Natural energy rushed into me like a tide, filling every pore, every breath, every heartbeat. Less than three seconds—that was all it took before the stillness of Sage Mode wrapped around me. I could feel the earth, the air, the smallest tremor of life beyond the battlefield. It was faster now. Sharper. I'd been grinding away at it, forcing my shadow clones to gather energy, collapsing the delay until it became almost instinct. On the battlefield, hesitation meant death. I needed Sage Mode to come like breathing, like a reflex. Only then could I keep moving without pause—an unbroken engine of war.
Across from me, Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He still hadn't finished dispersing my clones when he saw the orange pigmentation etching itself across my face. His lips pulled back into a snarl.
"Again, Naruto? That so-called Sage Mode?" His voice carried frustration, but beneath it was something else—unease. Then he barked, "Don't underestimate me! I'm not the same as before!"
His three-tomoe Sharingan spun violently, the crimson irises twisting until the tomoe blurred into the shape of a black, six-pointed star. Mangekyō Sharingan. At last, he'd stepped beyond the threshold.
A thrill ran through me despite myself. I smiled faintly. "Finally. Took you long enough, Sasuke. Where's the true Mangekyō then? Show me."
His jaw clenched, but his voice dripped with newfound pride. "So you know the Mangekyō Sharingan. Then you should already understand… with these eyes, you're no longer my equal."
The air around him changed, heavy and suffocating. Watching from the sidelines, Uzuki Yugao stiffened, her hand unconsciously tightening around her sword's hilt. "The Mangekyō Sharingan… dangerous beyond measure," she murmured.
A younger shinobi near her asked nervously, "You know of it, senpai?"
Yugao nodded grimly. "Kakashi-senpai once described it to me. Its powers are… absolute. But Naruto has Senjutsu. He won't fall so easily."
Another shinobi muttered hopefully, "Sage Mode should surpass even the Mangekyō, right?"
But Yugao shook her head. "We can't grow careless. Still—Naruto won't lose. I believe in him."
Their faith brushed against me faintly, but my eyes remained locked on Sasuke. He lunged, Kusanagi flashing silver, moving with a speed meant to overwhelm.
"Sasuke," I called as I shifted aside from his thrust, "are you really this brainless? Charging straight in—again? Do you think Mangekyō alone will cover for your stupidity?"
"The one who should be careful is you!" His fury carried him forward in a frenzy of strikes, but against Sage's perception, his movements were sluggish. Every slash, every thrust was a ripple in water that I could sense before it broke the surface. I slid past each one, my thoughts calm even as sparks flew around us.
I couldn't attack carelessly. Not yet. Mangekyō was unpredictable. Its techniques could twist the battlefield in an instant, as dangerous as Shisui's Kotoamatsukami or Itachi's Tsukuyomi. I'd seen too much not to respect that.
Then, abruptly, Sasuke's left eye snapped open. Blood tears welled in the corner. "Amaterasu!"
Black fire roared into being, engulfing me before I could blink. The flames clung to everything, devouring stone and air alike. Sasuke's laughter cracked with triumph. "Hah! Stupid Naruto—now you'll know true despair!"
On the sidelines, Karin shrieked with joy. "Sasuke-kun! You did it! You've killed him!"
Suigetsu smirked knowingly. "Heh. As expected of Sasuke. Nothing survives Amaterasu."
But Jūgo frowned, unsettled. His body, sensitive to natural energy, whispered a different truth.
Konoha's shinobi gasped in horror. "Naruto's… dead? Just like that?"
"Don't be so hasty," Yugao said sharply, though her heart pounded. "Naruto won't fall to fire, even black fire."
And then—my body crumbled to smoke. A clone. The Amaterasu still raged, but the target was gone.
"What?!" Sasuke's voice cracked with disbelief. "That was a shadow clone?! When—when did you—?!"
He hadn't noticed. That was the point.
The ground beneath his feet cracked as I erupted from the dirt, palm already brimming with Senjutsu chakra. A Rasengan swelled, growing larger, heavier, until it glowed with destructive power.
"Senpō… Ōdama Rasengan!"
