Chapter 372: Battle
Before the heavy and solemn battle, Sasuke's transformation...
Emmmm... to some extent, dispelled a lot of the depressive atmosphere.
Imagine it.
In an incomparably serious revenge scene, the furious avenger suddenly transforms into a furry, cute cat-eared creature. How awkward would this scene be? Just imagining it makes one feel like laughing.
Uchiha Itachi was able to keep a straight face, not laughing out loud, nor showing any strange looks, which could be considered excellent acting.
However, in the ninja world, strength is paramount. Didn't Orochimaru switch to a young woman's body so that his power wouldn't decline with age? Nothing laughable about it.
Speaking of that guy who was neither male nor female, half-human and half-snake, Itachi had also come into contact with him and even fought him.
Itachi didn't have a high opinion of Orochimaru.
Constantly reincarnating to obtain eternal youth, while the body remained young, the spirit would be severely damaged by this reincarnation jutsu, leading to greater hidden dangers. Otherwise, with Orochimaru's strength, he wouldn't be instantly killed by a single glance from Itachi no matter how bad he was.
In Itachi's view, this way of living was just lingering on.
The damaged soul and spirit were severely countered by Sharingan genjutsu. Therefore, when the news that Orochimaru wanted to occupy Sasuke's body spread, Itachi wasn't very worried inside. Because he knew that even if the strength of the two differed by one or two levels, the huge advantage brought by the Sharingan could still help Sasuke defeat Orochimaru by skipping levels.
Jiraiya, who was also one of the Sannin, had no such problem at all. Itachi wasn't sure of winning against him, and it was even hard to say if Tsukuyomi could defeat that tough man in one move.
Back to the main topic. So what was up with Sasuke's transformation?
He certainly wasn't a cross-dresser or awakened some perverted hobby. Those changes in appearance were just side effects of the ninjutsu.
"Combination Transformation with the Ninja Cat clan? And he also used a ninjutsu similar to Chidori..."
The visual impact didn't make Uchiha Itachi dazed. He only took a few glances and saw through the trick of this move. This wasn't a complicated ninjutsu. Kisame had used the same move—he combined transformation with Samehada to obtain stronger power and the ability to swim freely in water and absorb chakra.
Combination Transformation Jutsu is a ninjutsu that learns from each other's strengths to offset weaknesses, which can directly improve the caster's combat power. As long as there is a suitable partner for combination, it is a very practical and effective ninjutsu.
Sasuke's Combination Transformation with the ninja cat should be to obtain the physical ability blessing of the Ninja Cat clan: agility, dexterity, and speed. The Lightning Style cloak on his body had a strong flavor of Kakashi's Chidori. It should be an advanced ninjutsu of Chidori, and also a high-level nin-taijutsu that improves speed.
Itachi pondered in his heart.
Before officially engaging, relying on rich experience and meticulous observation ability, he had already roughly guessed Sasuke's fighting style.
From the sense of momentum and chakra, Sasuke's strength was already quite strong.
To be fair, Sasuke's ninjutsu reaching this level was slightly beyond Itachi's expectations.
"Being able to use such ninjutsu surprises me." Itachi said calmly. Both the Chidori Cloak and Combination Transformation require an extremely solid ninjutsu foundation and exquisite conception to complete. Fusing the two into one requires not only excellent creativity but also long periods of boring practice.
Sasuke's character... when did it become so down-to-earth?
"Surprised?" Sasuke moved his body and said coldly, "This is just the beginning!"
His expression and demeanor were much calmer than Itachi imagined.
The little follower who always followed behind him when they were young had grown into this immature boy in Itachi's dazed eyes, beginning to have his own thoughts amidst ignorance.
What made him change so much? Is it the influence of that girl? The figure of the pink-haired girl suddenly flashed in Itachi's mind. Intelligence on Haruno Sakura had been collected in detail by the Akatsuki. For this teammate of Sasuke, Itachi had also paid attention secretly. But compared to others who only focused on her combat power, Itachi also paid attention to other aspects of her intelligence—such as her personality, and her relationship with Sasuke.
