Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his vision now limited. He picked up a kunai and cautiously surveyed his surroundings, but before he could react, a fist struck his face, sending him flying.
While still in the air, he repositioned himself to land on his feet, but Jugo was already behind him, delivering a powerful kick that sent him flying again into the ceiling.
Sasuke made a hollow sound of pain, spitting saliva as he slammed into the ceiling, only to begin falling immediately afterward. It took him less than a second to regain focus and see a figure to his left. He positioned his arms to smuggle, but the figure turned out to be just an afterimage. The next moment, he was struck in the right waist by a side kick.
Sasuke continued trying to keep up, but even with his Sharingan, he couldn't parry a blow.
Bruised and battered, Sasuke finally managed to fall to the ground. He could barely stay on his feet, trembling and breathing with difficulty. By this time, the mist had already cleared and he could see Jugo slowly approaching him with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets.
-Hey, is everything alright over there? Want to take a break?- he asked mockingly, making Sasuke seethe with rage.
Sasuke didn't respond, the curse mark went straight to stage two as he made hand seals. His black and white Chidori reappeared, the sound of thousand birds filled the room. He yelled as he charged forward, fast, extremely fast. At that moment, Sasuke's speed was comparable to an elite Jonin.
But while he seemed to see Jugo in slow motion almost being pierced by his chidori, a cold smile already forming on his face, Jugo moved, he made a simple jump to the side, dodging the chidori from close range, making Sasuke's pupils widen, he could see it, but he couldn't move to adjust to that speed.
He could only see when Jugo seemed to be slowly taking his hand out of his pocket, it seemed slow, but it was so fast that his body had barely moved an inch. His newly advanced 3-tomoe Sharingan could keep up with Jugo's current speed, unfortunately the rest of his body couldn't.
The next moment, a fist moved closer to Sasuke's face, Sasuke could only see when the fist made contact with his face.
The next moment, Sasuke's blackened figure lost control of the Chidori and was sent flying in the opposite direction at extreme speed. A heavy noise rang out as the boy collided with the wall, which remained intact only due to the seals.
Jugo approached slowly, Sasuke had already emerged from the second stage of the cursed mark, he was breathing with difficulty, blood dripping from his mouth.
He could barely open his eyes, seeing Jugo still with his hands in his pockets, staring at him with an expressionless face, as if he were looking at something worthless.
He recognized that look, he had seen it in his brother.
Sasuke had only one idea in his mind now, Jugo was strong, very, very strong. Not even Kakashi could act like he was hitting a child like Jugo did to him.
He's so strong that he felt hope, hope of gaining the power he needed to kill Itachi.
-So?- Jugo asked calmly. -Do you want to continue?
Sasuke didn't answer at first, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't speak, he was still breathing heavily. Finally, he forced a hoarse voice as he spoke. -I accept... to be your student.
-Well, we start tomorrow, someone will come later to show you your accommodations.- Jugo said lightly, before exploding in a puff of smoke.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
All that time, he was only fighting a clone?
Sasuke clenched his fists reluctantly, he was still weak, very weak, but in the next moment, his eyes grew heavy. He was weak, but he would become stronger.
His desire for strength reached a new level.
Jugo did this completely on purpose, just to stir up Sasuke's desire for strength and also to illustrate Jugo's own strength.
On the other side, Jugo was with Kin and Dosu, as well as the three dogs that had come with them. After all this time, the trio had grown much larger and continued to grow!
Getsu was the size of a pony, Yoru and Yami were almost the size of horses!
Jugo was certain that it was due to the constant energy in their bodies, strengthening them, they were still in the infantile stage, so their growth wouldn't stop anytime soon.
Soon they could no longer be taken on missions openly, after all, dogs that big were too obvious for ninja work.
Kin was hugging Jugo tightly, feeling very happy due to her growing strength. Even without using Jugo's cursed seal, she was already as strong as an elite chunin, almost a special jonin.
Dosu had the twin Kiba swords on his back, his single eye still holding an indifferent look, but he was also happy because he was the one who fought against Raiga, even having to use his curse power in its second stage, he still defeated him single-handedly.
Raiga was a ninja who had survived the Third Shinobi World War, an elite Jonin, yet he was still defeated by him.
Behind them was a bag, Jugo could feel the soul inside the bag and knew exactly who it was.
Ranmaru, Jugo was very interested in this boy's kekkei genkai, a mix of Byakugan and Sharingan, allowing him to see and hear at a distance and see through obstructions. Furthermore, the dōjutsu has the ability to neutralize another individual's visual perception, as it can completely prevent them from seeing chakra and overcoming genjutsu. Notably, he can also perform elaborate genjutsu that deceive sensory abilities. On separate occasions, Ranmaru has been able to mask his own chakra circulatory system or fabricate multiple systems with perfection. In both cases, Ranmaru does this by manifesting a red dust around himself or his target.
With his dojutsu, Ranmaru possesses heightened perception and analytical powers, enabling him to uncover and understand hidden details. Ranmaru admitted that he could read people's innermost thoughts. He can also detect changes in an individual's chakra or see their life force, which he can use to predict an opponent's next move or accurately determine if someone is alive, far beyond the Byakugan's ability to detect life through its active chakra networks. Furthermore, Ranmaru is able to transfer a portion of his own life force to completely heal someone who is near death.
It was too good to pass up, so Dosu and Kin were tasked with bringing him along. As for the boy refusing to cooperate? With his body weakened, Jugo's plan from the start was to transform him into a werewolf. Along with his cursed seal, Ranmaru would become a cutting-edge combat form in the future, something extremely necessary for the Hidden Sound Village at the moment.
Jugo grinned as he approached the bag. He felt something trying to probe him, but unfortunately it couldn't before being repelled. The bag moved slightly, but Jugo didn't stop, his fingers quickly transformed into black claws.