Chapter 75
Title:
...
"Oh? Is that the little brother from back then?" Kisame asked with a toothy grin as he scrutinized the arriving group.
"It appears Sunagakure manages to call in for reinforcement." Itachi didn't directly reply but stated with a calm tone.
"Kisame, the thing." He said, gesturing to the floating gaara. "We can't all possibly fight from up here."
"Hm. It's already a hassle floating up here alone, you two should be done and get down." Deidara fumed as he saw how they both ignored him.
"Hmm." Kisame nodded and made a series of hand signs.
"Be careful." Kakashi exclaimed and the group nodded other than Sasuke who had his eyes trained on Itachi.
[Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu.(Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique)
In an awe-inspiring display, Kisame gathered chakra in his mouth as he unleashed the technique, conjuring a massive wall of water that towered above the sandy terrain.
The Great Waterfall Technique descended with tremendous force, its sheer volume creating an overwhelming presence. The desert sands yielded to the deluge, transforming the battleground into a temporary oasis which quickly disappeared as the water sank into the sand below for a good Kilometer.
"This guy...what absurd amount of chakra." Kakashi muttered to himself seeing the spectacle
It was one thing to use water style Ninjutsu around a body of water, but to conjure such an amount from his own chakra alone...'Perhaps only Lord Second could achieve such a feat.' Kakashi thought.
"Temari, take Sakura and locate Kankuro. From your Intel, he should not have much time left. Naruto you help Gaara while I keep that fish face in check, Sasuke-"
"I'll take on Itachi." Sasuke said, and without waiting for approval, he made his own series of hand signs.
[Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu( Fire Style: Great Fireball technique]
With chakra being channeled into his lungs, molding it into the potent element of fire, Sasuke spat out a roaring inferno as the air crackled with the impending release of destructive power.
With a swift and focused motion the ball of fire was propelled toward their adversary. The searing sphere hurtles through the air, leaving trails of scorching heat in its wake.
"Damn you Uchihas!" Deidara cursed angrily as he maneuvered his bird to dodge the flame, obviously being shot at the other Uchiha.
That wasn't what angered him in particular though. What angered him was the fact that the duo who were just now on his bird, had both disappeared.
"Tch, I missed." Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance seeing his flame dissipate in the air, oblivious of the gazes he was receiving from his group.
Sakura as usual only had hearts in her eyes, Temari was in awe as waves surged in her heart. Even with her mastery of Wind Release, would she be able to go against a flame that hot?
While the girls thought this, the boys had different ones. Kakashi was only momentarily surprised before his calm returned while Naruto, although amazed, scoffed before pouting on how strong this rival of his was getting.
However, despite this, he didn't feel disheartened. He knew in a clash between the two of them, even if he couldn't use Ninjutsu all that well, he was still fast enough to deal with the technique.
"That's one hell of a flame Itachi. You sure you can handle the brat with only 30%?" Kisame whistled as he stood beside Itachi on the floor.
"It's of no consequence whatsoever..." Itachi said calmly while thinking. 'You sure have grown, little brother.' proudly.
Meanwhile, Gaara who was floating used this momentary disruption to his advantage as he swiftly used his sand bullets to incapacitate the floating bird Deidara was on.
"You bastard!" Deidara cursed as he fell, and in his anger he sent the destroyed bird at the person responsible for his plight.
"Katsu!"
"Be careful!" Kakashi cried as he appeared before the group and slammed his hands on the ground.
[Earth Release: Earth Dome!]
BOOM!
An explosion rang out as the dome they were in crumbled slightly but still held.
"Temari, Sakura on Kankuro. Naruto on Gaara, Sasuke keep Itachi in check while I handle the other guy." Kakashi said and everyone nodded, and with that, the dome crumbled.
...
With Itachi.
"You...seem weak, Itachi." Sasuke said as he observed his brother with his three Tomoe Sharingan rotating in his eyes.
"And you're still the same as before." Itachi replied. "You still dare to stand before me with such weak resolve?"
"Same as before? Weak resolve? Heh, Itachi, you seem to be grossly mistaken about something." Sasuke said with a smirk
"Oh? Do enlighten me the- what?" Itachi began but was interrupted by the sword tip protruding out of his chest.
"You do seem to have gotten weaker..." A voice that Itachi clearly knew belonged to Sasuke sounded from behind him. "Or perhaps, this isn't your real body?"
"Impressive deduction, Sasuke." Itachi said as he regained his calm much to Sasuke's ire, but before Sasuke could say anything, his body vanished in a murder of crows.
"However, weakened or not, I don't think I've grown so weak that I'll be defeated by a mere illusion." Itachi's voice rang out as the world darkened, two red suns hung suspended above the skies as they pierced into Sasuke.
Looking at the scene, Sasuke was akin to an ant being gazed upon by some God.
Sasuke, seeing this, merely frowned for an instant before his face returned to his previous smirk.
"I'm never one to underestimate my opponent Itachi. Shun-nii taught me that, you should know that if you hadn't done what you did."
"How cold of you little brother. Calling someone else your brother while calling your true brother so casually. I must say, I do feel hurt." Itachi's voice rang with an amused tone.
"Still though, I would expect nothing short of that from Shun. He's a wonderful teacher is he not?" Itachi continued as the world cracked and they both appeared back in reality still staring at themselves.
"Of course he is, unlike a certain someone." Sasuke said, still locking eyes with his brother.
"Apparently. However, if this is your limit, you're still a bit too early to match my prowess." Itachi said. "Without the Mangekyou Sharingan, you're still considered weak Sasuke. Lemme show you."