Itachi could analyze a lot from the small gesture of her using a handshake to encourage Sasuke just now. Ninja respect the strong. Haruno Sakura and Sasuke were in the same team, and as a peer, her strength far exceeded Sasuke's. It was obvious that she had gained Sasuke's respect. Accepting her handshake encouragement not only showed the close relationship between them, but also showed that Sasuke was indeed convinced by Sakura and received psychological comfort from the strong.
Itachi remained calm on the surface, but his thoughts were spinning at high speed. From various clues on Sasuke, Itachi had analyzed a lot of things.
His strength, his interpersonal relationships, how he had been living in recent years.
It seemed that Sasuke was living quite well.
"Is that so..." Itachi's voice was still flat, without a ripple. "Then, I'll look forward to it a little."
He watched the violent and dazzling lightning on Sasuke's body gradually calm down, lying quietly on the surface of his body like a pool of water, condensing into a serene armor of blue and purple. In the faint glow, Sasuke's handsome face shone brightly, and the light fuzz on the cat ears was illuminated clearly. The whole person carried a neutral and bewitching beauty. But hidden under the handsome appearance, the faintly visible chakra sense hinted at the danger contained within, announcing Sasuke's identity as a warrior.
"As you wish." Sasuke said, exhaled lightly, released his hands clasped in front of his chest forming seals, and finally completed this complex transformation ninjutsu and complex movement.
He stood straight not far in front of Itachi, hands loosely at his sides, but the momentum on his body suddenly climbed to the extreme.
Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly.
The next moment, Sasuke's figure erupted!
In the blink of an eye, the boy stomped on the ground with both feet. The ground under his feet cracked with lines, overwhelmed. His figure shot out, and his true body instantly appeared behind Itachi!
Lightning exploded. Dazzling blue brilliance condensed on Sasuke's hand, transforming into a sword shadow in an instant, cutting through the air, crackling and exploding, slashing horizontally at Uchiha Itachi!
The transition from extreme stillness to extreme motion took only an instant.
The instantaneous change even left Sasuke's afterimage in place!
In a duel between masters, the outcome is often decided in a flash. Especially when facing Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke knew that his chakra, taijutsu, ninjutsu, Sharingan, and experience were inferior to Itachi's, and his strength was far below him. Therefore, he held nothing back in his attack. As soon as they met, he used all his strength!
A strike with the force of thunder, unimaginably fast. So far, among the people Sasuke had fought, only Haruno Sakura and Kakashi had not been defeated by this move.
Itachi was the third person to take this move.
The brilliantly dazzling lightning exploded from his side. The intense light illuminated Itachi's profile clearly in black and white at this moment. Sasuke approached behind him with astonishing Body Flicker speed, but Itachi's expression remained calm.
A pair of blood-red Sharingan spun crazily. Itachi turned around calmly, tilted his body, dodged the lightning sword by a hair's breadth, suddenly raised his left hand, and shot it out like lightning!
The next moment, that slender and powerful big hand had already pressed on Sasuke's wrist.
Thunder roared violently, lightning flickered uncertainly, but the lightning sword stayed by Itachi's side, unable to advance an inch.
Itachi's left hand locked Sasuke's attack like an iron clamp. Huge strength and clever leverage points completely clamped his wrist, making him unable to move a bit!
Sasuke's heart sank, and his face changed abruptly.
He exerted force on his hand suddenly, trying to break free from Itachi's restraint, but found himself immobile!
The remaining distance between the lightning sword and Itachi's body was even only as thick as a hair, but this tiny distance became a chasm that could never be touched after Itachi made his move!
Different from the feeling when sparring with Haruno Sakura.
Relying on the Monstrous Strength Technique, she could block his attack with unparalleled huge force, which was unshakable power. Itachi's movement, however, was exquisitely skillful.
Although his left hand was strong, it did not exceed the scope of ordinary ninja, only comparable to Sasuke after activating the Chidori Youkai Form, far inferior to Sakura's unconventional strength. But the movement of his hand cleverly stuck at Sasuke's leverage point, so the latter was clamped by him. Wanting to continue exerting force or withdraw, his wrist couldn't move, firmly confined in place!
Of course, no matter how exquisite the skill and experience, it was impossible to clamp Sasuke forever with only one hand.
However, just controlling Sasuke for a short second was enough.
