Chapter 355: Hard-Headed
In the blink of an eye, only Li Yao's shadow clone and Jūgo remained on the mountain path.
Still trying to transform and attack using natural energy, Jūgo was immediately bound tightly like a rice dumpling by water-ink tubes formed with a thought from Li Yao's clone.
The tubes, enhanced with imagined mass, were exceptionally strong. No matter how hard Jūgo struggled, he couldn't break free, let alone transform.
Whoosh!
Li Yao grabbed Jūgo and leapt into the sky. A massive water-ink bird formed beneath his feet, carrying them upward.
Spurt!
Crack! Crack!
Falling from a great height, Sasuke coughed up blood and quickly reformed a layer of Susanoo to shield his body.
Boom!
He slammed into the rock wall at the foot of the opposite cliff, creating a deep crater. The terrifying impact only worsened his already damaged internal organs.
Spurt, spurt!
Two more streams of blood spilled uncontrollably from his mouth. Sasuke felt like his chest had turned into chaos—his organs displaced, his ribs completely shattered.
If he hadn't managed to summon Susanoo mid-fall, he would have died on impact—or at least come very close.
"Sasuke!!!"
With Susanoo still flickering around his body, Karin ran toward him, worry all over her face.
Sasuke dismissed the Susanoo and lay powerless in the pit. At this point, he couldn't even move—nor dared to. Moving would only worsen his internal injuries.
Fortunately, Karin was there.
"Sasuke, bite me!"
Kneeling beside him, Karin offered her white arm, already covered in faint scars and bite marks, without hesitation. She paid no mind to the sharp rocks piercing her skin and drawing blood.
Chomp!
Sasuke didn't hesitate either—he bit down hard, tearing into her flesh.
"Ah…"
Karin closed her eyes. Her face flushed pink, a mix of pain and… something else escaped her lips.
Karin's body was filled with life-force-charged medical chakra, which now flowed through the bite into Sasuke.
Under its healing effects, Sasuke's internal injuries quickly began to heal.
His shattered bones realigned and mended, and his depleted chakra was fully restored.
It had to be said—the Uzumaki clan's vitality was insane. They were the strongest support-type bloodline in the shinobi world.
Fully recovered, Sasuke looked furious. He immediately ran back up the mountain path, ignoring the weakened Karin struggling to follow behind after losing so much chakra.
By the time he returned to the path, Jūgo was gone.
Suigetsu had just climbed out of the crater in the mountainside. His face was pale—clearly injured as well.
In truth, had he not instinctively activated the Hydrification Technique to absorb most of the impact, he would've been dead from that single kick.
"What the hell kind of monster is that?!"
Suigetsu was both shocked and terrified. That man had terrifying speed and monstrous strength—far beyond anything Suigetsu had ever faced.
"Hey, Karin, let me get a bite too," Suigetsu said with a smirk, walking up to her. He wanted to heal too.
Karin flatly refused. "Not a chance. My body is for Sasuke only!"
As she said that, she glanced shyly at Sasuke, her face flushing red—clearly fantasizing about something less than wholesome.
Sasuke, dense as ever, didn't care about her thoughts. He asked directly, "Karin, can you sense Jūgo's location?"
"W-What? You're going after them?" Karin's face turned pale.
That man was too terrifying. They didn't stand a chance. If they went after him, they'd be walking into death.
Karin didn't care about Jūgo—she didn't see him as a true teammate. She only wanted to survive, and didn't want Sasuke chasing that monster.
"Karin!" Sasuke's expression turned cold and his tone sharpened. Karin stiffened instantly and reluctantly pointed toward Kumogakure. "He flew off that way…"
"Chase him!"
Sasuke dashed off immediately. Earlier, he'd been careless. The Uchiha clan was never inferior to anyone. The Mangekyō Sharingan was an invincible power. He would make that bastard pay a hundredfold for humiliating him.
The thought that he was nearly killed by one strike infuriated him. Already driven mad by the so-called "truth" about Itachi, he now wanted to kill anything that displeased him.
The skies cleared, the rain stopped, and Second-rate Sasuke felt powerful again.
Sensing Sasuke coming after him, Li Yao's shadow clone gently shook his head.
The most hard-headed person in the shinobi world wasn't Naruto—it was Sasuke.
Three-tomoe Sharingan against Mangekyō Itachi—thought he could win, but got humiliated and nearly drowned in an illusion sea.
Then, after finally awakening his Mangekyō, he thought he was unstoppable again.
Tried to solo the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki and got skewered by Killer Bee.
Without Karin's healing bite, he would've died.
Then, after pulling off one genjutsu move, he still got his guts beaten out and only survived thanks to Jūgo's intervention.
And when he tried to retreat, it was Suigetsu who blocked a Tailed Beast Bomb with Hydrification and saved him.
The entire Eight-Tails mission—without Karin, Suigetsu, and Jūgo—Sasuke would've died three times.
And they only managed to bring back one of the Eight-Tails' tails. He got nothing but beat up and outclassed the whole time.
You'd think after that, Sasuke would've learned some humility.
Instead, he stormed the Five Kage Summit.
Then got schooled by the Fourth Raikage and Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki in quick succession. In the end, Tobi had to step in—otherwise, Sasuke would've died to Ōnoki's Dust Release.
All of that—just to prove how hard-headed Sasuke was.
Li Yao's shadow clone couldn't believe his earlier strike hadn't made Sasuke realize the enormous gap in power and speed.
To chase after that, did he really think awakening the Mangekyō made him invincible?
"Maybe that's exactly the illusion the Mangekyō gives Sasuke…" the clone mused, remembering the terrifying power of Amaterasu.
Meanwhile, the clone continued recording Jūgo's biological data.
Ten minutes later—
The data was complete. With a thought, the clone sealed Jūgo into a water-ink seal for future study.
Whoosh!
Then, using the Flying Thunder God Technique, the clone vanished.
"They're gone!"
Behind him, Karin's expression froze.
"What do you mean, gone?" Suigetsu asked.
"Jūgo and that man suddenly disappeared. I can't sense their chakra at all."
From her perspective, their chakra had vanished—almost as if they'd died. But that was impossible.
That left only one explanation: the man had hidden them both. She couldn't sense them anymore.
She remembered how well he had hidden before—even up close, she couldn't detect him. Only Jūgo had sensed something was off.
Sasuke's expression darkened. He quickened his pace. The three of them arrived beneath the space in the sky where Li Yao's shadow clone had disappeared.
They looked up.
No one in sight.
(END CHAPTER)
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