Sasuke suddenly felt a wave of chakra surge out of Itachi as his Sharingan began swirling and gradually took the form of a curved shuriken.
"Behold, the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan." Itachi said and instantly appeared beside Sasuke whose eyes widened in shock as he hurriedly unsheathed his sword to intercept the kunai aiming to stab into his head.
"What was that? A movement technique? Genjutsu?" Sasuke queried as the two were locked in their stance.
"None of those Sasuke. It's just one of the perks of the evolved eyes. Perception, how you see my movements. I merely tweaked it a little." Itachi replied as a clone appeared behind him while forming hand signs which Sasuke saw but failed to react as...
[Fire style: Fire Phoenix Jutsu.]
Siu* Siu* Siu*
Itachi spat a flurry of mini fire birds that impacted Sasuke's body for a good while before he stopped and observed the dust clouds that surrounded Sasuke.
"..."
A moment of silence later.
"That hurt damnit!" Sasuke's annoyed voice rang out as his shadowy figure became prominent in the cloud of dust.
However, observing closely, Itachi could make out what he presumed to be appendages attached to Sasuke
'Wings? Or perhaps some form of defense? Did Orochimaru do this?' Itachi wondered as he squinted his eyes, Mangekyou Sharingan focused on the visage of his little brother.
FLAP!* Sasuke controlled his new extra sets of arms joined to form wings protruding from his back to disperse the dust gathered around him.
Sasuke's body was revealed with his appearance exuding a more menacing aura, his eyes undergoing a noticeable change...(a/N: Basically the Same Sasuke with the cursed mark with all its advantages but no disadvantage.)
"I guess we're at a draw. Time for round three." Sasuke said and was immediately on Itachi who's Mangekyou managed to catch Sasuke's blur much to his shock.
'I can't follow his movements?' Itachi surmised as he hurriedly blocked Sasuke's slash coming from all over the place.
'This strength...He's not meant to be this strong.' Itachi mused while still managing to hold his own against an upgraded Sasuke.
He knew that as an Uchiha, physical strength wasn't their strongest point so he was quick to assume it all came with the appearance.
'Was it Orochimaru..? No, Shun wouldn't sit still and watch Sasuke being experimented on...' Itachi was momentarily lost in his thoughts, only to be brought back to reality by a punch that sent him flying.
"Getting distracted in a battle against me is the highest arrogance you've shown so far." Sasuke said as he stood in place watching his brother come out nearly unscathed.
Sasuke squinted his eyes at that but quickly attributed it to Itachi weakness. 'Perhaps he traded chakra for a stronger body to achieve this Jutsu.' he concluded.
Meanwhile, Itachi who had managed to use his chakra to harden the flesh around his jaw on time finally came to a conclusion. 'It must be Shun. I'm getting the same feeling of Senjutsu from him, plus Genjutsu isn't working anymore. Interesting.'
"I guess this round goes to you little brother, but this isn't the end of it," Itachi said as his chakra surged. "This is the only trump card I have now, do make sure to survive."
Sasuke watched as the air around his brother begin to simmer as though being burnt by some form of invisible flame.
Even his earlier fire wasn't this intense, and this was just the prelude to the technique. Itachi hasn't even released it and it was already this threatening.
'This must be the Black flames Izumi-nee-san mentioned Itachi learnt.' Sasuke thought as he coated his sword and by extension, his body in lightning, ready to attack or dodge this flame if proved to be invincible.
[Amaterasu!]
...
"Those two are really going at it, eh?"
Two figures clashed with Kunais drawn and ready to kill. One a silver haired guy with a blazing three Tomoe Sharingan, the other, a blue-skinned fish man.
"As expected of the Uchihas, you however probably can't achieve this with that line Sharingan." The same person taunted the other guy who showed no visible reaction.
"They're Uchihas who I've taught, so I know what they can do." Kakashi said, unperturbed.
"Oh? I should expect some form of challenge from you?" The fish man smiled excitedly. "Then I expect a good fight, Kakashi of the Sharingan."
"Unfortunately, I don't share the same sentiment." Kakashi's eye spun as his Sharingan changed into a Mangekyou which he immediately used to phase through Kisame much to the fish man's shock.
"Wha-?"
But before she could complete his sentence, Kakashi trained a slap with hands coated with lightning.
That was a variation he created that consumed less chakra while reducing the time needed to form.
"Chidori: Lightning Palm." Kakashi muttered to himself as the Sharingan returned to its three tomoes.
'That ability still consumes too much chakra.' Kakashi thought as he recalled the Phasing ability he just used.
This was one of the abilities the Sharingan gave him after he finally managed to sustain it for a long duration.
-Intangibility and Teleportation.
However, unlike Obito's Kakashi can't gain access to the Kamui Dimension when he phases, not because he can't, but because his chakra won't make the journey.
As for the teleportation, unlike Obito's ability to teleport himself across multiple spaces and dimensions, Kakashi could only teleport objects...and that's on a smaller scale.
The advantage was that he didn't need physical contact unlike Obito's need to be in contact with the object.
In a way, they both had advantages over the other eye.
While Obito can Teleport himself, Kakashi can't.
While Obito can phase, Kakashi could do the same.
While Obito needed contact to teleport foreign bodies, Kakashi didn't need physical contact.
While Obito has access to the dimension, Kakashi doesn't due to his lack of chakra.
"You...that ability...how did you get it?" Kisame emerged from the crater he created in the desert sand, his eyes bore a serious expression as his previous playfulness was gone entirely.