Chapter 145: Itachi, Dead! My Susanoo Is Bigger Than Yours! (Over 8,000 Words)

For some reason, tonight, Fugaku felt an unease in his heart.

He sat at the dinner table, eyes fixed on his second son Sasuke, who was buried in his meal with the unrefined enthusiasm of a child who had no shame. His gaze then drifted to Mikoto, calmly sipping her tea, her movements deliberate and composed. Finally, his eyes settled on the empty chair beside Sasuke.

Uchiha Mikoto, sharp as ever, sensed the shift in her husband’s demeanor.

She followed Fugaku’s gaze to the vacant seat.

A quiet pause. She took a delicate sip of her cooled Shiro tea, then spoke softly to Fugaku.

“You know, when Itachi heard the prophecy from Iizumi… when he publicly declared that he would one day carry it out… he made it impossible for him to return openly to the Uchiha Compound. Impossible to sit at this table, to eat with his family.”

“It was his own choice. And you yourself said, after the fact, that no matter which path Itachi chose, you’d be proud of him. Because of the capacity he displayed—something you deeply admired.”

“So now, you’re mourning him again. Fugaku… in the Ninja World, no one can have it both ways.”

“Even Iizumi, for the sake of his Absolute Justice, had to turn his blade of justice against his only blood relative—cutting off every thread of family with a single stroke.”

Fugaku exhaled deeply. He tore his eyes from the empty chair and looked at his wife.

“Every time you speak of Itachi… you always bring up Iizumi.”

Fugaku’s tone was stiff, cold.

“If someone outside the clan didn’t know better, they’d think you two were close. Closer than you are to your eldest son. Closer than you are to your own husband.”

Mikoto’s brow furrowed slightly.

Before she could respond, Fugaku continued.

“I just have a bad feeling. Something’s going to happen tonight. And it’s almost certainly connected to Itachi. And almost certainly tied to the Uchiha Clan.”

Mikoto froze.

Sasuke, who had been eating at a steady pace, slowed down. He tilted his head slightly, ears pricked, listening.

“Uchiha Setsuna was already killed by Iizumi, wasn’t he?” Mikoto said. “The Uchiha extremists were crushed in that blow. They haven’t stirred up any trouble in days. No radical speeches. No violent actions. Nothing extreme.”

“In that case, Itachi has no reason to target the Uchiha Clan. Without the extremists stoking anger, the clan poses no threat to the Leaf Village.”

She paused. “So why would Itachi do something like this? Not when the clan is currently powerless?”

She still believed her eldest son, no matter how twisted he’d become, wasn’t insane. There was a faint filter in her eyes—her son, her blood, even if the bones were broken, the sinews still bound.

“He’s not that far gone,” she said quietly. “Not yet.”

“I don’t know,” Fugaku muttered, exhaling a heavy breath. “The Hokage knows about Iizumi’s prophecy. I think he’d rather not see the entire Uchiha Clan wiped out. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have used them in the first place. To him, the Uchiha Clan is still a weapon. A tool.”

“So he’ll try to talk to Itachi. Itachi may not listen to his parents, but the Hokage’s orders… he’d follow them. He’d restrain himself.”

But even as he said it, Fugaku’s voice lacked confidence.

A normal person might.

But was Uchiha Itachi normal?

…

“Uchiha Itachi… your warped, twisted, irredeemable mind has long since stepped beyond the bounds of what a normal person in the Ninja World should be. Even the most depraved criminals don’t possess the kind of mental distortion you do.”

“Those criminals are evil, yes—but at least their minds are sound. Yours? I can’t see any sanity in you. I’ve given you countless chances. I’ve tolerated you countless times.”

“But each time, you cast aside every chance Justice gave you. Every ounce of patience. You’ve become so irredeemable that you’ve never once believed your actions were wrong.”

Uchiha Iizumi stepped forward, one deliberate step after another.

