After taking over the snake uncle's foundation, Sasuke came to surrender on his own initiative.

When the melodious flute sound sounded under the waterfall.

The world before Itachi's eyes suddenly changed.

Some seemingly distant but irresistible fragments of memories flooded into his mind.

"Brother...why..."

The image of young Sasuke suddenly appeared in his mind. That face, which was extremely similar to his, was now looking at him blankly with an expression full of disbelief.

"Brother...you killed dad and mom..."

"Brother...where are you going..."

Finally, all that was left in Itachi's mind was a little boy who was about to collapse... and his wailing pleading. "Brother... could you please... not abandon Sasuke..."

"what!!!"

Itachi roared fiercely and finally broke free from the illusion.

Before he knew it, he was sweating all over.

However, when he looked again at the silent place under the bright moonlight opposite, he immediately felt waves of fear and horror in his heart.

The sound of the flute came from there.

Yin Zhu was dressed in white, standing quietly in the darkness.

Seeing Itachi break free from his illusion so quickly, a hint of surprise flashed in Yinzhu's eyes, and then he put down the bamboo flute from his lips.

"Sure enough, Itachi's spiritual power is not weaker than mine..."

"I will...become a genjutsu victim one day..."

Itachi was breathing rapidly, with an extremely complicated expression on his face, as if he had not yet completely recovered from Sasuke's voice, appearance and smile.

After a moment, he seemed to remember something.

He quickly came to a puddle of water, bent down and stretched out his hand, "Splash!" He actually pulled out a muscular figure in a black robe from the puddle.

That person was actually Kisame!

But at this moment, the shark Jinchuriki was soaking wet, his face was pale, and he kept talking in his sleep, seeming to be in a state of half-sleep and half-wakefulness.

Itachi could see at a glance that Kisame was not only seriously injured, but also trapped in an illusion.

pat-

Faint footsteps suddenly sounded in the darkness ahead.

Itachi tensed up and lifted Kisame to the ground behind him. He slowly raised his head and stared at the figure in white that came out of the darkness with a serious look on his face. Unconsciously, his fists had clenched.

"This guy is so powerful! He seems to have no weaknesses in Ninjutsu, Tai, and Illusion. His Sharingan is no weaker than mine. He doesn't look like a disciple of Orochimaru at all..."

"The abilities of both my eye techniques have been revealed. I have already revealed everything except Susanoo... and the opponent not only has an eye technique whose ability is unknown, but I think he has also mastered Susanoo..."

Thinking of this, Itachi began to feel a little hesitant.

Although he usually acts fearlessly, it doesn't mean that he is a brainless and reckless person like Feidan.

On the contrary, he is a very cautious ninja.

With strength like Yinzhu, he is already one of the top ninjas in the ninja world.

After the fight tonight, Itachi felt that even in the Akatsuki organization which was full of extremely dangerous S-class ninjas, there were only a handful of core members who could fight with the leader of the Sound Village in front of them and still escape unscathed!

"I'm afraid the only thing that can suppress this guy is his eyes..."

Itachi thought to himself.

The combination of him and Kisame has a high hidden status in the eyes of Akatsuki members.

The combat effectiveness of the two, except for Nagato, has basically reached the ceiling of the Akatsuki organization.

This is almost universally acknowledged within the organization.

But even so, he and Kisame were easily suppressed by Yin Zhu when they joined forces!

"This guy... is he like Orochimaru, and has also learned that disgusting forbidden technique, and wants to occupy Sasuke's body? Why did he target Sasuke?"

Itachi's eyes were filled with anger, "I must confirm this today..."

"Where's Sasuke?"

He had just asked the question when he suddenly heard a series of chaotic footsteps coming from above the waterfall.

Itachi looked up, and soon dozens of ninjas wearing Sound-nin forehead protectors appeared in his sight.

But soon, his pupils shrank.

"The girl in the middle...if I'm not mistaken, she's wearing a Takinin forehead protector? And...that aura..." Itachi's eyes widened a little involuntarily, "Wait! That's the chakra aura of the tailed beasts!"

Itachi suddenly understood why he didn't notice Sasuke.

He turned to look at Yin Zhu, with a hint of embarrassment on his face. "He actually set his sights on Takigakure. Is this guy... another ambitious person like Danzo..."

