Chapter 199 - Chapter 201

Naruto and Sasuke had arrived at their location and immediately they could tell they were too late. "See, we're late because you wanted to stay and play with that weirdo back there! Just one time, I wish you would listen to me when we're out on missions." Sasuke wasn't in any particular good mood. Being late here meant their mission failed.

"So what? If Ace won, Blackbeard, is back in the New World with Whitebeard. If Blackbeard won, we know where he'll take Ace. Let's just go and check with Whitebeard." Naruto and Sasuke were elite-level ninjas so they had already memorised all the relevant information about this world, and their first mission that was stopping Blackbeard and Ace's confrontation.

"Sure, strongest man in the world. Let's just waltz right in and demand to see Ace." Sasuke sat down on the ground to take a breather. They had run the entire way here, so their chakra levels were down quite a bit.

"Why not? Dad did it, right?" Naruto and Sasuke were told about what Amell had done so far, and what his general plan was.

"Yeah, because that's the same thing. First of all, it's not even certain that my Sharingan or your beast can survive against Whitebeard. Secondly, Ace doesn't know about us. Our mission was primarily stealth. Don't you remember what Shisui said? Only intervene and save Ace if he needs it."

"He needs it now! Let's go check HQ or Impel Down and see if Ace is there!" Naruto was overly excited about everything. He was amazed by the idea of world travel so he wanted to go everywhere and see everything no matter the danger attached to it.

"Let's just contact Shisui and see what he'll say."

"No need, I can tell you what needs to be done." From the shadow of a nearby building, someone looking like an adult version of Sasuke walked out.

"Brother!?" Sasuke jumped up on his feet. His eyes almost popped out of his eyes. Naruto wasn't much better off. He didn't instantly recognize Itachi as the man had changed a lot since they last saw him.

"How are you here?" Sasuke asked. He was very excited as he hadn't seen his brother since he became Alucard's disciple. Itachi's hair was now longer and spikier. His eyes shone brightly in the colour of the perfect blood moon. He had grown another head in height, and he was in very good shape.

"Same as you. I travelled here right after you did." Itachi walked over slowly. Even the air seemed to dodge out of his way, he had a whole other level of killing intent naturally exuding off him.

"Why? Shouldn't you be back home leading the Akatsuki against Kabuto?" Naruto asked as his knowledge of Itachi and the Akatsuki were quite limited. There were so many moving parts in their war against Kabuto so he didn't have full knowledge of it all.

"I got a new mission, protecting you two here. Did you think Amell would send you out here without some backup?" Itachi smiled kindly and threw a picture over to Sasuke. "That's our target!" He said calmly.

"This is? Isn't this..." Naruto stared at the picture because he knew he had seen this man somewhere. "AAH! I know him now! Why are we going after him?" Naruto finally figured out who he was and Sasuke slapped him in the back of his head.

"That's obvious if you stop to think for a second or two."

"Right," Naruto laughed awkwardly. After one second of playing connect the dots in his head, he was now caught up with the plan. "I get it. So, Itachi, why are we going after him?"

"Who said we're going after him? We're to do what we're trained to do. Track and observe." Itachi's aura was powerful, it was like standing in front of a mini version of Alucard. His words carried massive weight and Sasuke stood in awe at how his brother had changed.

"Brother, what happened to you? First of all, why are your eyes red? I don't see your Sharingan."

"I've been under Master Alucard's training for a few years now. I got accepted as the Vice-captain of the first division that he governs, so I had to become a little stronger to be able to do my duty." Somewhere deep inside those blood-red eyes, you could see the torment of years of Alucard based training.

"Congratulations Itachi! You did it, it seems!" Naruto said with a big smile.

"Indeed. I'm surprised I survived everything he put me through."

"So, what happens now?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"We do our mission like good soldiers, and when the time comes for us to act, we will!" Itachi said and the ground shook slightly from the powerful intent behind those words.

"So, where is he?"

"It's not important to know where he is now. We will go where he will be. So, our target island is Sabaody and we need to go now as there's quite the distance to go." Itachi gave them a serious look and the boys understood his intent and put their game faces on.

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End