With every word, the air around him grew colder—yet the temperature in Itachi’s surroundings began to rise. The very atmosphere warped before his eyes.

A faint scent of sulfur filled the air. The tender green buds on the nearby trees withered instantly, turning yellow. Cracks of flame flickered at the edges of dried leaves on the ground—burning without a flame.

The heat scorched Itachi’s face. Each breath burned his lungs.

“You see Absolute Justice as a threat to the Leaf Village,” Iizumi stopped, only ten meters away now. He and Itachi stared at each other across the distance. “You want to erase it immediately.”

“That’s the truth,” Itachi said, drawing in a deep breath of the sulfurous heat. His confident expression faltered, replaced by grim tension. He shifted back half a step, creating distance—just in case Iizumi made a sudden move.

Then, eyes locked on Iizumi:

“Uchiha Iizumi… you have no idea the damage your Root has done to the Leaf Village. Every time you raised your sword, you weakened the village’s strength. Bit by bit, you’ve hollowed it out.”

“Now the Leaf Village is less than a third of its former power. All thanks to your Absolute Justice. You dare deny that the village’s decline is your doing?”

“Uchiha Itachi! The ones you call victims were rotten inside the Leaf!” Iizumi’s voice cracked with fury. She raised her Ninja Sword, eyes blazing. “They were parasites feeding on the village’s core!”

“Shimura Danzō—researching Bloodline Limits, he targeted Leaf’s own Bloodline ninja, even the war orphans. How many lives did he destroy? How many innocents did he ruin? Did you even see it?”

“Hiruzen Shintetsu—son of the Third Hokage. Hiding a secret research base. Conducting inhumane experiments behind the Hokage’s back. Pretending it was for the village’s good. A lie. A cruel excuse for evil. He was dragging the village into the abyss!”

“Hiruzen Asama—betraying the village. Plotting to assassinate his own comrades. The Hokage’s second son, siding with the Daimyō of Fire Country. You call him a lover of the village? He’s the worst kind of traitor!”

“And there are countless others! In your mouth, these monsters are victims of your Absolute Justice. But in reality, you are the one who twisted justice into evil!”

“I’ve never met someone so ridiculous. Today, Uchiha Itachi, you’ve taught me something. Iizumi’s right—your mind is broken.”

To Iizumi, Iizumi’s actions were pure—meant to heal the village, to purify the world.

But Itachi had twisted everything.

Itachi glanced at her.

“Izumi… you’ve been brainwashed by his extremism. The Leaf Village doesn’t need Absolute Justice. It needs the correct Fire Nation Will.”

He turned his gaze slightly away, avoiding Iizumi’s eyes—afraid of being ensnared by her strange kekkei genkai.

“Since you’ve decided to kill me… I don’t need to—”

His words cut off.

His Sharingan snapped into focus.

He saw it.

Ten meters vanished in an instant.

Iizumi had already drawn her sword—blitzed across the distance—and the blade came down in a flash, aimed straight at Itachi’s skull.

If he didn’t dodge, he’d be split in two.

Itachi threw himself backward.

The sword sliced through his Anbu mask—crack!—the butterfly-shaped faceplate split cleanly in two.

Beneath it, a young face—still boyish, but etched with tension.

He didn’t stop. As he rolled back, he flung a volley of ten shuriken.

He slid backward, re-sheathed his sword, slapped his hands together—six seals in one second.

“Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Red Claw!”

The shuriken erupted in flames, becoming blazing meteor-like streaks.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

They struck Iizumi’s body—piercing through her chest, exiting from her back.

But then—something impossible.

The shuriken, still mid-flight, stopped. They turned molten, collapsing into pools of red-hot iron before crashing to the ground.

Itachi landed at the riverbank, breathing hard.

He wasn’t surprised.

Iizumi’s ability to turn elements into liquid metal—she’d shown it before.

“Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!”

The Leaf Village River erupted. Thick streams of water, as wide as barrels, surged forward from multiple directions.

