He was well aware of the power of the Jujutsu system. Even if its numerical values were inferior to Chakra, its bizarre abilities were incredibly difficult to deal with.
This was especially true for Gojo Satoru's Limitless. In a normal fight, he would be unable to break through it. But the Six Eyes were both a blessing and a curse; Gojo Satoru was almost defenseless against his Mangekyo.
The moment he had an opening, he would hit him with a Tsukuyomi, completely incapacitating Gojo Satoru.
Normally, Gojo Satoru wouldn't have escaped Tsukuyomi so quickly. The half-baked Senjutsu Chakra was causing immense damage to his body, but for the sake of this opportunity, he charged forward without even trying to heal.
Itachi Uchiha's hands slowed, and he instead began to channel the power of his Mangekyo.
But how could Sasuke let him succeed? Possessing the Mangekyo as well, he pressed forward. Two pairs of Sharingan stared intently at each other, their faces inches apart!
The power of their hatred was almost tangible. The two brothers stared into each other's eyes, and Sasuke's Chakra interrupted his Tsukuyomi.
Gojo Satoru formed a hand seal, a bloodthirsty and crazed expression on his face. The mental damage made his brain throb with pain, but an opportunity like this would never come again.
"Domain Expansion—Unlimited Void!"
A pitch-black sphere engulfed all three of them.
The range of a Domain Expansion has always been its most criticized aspect. While the capture radius of Gojo Satoru's Unlimited Void was not small, making it a devastatingly effective technique for crushing weaker opponents...
...a ninja like Itachi Uchiha was nearly impossible to trap. They had various substitution techniques, the Body Flicker Technique, and even genjutsu that could completely deceive his senses.
A Domain, the ultimate weapon of a sorcerer, had surprisingly little suppressive power against a ninja. If it missed, the resulting Cursed Technique burnout from dispelling the domain would be enough to cripple a normal sorcerer. Of course, if it hit, that was another story entirely—
Inside the domain, Gojo Satoru placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, shielding him from the overwhelming flood of information.
Itachi Uchiha, however, was not so fortunate. An endless stream of useless information poured into his brain, freezing his movements. Pitch-black flames crept up his arm, eventually engulfing more than half of his body.
Even someone as powerful as Itachi Uchiha was a glass cannon—a ninja with high offense but paper-thin defense. With enough Chakra, he could overwhelm them, relying entirely on the suppressive power of Tsukuyomi and other genjutsu.
The petrification on Gojo Satoru's body flaked away, replaced by flesh regenerated by his Reverse Cursed Technique. In the Shinobi World, half-formed Senjutsu Chakra was lethal, but not for someone who possessed the Reverse Cursed Technique.
He was incredibly glad he had found a way to research Senjutsu Chakra during his slumber. If he had simply used it up, he would have been completely unable to participate in this fight against Itachi Uchiha.
Sasuke watched as the flames slowly consumed his nemesis. Realizing the fight was over, his vision blurred—a symptom of the fatigue from overusing his visual prowess so soon after awakening his Mangekyo.
"Such magnificent eyes." Just when they thought they had won, Itachi Uchiha suddenly spoke.
"How is that possible? You were hit by my Unlimited Void, yet you can still move?"
"The chaotic and complex information is indeed powerful, but your understanding of the mind is far too superficial." Most of Itachi Uchiha's body had been incinerated by the flames. Though he had regained consciousness, he clearly had no strength left to fight.
He raised his only remaining arm and pointed to his own eyes.
"The power of the Sharingan is the power of the mind. The Tsukuyomi space can also input a massive amount of information; a month of torture within it is but an instant in the outside world."
"However, the Sharingan's greatest weakness is its immense drain on mental energy and visual prowess. Overusing its techniques not only causes great physical harm, but the Mangekyo will eventually go blind."
"Only one person has ever solved this problem. The method is to transplant one's own brother's Mangekyo—and it must be a blood brother."
"By doing so, one can awaken the Eternal Mangekyo—a Mangekyo that will never go blind from overuse. It is the ultimate power of the Uchiha clan."
Hearing this, Gojo Satoru realized something was wrong. Unlike Sasuke, who was consumed by hatred, he carefully reviewed the fight and noticed its inconsistencies.
Itachi Uchiha seemed to have consistently maintained a level of injury just short of lethal. It would have been far easier to kill them than to repeatedly inflict heavy wounds.
Now, after hearing his words, Gojo Satoru confirmed his suspicion. His true target was indeed Sasuke, but not to kill him.
Gojo Satoru pulled his blindfold back on, as if to hide his expression. Only Sasuke, his reason consumed by hatred, failed to see the problem—but that was exactly what Itachi Uchiha wanted.
"Then why did you kill them all? Weren't they your own clan?"
"To test my own mettle. To test if I had the resolve."
As he spoke, Itachi Uchiha gouged out his own eyes and casually tossed them to Sasuke.
"Now, let me see your mettle. Eternal Mangekyo. Since you've won, show me… the ultimate power of the Uchiha clan."
Sasuke instinctively caught the pair of eyes—the very eyes that had haunted his nightmares for countless days and nights.
With only bloody sockets remaining where his eyes had been, Itachi Uchiha stared intently at him, as if he could still see Sasuke's expression. The black flames then completely consumed him.
In that final moment, Sasuke saw a faint smile on his face.
"Don't return to the Shinobi World, my foolish little brother..."
The flames of Amaterasu dissipated within the bounds of the Limitless. With their disappearance, Itachi Uchiha made his exit. The inextinguishable fire had finally claimed its first victory.
Sasuke stared at the Mangekyo Sharingan in his hands. As slow as he was, he had begun to realize something was amiss. Tears of blood streamed from his eyes, as if weeping, but he didn't know for whom he cried.
He couldn't understand. He couldn't understand any of it—what it was all for, what the truth was, why Itachi Uchiha had told him not to return, why he had left him his eyes before he died...
The domain dispersed. Gojo Satoru felt nothing but humiliation. The entire battle had been under Itachi Uchiha's control, including their final victory, which was merely another part of his plan.
"Did we win?"
Yuta Okkotsu appeared, supporting Naruto. A mere piercing wound had healed quickly thanks to the Reverse Cursed Technique. In other words, the only one who had seemingly died was Kakashi.
Sasuke instinctively rushed to Naruto and hugged him. He didn't want to think about anything else. He only knew that Naruto was alive, and that was enough.
So this is what it feels like to have a comrade who cares about you? Naruto reflexively patted Sasuke on the back.
Tonight's battle seemed to have deepened the bond of their companionship.
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