Seeing Itachi's gaze, Yinzhu showed a faint smile on his face. He glanced at Kisame behind Itachi and spoke coldly.

"Kisame hasn't woken up yet, so we can talk about our true feelings."

Itachi didn't buy it and replied coldly, "We are all Konoha's rebel ninjas, what is there to talk about?"

"Hehe..." Yin Zhu laughed a little and shook his head. "No, no, no, you are wrong. First of all, Konoha has not released any information about my identity as a traitor. Secondly..."

He looked at Itachi, a hint of amusement gradually appearing on his face. "How did you get your status as an S-rank rebel ninja in Konoha? I think I know better than you."

Itachi's cold expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help but clench his fists secretly, wanting to explain something, but in the end he was unable to refute.

Although the purpose is unknown, since the other party personally participated in the Uchiha clan genocide night, he must be well aware of the dirty deal between him and the Konoha high-level officials.

Itachi took a deep breath, "What did you want to talk about?"

"I don't want to talk to you. I know you are a ninja with a strong will." Yin Zhu put away the playfulness on his face, but thought to himself, "In fact, you are just a radical Uchiha..."

He looked at Itachi, who had a cold expression, and said seriously, "Except for me, no one in the ninja world knows that opening those eyes too early will not only affect the mind of an Uchiha ninja, but also the body! Carrying the name of Konoha's genius... your health should be getting worse day by day, right?"

"!!!" Itachi's pupils instantly trembled, "How did this guy know!?"

Seeing this, Yin Zhu nodded secretly in his heart, "As expected..."

He continued, "Don't worry, I will hide the truth for you, train Sasuke to be a powerful ninja, and then take revenge on you, my brother!"

At this point, Yin Zhu showed a hint of amusement on his face again, "Sure enough, Erzhuzi can't escape, everything is arranged clearly..."

Itachi's expression changed slightly, and he looked at Yin Zhu with a hint of suspicion.

"What is your purpose for doing this?"

"Purpose?"

Yin Zhu was stunned by this question.

He blinked and then spoke. "Taking Sasuke was just a spur of the moment decision. If I had to say the purpose..." He looked at Itachi and smiled indifferently, "It's just that I admire you as a brother even more and I can't bear to see a genius fall."

Itachi fell silent. Although he was always sensitive, he actually heard some sincerity in Yinzhu's words.

After a long time, there was a hint of complexity in his eyes when he looked at Yin Zhu, and he was no longer as vigilant and alert as before.

"It seems that you are somewhat different from your teacher. But unfortunately, even if you help me teach Sasuke, I still will not join your Sound Village."

But Yinzhu smiled slightly, "Itachi, I think you are a little too self-indulgent."

Itachi:......

Just when I was speechless, Yin Zhu's voice came to my ears again.

"There is no place in Otoninu Village for someone as paranoid as you. My appreciation for you only stops at the point of promising to help you once." Otoninu spoke softly, issuing a final ultimatum. "When you feel that your body is unable to support you, come to me, I can save you."

This time, Itachi was silent for a long time.

But in the end, he still rejected Yin Zhu. "Although it's a bit strange that you can cure the blood disease, I still want to thank you. When I complete my mission, my life will not matter anymore."

Itachi lowered his eyes and looked a little lonely.

He slowly spread out his hands, his eyes lost in thought, and murmured, "The sins I committed in the past must be redeemed..."

"Atonement..." Seeing this, Yin Zhu also sighed slightly. "Killing his own parents with his own hands, everyone thinks that Uchiha Itachi is a cold-blooded man, but no one knows... everything he has to bear at the age of thirteen..."

The night fell into silence.

It was unknown how long it took before Itachi carried Kisame and left the waterfall.

Ototake is not bothered by Itachi's departure, but sits by the lake under the waterfall.

After watching him leave, he waved his hand to let the gathered Sound Ninjas disperse.

After thinking for a while, he skillfully used his Chidori spear to catch fish and shrimp in the lake.

Just at this moment, Fu came over.

Seeing her, Yin Zhu suddenly remembered something. "Come to think of it, Kisame didn't see Fu, did he? I wonder if Itachi would tell Nagato about the information that the Seven-Tails is in my Oto Village..."

Although he thought so in his heart, Yin Zhu didn't actually care.

