"Oye! Oye! Itachi! You better not think that you saved my ass there. I could have taken care of myself out there." Tenma Izumo, one of Itachi's teammate bickers in front of Itachi.

"The thought hasn't crossed my mind." Itachi nonchalantly replies to Tenma. ​​

"Even if you didn't end up helping me…"

Bonk…

Tenma is interrupted by a punch from Itachi's other teammate, Shinko Inari.

Tenma clutches his head and questions Shinko.

"Aw.... that hurts! What are you doing?"

"Why are you still saying stuff like that? He's your friend. Of course! He is going to help you." Shinko reprimands Tenma.

"Heh! Me! His friend. Are you daydreaming?" Tenma points at himself and Itachi.

"I was just fulfilling my mission." Itachi calmly reply to Shinko.

Bam… bam…

Shinko punches both Itachi and Tenma.

"Both of you stop bickering like this. We have completed our escort mission of Land of Fire's Daimyo. Yuki Sensei has to move ahead of us due to the mission." Shinko presses her hands against her non-existent chest.

"You too, Itachi. Stop being so difficult to Tenma." Shinko reprimand Itachi.

"All right! Isn't there something you want to say to Itachi?" Shinko folds her arms and stares at Tenma.

Tenma gulps a mouthful of saliva and avoids Shinko's gaze. He points a finger towards Itachi and speaks to him.

"I swear I'll make up to you for this!"

Shinko elbows Tenma in the gut,

"Why can't you just say, THANK YOU?"

Tenma gets up and they continue to travel towards Konoha.

After a while, a swirling portal opens up in front of them. Obito walks out of the portal and looks at Itachi.

"Found you. Since you are the only one out of the protection of Leaf Village. I have to go with you. I am sure if I take you as a hostage, it will force him to stop his action."

The masked Obito attacks Team 2.

"Enemy, get in formation."

Itachi warns his teammates. He immediately makes some hand signs,

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu"

Itachi launches a giant fireball at the masked man. The giant fireball phases through the masked man.

"How... how is this possible?" Itachi's eyes widen.

'My fireball phased through his body. How?'

He quickly makes more hand signs and launches many shurikens towards the masked man.

'Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu'

Itachi takes out another shuriken and throws it towards the rest of Shurikens. The shurikens change their trajectory and bombard the masked man at tricky angles.

'Looks like he is aiming for me. I have to buy some time for Tenma and Shinko to escape.'

The masked man avoids the shuriken and continues to move towards Itachi.

'Wind Release: Pressure Breakthrough'

Itachi fires a high pressure compressed air towards the masked man. The compressed air phases through the masked man.

Itachi had a serious expression. He forks out a scroll from his pocket and bit his thumb. Itachi wipes away the blood on the scroll and a seal appears on the scroll.

'I hope Nii-san's jutsu work on him.'

Itachi points the scroll towards the masked man.

Swish…

A very fast black lightning arrow escapes from the scroll and penetrates the hand of the masked man. The black lightning arrow zaps the masked man and paralyzes him. Many Fuinjutsu seals binds him in one place.

"This is…" The masked man's eyes widen, and he looks at Itachi with disbelief.

"So, this is the gift given to you by him. Not bad, if I have to say. But it won't be able to hold me for long." The masked man smirks.

Obito activates the Hashirama cell inside his body and resists the paralysis caused by the black lightning Arrow.

"Tenma, Shinko, we have to run as far as possible. We are no match for him, and I don't think even Sensei can do anything against him. We have to escape, my jutsu can only hold him for a few more moments." Itachi warns his teammates.

"But…"

"Ask your questions later. For now, just run for your life." Itachi interrupts Tenma and runs towards the village.

Tenma and Shinko follows Itachi.

"Itachi, who is he? He seems to be after you for some reason." Shinko questions Itachi while running.

"I don't know who he is. But he seems to be an enemy of big brother Izuna, and he wants to kidnap me to force Izuna nii-san to do something for him." Itachi deducts.

They run for five minutes and couldn't spot any trace of the masked man. Tenma and Shinko heaves a sigh of relief and Tenma speaks,

"That was a close call. We have escaped from him, I don't think he can trail us anymore."

"Oh! Do you honestly think you have shaken me off?"

The masked man walks out of a swirling portal. Tenma clenches a kunai in his right hand and shouts to Itachi,

"Itachi! My time to repay you have come." Tenma dashes towards the masked man.