Sasuke's eye widened in horror, the black flames scrambling back under his command, forming a shield. My Rasengan smashed into it with a thunderous detonation, shockwaves tearing the earth apart. I didn't linger. Even Amaterasu couldn't be taken lightly.
Still… I'd confirmed it. Sasuke's Mangekyō was just as I remembered—Amaterasu in the left eye, flame manipulation in the right. Dangerous, yes. But limited.
Dust swirled. Suigetsu exhaled. "Tch. That was close. But… how did Naruto vanish like that without us noticing?"
Jūgo answered softly, "Natural energy. I couldn't see the switch either. But I could feel it. His control is… extraordinary. He hides himself within nature itself. Karin, your sensory ability can't pierce that."
Karin bit her lip, glaring in frustration.
Even Sasuke's breathing hitched as he steadied himself. He had entered the battlefield swollen with arrogance, but the reality of my power pressed against him now. For a moment, he faltered—then his pride surged back, reckless and burning.
"I'll crush you," he growled. "With Susanoo."
Purple chakra erupted, wrapping around him in a skeletal frame. A ribcage, an arm, a massive fist. Susanoo, its first form, lurched forward with a devastating punch.
The impact hit my palms directly as I caught it. My feet slid back, carving a meter-long trench before I stopped the blow. The ground quaked beneath us.
Sasuke's eyes widened. "You… you blocked Susanoo's fist?!"
I grinned grimly. "So this is Susanoo, huh? Even its first form packs a punch."
I vaulted away, refusing to let brute strength drag me down. Sage Mode hardened my body, yes, but trading blows with Susanoo barehanded would be suicide.
Sasuke sneered, "You know of Susanoo already?"
"Who knows," I replied with a smirk, baiting his anger.
And it worked. His chakra flared, Susanoo's bones knitting together with muscle and sinew. A half-formed humanoid loomed, more terrible than the skeleton alone. The second form.
Pain flickered in Sasuke's eyes. He suppressed it, forcing Susanoo upright, forcing it to draw a massive bow of chakra.
From the sidelines, Karin's voice trembled. "Sasuke's chakra—it feels so cold, like some evil spirit."
The bowstring loosed. A luminous arrow screamed through the air.
I raised my hand. Wind whirled furiously, condensing into a blade. "Senpō… Fūton: Rasenshuriken!"
I hurled it. The two forces collided, detonating in a roar that split the sky. Smoke, flame, wind, and chakra swallowed the battlefield.
Before the haze cleared, I'd already formed another Rasenshuriken in my left hand. I launched it into the heart of the explosion.
A second arrow shot out from the smoke, meeting it head-on. The resulting blast deafened even the spectators.
Konoha shinobi stared in awe. "What kind of monsters…? If I stepped into that, I'd be dead in an instant!"
"Whether it's Naruto's Sage Mode or Sasuke's Mangekyō," another said, voice shaking, "they're beyond anything we can match."
The words cut short when one man muttered about the Nine-Tails. Yugao silenced him with a cold glare. "He is Naruto of Konoha. Remember that."
The clash left us both heaving for breath. My Sage chakra wavered, then collapsed—but only for two seconds. I pressed my palms together, gathering natural energy again. The form returned almost instantly. Progress.
Sasuke wasn't faring better. Two arrows had drained him heavily, his breath ragged, his eyes pained. "Damn it… my eyes… Why does it hurt so much?"
I watched him with a quiet smile. He was strong, stronger than before, but not unassailable. Unless he had Eternal Mangekyō, he couldn't outlast me.
But Sasuke's fury burned hotter than pain. "Why?!" he roared, blood streaming down his cheeks. "Why is it that no matter how far I climb… I still can't defeat you?! Tell me, Naruto!"
"Because you're not the only one growing stronger," I answered simply. "I'm climbing too. Always."
And then he did it. His eyes bled freely as he poured every drop of power into Susanoo. The armored form thickened, plating itself in a carapace that gleamed with violet malice. A monstrous warrior, crow-faced and demonic, stood tall, radiating suffocating pressure. The third form.
The Crow Tengu roared, shaking the air.
Even from where I stood, Sage Mode shivered under the sheer presence of it. My breath stilled. This… this was different. Dangerous.
I steadied myself, planting my feet against the cracked ground. Whatever came next, I would meet it head-on.