Itachi was overthinking it...
The altered terrain under his feet could gauge the power of his Yasaka Magatama.
However, his opponent had cheats activated!
Just before the Yasaka Magatama struck, Aoba immediately activated "Divine Protection," becoming invincible for 3 seconds to withstand the most powerful wave of the attack.
Then, he activated all defensive abilities, coupled with the healing effects of "Hyper Regeneration," to survive the explosion barely.
Itachi saw no injuries on him because any wounds had already healed, and the "Crimson Swordsman's" skin characteristic is that it never gets damaged!
Although it's unclear how the dog system achieves this, if it's said to be indestructible, then no attack can destroy it.
The 'skin' Aoba wears is the natural 'absolute defence,' invulnerable to all damage.
Of course, this doesn't give him any actual defensive power—it just means that while the clothes remain intact, he could still be hurt.
But for now, it's very effective for intimidation.
After all, you've unleashed your ultimate moves, and not even a piece of your clothing is torn. How impressive is that!
This challenge to common sense, the 'truth,' is something Itachi could not possibly know, so he immediately formed a beautiful misunderstanding, thinking the gap in strength between himself and Aoba was too vast.
But in reality, even Aoba himself didn't know how much blood he had lost or how injured he was...
It is 'clothes make the man'!
"Uchiha boy, state your name. It has been a long time since I have fought so satisfyingly. Your name, I shall remember."
Itachi shook his head, "The name of the defeated does not deserve to be remembered. Go ahead..."
Aoba nodded, then suddenly poked Itachi in the abdomen with the sheath of his sword. Before Itachi lost consciousness, he softly said, "I acknowledge your resolve, but death is still too early for you. Carry this discontent and become stronger.
I look forward to the day we meet again."
With a thud...
Itachi collapsed to the ground, his vision darkening.
After making sure Itachi had indeed passed out, Aoba finally relaxed, his facade crumbling as he flopped down on the ground with a sigh of relief, saying, "Damn, good thing I can bluff, or I might not have been able to wrap things up just now!"
Aoba felt it was getting increasingly difficult to keep up this act; he feared he might split personality-wise.
However, he was pretty proud of his acting skills!
Even Itachi, who knew him best, had been completely fooled.
Of course, it was mainly thanks to the powerful effect of the "Crimson Swordsman" skin; otherwise, he would have been exposed long ago.
"You hit hard. Aren't you afraid of blinding yourself? Why not learn from Tomizu? But from now on, our record is 77 fights, which is two wins for me! Damn, how did I lose so many times? How long will it take to catch up..."
While sitting on the ground, regaining his strength, Aoba flicked Itachi's forehead, grumbling.
After regaining strength, he scooped Itachi up in a princess carry and took off flying.
Taking advantage of the remaining time in his transformation, he flew Itachi back to the town they had come from.
Otherwise, if he just walked away, the worst thing wouldn't be wild beasts eating Itachi; it would be someone plundering the body... and if it were a man, that would be even more thrilling.
To avoid such a censored scenario, Aoba decided to be a good guy through and through.
At this time, the nearby town was almost in chaos, thinking it was the end of the world, wishing they had a couple more legs to run faster.
Fortunately, luckily, it didn't affect this place after the commotion ended and the giants disappeared.
Aoba tossed Itachi into a medical centre and flashed his knife as a threat, and the doctors there immediately began to treat and bandage Itachi.
Then, after leaving a message, "I'll be back soon, heal him, or I'll kill you all..." Aoba confidently and decisively left.
Indeed, no one would joke about their own life.
When Itachi woke up three days later, he found himself bandaged like a mummy. After asking who had saved him, Itachi fell into deep thought.
He recalled that his opponent was provoking him deliberately from the start. But why had he stopped at the end? Was it just to fight him again?
Itachi couldn't quite understand it, but it seemed the only explanation.
Yasuo was not only a monster but also a battle-hungry madman! Itachi somewhat regretted provoking him; not only had he fought a pointless battle, but he had also nearly lost his life.
Sitting on the hospital bed, Itachi couldn't help but smirk, but his sense of loss didn't last long as he still had many things left to accomplish.
Additionally, he suddenly became interested in the Blood Moon Sect that Yasuo had mentioned.
So, he planned to send the information about this battle back to Konoha and then continue searching for Aoba while secretly investigating the Akatsuki and the mysterious Blood Moon Sect.
...
Meanwhile, Aoba was already at sea. After what happened with Itachi, he realised that wearing Akatsuki clothes, although stylish, could bring trouble.
So, he switched to a black robe to keep a lower profile.
The real reason for his low profile was that he had already used his Zanpakuto and transformation, and within a month, his "Crimson Swordsman" persona had little combat power left. Keeping a low profile was necessary.
He would risk using his main account to confront the enemy if he encountered a strong opponent and even the "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist" couldn't handle them.
This was undoubtedly a frustrating situation.
But honestly, whether after using Bankai or transforming into a spirit, the feeling of being powerful was hard to let go of. If only he could always be that strong, then why hide? He'd instead smash anyone who opposed him!
Unfortunately, his strength was cyclical and could only be used as a trump card.
However, completing missions was still very satisfying.
He had successfully upgraded his "Thunder Breathing Technique" to LV9 with a high-level skill card. However, he was still considering upgrading this ability further with another super-skill card.
As he pondered, the ship he was on had already reached the ruins of the Whirlpool Country.
While the map showed Whirlpool Country wasn't extensive, only about one-twentieth the size of the Land of Fire, Aoba realised after entering that finding the Death God mask there would not be easy, leaving him feeling helpless.