Itachi wasn’t just a Fire Release specialist. He knew Water Release too—though not as well.

Then—another voice, from behind Iizumi:

“Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!”

A clone of Itachi appeared—materializing behind Iizumi.

A massive dragon made of water lunged forward, jaws wide.

“I’ve planned for this battle many times,” Itachi said, face calm. “Lava cools rapidly when it meets water. It solidifies into obsidian, basalt… volcanic rock. And I’ve seen your past fights. You always dodge or block Water Release techniques. That means Water Release is one of your weaknesses.”

Boom!

The water attacks struck Iizumi’s position. Itachi heard the hiss of lava meeting water—sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

It hit.

But then—his face darkened.

This was too easy.

Iizumi wouldn’t fall so quickly.

She knew Water Release was her weakness. She’d have a defense.

Then—in an instant.

A massive cloud of white steam exploded before him.

Scalding hot vapor surged forward like an explosion wave. It burned Itachi’s face instantly.

He leapt back—into the river—diving beneath the surface to escape the blast.

When he surfaced, coughing, he looked up.

There stood Iizumi—her entire body glowing with molten lava—towering over the riverbank.

“Should’ve read more books,” she said, voice calm. “Lava hitting water does cool. But it also causes a violent explosion. The water vaporizes instantly. The steam expands to nearly 2,000 times its original volume. A steam explosion. It’ll cook a person alive.”

Itachi heard the mockery in her voice.

And he saw it—her right arm, lava swelling, pulsing.

“Great Eruption!”

His eyes widened.

A colossal fist of molten rock plummeted toward him.

Itachi slammed his hands together.

“Raven Shadow Clone Technique!”

His body split into dozens of crows, scattering in every direction.

The lava fist slammed into the river—BOOM!

The shockwave was deafening. The river erupted—spouting water thirty meters high. The riverbed was exposed.

The river was split in half—cut off for several seconds.

…

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi was walking back to the Hiruzen Clan residence when the explosion echoed.

He paused. At first, he thought it was another incident at the village’s edge.

But then he frowned. He looked toward the sound.

It was inside the village.

“What in the world…?” Sarutobi’s heart skipped.

Tonight was going to be one long, sleepless night.

“Hokage-sama.”

An Anbu guard dropped from a rooftop, landing silently beside him.

“Likely related to Uchiha Iizumi. I saw a glow—similar to Molten Release.”

“Iizumi?” Sarutobi froze.

A chilling thought struck him.

“Could it be… the Akatsuki member who fought Iizumi outside the village? Did they make it inside?”

It wasn’t impossible. The Akatsuki had taken Orochimaru. Sarutobi had no doubt they were dangerous.

“Gather all Anbu! Alert every Jonin in the village—move toward that location now!”

Sarutobi’s voice turned sharp. Orders flew.

“Others, with me,” he said to the other guards. “Prepare for an external attack.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama!”

…

The deafening roar of the river’s destruction shattered the peace of the Uchiha Compound.

The small soup bowl on the table trembled—spilling a few drops.

Fugaku shot to his feet, knocking his chair over with a loud screech.

Sasuke, mid-bite, flinched.

Fugaku stormed to the doorway, wrenched open the door, and leapt onto the roof in an instant.

In the night sky, far in the distance—a pulsating, chaotic light flickered like a molten heart.

Orange and yellow flames danced, swirling across the heavens. Even from here, the heat was palpable. A visible shockwave rippled outward.

Molten Release.

Iizumi.

The dread he’d felt—confirmed.

“…Iizumi… and… Itachi. It’s happened.”

Fugaku’s voice was low, hoarse—trembling, though he didn’t realize it.

All his unease, all his worry for his eldest son, now focused on that churning inferno.

A voice in his mind whispered: This isn’t just about Iizumi. It’s about Itachi too.

It was the worst thing he feared.

“Fugaku!”

Mikoto stepped outside.

She saw only his shadow vanishing into the night.

