At this point in the timeline, Sasuke really did have a tricky time against Dosu.
The shuriken and kunai the Uchiha clan specialized in were easily knocked aside by sound waves, and the ordinary Three Basic Techniques had no real effect on Dosu either.
—At the end of the day, these three had been hand-picked by Orochimaru as cannon fodder tailored specifically to counter Sasuke.
The kind that, at first glance, looked like a hard counter to him. They were meant to be obstacles Sasuke had to overcome.
And of course there was an even bigger reason—Sasuke wanted to show off the new technique he'd just learned.
Showing off was fine. It was what came after that went a little off the rails.
"Then I'll just make sure he can't use his ability at all..."
Can't use it... that's it!
Midair.
His Sharingan had already caught that exact moment earlier.
Dosu could attack with sound waves—but if he tried to use that move to adjust his posture in midair, it would only hand Sasuke an opening.
By now Dosu had seized the moment while Sasuke caught his breath and charged in again.
"It's over!"
Dosu's blow landed.
"Bam!"
"A Shadow Clone?!" Dosu started.
"That's right—and you're too late!"
The next instant Sasuke appeared beneath him, kicking Dosu up into the air, then leapt after him.
"Shadow of the Dancing Leaf?! So this is the power of the Sharingan?"
Guy recognized the Shadow of the Dancing Leaf at once and immediately thought back to the Neji-versus-Lee match. "So that's when he copied it?"
[Live plagiarism, caught on camera]
[Welp, this time Sasuke really gets his moment]
[Relax, he's definitely gonna crash and burn]
[Nah, no way—this has gotta be his last hurrah]
[Why does it feel like the MC's barely getting any screen time?]
[If the prelims are already this hype, what's left for the finals? It's not like an enemy's gonna drop out of the sky and crash the whole thing, right?]
"...But since that move got cut short last time, what comes next is my own original!"
Sasuke had watched Lee's fight—Lee had meant to use the Front Lotus, but a single strike from Neji had cut him off mid-technique.
"This stance..."
Hanabi found it rather familiar.
"Looks like the Lion Combo was destined to show up after all."
"Naïve!"
First came the strike from the left—using Dosu as a pivot, his left foot flew up from below in a kick, but Dosu blocked it.
Then more attacks came from the right. The strike on his left had already thrown Dosu off-balance in midair.
One punch from Sasuke landed, robbing Dosu of his mobility—then another fist caught him.
"Gwaaah!"
"It's not over yet!"
With the last of his strength, Sasuke drove a kick into Dosu.
And mind you—this Sasuke was enhanced. The weights he carried were staggering.
"Not a chance!"
Dosu was still struggling, desperate to prove his worth to Orochimaru.
"Ara, here's the finish." Hanabi had already noticed the chakra erupting from Sasuke.
"Roaring Sun Combo!"
"BOOM!"
As Sasuke's foot came down, flames burst across Dosu's body once more.
[Holy crap, that one ended him]
[Badass]
[That's the Kōfu Yō, right? Another KOF homage]
[Homage-brats, give it a rest—see anything vaguely similar and suddenly it's an "homage," huh]
[Lmao, by that logic ninja themselves are an homage too—y'all just live to police people]
The audience had started bickering.
Hanabi drew her gaze back.
"He used Inferno Style to boost the power of the final blow, then stacked Fire Style's own offensive power on top. Not bad at all, this move of Sasuke's."
Hanabi offered a small review of Sasuke's fight.
"If you don't count the Fire Style at the end, it's pure Taijutsu. Hmm... let's see... I'll just call it the Lion Combo..."
Sasuke had basically reinvented a move nearly identical to the one from the original story, only under a different name—so Hanabi simply patched it over. Without a "Lion Combo" in the lineup, something just felt off.
Except Sasuke's move clearly wasn't finished. After blasting Dosu at the end, Sasuke himself got thrown back and took some damage.
Sasuke had wounded himself in the blast.
Still, he slowly pushed himself back to his feet.
Dosu, on the other hand, had already passed out—breathing out far more than he was breathing in. The medical team rushed in and loaded him onto a stretcher.
"Tch. This move asks a lot of the body. Not one I can use often, it seems."
Sasuke swayed on his feet.
The Shadow of the Dancing Leaf was the opening movement of the Front Lotus, and it demanded a great deal of physical conditioning.
And he hadn't fully cleared the blast that followed, either.
"Well."
Hanabi appeared behind Sasuke, a red rope reeling him in.
"Let me take you to get treated," Hanabi said.
"No need... ngh..."
"Sasuke, quit pushing yourself."
Naruto came over too and clapped Sasuke on the back.
"Idiot—don't—"
Sasuke hissed through his teeth.
"Need a hand?" Kakashi walked over as well.
"No need, I've got this. Sasuke brought these injuries on himself anyway—no sense bothering the medical team."
And with that, Hanabi hauled Sasuke off toward the back.
The next match was Zaku Abumi versus Shino Aburame—this one, at least, was a fight that existed in the "original" story.
Even away from the arena, Hanabi could keep tabs on things through the video "live feed."
And failing that, she still had the Byakugan.
"So what exactly is this secret art?" In truth, ever since Hanabi had led him out, Sasuke's injuries had very nearly healed.
This miraculous Medical Ninjutsu left Sasuke incredulous.
"You can't head back just yet," Hanabi said. "No injury heals this fast."
"Which means I didn't need to come out here at all."
Sasuke, truthfully, wanted to see how things played out.
"My apologies—but had you stayed back there, a certain gentleman... or should I say lady... would have worried themselves sick."
Hanabi smiled.
"An enemy?!"
Sasuke instantly drew a kunai.
"Hehehehe... so you already knew I'd come. Just how many surprises do you have in store for me~"
A gloomy voice drifted over.
The moment Sasuke heard it, he froze.
"The same crushing pressure as that 'Madara Uchiha'..." Cold sweat poured down Sasuke's face.
He could hear the voice but not yet see its owner, and already that pressure stood every hair on his body on end.
Sasuke, who'd been styling on everyone barely two minutes ago, got promptly cut down to size—all that swagger knocked right out of him.
Orochimaru stepped out of the darkness.
"You even sent everyone else away before I arrived. I'm growing more and more interested in you." Orochimaru's target had been Sasuke—but there was no denying it, Hanabi's power had piqued his curiosity.
She might not make a viable vessel, but she'd make a fine tool.
"Zannen—but I've no interest whatsoever in you, Lord Orochimaru."
Yours truly was the idol type, thank you very much. If she were going to be a villain, she'd be the kind with real class—an Aizen—not some skin-crawling creep like Orochimaru. Hard pass.
He just didn't fit her aesthetic.
Besides, Orochimaru slapping a Cursed Seal on Sasuke wasn't all that interesting. Now, if he wanted to give one to Naruto—that Hanabi would find pretty entertaining.
As villains went, though, Orochimaru was perfectly qualified.
And besides...
Mm. He made an excellent scapegoat.
In the Naruto world, if something went wrong and there was no one to pin it on, eight times out of ten it was Danzo's doing. And if some experiment subject met with an accident, nine times out of ten Orochimaru had a hand in it.
In a sense, Orochimaru was the designated scapegoat before Danzo ever came along...