Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 305 The unreliable Jiraiya left the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki alone!

The terrifying Sharingan's power swept across the desert.

Kakashi Hatake pushed aside his headband and stared at Itachi Uchiha with his Sharingan, instantly feeling the terrifying pressure of the eye technique.

He turned pale with fright and shouted, "Uchiha Itachi has awakened his Sharingan! Be careful not to make eye contact with him, not even for a second!"

"The enemy is proficient in eye-type genjutsu. If you don't have the Sharingan, making eye contact with him will drag you into the genjutsu, and the consequence will definitely be death!"

Before Kakashi could speak, Might Guy, Aburame Torune, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio closed their eyes and observed Uchiha Itachi in their own way.

Jiraiya continued to stare at Itachi Uchiha, seemingly unconcerned about the threat of genjutsu, after all, he was also a top-tier genjutsu user.

Neji Hyuga awakened his Byakugan, and Sasuke Uchiha awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan. Everyone has their own dojutsu and bloodline limit, so who's afraid of whom?

Like Naruto and Jiraiya, Tenten watched Itachi Uchiha as if nothing had happened, showing no concern about being controlled by genjutsu.

Naruto Uzumaki is the perfect Jinchūriki, and Kurama is already eager to fight alongside him.

Every day, she is burdened with the [Misfortune Reflection]. If you try to cast an illusion on her and it fails, fine, but if it succeeds, you will be met with the [Misfortune]'s counterattack.

By then, Itachi Uchiha will be too late to be controlled by genjutsu, and he will die a horrible death.

But Sakura Haruno and Lee were dumbfounded; they had no way to deal with the Sharingan.

Sakura Haruno closed her eyes and asked loudly, "Kakashi-sensei, what should we do?"

Kakashi shouted, "Remember, lower your eyes and judge the enemy's movements by observing his shoulders, hands, and feet."

, 7

Sakura Haruno roared in despair, "How is this even possible?"

Chiyo, who had been almost ignored, suddenly spoke up, saying in a nostalgic tone, "The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan... how many years ago was it when I fought against that clan?"

"Oh dear, I can't remember."

"Little girl, there's nothing to be afraid of with the Sharingan. Although our Sunagakure is good at dealing with this clan of ninjas, we have many ways to counter the Sharingan."

Chiyo missed the last battle where Xia Zuo attacked Sunagakure, so she didn't personally experience the Mangekyou Sharingan, nor did she obtain information from the Fourth Kazekage.

She said confidently, "The Sharingan is indeed troublesome. If it's a one-on-one encounter, unless you have an absolute advantage in strength, you can just turn around and run away."

"However, it's simple if it's two against one. One person can act as bait to restrain him, while the other can ambush him from behind. We can take him down easily."

Sakura Haruno was overjoyed: "Really?"

Sasuke Uchiha rolled his eyes: "It's fake."

"What era are we living in? Still thinking about that outdated tactic of one person acting as bait while the other flanks and ambushes from behind? Are you out of your mind?"

Sakura clicked her tongue: "Sasuke~, I'm just teasing the old man, you can play along."

Sasuke snorted coldly: "I know you want me to relax, but you're doing it the wrong way."

Sakura smiled and leaned closer, accurately grabbing Sasuke's sleeve even with her eyes closed: "Sasuke-kun, what do you think I should do? I'll do whatever you say."

Sasuke solemnly said, "Help me kill Uchiha Itachi."

Sakura Haruno: "Although, it's probably, possibly impossible, I'm willing to try my best with you."

With Sasuke Uchiha on the right and Sakura Haruno on the left, they stood behind Naruto Uzumaki, forming a triangular attack formation.

The three of them didn't even glance at Chiyo.

Chiyo: 「————」

"These brats from Konoha Village can get even more annoying! Damn it!"

Jiraiya asked with a serious expression, "Uchiha Itachi, you can't possibly withstand our current lineup. Are you going to surrender, or will we beat you up and then capture you?"

Uchiha Itachi sneered, "You broke through three waves of our defenses, so of course I know your specific information, but I'm still standing here."

The three tomoe in his eyes suddenly dispersed, transforming into even more intricate patterns.

"If you think you can do it, then come and fight."

Chiyo shouted, "Stop talking nonsense! He's stalling for time!"

Naruto Uzumaki suddenly appeared to the left rear of Itachi Uchiha, and the kunai in their hands clashed, sparking dazzling sparks.

Uchiha Itachi exclaimed in surprise, "Such speed! Even faster than Shisui-nii!"

