As they spoke, the half-bodied Susanoo enveloping Itachi raised its unused right hand, revealing the enormous sake gourd it held. Aiming the gourd at Sasuke's purple Susanoo, a fiery red flame erupted from the gourd, taking the shape of a blade.
The legendary sealing sword—The Totsuka Blade!
A spiritual weapon, a non-physical sealing sword that could trap its target in a genjutsu world forever, and the Kusanagi Sword that Orochimaru had searched for his entire life.
Of course, the Yata Mirror in Itachi's left hand was also a legendary spiritual weapon. Its effect was absolute defense, capable of blocking all attacks and reflecting them back.
Itachi had been able to withstand the Rasengan with his body and survive severe injuries thanks to the Yata Mirror. He used it to block most of the damage, taking only the remainder with his own flesh. As for the rebound effect, Itachi never used it on Sasuke. In battle, he simply used it as a shield.
Itachi, possessing these two spiritual weapons and Kotoamatsukami, was the root of the danger both Nagato and Obito felt. This was also why he was one of the most dangerous figures in the early stages of the Naruto world.
"This feeling of danger..."
Looking at the Totsuka Blade with its flames acting as the blade and the gourd as the hilt, Sasuke's inner alarm bells rang. His arrogant smile turned to surprise and doubt.
"Itachi, I didn't expect you to be hiding such power..."
"But it's useless! With the massive tailed beast chakra as my replenishment, I will be the only victor today!"
Shouting to bolster his courage, Sasuke controlled his Susanoo to draw its bow and fire an arrow. The arrow, covered in tailed beast chakra and burning with black Amaterasu, was aimed at Itachi.
"Die!"
The bowstring snapped back, and a barrage of red, black, and purple arrows shot forth.
Boom!
A three-colored rainbow streaked across the sky. A terrifying energy surge unleashed a hurricane-like shockwave, pushing aside everything in its path. Countless fragments of rock scattered, and clouds of dust billowed.
Faced with Sasuke's all-out, powerful arrow, Itachi's eye power erupted even more terrifyingly. He activated the Yata Mirror, holding it horizontally before his chest.
The next second, the three-colored arrows collided with the Yata Mirror.
Boom!
A deafening roar resounded. The Yata Mirror had firmly blocked the three-colored arrows, rendering them immobile and locked in a stalemate.
"It blocked it? This is impossible!"
Seeing his strongest, all-out attack—a fusion of tailed beast chakra, Amaterasu, and Susanoo power—blocked by the orange-red shield, his body was repeatedly pushed backward. Sasuke's face instantly contorted with madness and resentment.
"No, this is definitely your full power! You can block it once, then I'll do it again, a third time!"
The purple Susanoo drew back the bowstring once more, and arrows formed from the three powers were again nocked. With a massive amount of tailed beast chakra as replenishment, Sasuke could use this full-power attack at least ten times.
"This level of attack... Sasuke, you've really gotten stronger, cough cough... ugh!"
Itachi, already severely injured but having used his full strength, now suffered the backlash, vomiting blood continuously. He covered his bleeding mouth, panting heavily, and looked at Sasuke, who was nocking his bow again.
"Let me help you eliminate this last threat..."
The orange-red Susanoo, which had been pushed backward, suddenly stopped. Then, it forcefully pushed the Yata Mirror outward with its left hand, using its deflection ability. The three-colored arrow that had been stuck to the Yata Mirror was directly deflected back towards Sasuke.
"What?"
Seeing his previous arrow return the way it came, Sasuke hurriedly changed his aim and fired another arrow. Whoosh! The two arrows collided narrowly, exploding in mid-air. A burst of flames mixed with the black Amaterasu light.
...No, flames?!
Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply as he realized what was happening. Just as he was about to move, a flaming blade suddenly pierced his Susanoo... and the chakra fox tail surrounding his body!
"This is!"
Although Sasuke wasn't hit directly, he still sensed something was wrong. His chakra was rapidly draining away! His Susanoo and the massive chakra fox tail were all flowing backward like liquid towards the flaming blade.
"...Cough cough, this is the Totsuka Blade, my sealing sword," Itachi coughed up blood, explaining to Sasuke in the distance. "I used it to strip and seal away all the tailed beast chakra within your body... That means you have no tailed beast chakra left, and you can't replenish it anymore, cough cough cough."
"Impossible..." Sasuke frantically waved his hands, trying to grab the reversed chakra. He completely failed to grasp the underlying meaning of Itachi's words. "My chakra... No! You're not allowed to take it!"
Sasuke's movements were futile; he passed right through it. There was no way to stop the rapidly draining chakra. Until the very last drop flowed past, the flaming blade retracted, and the gourd's lid closed.
Without the replenishment of the tailed beast's chakra, Sasuke could no longer even maintain his Sharingan. His eyes faded from crimson back to pitch black.
Seeing this, Itachi, a victor's smile on his face, staggered towards Sasuke.
"It's finally over. My body almost gave way... cough cough cough... Sasuke, I can finally have your eyes, heal my body, and regain my sight..."
Hearing Itachi's deep voice, Sasuke's previous arrogance and confidence vanished, replaced only by terror. He threw out all the shuriken, kunai, and Explosive Tags he carried, but they were all deflected by the Yata Mirror without any effect.
"Your eyes... your eyes are mine now..."
Watching Itachi approach and reach out his hand, Sasuke finally broke down. All his pride and smugness vanished. He turned and looked towards the center of Four-Star Village, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Kushina, Minato Namikaze, Menma!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The instant the shout rang out, two figures, one in red and one in gold, appeared before Sasuke. It was Minato and Kushina, who had been watching the battle from the sidelines for some time!
Itachi's expression stiffened, and he stopped approaching. Then, a crow's cawing rang out beside him. A crow with a single Mangekyou Sharingan descended from the sky and landed on Itachi's shoulder. Tilting its head, it gazed at Sasuke behind Kushina and Minato.
"It seems the final apology can't be completed... Fine, Sasuke, don't accept the tailed beast's chakra anymore. Take my eye and escape Four-Star Village, return to Konoha and protect Konoha..."
Accompanied by Itachi's soft murmur, Kotoamatsukami in the crow's eye activated!
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