Naruto: Imitation Ninja

According to Xing Liu's planned patrol route, the three individuals were stationed at distances that would take only a few minutes on foot to reach each other.

It's not that Xing Liu is being overly paranoid; after all, both Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame possess combat abilities far superior to any of them by many orders of magnitude.

Let's not even mention the fact that they always operate as a team—any one of them facing off against those two would simply be slaughtered without a chance.

This is why Xing Liu had kept their patrol distances relatively close to each other.

You could understand that any one of them would be defeated instantly if they encountered those two, but what if three people were to face them together?

It's not like they couldn't even run away when things go south, right?

If that's the case, they might as well lie down and give up now…

"Well then, since they've started moving, I might as well take care of that thing first," Xing Liu muttered as he gazed at the rooftops in the distance.

According to the plot of the original manga, that lecherous sage should be somewhere on top of one of these buildings, gathering materials for his novel, right?

That's right, what Xing Liu needs to do right now isn't dealing with the old acquaintances who have come to Konoha, but to find a teacher for little Naruto's future plans.

In the world where the Fourth Hokage hasn't yet sacrificed himself, Naruto here seems to be living a life of ease. After all, with the reputation of the Namikaze family, no one in the village would dare disrespect him.

Because of that, his signature move, the "Rasengan," is something he's only just learned recently.

However, one consolation is that he's quite good at controlling the Tailed Beast, as he can maintain his sanity even when using the power of the One-Tailed Beast.

…

While Xing Liu searches for Jiraiya, Kakashi and the others have already encountered Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, who are casually strolling through the village streets.

"Asuma, those two must be the targets for this mission, right?" Yugao asked as she looked at the Akatsuki members in special uniforms from a distance.

"That's them, for sure, but I didn't expect they're still at it…"

Asuma knows all too well that the Akatsuki members' visit is most likely to capture their prince, Naruto.

"So, what do we do now? Should we wait for Kakashi to arrive before making a decision?"

"No need." Asuma lit his cigar and glanced at Yugao beside him, "It's still uncertain who will win in a 2v2."

"Do you really think you can beat us?" Suddenly, Kisame's voice appeared behind Asuma and Yugao.

"What…"

Although Asuma and Yugao reacted quickly when they detected Kisame's presence, they were still a step too late.

"Did you really think we didn't notice you two little rats spying on us?" Kisame jabbed at the two of them, who were frozen by Itachi's Tsukuyomi.

"Actually, what you saw might have been an illusion. Isn't that right?" Asuma and Yugao, standing not far away, smiled at them.

Though Asuma's expression seemed relaxed, beads of cold sweat had already formed on his back.

God knows, if it hadn't been for Yugao's timely illusion tricking them, they would have been caught off guard just now.

"Well, well, not bad," Kisame whistled at Asuma and Yugao, then waved his hand to dismiss the illusion Yugao had cast. Turning, he looked at Uchiha Itachi, who had been shown up. "Didn't you say you were a master of genjutsu? How could you not even see through such a simple illusion?"

Itachi didn't want to answer Kisame's taunts. In fact, he had already realized that what they had seen was an illusion.

As to why he didn't warn Kisame about it, the answer was simple: he didn't want the mission to end so quickly. Otherwise, how would the rest of the plot play out?

Besides, he was already a Konoha spy, so this mission was just him going through the motions.

"Tch! How boring…" Kisame pouted, clearly frustrated by Itachi's lack of a response. He then turned his attention back to Asuma and Yugao.

"Though you managed to outwit us once, you won't be so lucky next time."

With that, Kisame quickly formed a hand seal, and the calm water surface suddenly rippled.

"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Technique!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a massive shark formed from water shot out from the sky, heading straight toward Asuma and Yugao.

At the same moment, another gigantic shark, formed from water, flew toward them from another direction, counteracting Kisame's earlier jutsu.

"Same technique… Is that Kakashi?"

Itachi watched as a silver-haired man hurriedly arrived from the other side. He saw that Kakashi's left eye, which had been covered, was now exposed—though it looked entirely different from his right eye.

"Are you guys alright?"

Kakashi hurriedly asked, looking at his two comrades.

"Phew…" Asuma and Yugao let out a collective sigh of relief at Kakashi's timely arrival.

"Thank goodness you're here. If not, we would've had to tank that technique ourselves…"

"Save the small talk for later. We need to team up and defend against their next attack… Damn!"

Just as Kakashi was about to warn them, his body suddenly froze and became uncontrollable.

"The ninjas of Konoha don't seem all that impressive, do they? Looks like you fell for your own illusion again, didn't you?" Kisame smirked as he watched Kakashi, realizing that it was Uchiha Itachi who had caused the situation.

"Kisame, why are you so chatty today?" Itachi shot a dissatisfied glance at the sharkman beside him. "If you have so much time to talk, why don't you deal with the other two?"

"Yeah, yeah, leave Kakashi to you." Kisame shrugged and then turned to deal with Asuma and Yugao.

"Sharingan: Mangekyō Sharingan." Kakashi looked at Itachi's Sharingan, which had evolved from the standard three-tomoe form into the three-leafed Mangekyō Sharingan. "Looks like the rumors were true."

There had been rumors in Konoha that Uchiha Itachi had joined the Akatsuki after collaborating with "foreign" forces to annihilate his own clan, leaving only his younger brother Sasuke alive.

"Who knows if those rumors are true…"

---

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