Naruto: Manipulation-Chapter 101: Selling Out Obito Uchiha’s Information First

Uchiha Itachi.

This was someone Kakashi Hatake had never expected to appear.

None of the team had anticipated that the man who had just massacred his own clan would show up here, standing in their way as they tried to reclaim Anko Mitarashi.

"Captain Kakashi, Captain Yamato, Miss Kurenai, Mr. Guy..."

Itachi recognized each person present. His expression remained polite, as if he weren't the same man who had bathed in his clan's blood.

"Please leave. This is not where you should be right now."

"Anko's abduction..."

Kakashi's grip on his kunai tightened. His gaze flickered between Itachi and the masked man beside him, both clad in the black robes adorned with red clouds. A sense of unease crept into his heart.

"So this has something to do with you too? That man who took Anko—he's working with you, isn't he?"

It was unexpected.

Even shocking.

Kakashi had never realized just how much darkness had been lurking within his former subordinate's heart.

The night of the Uchiha massacre... As a member of the Anbu, Kakashi had been tasked with dealing with the bodies of the slain clan members. He had often found himself questioning whether he had been blind to the darkness festering right beside him.

"Our task is merely to stop your pursuit."

Itachi raised a single finger. His crimson Sharingan glowed in the dim light.

"Please stay out of this, Captain Kakashi. Anko is not someone you can save."

As he spoke...

Itachi positioned himself beneath the tree where the masked man stood.

Two men with Sharingan now faced off against the Konoha squad, and neither seemed concerned in the slightest about the battle ahead.

"This is going to be a problem..."

Kakashi lifted his kunai.

"Kakashi, we don't have much time."

Kurenai's expression was tense. Her gaze remained locked on Itachi as she sensed the chakra in the area.

"The masked man and Itachi are here to stop us. The enemy we were chasing is withdrawing."

"Two against four."

Yamato reminded Kakashi, hoping his experienced superior would think things through.

"But that masked man's ability is strange. He won't be easy to deal with. I should be able to handle Itachi..."

"Don't rely on conventional power scaling."

Kakashi shook his head, his voice heavy with warning.

"Itachi slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan. Do not underestimate him."

"!!!"

Yamato's eyes widened.

He had always viewed Itachi as a criminal, but he had neglected to consider that the man possessed the power to wipe out an entire, formidable clan.

"Let's divide tasks."

Kakashi glanced at his teammates and quickly issued orders.

"Yamato and I will keep the masked man and Itachi occupied."

"Kurenai, Guy—you two find a way to slip past them and continue chasing the kidnapper. Our mission is to retrieve Anko. Do not engage the enemy for too long—you are not their match!"

It was a logical strategy.

Kakashi was confident he could stall the masked man. Yamato, who had prior knowledge of Itachi's abilities, should be able to hold his own against him.

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As for Guy and Kurenai...

Their sole task was to retrieve Anko.

One would engage the kidnapper, while the other would extract Anko—something they should be capable of.

But...

Akatsuki was also making their own plans.

The masked man scoffed, as if he had seen through Kakashi's strategy.

"I'll deal with Kakashi and Guy."

"I'll handle Miss Kurenai and Captain Yamato."

Itachi nodded, calmly choosing his opponents.

Their decision made perfect sense.

The masked man was confident he could suppress Kakashi, and he was equally sure that he could keep his old classmate, Guy, at bay.

Even though he had never once defeated Guy in their youth, he believed that, with his Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan, there was no way he could lose this time.

As for Itachi...

Since he seemed to be familiar with Yamato, it made sense for him to take him on. Kurenai, the genjutsu specialist, was merely an afterthought.

"Then..."

As soon as Kakashi and the masked man had finalized their matchups, both sides launched their attacks simultaneously.

"Begin!"

The next instant!

The battle erupted!

A storm of ninjutsu and taijutsu clashed in a rapid, chaotic exchange.

Flames spread wildly throughout the forest!

"Fire Release: Blast Wave Dance!"

