Chapter 608: The Sword of Totsuka
"As for what you mentioned, taking a Spirit Weapon out of an eye... it's simple. A Spirit Weapon is a weapon that can be spiritualized." Ino spoke fluently. "We have 361 tenketsu on our chakra pathways. You can actually consider the Sharingan or Byakugan as two independent tenketsu. If your weapon is in your eye, then you can..."
He touched Sakura's head, tapping lightly on several chakra points on the front and back. "Make your chakra flow rapidly between these tenketsu. When you feel a stinging sensation in your eye, find the source of that pain, and use your chakra to pull it out, bit by bit."
Sakura had a revelation. It wasn't difficult for someone who knew how, but without guidance, it was truly impossible.
Thank goodness she and Ino had been good friends since childhood!
She suddenly thought of another question: "I remember reading in a book that Spirit Weapons can convert between physical and ethereal forms. How do you do that?"
Ino looked down at the numbers on the check, said nothing, and held out his right hand. You have to add more money.
Sakura's face froze. She suddenly regretted having a "good friend" like Ino!
She really had no more money. On the verge of tears, she wrote an IOU for 200,000 ryo.
"Knowledge is priceless. You really don't know how lucky you are." Ino grumbled a bit before explaining. "Spirit Weapons, Spirit Weapons... they must have a 'spirit' (灵) to be called such. They actually possess a form of thought. The specific type varies, so I can't make a rash judgment, but they all follow the same principle. Mastering a Spirit Weapon isn't about pleasing it; first, you must understand its core concept..."
After twenty minutes, Ino picked up his tea, signaling the end of the lesson. Class dismissed! He called Hinata out to continue practicing calligraphy.
Sakura, her head full of knowledge, hurriedly caught up with Sasuke's vanguard unit and relayed Ino's instructions perfectly.
Sasuke was very smart, and Sakura's theoretical knowledge was solid. After studying it for a while, by the time they made camp that evening, Sasuke had successfully retrieved both of Itachi's Spirit Weapons from his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan: the Sword of Totsuka and the Yata Mirror.
He tried to materialize the Yata Mirror twice and failed, perhaps he still hadn't grasped the trick. But he could now freely convert the Sword of Totsuka between its physical and ethereal states.
This blade, with its gourd-shaped hilt, was narrower and longer than a normal sword. The blade could extend, and enemies struck by it would unknowingly fall into a genjutsu. If necessary, they could be sealed permanently within the hilt.
The sword was a game-changer. Sasuke was already proficient in the Hatake-style kenjutsu, and the Sword of Totsuka enhanced his combat power far more than the Uchiha Gunbai, which looked impressive but was incredibly awkward to use.
That stupid fan was so difficult to handle, a truly unconventional weapon. Madara Uchiha was a martial arts master and used it in dazzling, unpredictable ways. Sasuke didn't have that depth of experience; using the Gunbai was just asking for trouble.
But not using it? It felt like a waste to let a tool bought at such a high price just collect dust.
After retrieving the Sword of Totsuka, he found it suited him perfectly.
The blade and hilt were too long to be worn on his back like a short sword. He tried a few positions and finally settled on hanging it behind his waist. To draw it, he would grab the hilt with his right hand and pull it out diagonally upward in a reverse grip, a motion that looked rather awkward.
Sasuke had not defected, so he had never worn the Akatsuki's signature black cloak with red clouds and a hood.
He had essentially "skipped" two versions. He now wore a gray, short-sleeved zip-up shirt and dark blue pants, with the standard Uchiha crest on the back and dark blue wristbands.
To cover the forehead Itachi loved to poke, he let his bangs grow long, almost completely obscuring it. He wore his ninja forehead protector on his sleeve, like Shikamaru, resembling an armband.
He also tested the Sword of Totsuka and Yata Mirror in his Susanoo state. Both were top-tier weapons.
Thinking of Itachi's love for him, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness.
The vanguard unit entered the Land of Grass.
Kusagakure had established friendly diplomatic relations with Konoha. The Land of Grass was also a vassal state of the Land of Fire, paying an astronomical amount in tribute each year. The country's stable external environment was bought at the expense of its own citizens. The nobility's exploitation of the people was outrageous, and political corruption was rampant.
Sasuke didn't care about these "foreign" civilians; he only cared about his mission.
Just after crossing the border, they found the air thick with the stench of blood.
In a small town, the ninja found many spears stuck in the ground along the roadside, each adorned with a corpse, its face twisted in agony.
Sakura took several medical-nin to inspect them and quickly reported back. "All were impaled while alive and bled to death. Two of them were ninja."
Sasuke, a man of few words, said, "Got it. Keep moving."
As they traveled, bodies littered the landscape—in the bushes, on treetops, by the river—corpses were everywhere.
Civilians, merchants, ninja, monks... they came from all walks of life. Sasuke even saw a dead black ox by the road, which he guessed was the mode of transport for the Land of Grass's nobles.
"All ninja must die!" Okisuke, the general from the Land of Iron, was now completely transformed.
His arms were gone. He was hunched over, his massive body supported only by his two legs as he staggered in a small circle. His body was grotesquely swollen; a normal 1.8-meter-tall samurai had become a 3-meter-tall monster of flesh. His back was like a porcupine, bristling with over a dozen spears, some still bearing bloody, torn pieces of flesh.
Okisuke still had a shred of his own consciousness. Seeing the Konoha ninja, a skull-head emerged from his ball-like neck. The skin on his chest and abdomen split open, revealing two bone-hands, their palms wrapped around a faintly beating heart.
Sakura gasped. What in the world was this thing?
"Pathetic tricks!" Sasuke showed no fear.
With a flick of his right hand, his Chidori formed into a long spear (Chidori Sharp Spear) and shot straight at Okisuke.
Okisuke didn't dodge. The skull-head opened its mouth wide and, without hesitation, swallowed the entire Chidori Sharp Spear. It then continued its charge, like a raging bull.
"You're asking to die!" Sasuke instantly activated his Eternal Mangekyo. The right arm of his Susanoo raised the Sword of Totsuka high. Now that his eyes wouldn't go blind, Sasuke infused the blade with Amaterasu, and the greatsword, wreathed in black flames, descended.
One slash cut Okisuke's body open. The creature's flesh seemed to have some regenerative ability, but under Amaterasu's flames, it quickly lost all vitality. The skull-head crumbled to dust, and the swollen, fleshy body was burned to ashes. The heart, which had been clutched by the two bone claws, rolled a few times on the ground before Sasuke pierced it with his sword again.
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