Only his fading voice on the wind:

“Iizumi’s Molten Release. I suspect the one she’s fighting inside the village… is Itachi. Stay here. Watch Sasuke. Don’t let him go out. Don’t tell him anything.”

Mikoto’s breath caught.

“Mother?” Sasuke stepped out, confused. “What’s wrong?”

Mikoto took a deep breath, forcing a smile.

“An Investigation Corps incident. Your father needs to handle it.”

She lied.

“I can help,” Sasuke said earnestly. “I’ve learned a lot from Iizumi-sensei and Iizumi-sama. I can assist.”

Mikoto ruffled his hair gently.

“It’s not serious. He’ll be back soon.”

…I hope so.

The thought passed through her mind—silent, heavy.

…

The thunderous blast shook the entire village.

Even in a distant inn room, the window frames vibrated.

Kushina jolted awake, her eyes snapping open.

The orange glow flooded the room, lighting her golden hair and furrowed brow.

Molten Release?

That kid caught another Evil Offender?

Why is this village turning into Takeshita Street? How does the old man, as Hokage, manage this mess? Why are so many criminals always drawn to her?

The familiar, destructive Chakra signature stirred a flicker of doubt in her eyes.

“Shizune! Go check what that brat’s up to!”

She shouted, then shattered the window and shot out like an arrow—straight toward the fire.

“Kushina-sama! Wait!” Shizune cried, instinctively clutching her piglet close before sprinting after her.

…

Elsewhere, in a quiet corner of the village.

Jiraiya sat cross-legged on the Hokage Rock, just finished speaking with the Sage Shin'zaku and the Sage Shima.

Shima’s voice echoed in his mind:

“Young Jiraiya… the boy named Hyūga Neji… gifted, fated for hardship… but I sensed no light of the one who will guide change.”

“The prophecy clues from the old man and that impolite Uchiha child… they’re not in him. But he’s promising. Future partner for the Chosen One.”

“If you’re not too busy, you could take him as a disciple.”

Jiraiya scratched his messy white hair.

Sighed.

“Guess I was wrong. Taking him as a disciple? That’d be stealing from the Hyūga. There are others—like the Uchiha girl by Iizumi’s side…”

He was about to ask about Uchiha Izumi when—

A massive column of molten light tore through the sky, painting the night an eerie orange.

Jiraiya froze.

“…What in the world?”

Shin'zaku, perched on his shoulder, squinted.

“Jiraiya… is this some kind of festival firework?”

“Firework? This isn’t a performance! This is Molten Release! That kid’s fighting someone—hard.”

Jiraiya’s face darkened.

To force Iizumi to use this kind of power inside the village—her opponent had to be terrifying.

His mind raced.

Who could possibly…?

Then—a chilling thought.

…Could it be the Hokage?

He shuddered.

…

The flock of crows scattered in all directions—half of them were instantly vaporized by the lava.

But one cluster landed on a power pole, reforming into a human shape.

The red Three Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes had transformed—into a Mangekyō Sharingan.

“Tsukuyomi!”

This was the first time Uchiha Itachi had used his Mangekyō Sharingan on a fellow Leaf ninja.

His left eye’s Mangekyō pattern began to rotate.

Iizumi, standing on the riverbank, saw the pattern reflected in her own eyes.

Then—in an instant—her body dissolved like water.

A clone.

An illusion. A Molten Release clone.

“He predicted I’d use Tsukuyomi. He split off a clone immediately after the attack.”

Itachi realized—Iizumi knew about my Mangekyō.

Did she know his left eye was Tsukuyomi?

Did she know his right eye was Amaterasu?

And… did she know he had Shisui’s Mangekyō?

The fear didn’t stop him.

His eyes glowed red with cold fury.

He inhaled sharply—then charged forward, not retreating.

Shuriken! Explosive Tags!

Three kunai, wrapped in explosive tags, screamed through the air.

At the same time, his hands flew through seals.

“Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Fire Technique!”

