The fog thickened, swirling around Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki like a shroud for a funeral. Kisame lay crumpled on the ground, Samehada inert nearby, a testament to Naruto's swift, brutal efficiency. Itachi, his Sharingan burning with the Mangekyō pattern, stood alone, blood still weeping from the eye that had met the backlash of Naruto's Jagan no Jutsu.
"You are not the Jinchūriki the Akatsuki captured," Itachi stated, his voice devoid of his usual calm, replaced by a chilling realization. "This level of control… this power. It's the ghost of Uzushiogakure itself."
Naruto's face remained a mask of cold indifference. "You helped break me. You stood by as they took everything. You sealed my fate, Uchiha. And now, I seal yours."
He launched forward, not with a burst of Ninjutsu, but with pure, distilled Taijutsu, infused with the subtle, chakra-detonating power of Ryū-jin no Tsume (Dragon God's Claw). Itachi, legendary for his speed and mastery of close combat, met him.
Clash. Clash. Whir.
Itachi's movements were fluid, precise, countering every strike, but he felt the chilling, momentary sealing sensation with each deflection. He knew what these taps meant; they were designed to disable, not simply to injure. His Sharingan struggled to predict the unpredictable, as Naruto's fighting style was a fusion of ancient Uzumaki knowledge and his own raw, brutal intent.
"Amaterasu!"
Black flames, hotter than the sun, erupted from Itachi's injured eye, targeting Naruto. They came in a torrent, engulfing the path between them.
Naruto didn't flinch.
"Sōzō no Fūin!"
The Creation's Seal manifested as a shimmering, multi-layered barrier just before the black flames hit. The Amaterasu, a force meant to burn until nothing remained, simply… vanished. Absorbed. Neutralized.
Itachi's eyes widened further. His ultimate offensive weapon, negated without effort.
"Impossible," he breathed.
"Your fire is a spark compared to the inferno of Uzumaki vengeance," Naruto retorted, his voice chillingly calm.
He pressed the attack, forcing Itachi onto the defensive. He knew Itachi's greatest weakness: his stamina. The Mangekyō Sharingan was a double-edged sword, draining the user with every activation. Naruto's strategy was simple: prolong the fight, wear him down, then trap him.
Itachi, seeing his most powerful attacks negated, quickly shifted tactics. He began weaving a complex series of Genjutsu and Kenjutsu, using his katana with blurring speed, aiming for vital points. He used his Sharingan to mimic Naruto's movements, trying to predict and counter.
But Naruto had already faced the ultimate Genjutsu.
When Itachi attempted a powerful visual Genjutsu, Naruto simply activated his Kokoro no Heisa (Heart's Closure) seal, making his emotional core an impenetrable fortress. The Collective's cold guidance streamed through him: "He seeks to break your will. There is no will to break, only purpose."
Every Genjutsu Itachi cast shattered against Naruto's iron will, the residual chakra bouncing off his sealed mind like harmless static.
Itachi, seeing his Genjutsu fail, knew he was in unprecedented territory. His vision began to blur from the strain of his Mangekyō. He needed to end this.
"Susanoo!"
A colossal, spectral warrior of crimson chakra began to manifest around Itachi, a towering avatar of defense and offense. Ribs, then an arm, then a full skeletal form burst forth, radiating immense power.
"Kishin no Kōsa!" Naruto roared, his silver eyes blazing with a cold, terrifying light.
Three massive, silver-blue chakra chains erupted from Naruto's body, powered by a depth of chakra that surprised even the Collective. They were faster than sound, guided by the precise, surgical intent of a thousand Uzumaki masters.
The chains didn't just wrap around the Susanoo; they phased through the forming chakra structure, seeking its core, Itachi Uchiha himself.
One chain pierced through the Susanoo's spectral arm, aiming for Itachi's shoulder. The second lashed out like a viper, coiling around his leg. The third, the most lethal, shot for Itachi's chest, aiming for his heart.
Itachi, shocked by the chains' ability to bypass his ultimate defense, gritted his teeth. He couldn't complete the Susanoo. He had to stop the chains. He managed to sever the chain going for his heart with a desperate burst of chakra, but the other two found their mark.
The Kishin no Kōsa wrapped around Itachi's arm and leg, instantly sealing the chakra points along those limbs. He felt his chakra flow cease in those areas, leaving his arm and leg numb and useless.
He crashed to his knees, his Susanoo flickering and fading as his chakra network faltered. Blood poured from his mouth, not from a physical wound, but from the immense internal strain. The Amaterasu, the Tsukuyomi, the Susanoo—all against a foe who had negated them with ancient, forbidden arts.
Itachi looked up at Naruto, his Mangekyō still spinning, but now filled with a profound sense of defeat. "The village… you will destroy it, won't you?"
"It was always going to burn," Naruto said, his voice flat. "You just accelerated the flame."
He walked forward, Kisame's Samehada now held loosely in his hand. The massive blade vibrated nervously, sensing the raw, predatory chakra of its new wielder. Naruto raised it, not to strike, but to make a point.
"You, Uchiha, were a sacrifice for a village that cast me out. You were its protector. Its executioner. Now, you will bear witness to its end."
Naruto sealed Itachi's remaining chakra points with quick, precise taps of his fingers, rendering him completely immobile, but still conscious. He would not give Itachi the quick mercy of death. He would leave him for the eventual capture, a broken shell to be interrogated, a message to the Leaf.
But first, there was Kisame.
The Shark of the Mist was stirring, his gills flaring, regaining some consciousness.
"Samehada," Kisame rasped, his eyes fixed on his sword in Naruto's hand. "Give it back, you brat."
Naruto looked at Kisame, his silver eyes completely devoid of mercy. Kisame had killed Rin and Hana. Kisame had played a part in the extraction of Kurama.
"This blade once contained a portion of your essence," Naruto said, his voice a low growl. "It will now complete your end."
He aimed Samehada at Kisame. The blade, sensing its original master and the immense, dark power of Naruto, thrummed violently.
"Kishin no Kōsa!"
Naruto shot out a single, devastating chakra chain. It wrapped around Kisame's head, tightening, sealing not just his chakra, but suffocating him. The Shark of the Mist thrashed, but the chain was absolute, unbreakable.
Kisame's struggles grew weaker. His eyes, once full of predatory malice, glazed over. His final breath caught in his throat, a gurgle, before silence.
Kisame Hoshigaki, the Monster of the Hidden Mist, was dead.
Naruto released the chain. He dropped Samehada, now stained with the blood of its former master, and turned to Itachi.
"Your partner is dead," Naruto stated, his voice devoid of triumph. "A message for Konoha. Tell them the storm is coming. And it brings Uzumaki vengeance."
Naruto vanished into the mist, leaving Itachi Uchiha, broken and utterly defeated, to face the inevitable arrival of Konoha's Shinobi. He had left Itachi alive, not out of mercy, but as a chilling messenger, a harbinger of the destruction to come.
His mind was already focused on the next targets, the ones who reveled in their artistry of death: Deidara and Sasori.