"My body could barely keep up with your speed, it's really exhausting—"

Before Itachi could finish speaking, he suddenly dodged a flaming arrow by sidestepping it, and then twisted his body to dodge seven more flaming arrows in succession.

However, his stylish cloak couldn't dodge the flames; it was scorched by the almost white flames and instantly turned into a large fireball.

The moment the fireball exploded, Itachi Uchiha vanished.

Jiraiya exclaimed in surprise, "Illusion! When was it cast?"

Using genjutsu and substitution jutsu to escape the flaming arrows, Itachi Uchiha was just about to counterattack his younger brother who had ambushed him when he caught a blurry shadow approaching out of the corner of his eye with his Mangekyou Sharingan.

It was the blur caused by high-speed movement, a speed so fast that even the Mangekyou Sharingan couldn't see clearly, which made Itachi Uchiha's heart skip a beat.

He no longer cared about causing trouble for his younger brother, and swung his arm with all his might, using the kunai in his hand to block Naruto's kunai.

The immense impact shook Itachi's entire body, and only then did he see the Rasengan in Naruto's left palm, but with his movements distorted, Itachi was no longer able to dodge.

The Rasengan slammed into Itachi's lower back, but before blood could even splatter, Itachi was reduced to a wooden stake.

[Substitute Technique]

When Itachi Uchiha appeared ten meters away, before he could even stand still, he found himself trapped in Sasuke's fire trap. The moment he landed, flames shot into the sky.

【Flame Release: Earthly Crimson Flame】

It's unknown how many times Sasuke Uchiha practiced before he could accurately predict Itachi Uchiha's action patterns and seize this rare opportunity.

But after detonating the crimson flames, Sasuke keenly noticed a gap in the flames and immediately realized that his brother had escaped.

So he shouted, "Sakura!"

"rest assured!"

Sakura Haruno had already leaped high into the air from the other side, gathering her strength before punching the ground hard.

[Ninjutsu: Super Strength]

The spot where Sakura's fist struck instantly caved in, creating a crater 15 meters in diameter and 3 meters deep.

Itachi Uchiha was within the area of ​​this large crater. The sand at the bottom of the crater was suddenly compressed to its limit, and the unbearable pressure squeezed him out.

The battle between Team 7 and Itachi Uchiha lasted only a moment, but both sides used their full strengths, making for a very exciting fight.

The Konoha ninjas were amazed, while Chiyo was terrified.

Naruto Uzumaki shouted, "Lord Jiraiya, this Itachi Uchiha is just a puppet, with at most 30% of his strength. Team 7 is more than capable of handling him."

"Please lead the main force in a rapid advance to buy time to rescue the Fifth Kazekage!"

Chiyo immediately agreed: "Well said, everyone in Konoha, please hurry up."

Jiraiya nodded in satisfaction: "Naruto, be careful."

"Squad 7 stays behind, the rest of you follow me, let's move forward!"

Itachi Uchiha did not stop Jiraiya and Chiyo; he simply straightened the broken ribs and arm bones and secured them with bandages.

This recent encounter made him realize that he might not even be able to defeat the Seventh Squad, let alone intercept the main force.

Fortunately, he wasn't the only one responsible for the defense; there were many other Kage-level ninjas behind him, including some whose true forms were present. The joint rescue force from Sunagakure and Konoha wouldn't have an easy time getting through.

However, all of this was just an excuse. Ever since Itachi saw Sasuke, all he could see was his younger brother.

What Itachi Uchiha couldn't accept was that Sasuke Uchiha was so calm after seeing him, completely betraying the Mangekyou Sharingan seed that Itachi had planted in him with Tsukuyomi.

Without hatred for himself, how could Sasuke awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan?

How can I offer my eyes to Sasuke Uchiha, who hasn't awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, to help him obtain the perfect eyes that only Madara Uchiha possessed?

Without a perfect Mangekyou Sharingan, how could Sasuke Uchiha have wiped out the current Uchiha clan and rebuilt a purer and greater Uchiha clan?

After the failed attempt to exterminate his clan, Itachi Uchiha became twisted in endless regret, projecting his warped ideals onto his younger brother and fantasizing that the Tsukuyomi he had used could create a "perfect" Sasuke Uchiha.

Theoretically speaking, the determined, calm, and composed Uchiha Sasuke before us is exactly the image that Uchiha Itachi had imagined.

But it was precisely Sasuke's appearance that enraged Itachi Uchiha.

