Before the temple walls adorned with fox motifs and tomoe, Itachi sat rigid upon the stone throne. He slowly withdrew his hand from the collar of his Akatsuki robe.
Reunited. Speechless.
One didn't know how to begin.
The other didn't know what to say.
Ten seconds of silence stretched between them. Itachi broke it first.
"Sasuke. Since we parted at the Leaf inn… something must have happened. Something I'm unaware of. Tell me. Consider it one last conversation before our fight."
Sasuke's gaze fell. His voice was low. "A lot happened. Too much for a few words."
Itachi shifted slightly, clasping his hands. "Then let me rephrase. Sasuke, what is your goal? Is it simply to kill me?"
Sasuke lifted his eyes. His question was heavy. "Itachi. To you, what is the clan? What is the village? And what… is the bond between us?"
A faint smile touched Itachi's lips. "You've changed. Using a counter-question to seize the initiative."
"No. It's a simple rule. If you want someone to bare their heart, you should be honest first."
"Honest…" Itachi rose slowly from the stone seat. "The clan… is a shackle on one's potential. The village… is an obstacle to progress." His eyes narrowed. "As for the bond between us brothers… you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. You've wielded the Susanoo. You should understand the curse these eyes bear. There's no need for me to elaborate, is there?"
His voice sharpened. "Correct. We are each other's spare parts!!!"
Shun!
Itachi's hands flew through seals.
"Use your eyes to free me from this clan's fate. Grant me eternal light. That is the destiny of Uchiha brothers…!!!"
― Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Nail Crimson!
Shuriken spun, wreathed in flame, scattering like the blooming scarlet claws of a phoenix flower!
Clang-clang-clang…! Sasuke's Kusanagi blade flashed, deflecting the projectiles.
"You say I've grown stronger, then you turn around and treat me like a child. That's what infuriates me about you, Itachi!"
"…"
No reply. Itachi vanished. Reappeared. A kunai thrust at Sasuke's throat.
Clang!
Sasuke parried with his sword. His leg snapped out in a kick.
Thud!
Itachi blocked with his forearm, the force sending him skidding back. He released the kunai mid-air.
Clang—!!
Sasuke's blade split the flying kunai down its center. His fingers formed a seal.
― Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
Whoosh!!
A raging dragon of fire roared across the chamber.
Sizzle. Itachi's eyes swirled into the Mangekyō pattern. Blood trickled from his right eye as it focused on the fire dragon's head.
― Amaterasu!
Fwoom!
Black flames consumed the dragon's head, then its body, swallowing the fire whole.
Sizzle. Sasuke's own eyes transformed. His right eye fixed on Itachi's black fire.
― Kagutsuchi!
The Amaterasu flames… reversed course. Raced back toward their creator.
"!!!" Itachi's eyes widened. Behind him was only the stone throne and the fox-patterned wall. No retreat. Crimson skeletal ribs of a Susanoo erupted around him, shielding him from the black inferno.
Itachi sighed. "Your ability to control the black flames… it's not limited to your own, is it? Your Kagutsuchi… it renders my Amaterasu useless."
Sasuke stared at the crimson bones on the steps. "You resorted to Susanoo so readily. You really did your homework this past month."
BOOM. Dark purple energy erupted around Sasuke. A towering, skeletal Susanoo took form. Purple tendons snaked over bone, morphing swiftly into a layered, muscular frame.
Itachi's gaze sharpened. "A frontal clash of Susanoo… seems a bit cramped for this space."
Even as he spoke, crimson tendons wrapped around his own skeletal construct.
Sasuke's muscular Susanoo drew back a bow, nocking a massive arrow of chakra.
Itachi's Susanoo raised its hand, forming three glowing, connected tomoe.
― Heavenly Arrow of the Ten Hands!
― Yasaka Magatama!
BOOOOM!!!
The two legendary ranged attacks collided at point-blank range.
The resulting blast was catastrophic. The floor before Sasuke shattered, the damage rivaling A's Liger Bomb. The steps before Itachi vaporized. The concussive force slammed his Susanoo backward, crushing the stone throne against the wall.
CRASH!!
In that instant, Sasuke pressed the attack. His Susanoo surged forward, its form evolving mid-stride—muscles plating over with ornate, demonic armor. The Crow Tengu form.
SHING!!!
A greatsword forged from Amaterasu flames materialized in its grasp and stabbed forward.
― Kagutsuchi: Flowing Fire Thrust!
SKREEE—CHUNK!!!
The blade pierced Itachi. Pierced his Susanoo. Buried itself deep into the fox-patterned wall behind them.
Itachi let out a sigh, more genuine than any before. "Sasuke… you truly have grown strong. It seems… taking your eyes will be difficult this time."
"You haven't even used the Yata Mirror yet," Sasuke retorted flatly. "Saying that is premature."
Itachi paused, then understood. "Ah… so you know. Orochimaru must have uncovered my Susanoo's secrets and told you." He met Sasuke's gaze. "And… it's about time you showed your real self, don't you think?"
A faint smirk touched Itachi's lips. "Couldn't fool your eyes, huh…"
Caw-caw-caw! The pierced "Itachi" dissolved into a scattering flock of crows.
From the shadow of the dissolving clone, the real Itachi rose calmly.
Sasuke's mind raced. Hiding his true body in a clone's shadow… similar in principle to the Toad Flat Shadow Manipulation Technique Naruto would use years later. If I weren't this close, even my eyes might have missed it.
― Totsuka Blade!
BOOOOOOM!!!
Itachi's Susanoo completed its own transformation into the fully-armored Crow Tengu. From the gourd on its back, a flaming, crimson longsword extended.
It stabbed through Sasuke.
Through his Susanoo.
Shoom! Sasuke's Susanoo dissolved into a fluid stream of chakra and black fire, sucked up along the blade's length, and sealed into the gourd.
The Susanoo vanished. Itachi looked at the rotten piece of wood on the shattered floor. His eyes shifted to the shadow of a stone pillar.
"If we're talking about hiding… you're no different, Sasuke."
From the shadows, the white-cloaked Sasuke stepped forward.
"You saw through that Wood Clone. Itachi. That proves your visual prowess has surpassed the Mangekyō Sharingan. Since you haven't obtained 'eternal light'… there's only one possibility. You've been… to that place."
Itachi sighed. "Just how much of the world's truth did you learn from Orochimaru? Yes. I have been there."
"Then show me!" Sasuke declared, his voice ringing. "Show me your true full power!"
HSSSSS—CRACKLE!
As he advanced, power erupted from him. Pale, jagged markings spread across his skin as horn-like protrusions formed and white wings of chakra unfurled from his back.
― White Cursed Seal: State Two!
Itachi smiled softly. His eyes closed.
"Very well. I'll show you."
― Shikkotsu Forest: Sage Mode!
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