Chapter 61

"Frankly, I didn't know you had such a twisted taste. Is this the reason you trained Sasuke?" Kakashi said, seemingly offhanded, but his words cut deep.

He was deliberately trying to stir up conflict between Su Zhong and Itachi Uchiha.

Su Zhong glanced at Kakashi in surprise: "I don't remember ever offending you. Why are you targeting me so much?"

He was indeed very curious. Since his rebirth, Su Zhong had been focusing on studying hard qi techniques. He only had contact with Kakashi during the Wave Country mission.

Throughout the entire process, Kakashi had been highly vigilant towards Su Zhong.

Su Zhong tried to ease the tension, but it didn't help much. He rarely cared about things outside of power.

Even now, Su Zhong was merely curious.

Kakashi fell silent for a moment: "You are too reckless. A ninja needs to follow the rules. I see no restraint in your eyes, which is too dangerous for Konoha."

He turned to look at the more than thirty Root members lying on the ground, his expression darkening.

"From what I can see, my vigilance was not misplaced. You are indeed without any scruples. How dare you kill Konoha's Anbu in public?! Uchiha Qiu, are you prepared for the retaliation?"

Su Zhong sneered, completely unfazed by Kakashi's piercing gaze.

"Do you not want to know why I killed them?"

Kakashi's expression changed. He could tell that these Anbu were not ordinary Anbu; they were the elite of Konoha's Root, the elite of Danzo.

Kakashi was well aware of Root's style of operation. Just as he had described Su Zhong, Root was sometimes reckless as well.

He had a bad feeling that this might involve Konoha's true secrets. However, Kakashi's vigilance towards Su Zhong did not diminish in the slightest.

More than thirty jōnin were a formidable force, whether they belonged to the Hokage or Root. They were Konoha's strength.

"I only know that you killed Konoha's ninjas," Kakashi said firmly.

Su Zhong chuckled: "You should be more concerned about the two people on the other side."

Kakashi's pupils constricted, and he looked at Itachi Uchiha with a serious expression.

The river water was tinged with a light red, stained by the blood of the more than thirty Root members. Many leaves floated on the water, drifting downstream.

There were numerous holes in the ground and broken tree trunks around.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Uchiha Itachi, why did you return to Konoha?" A drop of sweat rolled down Kakashi's forehead.

Itachi Uchiha was an S-rank missing-nin. The person who could travel with him was naturally not weak. Facing such powerful individuals, Kakashi couldn't help but feel nervous.

Moreover, there was also the confirmed missing-nin, Uchiha Qiu. Kakashi was extremely anxious. If reinforcements didn't arrive, the three of them might very well fall here.

This was also why he repeatedly tried to provoke conflict between Itachi Uchiha and Su Zhong.

Swoosh!

A green figure arrived first.

"Kakashi, do you need help?" The exaggerated movements and crazy expression belonged to Might Guy.

Kakashi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although this friend wasn't very reliable, his strength was formidable. With his help, things would be easier.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two more figures flew in.

Su Zhong turned his head and saw a calm-looking White and a fierce-looking Sasuke.

"Uchiha Itachi!" Sasuke roared, his right hand flicking, and a crackling sound was heard. Lightning wrapped around his hand, and he instantly activated Chidori.

He dashed towards Itachi Uchiha.

As Sasuke passed by, Su Zhong suddenly extended his right hand and caught Sasuke's wrist.

He pressed down, and Sasuke tumbled to the ground. The violent lightning chakra exploded on the ground, creating a large crater.

Sasuke climbed out of the dirt, his eyes activating the Sharingan, the crimson eyes with two black tomoe spinning continuously.

"Qiu! Are you going to stop me?!" Sasuke's eyes were filled with ferocity.

Su Zhong's face was expressionless, and his left foot suddenly kicked out.

Bang!

Without warning, Sasuke was kicked flying.

"Don't overestimate yourself. Do you think you can defeat Itachi Uchiha now?! Do you think shouting will avenge you? Naive!"

Su Zhong instantly appeared beside Sasuke, grabbed the back of his collar, and threw him away.

"I, you can't even defeat, let alone Itachi Uchiha?! Where is your composure?!"

Sasuke was thrown to the ground and rolled several times before stopping.

Su Zhong's technique was skillful, not causing serious injury but causing considerable pain.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and got up, kneeling on one knee.

His crimson eyes stared at Itachi Uchiha, his face filled with struggle.

He suddenly shouted, his fist slamming into the ground.

Then he deactivated his Sharingan, the fierce expression on his face gradually fading, replaced by coldness. He got up and walked to Su Zhong's side.

