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—Chakra Absorption Threads: Divine Tool Seizure!
The greatsword and armor of Izuna's Susano'o rapidly dissolved into a purple-red fluid, seeping into the writhing mass of chakra threads!
SLURP… SLURP… SLURP…!
As the threads retracted, they tore away the very muscle and flesh of Izuna's Susano'o. All that remained was a skeletal frame, exposed beneath the Wooden Giant's shadow.
Izuna couldn't believe his eyes.
"What… what kind of technique is this!?"
Sasuke didn't answer. The Wooden Giant's fist rose again.
BOOM…!!
This punch shattered heaven and earth.
Izuna's armorless Susano'o exploded under the Wooden Giant's knuckles!
CRACK…!!
The very ground the Susano'o lay upon shattered alongside it!!
In the split-second of the blast, Izuna scrambled free, a ragged escape from the crumbling debris!
WHOOSH!!
From the Wooden Giant's shoulder, the coiling Wood Dragon shot downward in pursuit!
Izuna dodged with a Body Flicker. But Sasuke's Byakugan tracked him. The dragon bored into the earth, giving chase. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Seconds later, the dragon's head burst from the soil, jaws gaping for Izuna.
"Don't look down on me!!!"
Izuna's face twisted. Crimson light wavered in his right eye, locking onto the dragon's head.
—Ayaka!
CRACK!
The space around the dragon's head froze solid!!
Then… Izuna raised a hand, fingers held like a blade, and slashed downward.
—Ayaka: Sever!
SHINK!
The frozen space sheared away from reality itself, cleanly decapitating the wooden serpent.
"So that's an advanced application of Izuna's right-eye technique, Ayaka," Sasuke noted mentally. "Whether it's Obito's Kamui or Izuna's Futodama, anything involving spatial manipulation is bound to have serious tricks."
The Chakra Absorption Threads fully retracted. Sasuke dismissed his Susano'o, leaping down from the Wooden Giant's head, closing the distance to Izuna in a flash.
"Time to end this."
SWISH! Izuna shielded his right eye with a hand. Through his fingers, his trembling pupil locked onto the white-clad figure.
BOOM…!!
A sonic crack. Sasuke flashed to the side!!
"He read the signs of my right eye's technique perfectly with the Byakugan," Izuna realized, cold sweat forming. "Then avoided it with footwork that rivals my brother's!!!"
Furious, Izuna tried to capture Sasuke with his gaze again…!!
But as Sasuke's hands formed a seal… a surging Forest Genesis erupted, crushing any hope of ending this with a single glance!
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The raging forest quickly turned Izuna into prey trapped in a maze. He spat furious Fire Release, his skeletal Susano'o's blade hacking desperately at the vines.
Izuna's eyes darted through the swaying shadows… watching for the hunter that could strike from anywhere.
But this time, the hunter was patient. Unnervingly so.
Heh. A psychological game? Izuna thought. But that just proves it—you're wary of my eye. So I'll give you an opening. Come within ten steps… no one has ever dodged my technique at point-blank range!!
CRUNCH!!
His skeletal Susano'o was pinned by thick, coiling roots.
Then… the youth lurking in the shadows pounced.
"Now!!"
Izuna's right eye snapped into focus.
—Ayaka!
CRACK…!!!
The charging figure froze in place!!!
"The roles of hunter and prey… are reversed now!!!"
Izuna formed hand signs.
—Lightning Release: Distress Current!
Cobalt-blue lightning… guided by the spatial lock… arced directly onto Sasuke's immobilized body!!
"This will keep you paralyzed. No more of that disgusting molting technique. Now… taste despair before you die, lost Uchiha!!"
—Fire Release: Detonating Flame Array!
SHWIP-SHWIP-SHWIP…!
Explosive tags were summoned inside the frozen space, wrapping Sasuke entirely.
KABOOOOOOOOOM…!!
The blast of fire painted a period on this hunt.
"Got him?"
Izuna stared at the burning husk of wood amid the flames.
"…Looks like not. A Wood Clone, of course. Even brother couldn't see through that one, only guess by experience. Figures. From his performance, he wouldn't fall for such a simple trap. But… my chakra sensing isn't bad either. I know exactly where you'll appear now!!!"
Izuna's cold gaze dropped to the earth beneath his feet.
He tore open his black shirt. From a sealing tag on his chest, he summoned a razor-sharp blade. Lightning and fire cloaked the edge simultaneously. Without hesitation, he drove it into the ground!
CLANG…!!
