Chapter 374: Making a Deal

Hidden deeply somewhere in the Land of Fire was one of the long-abandoned Uchiha clan hideouts. In the middle of said hideout sat a young man with black hair, black eyes, and an indifferent facial expression on his face. It was clear that he was waiting for someone.

Unfortunately, someone else appeared instead of the person he was waiting for.

“Yo, Itachi. You have prepared quite an excellent stage for your final battle.”

An ugly expression appeared on Itachi’s face when he saw the new arrival before his face returned to its neutral expression.

“Why are you here, Yuna Uzumaki? I have no business with you.”

“Geez, what’s with the cold expression Itachi? Aren’t we good friends? Shouldn’t you be happy to be capable of witnessing my beauty once more before you allow yourself to get killed by Sasuke?”

Itachi almost coughed out some blood when he heard Yuna claim that they were friends, while her last statement made his eyebrows twitch in irritation.

Naturally, he had long suspected that Yuna knew more about the motivation behind his deeds than other people, but he didn’t expect that she knew that he would sacrifice himself today as well.

He pondered how Yuna could have possibly come to that conclusion for a short moment and then simply shrugged his shoulders. Whether she guessed it or had another source of information honestly didn’t matter at this point in time. However, there was something else he was rather curious about.

“How did you find out when and where this fight would happen?”

A mysterious smile appeared on Yuna’s face as she wagged her index finger at Itachi.

“Sorry, that’s a secret.”

Naturally, seals were involved. Due to Hisoka’s knowledge of the future, Yuna knew that this final battle would be at an “Uchiha Hideout”, so all she had to do was search for such a hideout and install a few alarm seals in it that would tell her of Itachi’s arrival.

Although this was somewhat of a gamble since she couldn’t know if this battle would be held in the same location in this timeline, but in the end, the gamble succeeded, giving her a chance to spectate this hopefully amusing battle.

Although Itachi was somewhat unhappy with Yuna’s answer, in the end, it didn’t really matter whether she told him about it or not. The fact that she didn’t appear to be here to mess up the situation was already more than enough to satisfy Itachi, so he decided not to probe any further.

“Oh well, I will search for a nice place to spectate everything now. See ya.”

Yuna was just about to vanish when Itachi called out to her.

“Please wait a moment. I would like to make a request. Or rather, I would like to ask you for a favor.”

A frown appeared on Yuna’s face as the atmosphere between her and Itachi changed, becoming significantly more severe. While Itachi couldn’t help but be bewildered by the sudden shift in mood, Yuna pondered his request and, moments later, nodded her head.

“Very well, you removed the Uchiha clan from Konoha, which made the life for my little brother and me a little easier while also giving me information about Danzo. Well, I tricked those out of you, but I will count it partially due to how important it was. In conclusion, I will grant you a minor favor.”

For some reason, Itachi’s whole body shivered when Yuna said that she would grant him a minor favor. He couldn’t really put his finger on it, but he felt like he had just received something precious.

Despite that, he pushed onward and started speaking.

“Very well, as people who are very protective of their little siblings, you, of your little brother Naruto, and I, of my little sister Satsuki-chan…”

[Oi, oi…]

‘Hush, Kurama, can’t you see how he is opening his heart in front of me.’

“… I would like you to protect her after my death.”

Yuna pondered Itachi’s request for a moment before shaking her head in denial.

“No, that’s too much.”

A frown appeared on Itachi’s face before he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

‘Indeed, protecting someone for the rest of their life is too much for just a little favor.’

“Okay, then how about this: She only joined Akatsuki to make it easier to reach me. Can you convince her to leave Akatsuki after my death?”

Yet again, Yuna started pondering before she nodded her head.

“That’s fine, but to do that properly, I will have to tell her the truth about you. Otherwise, she would be too easy to manipulate. Well, she still would be easy to manipulate, but it wouldn’t be that bad.”

Itachi shook his head when he heard Yuna’s words.

“If you were to tell her the truth about me, he would become an enemy of Konoha, which would pretty much guarantee that he remained in Akatsuki.”

Yuna scoffed in disdain when he heard Itachi’s words.

“Are you mocking my skills in manipulating people? If I gave it my all in manipulating her, she would leave that conversation with a patriotic expression on her face while spouting nonsense about the Will of Fire.”

Itachi really wanted to dismiss Yuna’s words, but he couldn’t. Didn’t she, as a six-year-old, extract an S-Rank secret from him while he was an ANBU commander? Now that she was older, how hard could it be to trick Sasuke into believing whatever she wanted? A six-year-old Yuna could easily trick him when he was 13-years-old. How easy would it be for a 16-year-old Yuna to do the same with a 16-year-old Sasuke?

“*Sigh* Fine, but if possible, I would like you to prevent her from becoming an enemy of Konoha, as well.”

“That’s fine since it more or less is part of the deal.”

Itachi sighed in relief when he heard Yuna’s words. Like this, Sasuke would at least not be manipulated… Well, okay, he would be manipulated, but he at least wouldn’t become even more revenge crazed.

“You know what, Itachi? I’m in a good mood, so I will make the deal even sweeter for you. Satsuki will undoubtedly see me as a target of her revenge as well, so I will promise you now that I will permit her two free tries without consequences. Well, I will beat her up, but I will not capture or kill her.”

Itachi was taken aback by Yuna’s sudden offer. Although he had no idea why Sasuke would see her as a target for revenge, he was thankful for Yuna’s offer. Despite that, he couldn’t help but be a little skeptical as well.

“Why would you do that? I don’t see you getting any advantages out of this.”

The moment Itachi finished speaking, he knew that he should have kept his mouth shut as Yuna’s face twisted into an inhuman grin.

“Because I love it, Itachi. I love beating up arrogant people that ooze self-confidence. I love how their faces slowly twist from arrogance to fear to despair as they realize how utterly outclassed they are.”

Itachi quickly averted his gaze from Yuna’s face to prevent meeting her eyes. This might have been the first time in the history of the Uchiha clan that one of their members avoided eye contact instead of seeking it.

‘I’m sorry I have to send this demon after you, Satsuki-chan, but this is the only way I can guarantee your safety.’

Meanwhile, Obito and Zetsu were cursing Yuna’s existence again and again.

Zetsu simply wanted to spectate the fight between Sasuke and Itachi, but he immediately ran away when Yuna appeared in front of Itachi.

Obito wanted to pick up Sasuke after the fight was over and goad him into attacking Konoha, which was out of the window now. Neither he nor Zetsu dared getting too close to Yuna, so all they could do was discard the idea of watching the fight.