By the time Nagato captured Nanabi in order, he was no longer as strong as he is now.

Even if Nagato comes tomorrow, with Flying Thunder God in hand, Ototake is not afraid at all.

"Go to the kitchen and get some seasoning." Without even turning his head, he began to direct Fu.

"Oh..." Fu pouted cutely, but turned around obediently and quickly left towards the top of the hill.

Then, the blue beams in his hand flashed out repeatedly, and six or seven fat fish and shrimps were strung together and floated to the surface of the water, with their heads hollowed out into bloody holes.

Then he took out the Kusanagi sword, skillfully cut open the fish's belly, took out the shrimp tail and cleaned it.

Then he found a piece of hard stone, carefully chiseled it into a stone pot, and piled up firewood nearby.

Without making any seals, he snapped his fingers with his left hand.

"Fire Release - Lighter's Technique!"

"Ding--!"

A small orange flame rose slowly at the tips of his thumb and index finger.

Then he lit a bonfire in the valley.

At this time, Fu also came back.

"This is a cooking method I learned from an old lady in Takinin Village. It's called grilled fish!"

She also picked some fresh leaves from the trees by the lake, wrapped the fish skillfully, sprinkled salt, cumin and chili on the outside, and simmered it for ten minutes.

Seven fragrant matcha salt-baked fish were grilled.

Yin Zhu took a bite and his mouth was filled with fragrance, and the taste was fresh, tender and spicy.

His eyes lit up, and he gave Fu a thumbs up, uttering vague praise. "Well, the girl has good skills!"

"I'm not a little girl! Humph..."

......

As the distance got closer, the leader of Takinin Village could vaguely hear voices coming from the wind.

The other party seemed to be aware of their presence and let out a low cry of surprise.

"What Jing said turned out to be true! Someone invaded the village again." The leader of Takinin Village's face changed slightly and he flew to the top of the cliff.

The view in front of him suddenly became wide, and he immediately saw a group of figures holding ninja swords swaying on the cliff below.

When he saw this group of people, an expression of shock immediately appeared on his face, and then deep vigilance appeared in his eyes. The leader with a goatee on his chin thought for a moment and then shouted loudly.

"I am the leader of Takigakure. Which ninja village are you from?"

No one spoke.

The atmosphere was mysterious and he felt a chill in his heart. He approached cautiously and recognized the "?" forehead protectors worn by those people.

"It's over!" His heart tightened, "It's actually a ninja from the Sound Village!"

The leader's face suddenly darkened, but when his eyes fell on the Sound Ninjas, he suppressed his fear and forced a smile, "This is the territory of Takigakure. Why did you Sound Ninjas trespass into the country without the consent of the officials of Takigakure?"

"Official? Soon your name will be our official."

Kabuto smiled indifferently, with a dangerous light flashing in his eyes behind the frame, staring closely at the Taki ninjas in front of him who were already trembling.

Ninjas are not allowed to interfere in the world of ordinary people.

But as long as someone takes the lead, smart humans can always find a way to solve the problem.

With Ototake's advice before departure, Kabuto naturally knew what he should do. "Use whatever means necessary to obtain the legal status of Otogakure in Taki no Kuni..."

What Yin Zhu meant was to kill all those who disobeyed!

"Even Lord Orochimaru had to bribe the Daimyo of the Land of Rice with a large amount of benefits before he was allowed to establish the Sound Village in his territory." There was a flash of amazement in his eyes.

Ototake was the first one who dared to treat the daimyo and nobles of the ninja world unscrupulously.

"Why waste time talking to a dead guy? Can't you just hit him directly?" Beside Kabuto, Kimimaro frowned slightly.

Hearing this, the bearded leader's face turned pale. He never expected that the other party was not afraid of the official power of Taki Country at all. He shouted coldly, "Are you planning to make an enemy of our Taki Village, or even the entire Taki Country?"

"Hahaha... Takinin Village? What does that matter? Hahahaha?"

Zabuza laughed loudly, and his laughter was like a raging wave, shaking all directions.

It was like a loud thunder, causing the wind and clouds between heaven and earth to change unpredictably. The sound waves rich in chakra penetrated people's hearts, causing all the Taki ninjas present to change color and lose all their will to fight.

"This guy has such strong chakra!"

The bearded leader was horrified.