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In the Black Ball Space.
Inexplicable black energy is present all around and is constantly forming several vortexes that would swallow anyone and tear them down to shreds. Mighty Thunder and lightning flash from time to time, making a loud roar, anyone who would be victim to such terrifying lightning would be burnt to a corpse in an instant but these vortexes and lightning don’t seem to affect or disperse the darkness of the Black Ball Space.
“Meow~” with a soft meow Fuwafuwa suddenly appeared in the darkness, and the very next second she disappeared in the darkness without leaving any trace as if she was never present there.
In the depths of the Black Ball Space, where the darkness is looming, a touch of light illuminated Shisui’s face, his black hair swayed slightly and some kind of unknown energy is constantly entering his body.
After a while, Shisui opened his eyes, but different from his normal eyes with black pupils and white sclera, this time these eyes were pitch black, and there were clear signs of a maddening look on his face.
Smash…
The very next second, a black stick appeared out of the darkness and slammed on the young man’s back.
There was a low muffled sound, and Shisui grunted in pain, “Ouch…”
Shisui resisted the intense pain coming from his back, and his eyes were cleared as the pitch blackness from his eyes also disappeared, but there was no happiness on his face, rather a regrettable expression, “Failed again!”
Even Shisui is inevitably a little frustrated after repeated failure. Every single attempt of mastering Senjutsu has resulted in failure, each time he will be swallowed by Natural Energy, and by now he has already lost count of how many times he has failed…
Then there is the strangeness of this Black Ball Space, there is no sense of time, and he doesn’t know how long has it been since he entered it. This darkness, repeated failure, and worry that something might happen to Itachi and the village are constantly affecting his mentality, making him impatient, and restless, “Is it really so difficult to learn Senjutsu?”
This question is a bit difficult for him to accept.
Shisui has always been a genius since he was a child. He was born with three basic Chakra Natures and had amazing talent in all three of them, his Genjutsu proficiency is one of the best in the entire history of the Uchiha Clan. His amazing talent allowed him to be able to master a basic Body Flicker Jutsu into something very unique and made him famous all over the Shinobi World for that. Then he awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan at a very young age and along with that he also awakened the ultimate Genjutsu Kotoamatsukami. Not to mention he is one of the very few Shinobi to have survived the Hashirama Cell Transplantation and also awakened Mokuton.
Of course, Shisui wouldn’t say that he is the ‘most’ talented Shinobi out there considering there are freaks like ‘Hashirama Senju, Uchiha Madara, and Hyuga Kuroto standing above him, but, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that his growth has always been quite smooth with few roadblocks…
He never thought that he would encounter something so terrible where he would be short of talent… but right now, he is indeed stuck in the first level of Senjutsu training and hadn’t made any progress even after hundreds of tries.
Shisui knows that Senjutsu is extremely difficult to master, this is not only because it has very high requirements, but also because very few people get exposed to the knowledge of Senjutsu in their lifetime.
And here he is, who has not only been exposed to Senjutsu but also meets the requirements to be able to master it… but he has not been able to make any progress even after so many tries… so it is inevitable to get frustrated, ‘Damn it! Why am I failing again and again?’
Just when Shisui was getting more and more restless, he suddenly felt a pair of arms wrapping around his neck, a body clinging to his back and a familiar voice sounded next to his ears, “Calm your mind, and do not let restlessness take over you, nya~.”
The person who hugged him from behind is obviously the Nekoshou, Kuroka.
Ever since she entered the Black Ball Space, her physical body seems to have completely disappeared but she seems to be present everywhere inside the Black Ball Space, it is as if she has become the Black Ball Space itself. And all this while, she has been helping Shisui and making sure he does not get overwhelmed by Natural Energy.
Whenever the Natural Energy present in the Black Ball Space would start to take over him, or start to corrupt his mind, Kuroka would beat Shisui’s back with the Black Stick and expel all the Natural Energy at once.
The only problem is that Kuroka’s hands seem to be a bit too strong, and each time she smashes Shisui’s back with the Black Stick, it really hurts…
Noting Shisui’s restless mind, Kuroka gently nibbled his ear much to his embarrassment, then said, “Right mindset is extremely important to master Senjutsu… So, be patient nya~.”
Shisui sighed, then took a deep breath and calmed down slightly… he did notice that up until now his mentality has been a little impetuous because he wants to get out of here as soon as possible due to the worries in his mind…
And this strange dark space where there is no sense of time is also affecting his emotions strangely…
These things are not allowed if he wants to master Senjutsu…
But Kuroka’s brought Shisui out of restlessness and eased his mind.
After a while of silence in which Shisui readjusted his mentality, he closed his hands together and said, “All right… let’s start again.”
…
Ding Ding Ding Ding…
In the Red and Black chaotic Space, two fast figures flickered from one place to another and from time to time sparks flew due to the collision of metal.
The two figures are natural Itachi and Dark Itachi who have been fighting all this while in an attempt to defeat the other so as to get out of this strange red and black space.
Sometimes they would use ninjutsu, other times they would use Shurikenjutsu, Genjutsu, or Kenjutsu, but no matter what sort of Jutsu or tactics either side used, the stalemate continued because the other side seems to be able to counter and respond to each Jutsu perfectly.
Neither side remembers for how long they have been fighting this battle… perhaps it’s been minutes(?), hours(?), or maybe even days(?)… but one thing that both sides seem to have accepted is that they are an equal match to one another…
As another one of his Genjutsu was broken by the other party using Tsukuyomi, Itachi coughed lightly and muttered, “It can’t do on like this…”
The Dark Itachi smirked after noting Itachi’s state, and said, “Heh, it doesn’t seem that you will be able to hold on for too long.”
Itachi looked at the Dark Itachi whose breathing is extremely rugged, and shook his head lightly, “You are in no better condition than me.”
“Tch!” Dark Itachi clicked his tongue in annoyance… because what Itachi said is indeed correct, Dark Itachi’s condition is no different from Itachi… both of them are extremely tired and don’t have much fight left…
Itachi sighed, and after some time of thinking, he asked, “Tell me something… you claim to be my inner self… but what is it that you truly desire?”
Dark Itachi was confused, and looked at Itachi in confusion, “What do I truly desire? Seriously, are you asking me this question now of all times?”
Itachi nodded, “What I have always desired is peace… I want to be able to grow strong enough to be able to stop all wars… this is what wish to achieve… what is it that you desire? What desire of ours gave birth to you?”
Dark Itachi’s face darkened, “Don’t you already know?”
Itachi shook his head, “Maybe I know… maybe I do not know… I am not certain. This is why I am asking you; I want to know… What is the desire in our heart that gives you motivation and strength?”
Dark Itachi was silent, then chuckled, “So, you want to get rid of that desire in our heart in order to defeat me?”
Itachi didn’t reply… just silently waiting for the other party’s answer…
Dark Itachi deeply looked at Itachi, then shook his head, “You need to figure it out yourself… if you can’t even figure out what is that desire in our hearts, then you will never be able to defeat me…”
After listening to Dark Itachi’s words, Itachi smiled… because he has already figured out the answer…
And when Dark Itachi saw that smile on Itachi, his expression shrank and panic appeared on his face… but he did not have much opportunity to be able to say or do anything because his body suddenly burst into flames and disappeared…