Why don't you use sealing techniques?
For a ninja, critical information often determines victory or defeat.
Take Asuma Sarutobi's death, for example.
The Pain invasion was another instance where things could have played out differently. What if Might Guy had been in the village at that time?
However, even if Might Guy had opened the Eight Gates, without knowing that the Six Paths of Pain were just corpses controlled remotely by Nagato, he might have recklessly charged in and sacrificed himself in vain.
But Xu Fan now possessed complete knowledge of Uchiha Itachi's abilities.
Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, Susanoo, Izanami…
"As long as I don't make eye contact with his Sharingan, I won't fall into his genjutsu."
As for Amaterasu and Susanoo, Itachi wouldn't reveal them unnecessarily—that would only deepen Konoha's fear of the Uchiha clan and hasten their coup attempt.
And Izanami? Xu Fan wasn't worried about that at all.
"As long as I remain true to myself, I won't be trapped in Izanami's cycle of fate."
But today wasn't about fighting Itachi. Xu Fan had a different goal—to prove his power and convince Itachi that he was capable of what he claimed.
"Are you invincible?" Itachi asked, shaking his head. He truly couldn't understand the source of Xu Fan's unwavering confidence.
However, if Xu Fan didn't recognize his own limitations, he would only lose himself.
"Know yourself, Xu Fan."
Itachi's voice was low as he smoothly drew his blade and vanished. In an instant, he reappeared behind Xu Fan, moving so swiftly that an ordinary person wouldn't even perceive it.
Holding his sword with both hands, he drove it straight forward.
Shing!
Xu Fan didn't dodge. He stood firm and allowed the blade to pierce his chest.
"Huh?"
Itachi's eyes widened in surprise. When he had moved behind Xu Fan, he had deliberately slowed his hand slightly, letting his killing intent leak out.
Yet Xu Fan hadn't moved at all.
Too weak.
Itachi's brow furrowed. Given Xu Fan's earlier bold statements, he had expected some level of resistance.
But this… was the result?
Still, as a Konoha shinobi, Itachi had not aimed for a lethal strike.
"This is bad…"
Kakashi, hidden in the shadows, clenched his fists. He had seen Xu Fan fight off Root operatives with ease, so how could he fail to evade Itachi's attack?
And Itachi had clearly held back.
Was the gap between them truly that vast?
Even Xu Fan wasn't a match for Itachi?
"Itachi... just how strong are you?"
Yet before Kakashi could intervene, Xu Fan did something unexpected.
Clack! Clack!
Xu Fan gripped the blade impaling his chest with both hands. His body changed rapidly—his flesh lost its color, transforming into solid wood.
Both Itachi and Kakashi's eyes widened.
"A substitution? No..." Kakashi muttered, quickly rejecting the idea. A standard Substitution Jutsu involved swapping oneself with an object to create an opening for counterattack.
But Xu Fan's transformation wasn't a simple switch.
"This is... a Wood Clone!"
Kakashi instinctively lifted his headband, exposing his Sharingan to search for Xu Fan's real body.
His mission was to secretly guard Xu Fan and prevent another assassination attempt by Root. Yet he had followed Xu Fan since leaving the Senju residence, and not once had he seen him form a single hand seal, let alone activate a jutsu.
"When did he—?"
"That was a Wood Clone?" Itachi murmured. "You have the same abilities as Tenzo... no."
He shook his head, dismissing his own assumption.
No—Tenzo had the same abilities as Xu Fan.
Xu Fan was the true inheritor of Wood Release.
It was only now that Itachi realized the weight behind Xu Fan's claim of invincibility.
He wasn't ignorant—he had awakened an ancient power lost for generations, inheriting the might of the First Hokage.
Boom!
Just as Itachi activated his Sharingan to locate Xu Fan, a hand burst from the ground, seizing his ankle.
Meanwhile, the Wood Clone still held Itachi's blade, preventing him from retrieving it.
"From below."
Without hesitation, Itachi raised his free hand, forming no seals, and unleashed the Uchiha clan's signature technique—
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!)
The massive fireball lit up the forest, exposing the hidden Root operatives and Kakashi, who had been watching from the shadows.
But Kakashi was the most shocked of all. His Sharingan-enhanced vision granted him exceptional clarity, yet even he couldn't track Itachi's hand movements.
"This battle… doesn't make sense."
Then, something even more shocking happened.
Rather than escaping, the figure clutching Itachi's ankle pulled itself from the earth—revealing a massive wooden construct at least five meters tall, entwined with a serpent-like figure.
And its eyes were mere carvings—it was immune to genjutsu.
"The Wooden Golem Jutsu..." Kakashi gasped, rubbing his Sharingan eye in disbelief. "First a Wood Clone, and now this?"
Even Itachi was momentarily taken aback. He summoned eight shuriken into his hands and combined them with Fire Release, aiming at the golem's key joints.
He needed to dismantle this entity before it became a bigger threat.
Boom!
But despite its size, the wooden construct moved swiftly, gripping Itachi's leg and slamming him into the ground.
Boom!
Then again.
Boom!
And again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After several consecutive impacts, the construct seemed to tire of its prey. It lifted Itachi one last time before hurling him to the ground.
And at last, Xu Fan appeared, standing atop the wooden golem, gazing down at Itachi from above.
"Now do you understand?"