The masked man's eyes burned with power as spiraling torrents of fire surged forward, amplified by violent winds.

The roaring flames forced Kakashi and Guy back instantly!

From the very first move...

The masked man had established his dominance!

In contrast to the masked man's ferocity...

Itachi's battle was eerily calm.

With a single glance, he had already trapped Kurenai in a genjutsu. He then shifted his gaze toward Yamato, who was attempting to break the illusion.

"Impossible!"

Yamato's vision suddenly blurred.

In an instant, his world faded to gray.

At that moment, he was reminded of the last time he had been caught in a Sharingan genjutsu.

Who had been the one to cast it back then?

Before he could recall...

Yamato and Kurenai were already down.

But for Itachi, this battle was far from over.

In fact, it had only just begun.

Because he had another mission.

First...

He had been ordered to leak information.

Shigen, the true mastermind behind Akatsuki, had given him permission to teach Obito a lesson.

Second...

He had to choose the right person to receive that information.

Between the four Konoha ninjas present...

Itachi chose the only one who could truly bear the weight of darkness.

His gaze fell upon Kakashi Hatake.

He had no other choice.

He didn't trust Kurenai—he didn't know her.

He didn't trust Yamato—he knew him too well.

And Might Guy...

It didn't take much to see that Guy was not the ideal candidate for secrecy.

That left only one person.

Kakashi Hatake.

Itachi recalled his time in the Anbu under Kakashi's leadership. The man had always looked after him, always carried his own burdens silently.

Kakashi...

Could keep a secret.

Itachi ran his fingers over the kunai in his hand. He would take advantage of Shigen's permission to reveal information.

However...

He could only expose details about Obito Uchiha.

If he leaked anything about Shigen, Konoha would react. Any sudden movements would tip off Akatsuki's intelligence network, drawing suspicion toward him.

"The perfect opportunity."

Itachi couldn't help but appreciate the internal strife within Akatsuki. It had given him the chance to deliver intelligence back to Konoha.

This was a rare moment.

He had to act before the battle reached its conclusion.

Unfortunately, the timeframe Shigen had allowed was too tight.

Itachi had no choice but to take a risk rather than use more subtle methods.

As this thought crossed his mind, he appeared in the middle of the battlefield where the masked man was fighting Kakashi and Guy.

"Looks like you're having trouble."

His voice was soft, almost mocking.

"Need help?"

"Hmph..."

The masked man scoffed. His body blurred into a transparent state as he withdrew and landed beside Itachi.

"I just underestimated them."

He was irritated.

It was frustrating that this junior, Itachi, had already defeated two opponents, while he was still struggling against Kakashi and Guy.

But how could he defeat them so easily?

Guy was even more troublesome than when they were kids!

Although Kamui allowed him to phase through attacks, Guy's taijutsu was simply too overwhelming.

Whenever the masked man attempted to counterattack, Guy's nunchaku would strike at the precise moment he needed to re-materialize.

And then there was Kakashi...

The constant, calculated pressure made things even harder.

"Damn it... they're tough to handle."

Even though he was confident in his victory, he couldn't deny that this fight was an absolute pain.

"I'll take care of..."

The masked man began to issue orders.

"I'm no match for Mr. Guy."

Itachi interrupted, providing a logical explanation.

"If you noticed, he has never once looked at your eyes. He's trained himself to fight Sharingan users."

"Hmph. That idiot probably developed that just to fight Kakashi."

The masked man sneered.

"That fool has been obsessed with beating Kakashi since childhood."

By sheer coincidence...

Might Guy had trained himself to counter Kakashi's Sharingan, and now, that very training was proving to be a nightmare for the two Uchiha on the battlefield.

"So..."

Itachi calmly analyzed the situation.

"With the Sharingan's influence neutralized, I have no chance against Mr. Guy. Even if my Sharingan can predict his movements, I simply can't match his speed."

"..."

The masked man found this explanation frustrating but undeniable.

He had also realized the problem.

Even with his Sharingan, he could track Guy's movements, but his body simply couldn't keep up. The man's taijutsu was overwhelmingly powerful.