This was the first time he had seen Uchiha Sasuke since the failed attempt to exterminate his clan. As a result, Sasuke grew up to look like the younger brother he had imagined. In other words, Sasuke was one of the survivors from the night of the extermination and was raised to look like this.

How could this be? Itachi Uchiha hadn't even had time to intervene before his clansmen, whom he considered trash, had accomplished the limits he could imagine.

This made Itachi Uchiha wonder: Who exactly is the trash?

The answer was obvious, but he couldn't accept it.

So he wants to correct Uchiha Sasuke here.

And Naruto Uzumaki is right here!

Including Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, as well as troublesome Konoha Jonin such as the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Aburame Torune, and Hatake Kakashi, all left.

As a result, not only did the Fifth Hokage not come to protect him, but even the extra bodyguards arranged by the Hokage left, leaving Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, isolated here.

This is the best opportunity Payne has ever had!

Meanwhile, far away in the Land of Hot Water, Itachi Uchiha had already used the "Crimson" ring on the finger of the Gedo Mazo to tell Nagato, the leader of the group, about Naruto Uzumaki's situation of being alone.

Both Nagato and Obito Uchiha were stunned.

Nagato narrowed his eyes: "Could this be a trap?"

"The Fifth Hokage didn't give us a single chance for five whole years, yet he revealed such a huge flaw when the Fifth Kazekage, his Jinchūriki, was in trouble?"

Obito was equally puzzled, but he simply couldn't bear to give up the chance to obtain the Nine-Tails: "But even when the Fifth Hokage sets a trap, he never does it so obviously. Could it be that some unexpected event happened that he couldn't control?"

Itachi Uchiha said, "It's possible that it really was an accident."

"The rescue team sent by Konoha Village has six Jonin and one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. They have no problem protecting the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"But Jiraiya took all the Jonin away to rescue the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, which is why Naruto Uzumaki was left behind."

Konan suddenly sneered, "Jiraiya, no wonder! He's just such a careless, completely irresponsible bastard and idiot!"

Nagato completely agreed with Konan's assessment of Jiraiya, and said, "Looking at it this way, this really was a rare surprise."

"Obtaining the real Nine-Tails is certainly better than finding a substitute."

"Sasori and Deidara were already struggling against the combination of Chiyo and Jiraiya, so they didn't have the strength to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"Unfortunately, I am currently in the Land of Lightning. Once the One-Tailed Beast's chakra is extracted, I will immediately attack the Eight-Tailed Beast's Jinchuriki. It will definitely be too late to reach the Land of Wind."

"Who among you is close enough?"

The Akatsuki members looked at each other and shook their heads. Finally, Obito Uchiha said, "I'm relatively fast. I'll go see if I can make it in time."

Uchiha Itachi said, "Then I will try my best to stall for time and hold out until you arrive."

Obito Uchiha nodded and said, "Give me half an hour."

After saying that, he disappeared from his finger.

Kisame Hoshigaki asked, "The Nine-Tails is the strongest tailed beast. Is it really possible for one person to capture the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki?"

Konan sneered, "Didn't he always say he was Uchiha Madara?"

"Uchiha Madara!"

"That's Madara Uchiha, who single-handedly subdued the Nine-Tails and used it as a summoning beast. What danger could he possibly face by going after a mere Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Yes, Madara Uchiha's dealing with the Nine-Tails wasn't something he could accomplish with just a glance. Dealing with a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, at most, would only require a couple more glances.

Silence returned to the statue of the Outer Path.

But everyone simultaneously accelerated the rate at which they absorbed the tailed beasts' chakra. Next, they would not only have to extract the chakra from the Eight-Tails, but also possibly the Nine-Tails.

If you don't hurry, you might have to wait in line.

Itachi's clone looked at Naruto and exclaimed, "As expected of the Hokage's disciple, how did you see through my disguise?"

Naruto Uzumaki laughed and replied, "Of course it's because you're weak. The real Itachi Uchiha wouldn't have been injured by the three of us in one round."

"In a situation where injury is inevitable, if you can do it, you will definitely activate Susanoo to avoid getting hurt."

Itachi Uchiha nodded approvingly: "You're right, I really can't activate Susanoo right now."

"But thinking you three can defeat me is wishful thinking, isn't it?"

Sasuke Uchiha said coldly, "Whether we can do it or not, we'll know after we fight."

"You really think you're invincible just because you've awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan?"

"Pah! You're far inferior to Shisui Uchiha, and even Izumi Uchiha is much stronger than you!"