"You're too arrogant, Sasuke," Itachi's face darkened. From the very beginning, his goal had been to guide Sasuke to master the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. But Sasuke's current attitude was a disappointment.
"You know nothing about true power."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Itachi closed the distance between them in an instant. To Sasuke's surprise, a fist slammed into his stomach.
Sasuke stumbled back in pain, but he could already hear the sound of something cutting through the air behind him. "Is this what you call power?" A contemptuous smirk played on Sasuke's lips as his legs erupted in lightning, and he shot into the sky, looking down at Itachi with defiance.
"Your speed is decent, I'll give you that. But unfortunately, you're too obsessed with your eyes. In terms of taijutsu, the gap between us is insurmountable," Sasuke said, tilting his head back with pride.
Itachi didn't know how to describe the feeling in his heart. Annoyance, pride, and perhaps anger all swirled within him.
"You underestimate the blood of the Uchiha, my foolish little brother," Itachi said with disappointment. He had defected from Konoha and gone undercover in the Akatsuki for the sole purpose of cultivating Sasuke, letting his eyes grow stronger in the fires of hatred. But Sasuke had gone astray. He no longer believed in the power of his eyes.
"You don't realize the true potential of the Sharingan at all."
With that, Itachi formed hand seals. "Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon!"
"Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon!" Sasuke unleashed the same jutsu. Two fire dragons intertwined in the sky, sending sparks raining down to the ground.
"Everything you've mastered, in my eyes—" Sasuke's figure vanished again. When he reappeared in front of Itachi, his body was crackling with violent lightning, his black hair standing on end, even showing a tendency to turn yellow.
"—is completely useless."
His lightning-wreathed right leg swung toward Itachi's stomach. With a piercing shriek, it struck home.
Boom! With a massive explosion, Itachi was sent flying, crashing into the statue of the First Hokage beside the waterfall.
Sasuke's figure followed like a shadow, appearing beside the statue. He grabbed Itachi by the collar, pulled him from the crater, and held him above the water's surface. Debris from the statue continuously tumbled into the lake below, the roar of the waterfall filling the air.
A contemptuous smirk played on Sasuke's lips as he said coldly, "Are these the eyes you seek?"
"I admit, your growth has exceeded my expectations," Itachi said, staring quietly into Sasuke's eyes, blood trickling from his mouth. "But my eyes are not as simple as you think."
Sasuke saw a strange smile on Itachi's face, and a warning bell went off in his head. Sure enough, Itachi's entire body dissolved into a flock of scattering crows. His true body appeared behind Sasuke.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." A scorching fireball traced a red arc through the air as it hurtled toward Sasuke.
"The Great Fire Dragon was useless, and now you're using a Great Fireball?" Sasuke thought, a strange feeling in his heart. He turned and, without even bothering to use a jutsu, met the attack with a single punch. The roaring lightning around his right fist blew the fireball apart. Embers rained down into the waterfall below, hissing as they hit the water.
"Are you holding back, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, his face cold. "Do you want me to kill you, take your eyes, and evolve them into the Eternal Mangekyo?"
Sasuke's words made Itachi's body jolt, and a flicker of panic rose in his heart. He took a deep breath, his expression serious. "My foolish little brother, you've certainly gained some measure of strength."
"But that strength has made you far too arrogant."
With that, his Mangekyo Sharingan slowly spun. "Amaterasu." Black flames shot toward Sasuke. The water beneath them boiled and evaporated, but it did nothing to diminish the flames.
"Amaterasu." Sasuke's eyes also transformed into the Mangekyo, and he unleashed the same technique. The two masses of black flames collided and churned on the water's surface, evenly matched.
"My foolish little brother, in the end, don't you still have to rely on the power of your eyes?!"
"You don't realize the terror of the Sharingan."
"And without that resolve, you will be utterly destroyed by me."
"Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon." Itachi formed a hand seal with one hand, his expression unreadable, and spewed a fire dragon that merged with his Amaterasu, pushing the black flames toward Sasuke.
Boom! A violent explosion erupted on the water's surface where Sasuke stood. The extreme heat caused the water in the area to evaporate, and stray embers shot out, landing on the statues of the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara. Thick smoke billowed out, and the entire lake churned.
"Did I go too far?" Itachi's heart tightened as he looked at the dense smoke. If he had accidentally killed Sasuke, his entire plan would be ruined.
But soon, his worries were put to rest.
Boom! A wave of roaring lightning spread out, tearing through the smoke. The sky above them filled with thunderclouds. Crackling lightning danced across the lake, and countless fish floated to the surface, belly-up. The air was faintly filled with the smell of cooked fish. In the water, the advantage of Lightning Style was magnified to its fullest.
Even though Itachi had gathered a great deal of intelligence on Sasuke beforehand, he was still shaken by the sheer power of this Lightning Style. The current Sasuke had undoubtedly surpassed the level of an ordinary Kage. If he didn't take this seriously, he could actually die!
"Itachi, prepare to die!" a cold voice came from within the lightning. Sasuke directed the lightning from the sky to strike down at Itachi.
He really wants to kill me, Itachi thought, but there was also a hint of pride in his heart. His little brother was truly a genius of the Uchiha clan, to be able to push him this far with just ninjutsu, taijutsu, and Amaterasu.
The blinding lightning engulfed the entire lake, continuously striking the surface. There were likely no living creatures left in the water. The entire lake was filled with the deafening roar of thunder and black smoke. Sparks of lightning shot out, igniting the grass on the shore, the small flames quickly growing into a raging fire.
The statues of the First Hokage and Madara, which stood by the waterfall, were already showing various degrees of damage, debris continuously rolling down from above.
Then, a red light appeared in the center of the lightning, and a giant, red, armored figure stood up against the storm.
"Susanoo?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he looked at the armored giant floating on the water, protecting Itachi. "You think a broken jutsu like that can stop my Kirin?" he sneered, the lightning around his body erupting with even greater intensity as several more bolts shot down from the thunderclouds. The lightning coalesced in the air into the shape of a roaring Kirin, which then descended.
Crack, crack, crack. The Susanoo held the Yata Mirror in its left hand and the Sword of Totsuka in its right. It met the Kirin head-on, the crackling lightning striking the Yata Mirror with a deafening screech.
Boom! With a final roar, the Kirin was finally blocked by the Susanoo, but tears of blood streamed from the corners of Itachi's eyes.
"Is this the extent of your power, my foolish little brother?" Itachi's aura had weakened considerably, but his words were still mocking.
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