Chapter 87 — Red Moon in the Mist
Meanwhile in Diana side.
Diana stood alone across the field from two figures that had once seemed untouchable, Kisame Hoshigaki, former Hidden Mist monster of the Seven Swordsmen… and Itachi Uchiha, prodigy of the Uchiha.
Yet in this moment, both men braced themselves as though facing a demon.
Diana's armor, red and gold Amazonian plate shaped to her form, gleamed even beneath the cold rain. The polished bronze edges caught the faint light, and the eagle-shaped breastplate clung to her with a sculpted, regal strength. Leather straps and fitted greaves hugged her limbs, rainwater tracing down the ridges of her bracers and the angled lines of her armored skirt. Despite the storm soaking every surface, she stood steady.
Her sword hung loosely at her side, the blade dripping water. Her eyes, calm but ruthlessly focused, watched them without a tremor of doubt.
Wind whispered through the valley.
Kisame shifted uneasily.
Itachi stood perfectly still.
Diana moved first.
She burst forward, a streak of gold and motion, her acceleration so sudden that the rain seemed frozen behind her. Even Itachi, prepared, felt his eyes widen. His Mangekyō flared instinctively, tomoe spinning into the pinwheel pattern of his awakened power.
He vanished from her strike a split-second before her blade reached him.
A clean, cutting arc sliced the space where his neck had been. The swing hummed through the mist before the shockwave rippled outward, carving a shallow trench in the wet earth.
Diana stopped abruptly, turning with a sharp pivot. Rainwater sheeted off her armor as her heel slid through the mud, droplets scattering with the motion.
Itachi had already retreated several meters, breath steady but eyes sharp.
Kisame moved to his side immediately.
"That woman…" Kisame muttered, grip tightening on Samehada. "She's too fast. That almost killed you too."
Itachi didn't answer. His Mangekyō remained active, rain sliding down the red glow of his eyes.
He stared at Diana quietly.
Who are they?
These armored warriors and this Woman, their strength shouldn't exist in the shinobi world. No chakra, no technique, no hand signs… and yet the power they displayed dwarfed most he had ever faced.
At first, he had thought Naruto, and these people were in danger.
But now
He and Kisame were the ones in danger.
Diana lifted her sword, flicking droplets of rain from the blade.
"That was surprising," she said calmly. "You managed to dodge that."
she felt a flicker of surprise, he actually dodged… in time. That strike had been intended to end him in a single Strike, and yet he had evaded it. Her mind noted it quickly, analyzing the precision and speed required, already adjusting her approach for the next exchange.
Her voice carried unshaken confidence, masking the quick assessment running through her mind.
She raised the sword fully and leveled it at both Akatsuki members.
"But it won't help you."
Kisame grit his teeth.
Itachi kept his breathing level. He understood the truth: escape was impossible. Diana was faster than any opponent he had encountered since Shisui. He doubted even retreating into the forest would save them.
He couldn't rely on movement.
So he relied on his eyes.
The Mangekyō spun.
"Tsukuyomi."
The world around Diana changed instantly.
Color bled away.
Rain froze midair.
The sky turned a cold, oppressive crimson.
Diana felt it, a shift, a wrongness. In an instant, her surroundings warped, and she found herself suspended on a cross, high above the valley, bound by invisible forces. The sky had bled into a hellish crimson, rain frozen midair, the world sharp and still like a painting carved in blood.
For the briefest moment, a flicker of surprise passed through her.
But only for a moment.
Her brow furrowed.
"An illusion," she muttered.
Her heartbeat didn't spike. Her breathing didn't shift. There was no panic, only annoyance.
Diana straightened her shoulders.
She closed her eyes.
And with a small shake of her head
The red world shattered like glass.
Reality snapped back.
The rain fell again. Mist rolled. The earth beneath her boots was real once more.
And on the opposite side of the field
Itachi staggered.
He coughed sharply, dropping to one knee.
Blood trailed down the corner of his mouth. Thin streams leaked from the corners of his eyes, mixing with the falling rain.
Kisame's expression twisted with shock.
"Itachi?! What happened, are you okay? Your eyes are bleeding!"
Itachi wiped the blood with the back of his hand, breathing a bit heavier than before.
"She broke my illusion."
Kisame blinked.
Itachi was many things, cold, quiet, frighteningly calm. But rarely surprised.
Now he was.
Diana tilted her head at him.
"So that's your ability. Illusions," she said. "And your fire control. But… it's quite weak."
Both Itachi and Kisame froze for a second.
It wasn't anger.
It was disbelief.
No one had ever called Itachi's Mangekyō abilities weak.
Not even the others Akatsuki members.
Itachi himself was momentarily speechless.
He had used Tsukuyomi on some of the most capable minds in the shinobi world, ANBU captains, jonin with decades of experience, hardened killers who had survived horrors.
No one had broken it by simply shaking their head.
He composed himself quickly, but the truth rang in his thoughts:
She's stronger than expected. Much stronger.
Kisame exhaled slowly, gripping his sword tighter.
Itachi stood, adjusting his breathing, Mangekyō still glowing despite the strain.
He couldn't die here.
His mission wasn't complete.
He hadn't met with Sasuke.
He hadn't set the stage for the future he desperately carved from the ruins of his clan.
So he endured the pain.
He kept fighting.
A swirling ripple distorted the air atop a distant slope.
Obito gazed down at the battlefield, Mangekyō spinning slowly as he watched Kakuzu's limp body and Hidan's torn remains.
"Hidan and Kakuzu are defeated…" he muttered.
His voice held disappointment more than surprise.
Beside him, a white Zetsu emerged from the ground, lifting itself out of the soil like a ghost.
"Obit~"
Obito raised a hand.
"Call me Madara."
Zetsu blinked. Then shrugged.
"Madara-sama, Danzo and his Root shinobi are approaching this direction."
Obito's eyes narrowed. He considered intervening. These armored warriors rely only on strength and weapons. They can't really threaten me. Confidence stirred.
But Zetsu's words stopped him. Not yet.
He would wait. Kisame and Itachi were too valuable to risk losing now, so he will watch closely.
To Obito, they seemed manageable.
So he waited.
He wanted the full picture before revealing himself.
Gaius looked toward Diana's direction. He could not see the exact exchange, but he could sense the shifting momentum.
Meanwhile, Naruto, soaked and having dispelled his shadow clones, stumbled closer to Gaius, eyes lowered.
"S-sorry, Gaius… I didn't seem to be any help," he mumbled, shoulders slumping under the weight of his disappointment.
Gaius studied Naruto's clenched fists for a moment, then placed a heavy gauntleted hand gently on the boy's head.
"Then train harder," he said simply.
Naruto's breath hitched. He looked up slowly, surprise flickering across his face, and for the first time in a long moment, a spark of determination returned to his eyes.
Gaius removed his hand and faced the fog again.
Then he turned to Titus and the Bladeguard.
"You stay here and assist with any variables that may come."
Titus straightened immediately.
"Roger that, Captain Gaius."
Gaius then looked back at Naruto.
"You will stay with them."
Naruto nodded, determined now.
He looked at Titus and the three Bladeguard veterans and offered a small smile, one that made them pause.
Inside their helmets, the Ultramarines exchanged subtle glances, unspoken questions passing between them. Why has Captain Gaius left this… child with us? Though Naruto was no longer a small child, to them he still seemed young, inexperienced, and fragile, even if he was capable of using sorcery.
Gaius sensed their uncertainty but did not comment.
He took a step forward, toward Diana's battlefield.
End of Chapter 87
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