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Ryūchi Cave.
Sasuke was busy preparing for the seventh trial match, set for seven days from now.
His opponent remained unknown, but one thing was certain… they had to surpass the level of Pain's Six Paths.
Kabuto's sage training wasn't finished yet. The only viable sparring partner for Sasuke was, naturally, Itachi.
In the past, limited by his failing body, Itachi had only mastered half of the Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu. Now, having taken the longevity pill, his body was fully restored and his chakra reserves had seen a qualitative leap. The other half of the art… came naturally.
Dark red pigment appeared around Itachi's eyes. It flowed down, merging with the tear troughs beside his nose, then folded upward, extending to his earlobes.
The crimson sage chakra cloak he could manifest in his half-sage state became more defined in his full sage form. The tails of the coat lengthened, gaining swallow-tailed hems that made his presence seem even more ethereal.
His eyes, in a state of perfect clarity, remained calm. But compared to before, that calmness held a trace of human vitality. More natural.
BOOM…!!
A wooden dragon erupted from the mountainside, its body coiling down.
CRACK…!!
The Totsuka Blade struck first, slashing clean through the dragon's body.
"Sasuke, watch out!" Itachi called.
Over a dozen Yasakani Magatama, infused with Fire Release sage power, transformed into a storm of massive, claw-like crimson fireballs.
"Oh, this move…"
Sasuke smirked. The arm of his Susanoo suddenly split apart, morphing into the purple tentacles of Jiongu. They shot with pinpoint accuracy through the central holes of the flying magatama, stringing them together like beads on a necklace. Then, he flung the whole chain back at Itachi.
Itachi smiled. "Your precision with that technique has improved again, Sasuke…"
CLANG…!
The Yata Mirror ignited before him, deflecting every single returning magatama.
"Itachi, your moves are still the same old tricks," Sasuke said.
"Speaking of which…" Itachi replied, "I do have a new one."
"Oh?" Sasuke's interest was piqued. "Let's see it then!"
Itachi formed a seal with two fingers.
―Sage Art: Mirror Image Clone!
Whoosh!
Another Itachi, identical in appearance and presence, materialized directly behind Sasuke.
"A clone with the exact same power as the original? A sage art like that…!?"
"Only a full master of Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu can use the Mirror Image Clone," Itachi explained. "It creates a perfect duplicate of yourself in power and ability for a short time. The price is that once it vanishes, you immediately exit Sage Mode."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "So… it's a last resort. Because if the fight isn't over by then, the tide turns completely against you."
"Exactly," Itachi said. "But for a spar between us brothers, there's no need to hold back!"
BOOM!!
Itachi's Mirror Image Clone activated its crow tengu Susanoo. It raised its Yata Mirror, facing Itachi's own Susanoo and its mirror.
Then… Itachi's main body did something shocking.
He drove his Susanoo forward, shield-first, and rammed Sasuke with the Yata Mirror.
THUD…!!
Sasuke, along with his Susanoo, was sent flying back.
"What the—!?"
At that moment, the Mirror Image Clone's Susanoo from behind thrust its Yata Mirror forward.
THUD…!!
Sasuke was bounced back toward the front, THUD…! smacking into the first mirror, only to be bounced back again. Over and over.
―Sage Art: Twin Mirror Rebound Technique!
Inside the Temple.
A figure clad in form-fitting black under-armor lay languidly across her throne, a vision of fiery allure. Snake-like straps and a flared skirt sealed away paradise. A waterfall of jet-black hair spilled across the entire seat. Her legs, long and pale as snow, were bent slightly at the knee and parted.
If not for the distinctive golden, vertically-slitted pupils in her eyes, the cat's eye gem pendant always around her neck, and the slender smoking pipe held between her lips… no one would ever believe this peerless beauty, whose looks rivaled Kaguya's but whose aura was its polar opposite… was the Great White Snake Sage.
Her red lips parted, exhaling a cloud of smoke. She sounded mildly exasperated. "That rejuvenation pill Orochimaru made… the formula was off. This venerable one wanted to revert to eight years old. He made me eighteen instead…"
"Not bad, not bad at all. But this humanoid body is… rather inconvenient…"
"Are those two brothers playing ping-pong?"
She watched the live feed of the brothers' spar in her crystal ball. She ordered Ichikishimahime and Tagorihime, who were attending her, "The left shoulder. Massage it."
BOOM…!
A disturbance came from the Dragon-Transformation Sage Mountain where Kabuto was training.
…
The Land of Rivers. A nameless village.
Returning to the present from his memories, Katsuya regarded the inscrutable junior before him with eyes that were not his own.
Orochimaru extended a hand, offering no explanation for his own affairs. "Now, Lord Katsuya. Hand over Kagami's eyes."
With a gnarled hand, Katsuya dug the Sharingan from his own eye sockets. Twin trails of blood traced the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. The moment the eyeballs rested in his palm… a surge of hesitation, a primal impulse to crush them, flashed through him.
But in the end, he placed the eyes into Orochimaru's waiting palm.
He did not ask what Orochimaru intended to do with them. Why? Perhaps a man who had spent a lifetime running felt he had no right to ask. Or perhaps, after a lifetime of running… he chose to run one last time. Only Katsuya himself knew.
"Well then, I shall take my leave."
As Orochimaru pocketed the eyes and turned to go, Katsuya asked, "Little Tsunade… is she well?"
Orochimaru replied, "Not long ago, she became the Fifth Hokage of Konoha."
Katsuya's expression softened. "Ah… that child. She really is remarkable…"
He raised his hands and formed a string of seals.
FWOOSH!
Golden flames consumed his body. He chose this method to end his life.
Orochimaru glanced back, a slight frown creasing his brow. "Are you sure about this?"
"This is for the best," Katsuya's voice was calm within the fire. "You were right. My whole life has been one of escape. Escaping the duty my bloodline bestowed. Escaping the responsibilities of a Konoha shinobi. As a son, as a father, as a subordinate, as a leader… I have been a failure…"
"My body aged, but my spirit remained trapped in a self-made ivory tower."
"In the end, forget about inheriting my father's glory… I couldn't even measure up to my own son, Nawaki, who died so young."
Orochimaru did not defend the life Katsuya deemed a failure. He merely offered a positive judgment based on the final result.
"At the very least, you preserved a fine pair of eyes for the shinobi world. By that result alone, your merit is immeasurable."
"But I… I really never wanted to be a maidenhair fern…"
Katsuya's body turned to ash. The wind stirred through his remains, lifting a seed that seemed both real and illusory. Under Orochimaru's watchful gaze, it drifted toward the horizon.
In the flower fields of Konoha, a single sunflower broke through the dark soil. It grew, vigorous and thriving, its face turned unerringly toward the Hokage Monument.
Outside the village, reuniting with Karin and Yamato.
Orochimaru gazed into the distance. "The Five Kage Summit approaches. It's about time to retrieve Sasuke-kun and the others…"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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