"No, stop Tenma. You are no match for him." Itachi shouts to Tenma.

Slash…

The masked man slashes Tenma along his chest. A large fountain of blood spill from Tenma's chest and he desperately tries to attack the masked man.

Slash…

The masked man slashes again and Tenma's right-hand separates from his body. Tenma falls on the ground and sorrowfully looks at Itachi.

"I am sorry, Itachi. I wasn't able to fulfill my promise." Tenma closes his eyes and silently lies on the ground.

"No… Tenma! No…" Itachi shouts in desperation.

Chakra gathers in his eyes, and Itachi awakens his Sharingan. Two-tomoe Sharingan appears in each of his eyes.

"Now come with me like an obedient child."

The masked man approaches Itachi and tries to grab him.

Crack…

One of the bandages on Itachi's arms breaks and a large Fuinjutsu seal appears on the ground. A large tri-corner red barrier encloses Itachi and pushes back the masked man.

"Your big brother is quite doting of his younger brother. He even places a Three Yang barrier formation to protect you in case of danger. Too bad it won't be able to last long against me.

The masked man pulls out a large black rod from his sleeves. He stabs the black rod in the barrier. The Black rod sucks out the chakra from the barrier.

Crack…

Cracks start to appear on the barrier and the masked man gets ready to attack Itachi.

------------------

At Amegakure,

Izuna faces against Pain. Nagato has summoned all Six paths of Pain to confront Izuna. Izuna destroyed all of them except for the Deva Path.

"I will show you the true power of God." The Deva Path claps his hands and infuses large amounts of Chakra in his palms.

Crack…

One of the rings in Izuna's finger snaps in half. Izuna looks at the ring and a frown appears on his face,

'Itachi is in danger. He is facing a life and death situation. The safety of Itachi comes first. Looks like I have to postpone my fight against Deva Path.'

"Goodbye! Kami-sama. I have some urgent matters to handle. I will see you later." Izuna looks at the Deva Path and disappears in a flash.

Izuna's figure shatters into countless fragments and disappears from the scene.

"He left." Konan flies from a nearby boulder.

"He used the Space-time Ninjutsu of the Fourth Hokage. I don't know what his intentions were, but thankfully he left us alone. I still don't have enough control over the movements of Six Paths.

If we had continued, then I would have lost to him. He will be a great hindrance to us in the future. I would have to ask Madara to deal with him. I am sure only Madara can deal with him."

The Deva Path remarks at Izuna's prowess. Together with Konan, he returns to Amegakure.

--------------

Obito stabs another black rod in the 'Three Yang Formation'.

'It's almost time for it to break. I have to take him as a hostage and force the Shinigami to withdraw.'

Shatter…

The Three Yang Formation shatters and the masked man continues forward to stab the black rod towards Itachi.

Clank…

Izuna teleports in front of Itachi and blocks the strike.

"I hope I have made it on time." Izuna looks towards a stunned Itachi and smiles at him.

"Let me deal with the enemy first and I will talk with you later." Izuna looks at the masked man.

"It's you again. You want to kill Itachi because you can't deal with me. Huh! I have to make sure you return with a few limbs less for your courage to pull such a stunt against me."

Chirp… Chi…

Izuna coats his blade in Lightning Chakra. The blade produces sounds similar to the chirping of a thousand birds.

"No… not this technique. I don't want to see it again."

Obito clutches his head as memories of Rin's death flashed through his mind.

"Captain!... Captain!"

A subtle voice breaks their momentum.

"Captain! What are you doing here? You were out on a mission right. How come you are here?" Izuna spots Kakashi dashing toward him from a distance.

'Kakashi!... I have to go, I can't face him.'

Obito clutches his head and uses Kamui to teleport away. Izuna allows Obito to escape.

"Kakashi! What are you doing here?" Izuna questions Kakashi.

"That's my question, Captain Izuna," Kakashi complains.

"I am you Captain right! So answer me first." Izuna ignores Kakashi's question.

"It is like this." Kakashi explains the details of his mission.

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A/N:- Well, it is my way to postpone one of the most awaited fight. Messing with Obito and Nagato will change much of the canon stuff and apparently most of you don't want that. So, here it is. Also, you can relate Itachi part to canon but for different mission.

P.S. Don't hate me for it and just wait for next chapters. Everything will slowly be put into pieces.