Su Zhong nodded in satisfaction.

"White, are you ready?"

"Ready. Everything we need is packed."

Sasuke was taken aback: "Qiu, where are you going?"

"Heh! You know, I'm not safe here. I need a quiet environment to study martial arts, so I have to leave Konoha." Su Zhong treated defection as a trivial matter.

Since his rebirth, defection had become a matter of course.

Su Zhong was never arrogant, but his obsession with power made him fearless. This created an inherent and irreconcilable conflict with Konoha's ninja system.

He would never waste time training to follow the Hokage's orders.

Konoha was a constraint for Su Zhong.

Sasuke lowered his head, lost in thought. He still remembered the alley from years ago, where the young boy, even younger than him, had dug out a Root member's heart in front of him.

He knew this day would come. Living together for years, he had long noticed Su Zhong's estrangement from Konoha. He didn't understand, but he knew the outcome was inevitable.

Should he go with him?

Su Zhong patted Sasuke's shoulder.

"Stay in the village. I can't protect you outside Konoha. Itachi Uchiha is watching."

Sasuke's expression changed, then returned to coldness, suppressing his emotions.

Su Zhong was more and more satisfied. This was the result of years of influence on Sasuke.

Hatred can exist, but it shouldn't cloud your judgment.

You need to be calm enough to control your hatred, turning it into strength, not madness.

"Uchiha Sasuke, my little brother, it's been a long time," Itachi Uchiha, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"Your cowardice surprises me. You're still alive, barely."

Sasuke's expression, which had just calmed down, changed again. He clenched his fists, finally suppressing his impulse.

Itachi Uchiha's eyebrows unconsciously furrowed, glancing at Su Zhong standing beside Sasuke.

He suddenly realized that the two had a strikingly similar aura.

Their expressions were different, but the pure coldness in their eyes made him very uncomfortable.

"Uchiha Itachi, are you here for Naruto?" Kakashi suddenly spoke.

Itachi Uchiha's expression changed, and he retracted his thoughts.

"Oh? You know our target is the Nine-Tails jinchūriki? Where did you get that information?"

"Unfortunately, we couldn't find him. It seems we made a wasted trip."

"Do you think you can still leave?"

The group quickly formed a battle formation.

Not far away, several figures were rapidly approaching.

Thanks to Su Zhong's reckless actions, all the Konoha ninjas knew something big was happening.

Many idle ninjas were rushing to the scene.

Itachi Uchiha naturally noticed this situation, his eyes flickering as he glanced at Su Zhong standing among the corpses.

"We have to act today," his voice was as cold as ever.

He reached out and undid the buttons on his cloak, pulling down the high collar to reveal the Sharingan behind it.

Kakashi's expression changed.

"Don't look into his eyes, be careful of genjutsu!"

Kakashi immediately pulled up the headband slanted over his eye, revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan.

"Three-tomoe Sharingan? Truly a genius. But only an Uchiha can best utilize the Sharingan."

The three tomoe in Itachi Uchiha's eyes rapidly spun, forming a windmill pattern.

"Mangekyō Sharingan!"

Kakashi was shocked: "To reach this level. Truly a genius of the Uchiha clan!"

"Tsukuyomi!" Itachi Uchiha suddenly shouted.

Blood flowed from one of his eyes.

Kakashi's expression changed: "Everyone, be careful!"

The Mangekyō Sharingan was already powerful. The fact that it bled while using a genjutsu indicated how strong the technique was.

Kakashi's body tensed.

But after a while, he realized he was unharmed.

Looking around, he saw that Might Guy and the other Konoha ninjas who had arrived later were also unharmed.

The newly arrived ninjas looked shocked and curious, glancing at Itachi Uchiha and the Root corpses. They were unsure what to do.

They instinctively stood behind Kakashi, whose strength and reputation were enough to earn their trust.

Kakashi looked around and suddenly noticed that Su Zhong and Sasuke were standing in place, their eyes blank.

He immediately understood that Itachi Uchiha had not targeted them. His true targets were Uchiha Qiu and Sasuke!

Suddenly finding himself in a black and red world, Su Zhong did not panic.

He calmly observed his surroundings.

Apart from the cold black and red tones, everything was desolate.

Suddenly, a black wooden cross appeared behind Su Zhong.

Several chains extended from the cross, quickly wrapping around Su Zhong's limbs and pulling him tightly to the cross.

This series of changes happened in an instant, too fast for Su Zhong to react.

A black shadow suddenly materialized, revealing Itachi Uchiha.

"Uchiha Qiu, I have long wanted to meet you."