"Don't tell me… this guy hasn't been using his full strength all along?"
Sasuke muttered, face filled with disbelief. A deep bitterness and frustration crept into his expression as he clenched his fists tightly.
Damn it! What have I even been doing up until now?! I thought I was working hard. I thought I'd gotten stronger. But this… this is all I amount to?
There are so many around me, stronger, faster, more talented. At this rate… how can I ever kill that man with my own strength?!
"At the very least… I have to defeat this guy!"
A wild light flared in Sasuke's eyes as he gritted his teeth and stood up. He leapt back several steps and began rapidly weaving hand seals.
Ox, Rabbit, Monkey!
Sasuke grabbed his left wrist with his right hand. From his left palm, dazzling lightning flared and erupted into the piercing cries of a thousand chirping birds.
[Chidori], the A-rank Lightning Release technique forbidden to most, now sparked and shrieked in his hand.
"Putting everything into one final blow, huh…"
Kirito observed calmly. He could clearly see how drained Sasuke already was, his face had gone paper white. The boy had clearly exhausted his chakra.
"Well, in that case…"
Unlike the dazzling display of electric chakra Sasuke wielded, a technique that screamed danger just from looking at it, Kirito didn't summon any flashy chakra flow.
He merely shifted one foot backward, leaned his body forward slightly, and clenched his right hand into a tight fist.
Crack.
The air itself seemed to compress, letting out a low sonic pop as though an invisible force had just gripped the surrounding atmosphere.
Raw power versus raw power.
Two devastating, explosive techniques were about to collide, either one could cause serious injury or even mutual destruction if clashed directly. But Sasuke had already made his reckless choice.
Kirito, facing that determination, had no reason to hold back.
"Hakkei Burst!"
"Chidori!"
Just as the two explosive attacks were about to clash head-on-
"Stop!!"
A thunderous voice roared in their ears.
Flash!
A streak of lightning zipped across the battlefield.
The next moment, Kakashi appeared between the two, one hand grabbing each of their wrists.
With a sudden twist, he redirected the force of their attacks, swinging both of them away like a spinning top.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two thunderous crashes echoed out as both Kirito and Sasuke slammed into the trees on either side, their attacks detonating with brutal force.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?!"
Kakashi shouted furiously, staring them down, especially Sasuke, who he had repeatedly warned not to use Chidori unless absolutely necessary.
"It's not a big deal. Just a little sparring match," Sasuke grumbled, obviously annoyed by Kakashi's interference.
"Sparring?"
Kakashi's voice grew colder. "That didn't look like sparring to me. That was practically a fight to the death!"
Sasuke remained silent. Gritting his teeth, he pulled his arm out of the tree trunk where it had buried itself.
His eyes then turned toward Kirito, who stood with his fist still planted in a tree, leaving behind a clearly visible crater in the bark.
Sasuke compared the damage without a word…
and couldn't help but smile faintly.
Kakashi's gaze sharpened.
"You're feeling proud of yourself now, Sasuke?"
"Not even close," Sasuke replied coldly. "It's still nowhere near enough."
"You- !"
"Now, now, Kakashi-sensei, don't be too harsh on him."
Kirito stood up and politely bowed his head toward the jōnin.
"You arrived just in time. Had you not stepped in… things really might've gotten out of hand."
"Seriously," Sasuke added, though his voice was serious, the smug smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth made it impossible to hide how pleased he was. In his mind, Kirito had just acknowledged his strength.
Kakashi said nothing for a moment, first glancing at Kirito, then at Sasuke, who clearly hadn't learned his lesson.
No one noticed the hand Kakashi had kept hidden behind his back was trembling faintly.
Evidently, stopping even one of those two blows had put strain on his body.
"Welp, that's that then. Just a bit of harmless scuffling between kids."
Kirito raised his hand lazily as he turned to leave.
"Sorry about the mess, Kakashi-sensei. I'm all out of energy now, so I'll be heading off."
"Wait, " Kakashi started.
But Kirito just waved his hand without looking back.
"Whatever," Sasuke muttered. "If you're gonna lecture, save it for another day. I'm too tired for this."
His use of Chidori had drained the last of his chakra. With a yawn, he turned and walked off in the opposite direction.
Crack!
As Sasuke stepped away, the tree he had pierced with Chidori finally gave out, splitting in half and crashing to the ground.
He glanced back, nodding in satisfaction…
Then his eyes shifted to the tree where Kirito's punch had landed. Curious, he walked over to it.
"So this is your full-strength punch, huh, Kirito?"
He reached out to touch the crater Kirito had left in the wood.
"Well then… guess it's not that imp- huh?!"
Crackle… crackle…
Suddenly, soft cracking sounds emerged from inside the tree.
The trunk didn't appear damaged from the outside, but something was fracturing, from within.
"Sasuke…"
Kakashi looked on with a strangely pitying expression. He didn't say anything, just shook his head slowly.
BOOM!
The tree exploded.
Not shattered from an external blow.
Not split from a clean cut like Sasuke's Chidori.
But obliterated from the inside out, splintering into thousands of pieces like a demolition charge had gone off inside the trunk.
Wood chips scattered like shrapnel.
Sasuke stood frozen, staring in stunned silence at the devastation left by Kirito's single punch.
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45 Advanced Chapters on p(a)treon
p(a)treon.com/Aaltairr
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters
• TL/N •
Hello guys Fanfic recommendation!
Check out my other work:
> Naruto: Mind Control
If you like smart and strong MC, this fanfic is for you.
It's Peak.
Give it a chance and you won't be disappointed