"I'll take care of Guy."

The masked man narrowed his eyes.

In front of Itachi, he refused to acknowledge any personal shortcomings.

He firmly believed that his Kamui Mangekyō Sharingan gave him the upper hand. There was no way he could lose to Guy.

After all...

Over time, even someone as energetic as Guy would inevitably slow down from exhaustion. The moment his attacks lost their edge, victory would be his.

Admitting it out loud felt humiliating...

But this was the only way.

"Then I'll handle Captain Kakashi."

A flicker of relief crossed Itachi's eyes.

His crimson gaze deepened as three tomoe swirled into a distinct pattern—his Mangekyō Sharingan activating.

"You're using your Mangekyō?"

The masked man noticed Itachi's intent and scoffed.

"Overusing that eye will damage your vision. You might even go blind. Just let me handle him—"

This junior of his...

Wouldn't actually kill Kakashi, would he?

"It's only Tsukuyomi."

Itachi replied evenly, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Kakashi possesses both the Sharingan and Storm Release kekkei genkai. I don't have complete confidence that I can defeat him outright."

"My only goal is to trap him in my genjutsu long enough that he can't resist."

"Hmph..."

The masked man snorted but didn't object further.

A chain materialized in his hands as he rushed toward Guy. He had no intention of letting this junior outperform him.

"Kakashi, I'll handle him!"

Guy shouted confidently.

"I can keep up with his speed!"

"Understood."

Kakashi nodded. His gaze swept over the fallen Yamato and Kurenai before settling on Itachi, who had now fully entered the battlefield.

A shadow of worry passed through him.

"Red and Yamato... have they already lost?"

The next moment—

Kakashi had no time to think.

The instant his gaze met Itachi's...

His mind was ensnared.

"This is..."

A sudden emptiness filled Kakashi's consciousness.

His entire world turned monochrome.

Everything around him faded into black and white.

The only thing that remained colored—

Was the blood-red moon hanging high in the sky.

Tsukuyomi.

A world where Uchiha Itachi controlled time, space, and reality itself.

In this realm, both he and Kakashi stood across from each other, their reflections distorted by the crimson moonlight.

Kakashi felt a chill run down his spine.

The strength of this illusion was far beyond anything he had encountered before.

Even as an expert in genjutsu countermeasures, he realized with a sinking feeling—

This time, he had no way out.

"This is my Tsukuyomi."

"In this world, I hold absolute control. Time and space are mine to manipulate."

"No one can interfere with us here."

Itachi's blood-red gaze locked onto Kakashi, his voice eerily calm.

"First—"

"I will tell you something important."

"The man in the mask..."

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat.

"You should be familiar with him."

"Because he is your former comrade."

Itachi's tone remained indifferent as he revealed the truth.

"Obito Uchiha."

"!!!"

Kakashi's breath hitched.

In that moment—

Even the strangeness of the Tsukuyomi world paled in comparison to the shock surging through his mind.

Obito?!

His Sharingan whirled violently, the three tomoe spinning faster than ever before.

His emotions boiled over.

Something within him surged, pushing the limits of his consciousness to new heights.

Unknowingly...

The power of his Sharingan intensified.

"It's awakened...?"

As the master of the Tsukuyomi world, Itachi sensed it immediately.

Kakashi's spiritual energy was fluctuating wildly.

His Mangekyō Sharingan had begun to manifest.

"No..."

"That's not it."

Itachi's eyes darkened slightly as he observed more carefully.

"Kakashi's Mangekyō was already awakened long ago..."

"It was never a matter of him unlocking it."

Itachi's voice was firm, his mind piecing things together.

"Captain Kakashi..."

"For an Uchiha, only immense pain can awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"You must have suffered greatly in the past to have had one all along."

"Tell me..."

"When did you awaken your Mangekyō?"

Kakashi, however, was barely listening.

His voice was hoarse.

"Tell me..."

His hands clenched into fists.

"Is it true?!"

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