Itachi didn't even need a second.
He pulled Sasuke with his left hand, his upper body sank suddenly, exerted force on his waist, and kicked back suddenly with his left foot.
A fierce back kick hit Sasuke's ribs, kicking him away fiercely.
Sasuke's menacing attack was calmly neutralized by Itachi's grab and kick, and even countered!
Itachi's strength was extremely great. Sasuke, who took a solid kick, only felt a tightness in his chest and could hardly breathe. He had worked in the Anbu for a long time, fought with many masters, and his combat experience had enriched a lot, but Itachi's few simple movements constituted a sharp counterattack, kicking him away cleanly. This was the first time Sasuke met a master of this level!
A confident attack was easily cracked by someone. He only had this feeling when facing Haruno Sakura.
And this was the second time.
Sasuke landed using the momentum. The powerful balance ability of felines played a role. Although kicked away, he quickly mastered the balance, adjusted his body posture in the air, and always maintained the ability to face the enemy.
However, Itachi didn't pursue the victory.
Perhaps seeing that Sasuke had already adjusted himself in the air, pursuing rashly might be bad instead, or perhaps it was just his contempt for Sasuke. Uchiha Itachi just leisurely withdrew his foot, turned around and looked indifferently at Sasuke who landed in the distance.
"Good attack..." He looked down at the red trench coat on his body and said coldly.
On the smooth trench coat, a long gap at the waist was extremely eye-catching.
That was the only result Sasuke left in the previous attack.
His lightning sword had pierced Itachi's trench coat, only a hair's breadth away from hitting Itachi's body.
"Sasuke... I look at you with new eyes. However, you are still not my opponent."
Itachi's words of praise came from afar, but the cold tone made it impossible to hear any praise. To Sasuke, it sounded more like mocking his reckless attack returning without success.
"Hmph..."
The black-haired boy just snorted coldly and didn't say much.
In the face of life and death battle, any language seemed so pale and powerless.
What's more, he was the side with obvious disadvantage.
Even a full-strength blow couldn't shake the opponent. Heavy pressure weighed on his heart; he was not the boy in the original story whose brain was overwhelmed by anger or hatred. Seeing the huge gap between himself and Itachi, the hopeless battle was simply desperate.
If not for hatred and the responsibility of protecting companions, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on long ago and lost the courage to continue fighting.
Sasuke stared at Itachi deadly, clenched his fist, lightning on his hand became brighter, chakra surged crazily, poured into the ninjutsu, urging the lightning sword to become more dazzling.
The power of the jutsu was exerted to one hundred and twenty percent. Sasuke was ready to risk his life.
"I know I am not your opponent yet... but I still have a reason to fight!"
Knowing he can't win, but still continuing to fight—knowing it's impossible but doing it anyway. At this moment, Sasuke stood in front of Itachi more for his companions than for revenge!
"Do you already have such resolve?" Itachi's pinwheel-shaped Mangekyo Sharingan looked straight into Sasuke's eyes. From his eyes, Itachi saw Sasuke's choice.
Itachi's lips moved slightly, about to say something more, when suddenly a loud noise resounding through the sky came from afar, covering the conversation between the brothers.
BOOM—!
Both were startled and stopped talking. Sasuke subconsciously turned to look in the direction of the sound. In the distance within sight, countless splashes were blooming in the air. That earth-shattering noise was the result of two amazingly huge ninjutsu colliding.
That was the movement produced by the battle between Haruno Sakura and Hoshigaki Kisame.
The shockwave generated by the collision of super-large Water Style followed the sound wave closely. A heavy wall of air swept over destructively. Even Sasuke, who was hundreds or thousands of meters away, felt the huge wind force. The violent wind and waves swept countless dead branches and gravel, its power not inferior to some intermediate Wind Style ninjutsu!
"It seems they have started to get serious over there." In the strong wind, Itachi's voice was still calm, reaching Sasuke's ears. "Then, let's finish things quickly here too..."
Itachi rolled up his sleeves, stretched out his hands, and made preparations for battle.
"If you can do it, then try it!"
Although Sasuke's voice was immature, far less mature than Itachi's, it was equally firm.
Before Haruno Sakura defeated Kisame, he absolutely could not lose.
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