“I used a new genjutsu against the enemy jutsu. A genjutsu that orders me to protect Konoha.”
Summary
Naruto and Killer Bee encounter Itachi and Nagato, who are both quickly put under the control of Kabuto and forced to start fighting the Jinchuuriki. After Itachi reveals the truth of Tobi’s words that snowy night and activates his Mangekyou Sharingan, the hidden crow in Naruto from many episodes ago reveals itself, with an unknown Mangekyou embedded in one of its eyes.
Impression
The nostalgia of these battles hits me every time – the fact that most of the revived shinobi have actually been dead for quite a while, while it seems like just yesterday for them. In their perspective it may feel a bit surreal to begin with, but a lot has changed during the time Naruto last had contact with either Nagato or Itachi, to the point where he’s now able to fight on par with him in terms of taijutsu at least. Itachi’s surprised that Naruto has managed to gain control of the Kyuubi’s chakra, as well as the fact that he knows about his true intentions surrounding his life actions – that Itachi was actually a double agent for Konoha, meaning that Tobi was telling the truth all along. Itachi acted out the role of the villain in order to maintain the reputation of the Uchiha clan as well as give Sasuke an object of hatred to focus on, with Sasuke being able to return to Konoha as a hero after killing him. Of course, Sasuke being the emo he is, decides to destroy Konoha instead for making his brother suffer, which is not what Itachi intended at all.
Trust Itachi to have a last-resort plan even after his death that involved yet another new Mangekyou Sharingan jutsu – Koto Amatsukami, obtained from Uchiha Shisui, whose death was misunderstood by Konoha’s residents to be Itachi’s fault as well. Shisui’s eye ended up being implanted into a crow that Itachi forced into Naruto when they last met, which activated Koto Amatsukami upon seeing Itachi’s Mangekyou Sharingan again, which Itachi suspected Sasuke would transplant in replacement of his eyes in order to gain even more power. It’s just really unfortunate that Kabuto’s interference resulted in Itachi meeting Naruto first instead of Sasuke, as if such a powerful genjutsu, which broke the Edo Tensei with no weaknesses worked on someone as strong as Itachi, Sasuke would probably have been compelled to follow its “protect Konoha” command too.
With Itachi free, the big real threat is now Nagato, who is still a strong opponent even after death, with the Rinnegan and his ability to summon – we never saw it while he was chained in that chair while using the Six Paths of Pain, but he can use all the abilities that his Six Paths can, from Shinra Tensei to that energy absorbing thing he used to combat Killer Bee’s Jinchuuriki form. It seems like he’ll be using Chibaku Tensei next week as well, which Naruto only stopped the first time after going up to eight tails and reverting back with the help of the Fourth Hokage.