Itachi leapt into the air, face tight.

He exhaled—dozens of fireballs, like a rain of embers, poured down from above the steam.

They filled the air—cutting off every escape route.

But only silence answered.

“Last Struggle.”

Iizumi didn’t move.

She raised her arm—and it turned to lava.

Red, molten rock twisted and stretched—forming a massive, jagged lava hound.

The beast snapped—crunching—through the kunai.

The blades melted instantly, turning to molten iron.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions erupted—shredding the lava hound—but Iizumi remained untouched.

Itachi’s eyes widened.

The gap in power was overwhelming.

Yet—he confirmed it.

This was the real Iizumi.

His resolve hardened.

Tsukuyomi was useless.

Then—use the fire that burns everything.

His right eye—Mangekyō Sharingan—pulsed open.

The spiral pattern spun violently.

All his Chakra. All his will. All his hatred—poured into it.

He locked onto the blurred figure in the steam.

He bet Iizumi only knew Tsukuyomi.

He bet she wasn’t all-knowing.

The Ninja World didn’t have a god.

Absolute Justice couldn’t create a god.

Not in this world.

Itachi focused—everything.

“Amaterasu!”

In an instant—darkness.

An abyss of pure, consuming black.

No flame. No light. No fuel.

It burned everything.

The black fire ignited—without a spark.

It consumed the heat of the lava. It devoured the steam.

It burned toward Iizumi.

“Huff… huff… huff…”

Itachi gasped, his face pale.

Only twelve years old.

He’d used Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu back-to-back.

His body trembled. His vision blurred.

He coughed—his hand came away wet with blood.

He didn’t care.

He stared at the black fire.

Did it work?

Then—the steam parted.

And he saw it.

Around Iizumi—a massive ring of crimson bones.

The black fire burned—not on her.

But on the bones.

A word escaped his lips.

“Susanoo.”

“Uchiha Itachi,” Iizumi said, her voice calm, unshaken—despite having used two Mangekyō techniques.

“You know… when I meet someone foolish, I try to wake them. If that fails, I cut off an arm. If they still don’t wake… I cut off their legs. Until they see the truth.”

Itachi froze.

Was she… sparing him?

“But,” she added, “if the fool is both foolish and evil… and violates Justice’s boundaries… I use a simpler method.”

Her words fell like stone.

Around her—the bones grew.

A massive, skeletal arm formed—then a weapon.

A sword.

Huge.

“…Is the gap really this wide?” Itachi whispered.

He’d always believed he had Mangekyō too.

Even if younger, even if slightly weaker—the gap wasn’t that big.

But now?

He realized.

He was wrong.

“I won’t let you underestimate my Capacity,” Itachi growled.

“Or my will to protect the Leaf!”

His eyes bled red.

Around him—a ring of crimson bones.

His Susanoo formed.

The same color as Iizumi’s.

“Susanoo!”

The voice was cold, determined.

The Susanoo entered its second form.

Flesh and veins of Chakra wrapped the bones. A massive red sword was gripped tightly.

“Huff… huff…”

This was his limit.

Twelve years old. First time using this.

He didn’t know how long he could hold it—maybe half a minute. Maybe ten seconds.

He had to end this.

Then—his eyes lifted.

He looked up.

And saw it.

A colossal, armored Susanoo—red, towering, like a volcano—stood in the heart of the Leaf Village.

Three or four times taller than his own.

It stood there—a red mountain.

“Face reality,” Iizumi’s voice echoed. “Even Mangekyō Sharingan… have their differences.”

And then—the sword descended.

The blade was larger than Itachi’s Susanoo.

CRACK!

Itachi’s second form—fragile as tofu—was split in two.

His vision froze.

On the battlefield—a god of red fire.

“…It really is…”

“…End it…”

He whispered.

In an instant—the blade flashed.

His body—vaporized.

No remnants.

No resurrection.

Uchiha Itachi…

was dead.

…

…

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end