The Third Hokage: First Move Send Danzō to Prison

The situation wasn't looking good. Might Guy, of all people, seemed to have significant experience fighting against the Sharingan. He was proving to be far more troublesome than expected.

And after what happened with Kakashi, the element of surprise with Tsukuyomi was gone.

Unless he resorted to using Susanoo, which would be overkill… Uchiha Itachi carefully analyzed the situation, searching for a reasonable way to end the battle.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Asuma and Kurenai were clearly no match for Kisame Hoshigaki in his merged shark-man form. They wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.

He had to incapacitate Guy before ANBU arrived, then retrieve Kisame and retreat. This fight needed to end.

But how?

The master of infiltration and deception, Uchiha Itachi, continued calculating.

At that moment, Guy was already charging forward, his fists ablaze with intensity. His eyes never met Itachi's directly, instead staying focused on his shoulders, ankles, and elbows. It was a smart tactic he was clearly familiar with how the Sharingan worked.

Their taijutsu clash was like lightning. In the midst of their exchange, Itachi suddenly flung several shuriken that ricocheted off one another, curving at impossible angles toward Guy's back.

But Guy evaded them with a fluid twist of his body, using the spin to drive a powerful roundhouse kick straight toward Itachi's head.

Itachi barely managed to block with his arms, but the sheer force sent him flying. He flipped back midair to disperse the impact, then quickly formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball roared toward Guy, forcing him to pause his advance.

Itachi took a moment to catch his breath.

To think... a taijutsu specialist could suppress a Mangekyō Sharingan wielder.

The Sharingan could clearly track Guy's every movement, but his body could only just keep up.

What Itachi didn't know was that Guy was still holding back. He hadn't even opened the gates yet. That was when his true power would come forth. For now, all he needed to do was stall. Reinforcements would arrive soon.

After all, this was Konoha.

On the other side of the battlefield, after Kisame had entered his shark-man form, Asuma and Kurenai were pushed to their limits.

The two stood back to back, balanced on the surface of the water using chakra, watching all directions.

Kisame moved beneath the surface, launching both jutsu and taijutsu strikes at will.

He was like a predator from the deep.

"This ends now," Kisame's voice rumbled from beneath the waves.

The surface suddenly erupted. A towering column of water surged upward as Kisame burst out of it, Samehada in hand, crackling with violent chakra as he swung it downward.

Asuma and Kurenai immediately split, but the shockwave still forced them both back. Asuma braced himself, meeting Samehada with his Flying Swallow chakra blades, while Kurenai quickly weaved hand seals to cast genjutsu only for Kisame to blast her illusion apart with a surge of raw chakra.

This was the limitation of pure genjutsu.

Against an equally skilled or stronger opponent, genjutsu alone was rarely decisive. It needed to be combined with taijutsu or ninjutsu like how Sasuke had fought Itachi in the original story.

"He can even absorb the chakra on my blades!" Asuma grit his teeth as his chakra knives trembled under the pressure.

He had underestimated Kisame. Despite having intel, they'd still let him transform.

They should never have let up once the battle began.

"Only now realizing that? A bit slow, don't you think?" Kisame grinned savagely.

In a straightforward sword clash, Kisame and Asuma might be evenly matched. But Kisame wasn't just a brawler he was a ninjutsu-type fighter with the ability to transform and steal chakra.

Right now, Asuma could feel how powerless it was to be a regular ninja.

The balance of power was tipping. Time was ticking. But Asuma wasn't discouraged. Even if he and Kurenai were losing now, if they just held on, they would win.

This was Konoha. Reinforcements could arrive at any moment.

Kisame knew this too, and for the first time, he was starting to feel frustrated. Even in his transformed state, now that his abilities were known, he couldn't finish the fight quickly. Any attempt to gather chakra for a large-scale jutsu would be interrupted.

He briefly glanced toward Itachi's side things weren't going well there either. In fact, Itachi seemed to be getting pushed back by that thick-browed guy.

Damn it, Zetsu… You could've warned us better.

Kisame dove beneath the surface again, narrowly avoiding Asuma's wind blade as he prepared a more complex jutsu. He had to end this quickly.

Sensing the shift, Asuma and Kurenai launched a coordinated attack to stop him.

Fire and wind twisted together, clashing against a violent column of water that blocked the flames and cut the wind.

"You Leaf shinobi are too late!" Kisame laughed. "Water Style: Super Shark Bomb Jutsu!"

The surface exploded. A massive shark-shaped water bomb formed in his hands, its chakra so dense the air seemed to freeze. As it surged forward, the water beneath it split apart into a deep trench.

This was no ordinary Water Style technique. It devoured enemy chakra and grew stronger in the process. In a head-on clash, very few could counter it.

In the original story, Kisame had only lost because he didn't listen when Guy warned him that the next blow would be a pure taijutsu strike. Kisame didn't believe him and foolishly tried to overpower him.

But here? Asuma wasn't a taijutsu specialist. He had no way to win a clash like that.

All he could do was shield Kurenai with his body.

No matter what happens… I won't let her get hurt.

He gripped Flying Swallow tightly and stood in front of her without hesitation.

Both Itachi and Guy noticed the sudden upheaval on the other side.

Guy launched a kick at Itachi, forcing him back, then gathered chakra and opened the Sixth Gate as he raced toward Asuma and Kurenai.

Itachi followed, keeping pace. Guy frowned, assuming Itachi was trying to stop his rescue effort.

But nothing of the sort happened.

What is he planning? Guy wondered, but his speed didn't slow.

Then Itachi called out in a sharp voice.

"Kisame! Be careful!"

"Relax, I've almost wrapped things up. I'll come support you in a second, Itachi-san!" Kisame shouted back, still smiling confidently.

Sorry, Kisame.

A flash of something unreadable crossed Itachi's eyes. He inhaled deeply.

"Tsukuyomi."

What Kisame saw next were the ever-widening blood-red eyes of the Mangekyō Sharingan, spinning like a triple-bladed pinwheel.

Time seemed to stop. Every second dragged into eternity. Kisame tried to resist, but his body wouldn't move.

Unprepared, he was caught instantly.

The massive shark bullet dissolved into nothing. The ocean of chakra-flooded water began to recede.

So it really was you after all, Itachi…

That was Kisame's final thought before he lost consciousness.

Even though he had been tasked with monitoring Uchiha Itachi on behalf of "Madara" since the start of their partnership, over time, through countless battles and bowls of dango, Kisame had come to trust him had even begun to think of him as a real teammate.

And now…

Once again, Kisame the Betrayer had been betrayed.

Sorry. I'm undercover.

And I even took you out for dango…