Sasuke, hiding with Earth-Style Subterranean Voyage, parried frantically with the Kusanagi Sword!
"Heh. Come out of your hole!!"
Izuna's right hand clawed the air.
—Earth Style: Rock Pillar Rise!
THOOM…!!
A pillar of earth erupted, hurling the hidden Sasuke into the open!
Sasuke backflipped away, his left hand fingers pulling taut—strands of chakra threads!
CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK…!
With the sound of hidden mechanisms, a disheveled, ash-gray humanoid form was yanked from the earth inside Izuna's Susano'o!
Izuna glanced sideways. "A puppet? Spare me these childish tricks."
It was the puppet 'Karasu'—the one Sasuke had taken at the end of the seventh battle.
Izuna's blade flashed, severing the chakra threads with clean efficiency.
SNAP…!
The deactivated 'Karasu' slumped to the ground, limbs splayed.
THRUST!
The skeletal Susano'o's blade lunged forward, impaling the Sasuke before it.
"You have many tricks. But don't waste my time with amateur puppetry…"
POOF!
The impaled Sasuke dissolved into a log.
Izuna smirked. "Another clone. Where will you come from this time?"
ZAP…!!
A piercing lance of lightning speared through Izuna's back from behind!!
His face went white. He turned.
There… from the opened chest panel of the puppet 'Karasu,' Sasuke's true self stepped out, Chidori Sharp Spear crackling on his palm.
"You… hid inside the puppet?"
"I modified it," Sasuke said flatly. "Added seals to disrupt sensory perception…"
"Damn it! But I'll say it again—you walked right into my trap!!"
Izuna whirled—his right eye blazed!
CRACK…!!!
At the same moment, Sasuke dismissed the lightning spear with his right hand. His left palm shot forward.
—Eight Trigrams Air Palm!
WHUMP…!!
Izuna was blasted clean out of his shattered Susano'o skeleton…!!
SWISH!! In the next instant, Sasuke appeared parallel beneath the airborne Izuna.
"It's over…"
THWACK…!!
A kick launched Izuna skyward!!!
On Pale Moon Island, Kabuto's eyes widened. "That stance is…!!!"
Orochimaru chuckled. "The Lion Barrage… how nostalgic. But this time, it's integrated with the Gentle Fist's Eight Trigrams pressure point strikes."
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP…! Sasuke moved with impossible grace. His fists and feet became a storm, a downpour of strikes targeting every major chakra point on Izuna's body.
Izuna felt it—the flow of his chakra… closing down.
Is this my loss? Even if his life is ticking down… I've lost to a Senju again. Well. I'm already dead. I'll return to the earth, continue searching for my brother… Hm!?
Just as Izuna resigned himself… he finally sensed it. Far, far from this island. A faint, almost illusory chakra signature that made his very soul tremble.
THUD-THUD-THUMP…!!
POW! Sasuke finished the combo, a final folded axe kick crashing into Izuna's chest.
Sasuke straightened his collar, looking down at Izuna sprawled in the rubble, unable to move.
"Your chakra network is completely sealed. This battle… is mine."
The eighth clash was over.
But Izuna's heart was already captured—wholly consumed by that soul-stirring chakra.
It's brother. Not exactly the same as the brother I knew… but without a doubt, that chakra sensation… is my elder brother—Uchiha Madara!!! He's alive. In this world!!!
Sasuke saw the look on Izuna's face. The single-minded obsession. The disregard for all else. It was like looking into a mirror from the past.
Finish it. Soul included.
Sasuke raised a hand, forming the beginnings of an unfamiliar, ominous seal.
SWISH…!!
Izuna's body suddenly twitched. Then shot backward in a frantic retreat!
Zzzzt! As he retreated, his right eye… turned a desolate, lifeless white.
Sasuke slowly lowered his hand. "Izanagi…"
Izuna's mind raced. Uchiha Sasuke… he shows no fear of the death sentence from my Ayaka. I thought it was because he hadn't faced true death, that the threat felt unreal. But now… his calm seems more like confidence. Like he has a card to play.
If he obtained such perfect Senju and Hyūga power, he must have powerful backing. As much as I hate to admit it… that backer might know a way to counter the Ayaka curse.
The caster of this Impure World Reincarnation? Or someone else? Regardless… Sasuke and whoever stands behind him may become a threat to my brother! I must find him! I must warn him!!!
SWISH! SWISH!
His hands formed the seals of release. Before the battle, Kabuto had told him how to break the Impure World Reincarnation's hold.
—Impure World Reincarnation: RELEASE!!!
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