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Pale Moon Island.
Sasuke stood bare-chested, his Susanoo enduring the fierce baptism of the Takitsubo Falls. In its grasp was the divine weapon that had pierced the Gedō Mazō at the climax of the Ninth Battle—the Ame-no-makakoyumi, a composite bow forged from the Earth Grudge Fear!
Sasuke called to Orochimaru watching from the shore. "Relying on the Wood Golem's power to draw this bow is too cumbersome. This time, I want the Susanoo itself to do it. What are your thoughts?"
Orochimaru's opinion was characteristically direct. "That would likely require a Perfect Susanoo."
Sasuke raised a hand to shade his left eye. "Obviously. And that's impossible in the short term…"
During the Ninth Battle, he had absorbed the White Cursed Seal's Stage Four further, successfully restoring his left eye from a Byakugan back to a Sharingan. This was the configuration he would take into the Tenth Battle.
And in that Tenth Battle, he had two critical goals. First: fully absorb Stage Four of the White Cursed Seal, liberating his right eye as well.
Second: push this pair of Mangekyō—eyes that had only held onto their light this long thanks to the Yang Seal—to their absolute limit. To the brink of blindness. To seal their ocular power. Only then, by transplanting Fugaku's eyes, could he awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
So… a Perfect Susanoo? That was a concern for after the Tenth Battle.
WHOOSH!
The waterfall's powerful current crashed against the Susanoo's back, splitting over its shoulders and cascading down its waist…
Sasuke focused. If raw power wasn't an option, he had to find a different path. A technical one.
A breeze drifted to the shore, stirring Orochimaru's long hair. A faint smile touched his lips. "Then consider it from another angle. If you could give this half-formed, muscular Susanoo power equivalent to a Perfect Susanoo… that should also suffice, no?"
"Give the half-form… the power of the complete body?"
Sasuke pondered, then acted. His method was simple. Brutal.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The bones within the Susanoo's right arm—the one gripping the bowstring—grew. They twisted and fused together, densely packed. Encased in muscle, the arm's skeletal structure swelled to over three times its original thickness.
CRUNCH!
Sasuke commanded the Susanoo to pull.
…The bowstring didn't budge.
"Strength isn't just about bone density, it seems," Sasuke mused.
Orochimaru stroked his chin, eyes glinting. "The Shikotsumyaku allows complete manipulation of all things related to 'bone.' Its shape, growth direction, quantity, hardness… and its bone energy."
"Bone energy?"
"The 'energy' here isn't a personality trait. It's the latent power stored within the bone itself. The Shikotsumyaku can enhance and release this bone energy. Though the difficulty is extreme. Even Kimimaro, in his day, couldn't achieve it."
"If that's the case…"
Sasuke closed his left eye, channeling chakra through the pathways of his right.
—Byakugan!
Zzzzt…!!
His vision pierced through the Susanoo, taking in everything within the waterfall and the landscape for kilometers around.
Orochimaru saw his intent. "Sasuke-kun. Bone energy is chakra at an extremely microscopic level. Even the Byakugan cannot distinguish it."
"My Byakugan's perception can be heightened further," Sasuke stated flatly. "I've found the method."
"Oh?" Orochimaru's vertical pupils flashed with surprise.
Sasuke raised a hand, hovering it before his right eye. "Use the Byakugan… in the manner of the Sharingan. Concentrate vision normally dispersed across a vast area into an extremely narrow focus. It creates a 'microscope' effect. One capable of discerning levels even finer than the nanoscopic!!"
Zzzzzzzzt…!!
His expanded vision contracted, sharpened, zeroing in on the Susanoo's bow-drawing arm.
Instantly, countless hidden black specks swam into view.
"Those drifting, ephemeral particles… that must be the 'bone energy.' If I can confirm its existence, manipulating it should be simple."
Astonishing, Orochimaru thought. In just two months, he's developed the Byakugan to this degree.
POP! POP! CRACKLE!
A series of muffled, popping sounds echoed from within the Susanoo's arm bones.
Through his hyper-focused Byakugan, Sasuke saw it. The black particles had completely saturated the bone, congealing into a viscous, jet-black gel!
CRUNCH! Sasuke willed the Susanoo to pull again.
The bowstring… shifted. A fraction.
"It's working…!!"
Heart pounding, Sasuke poured his will into it, aiming to draw the bow in one go!
CRACK!
A fissure appeared at the Susanoo's shoulder joint. As the tension skyrocketed, the crack threatened to spread. Sasuke manipulated bone sprouts to regenerate and reinforce the break.
But when the string was half-drawn, the overwhelming tension became too much to bear.
RIIIP—!!
The Susanoo's entire right arm was torn clean from the shoulder socket by the rebounding force!
The severed limb shot backward like a cannonball, smashing the mountain flanking the waterfall into shattered rubble!
WHOOSH!!!
The waterfall, suddenly unimpeded, crashed down in a deluge. Orochimaru, caught off guard, was drenched, his hair plastered to his skin.
He remained unperturbed, a gentle smile on his lips. "Well, it seems that was a failure."
Sasuke surveyed the devastation. "As expected. A feat like this can't be solved with a little cleverness alone…"
Swish.
A black vortex swirled. Kabuto appeared behind Orochimaru.
Orochimaru glanced back, taking in Kabuto's grave expression. "Using the Flying Thunder God within our own home? What's the emergency?"
Kabuto's eyes flickered toward Sasuke, hesitation clear.
Before the Tenth Battle, ensuring Sasuke wasn't distracted by unrelated matters was a consensus shared by every resident of Pale Moon Island.
"Kabuto," Orochimaru said, his voice dropping. "If the situation is critical, speak."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, his tone solemn. "Latest intelligence. Madara has attacked Konoha."
"I see." Orochimaru's eyes lowered. "The moment Izuna returned to his side, this day was inevitable. I merely didn't expect him to move so swiftly."
Sasuke's face was stone. He dismissed the Susanoo.
"My opponent for the Tenth Battle… is Madara, who has possessed Naruto. Correct?"
Yes. The answer was obvious.
The Ninth Battle had been against Obito—with a Rinnegan, near-perfect Hashirama cells, and command of the Eight-Tails' Gedō Mazō.
Who else but the current 'Madara-Naruto' could serve as the final, climactic opponent for the Tenth Battle's grand finale?
Orochimaru nodded. "Correct. But now is not the optimal time for your confrontation."
Sasuke's hand clenched into a tight fist. Flames seemed to burn in his eyes.
—"But at least… let me go and say hello."
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