Kamui activated, swiftly warping the space around Itachi.
Yet Edo Itachi didn't dodge, standing foolishly still, waiting for Kamui to engulf him.
In an instant, Kamui fully swallowed Itachi, leaving Kakashi both shocked and elated.
Had he really defeated Uchiha Itachi?
Was he that strong?
Kamui wasn't this powerful before, was it?
At that moment, countless crows suddenly appeared, swiftly converging, and Itachi's intact form reappeared on the other side.
"What?!?!"
Kakashi was stunned, hurriedly reactivating Kamui. Once again, he sucked Itachi into the distorted space, but in mere seconds, Itachi's figure reappeared, splitting into ten, surrounding Kakashi entirely.
This sent chills down Kakashi's spine, slowly realizing something was wrong…
"Don't bother trying! This isn't reality—you can't kill me."
Itachi vanished from his spot, reappearing a step away from Kakashi.
Raising his hand, the night sky turned to day, blinding sunlight dizzying Kakashi.
Of course, Itachi couldn't change day and night with a wave.
Clearly, this wasn't reality but the genjutsu world of Tsukuyomi!
From the moment Itachi and Kakashi locked eyes, Kakashi had fallen into Itachi's Tsukuyomi, dragged into this freely manipulable genjutsu world.
"You!"
Kakashi gaped. He'd been as cautious as possible, keeping his Mangekyou Sharingan active.
Yet he never expected to still fall prey to Itachi's genjutsu!
Too terrifying, too unavoidable!
'Just how strong is this guy's genjutsu? I heard he struggled against Sasuke before. No way…'
Sasuke now seemed incredibly strong too…
Kakashi's face paled, his mind racing with thoughts.
If facing pure Uchiha bloodline + Mangekyou Sharingan, Itachi wouldn't dare guarantee Tsukuyomi could control the opponent.
Unfortunately, Kakashi was secondhand goods. His transplanted Mangekyou Sharingan lacked matching Uchiha bloodline and sufficient eye power.
A Kakashi like this naturally couldn't resist Itachi's Tsukuyomi genjutsu.
Especially with Edo Itachi, healthy and unburdened by Mangekyou consumption.
"To lose so pathetically…"
Kakashi wasn't a Jinchuriki; he knew he couldn't break the genjutsu alone. Once pulled into Tsukuyomi's world, he'd already lost.
But losing without any combat experience made him deeply uncomfortable.
He was Naruto and Sasuke's teacher! Yet he couldn't even withstand a single move from Itachi…
"Kakashi, don't feel discouraged. I'm not here to kill you."
"Hm?"
"Time is short. Only in the genjutsu world can we evade Akatsuki's surveillance. Listen carefully—I need your eye technique to save Konoha!"
Itachi wasn't truly there to kill Kakashi but to share information and borrow his power.
Kakashi had no desire to hear Itachi's lies, but in Tsukuyomi's genjutsu world, he had no power to resist, his body once again nailed to a cross.
He was forced to listen to Itachi. Soon, he learned a wealth of information from Itachi's mouth.
Including Akatsuki's current state, the strength and numbers of the forces attacking Konoha, and the true mastermind behind the scenes, Tenshou Sennin…
This information shocked Kakashi.
Most crucially, his eye technique, Kamui, wasn't purely offensive but could transport targets to Kamui's dimensional space—a space fully capable of holding living beings…
Previously, Kakashi's inaccurate aiming often only transported parts of targets, causing the space to warp and slice them, giving the illusion it was a lethal eye technique.
"So, you want me to use Kamui to transport some Konoha ninja into Kamui's space?"
Kakashi asked, realization dawning slowly.
"Exactly! It's the only way to save them…"
Itachi indeed planned for Kakashi to use Kamui, deliberately sucking key Konoha ninja into Kamui's space to escape this Konoha-destroying disaster!
This was also the only method Itachi could devise to reduce casualties and reasonably save some Konoha ninja.
"No way, I don't trust you!"
Kakashi wasn't that naive. All this information was just Itachi's word, unverifiable.
What if there was no Kamui space, and all targets swallowed by his Kamui died instantly?
Then what?
If he followed Itachi's instructions, wouldn't that mean killing his own comrades?
Especially since Itachi had deceived them once before, Kakashi didn't trust his opponent at all.
"You have two choices: pretend to be controlled by my genjutsu to save people, or I actually control you with genjutsu to save people. The outcome's the same—you choose."
"…"
Kakashi fell silent. His opponent's words seemed oddly reasonable.
Itachi's ploy left him bewildered.
If Itachi only wanted to trick him, there was no need for so much nonsense—he could've used Tsukuyomi to control Kakashi into killing.
"But my chakra is limited. This eye technique can't be used many times—at most, it can only transport a few dozen people…"
"And the rest?"
Itachi shook his head coldly, his answer brutal:
"Those who don't surrender will die! You must understand, Konoha has no chance of winning."
"But your Kamui can at least save some young, hopeful Konoha ninja who won't surrender and shouldn't die in this war…"
Itachi continued advising Kakashi.
It was impossible. He knew well that young Konoha ninja like Sakura, Hinata, and others likely wouldn't surrender.
If not stopped, they'd probably all die in battle!
And once they died, the eternal conflict between Naruto and Amegakure would escalate to an irreconcilable point.
Itachi couldn't openly save them in front of all Akatsuki members.
So the only way was to let Kakashi use Kamui to save them discreetly…
"I understand! I don't want them to die in vain either, but…"
"Wait, Konoha hasn't necessarily lost—we still have a chance!"
Kakashi suddenly recalled something, regaining a spark of confidence, shouting with vigor.
"What chance?"
Given the situation, Kakashi had no reason to hide anything.
Even if he didn't say it, Itachi could extract all information with genjutsu. Now, he could only trust this "Konoha spy."
So, Kakashi briefly explained Konoha's collaboration with Kabuto.
Itachi raised an eyebrow slightly but wasn't too surprised.
"I see. If so, there might indeed be some fighting power. But as long as that person is still there, Konoha has no chance of winning."
"Fine, since you want to try, go ahead. If you can't defeat them, you must still use Kamui to save people…"
Itachi stopped pressuring Kakashi.
Konoha now was like a gambler holding four aces, always feeling they could turn the tables, unaware of how terrifying their opponent's hand was.
Until they were truly desperate, they wouldn't realize. Since Kakashi wanted to gamble, let them fight to the end.
After all, the information and method to save people had been conveyed; Kakashi knew what to do next.
Itachi released the Tsukuyomi genjutsu.
Kakashi's consciousness instantly returned to his body and reality.
In the real world, less than two seconds had passed. Clearly, Itachi had stretched time hundreds of times in Tsukuyomi's world.
To others, Kakashi only seemed to freeze briefly, unaware that the two had completed a covert information exchange in the genjutsu world.
Then, Itachi continued pretending to attack Kakashi.
While defending, Kakashi pulled out a walkie-talkie, urgently signaling the other side to activate the backup plan!
At the same time, the recipient of the message—
Kabuto hiding in a temporary laboratory, suddenly opened his cold, serpentine eyes, revealing a sly smile.