potential for them to not kill me or charge me for treason, but not enough for the higher ups to be scared of me.
"Who says we failed?" Sensei asked with a smirk. "I delivered the Jinchuriki the second we arrived back to the village."
"I see…" I muttered out loud. I guess he did have his reasons for giving me the seal.
"You don't seem surprised?"
"I thought that everything you were doing, you were doing for a reason."
"That is a logical way to think about it, not getting emotional or stressed."
I nodded at that. A ninja needs to try to take their emotion out of the situation, afterall.
"I gave you the seal to bait out any spies, and seeing as the Akatsuki went for you even though all the genin were trying to run it can be safe to say someone is feeding them information."
"Speaking of information." I said to sensei, which made him look at me. "During my fight with the Ninja from Kumo, he said something about them targeting the Jinchuriki of the Leaf."
The atmosphere became a little more dark.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?"
"Just like you guys did sensei, I suspected a spy from the Hidden Cloud, so I didn't want everyone to know this information. I know I could have told you in private before…but I am telling you now."
Sensei stared at me for a bit and then sighed.
"Alright then. I will take care of it."
…
Authors note:
Give me those power stones guys :)))
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