The Trouble With Itachi [On Hold]

2; The First Mission [revised]

Chapter Two- The First Mission

The air was thick with tension. I was under no illusion that Itachi knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Even I had heard tales of Jiraiya. And in the ninja world you didn’t get that much notoriety if it wasn’t for a good reason.

For a moment they were both still; the kind of stillness that only a true ninja could achieve. It looked as though they were psyching each other out; neither of them blinked.

And then Jiraiya’s arms and legs began to shake. I fought to suppress a grin. Itachi had caught him. The nature of Itachi’s bloodline limit was that of genjustu (illusions). It was an ability unique to the Uchiha clan and manifested through the user’s eyes changing to a red colour with a black circular design on the iris- the Sharingan. It was one of the most wanted and most feared abilities because it meant the victim was trapped in a mental genjutsu that they couldn’t escape from. The user could keep the victim in a fictional world indefinitely, and it could be used for torture or even worse.

No one wanted to die by having their mind infiltrated.

Now Jiraiya’s form faltered and he dropped to his knees, sweat now pouring off him profusely. I didn’t know exactly what Itachi was doing to him, and I didn’t want to know but it must have been pretty bad.

“Jiraiya-sensei!” Anko called out, her face looking worried.

Her eyes narrowed at Itachi. Although she was told to step back, I knew she was going to get involved. I tensed, getting ready to deflect whatever she was going to do.

She performed a few handseals and her hands were swift; snake, dragon, rabbit, tiger in quick succession, “Katon, Ryuuka no Jutsu!”

Then putting two fingers to her lips, she blew outwards, unleashing a roaring fireball towards Itachi.

I performed my own handseals, “Suiton, Suishouha.”

Waving my arm, a torrent of water barrelled over from the river and engulfed Anko and her fireball without warning. She glared at me after the fireball fizzled out and she was now left with wet clothes.

“Don’t even think about it,” I told her.

Jiraiya grunted. He was still on his knees, his breath coming out in short gasps, his eyes open but not seeing.

Anko put her hands together in two hand seals, snake and tiger. She said nothing, but smiled in a knowing way that kind of unnerved me.

“If you attack Itachi again, I won’t hesitate to kill you,” I told Anko.

“I won’t attack Itachi,” she said steadily, “I’ll attack you.”

There was a slight shake from the soil under my feet. It was almost imperceptible. Almost.

I concentrated chakra to my feet and jumped up into the air as half a dozen snakes also came up from the ground. They wrapped around my ankles, trying to incapacitate me but I managed to kick off a few and in the same breath I pulled out my sword from my spine sheath. I always kept it with me. The spine sheath was custom made for comfort so that it fit my back perfectly, and the hilt stayed hidden underneath my hair.

As l landed I swung at the snakes and watched as they fell one by one. Yet each time one fell, there was another that sprang up take its place. It was a never ending barrage. I quickly realised I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.

Anko was a former student of Orochimaru, whose nickname was the ‘King of Snakes.’

So of course it wasn’t surprising that Anko had adopted this unique ability to call snakes out of nowhere. But I was absolutely sure that each of these snakes was deadly, and a bite could probably cause some serious damage or even worse, fatality. There was only one thing I could do.