Chapter 91

Title: Showdown 3

...

Seeing his attacks being easily repelled by Itachi, Sasuke stepped into a flash step and was immediately behind Itachi, and emulating the attack Lee once used on him.

He made to kick Itachi in the jaw but Itachi was quick on the defensive, bringing his hands up to receive the attack. However that was the plan all along as the force behind the kick propelled the elder Uchiha up in the air.

And in a swift show of skills, Sasuke quickly formed several hand signs and...[Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu].

The swiftness of it all was shocking but that didn't make the slightest frown appear on Itachi's face as he showcased his mastery over aerial combat by deftly dodging the flaming chinese dragon heading for him.

As though already predicting this outcome, Sasuke unleashed three more Flaming Chinese dragons that were all evaded by Itachi.

Perceiving that this was the last attack from his brother, Itachi didn't fail to reciprocate, and while still mid-air, he made a one handed seal...[Fire Style: Fire Phoenix Jutsu].

With this Jutsu unleashed, first sized birds numbering in their tens were spat out of Itachi's mouth making for Sasuke who failed to anticipate his brother's counter attack.

Be that as it may, he was still able to quickly form a one hand sign with his left hand to unleash the...[Chidori Nagashi(Chidori Current)]

From his hand, the chidori formed and quickly formed a lightning wave around him that managed to stave off the attack albeit allowing some in.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Sasuke quickly gathered the energy from the Chidori current and formed an elongated spike that shot to impale Itachi.

Not expecting this, Itachi brought his fore arm to defend only for the lightning to pierce through his hand and into his chest.

He was quick enough to redirect it from his heart region, allowing it to pass through his chest without causing much damage.

Seeing his attack successful, Sasuke raised the spike upwards, smashing his brother into the ceiling and out of the already destabilizing roof.

Seconds later, Sasuke stopped supplying chakra to his hand, letting the Chidori Spear dissipate before jumping after his brother.

Arriving on the roof, Sasuke was met with the sight of his brother with a disheveled appearance, his right hand hanging limply by the side as blood dripped down it.

From his mouth, a small trail of blood could be seen as he held his chest with his left hand.

As Sasuke landed on the roof, he smiled slightly and said. "You really have gotten strong. It seems like I'm the one who has been left behind."

"Let's end this brother. I only want answers." Sasuke said with a pleading tone. He knew his brother well enough to know that until proven, Itachi won't talk.

He had to prove that he was strong enough. From what Shun had already told him, if he and his brother ever wanted to stop being labeled as rogue, there was a group of people that needed to be killed.

He needed to know who those groups were. He needed answers as well as closure. Despite not taking the avenger route, he still needed to make those who made him and his family suffer.

Itachi shook his head. "You still don't have it."

"Have what?" Sasuke asked with a frown. "I've got everything I need to get the answers I want. I'm strong enough. I've killed enough. I've fought opponents that seemed strong and came out as the winner. Tell me! What don't I have?"

"The Mangekyou Sharingan." Itachi replied as his left hand, which he used to hold his chest, fell down slowly. "In front of the supreme eyes of the Uchiha, you're still too weak."

With slow movements, Itachi brought his left hand to his face and formed a seal. [Amaterasu.] He said, and immediately, his eyes spun as his three Tomoe connected and formed a curved three pointed shuriken.

Sasuke, seeing this change, braced himself to react accordingly, but faster than he could react, space twisted right in front of his face as pitch black flame poured out.

It was as though time came to a halt for Sasuke as he felt the breath of death so close to him. This was the feeling of death one would get when exposed to killing intent, but the feeling you get when your death was assured.

There was no escaping this death as whether in heat or burning power, Sasuke had never felt anything like this. His many life and death battles didn't prepare him for this.

He knew the Mangekyou Sharingan came with skill so absurd that it made one wonder why the Uchiha didn't dominate the world years ago. He knew how strong those abilities were, both from Izumi, Shusui and Shun.

Their respective iterations of the Eye made him understand...He too came to understand when he Awakened his, but even at that, he felt it shouldn't be this absurd.

Thankfully, as these thoughts ran through his mind, his body had other plans as it seemingly went into auto pilot. Without Sasuke knowing it, his eyes also began spinning before connecting to form a straight three pointed shuriken.

[(Toki no Hizumi)]

Time came to halt as the flames that seemed to want to burn the world seized in its movements, allowing Sasuke to jump backwards creating a massive distance between the two.

...

Weeks Ago...

As Shun tapped the young Uchiha on his forehead, Sasuke felt as though a seal had been broken in his head. It felt like a dam that held back a massive amount of emotions were broken, allowing the memories, feelings and emotions he had repressed unknowingly to flow back in.

Glimpse of his past as a child, the moments he spent with his family, his elder brother, mother, father.

The feeling he thought was neglect on his father's side, the feeling he thought was admiration from his clansmen, the feelings he thought were lack of care from his brother.

All of it culminated and poured back into his memory.

He watched all this with a renewed understanding. With age, he grew and understood a lot of things. He had acquired both the knowledge and wisdom to understand what all these behaviors mean.

This led to him having both a mental breakdown and a breakthrough following the breakdown.

He wished he could have understood what all this meant back then... Perhaps...

No, there was nothing he could do, but...

That desire led to the birth of an ability.

Temporal Distortion,(Toki no Hizumi). In his longing to undo or alter events that led to the tragic fate of his clan, Sasuke awakened the ability to manipulate time in a given area.

To slow and hasten the movement of whatever he laid his eyes on. That was Toki no Hizumi.

Storm Mirage (Arashi no Shinkirou). In the deep-seated need to reshape his reality, Sasuke desired a world where the truth about Itachi and the Uchiha's demise is different, allowing him to escape the harsh realities he faced and craft a more favorable narrative.

With this ability, Sasuke could summon illusionary lightning strikes that distort perception due to the light generated and create multiple mirror images of himself.

These illusions would make it challenging for opponents to discern the real Sasuke from the mirages, enhancing his evasion and misdirection capabilities in battle.

...

"You...what was that?" Sasuke asked as he tried to even out his breath. The adrenaline rush had accelerated his heart rate to its possible peak allowing for his seemingly auto pilot.

Itachi smiled as he stood upright with one eye closed. "Did you think my ability was Amaterasu?"

"Was it not?" Sasuke asked as he stepped into a flash step, evading another attack from the black flames.

"That is a misperception on so many levels." Itachi said as he continued following Sasuke's movements with his one opened eye. Wherever he looked, space distorted allowing black flames to pour out on him.

"The amaterasu was originally just a technique I created with the combination of Fire with Extreme Yin release. I had it even before the Mangekyou Sharingan." He said and closed his eyes as blood began dripping from it.

Opening his other eye, he continued. "It was too destructive and uncontrollable. However, with the Mangekyou Sharingan, I managed to gain a modicum of control. With the MS, I could tap into a realm where these flames exist in their raw form, allowing me to choose a point of attack wherever I lay my eyes."

Sasuke squinted his eyes as his mind raced to find a way around this technique.

"Color me surprised however..." Itachi continued as his smile fell. "To possess the Mangekyou Sharingan...who did you lose?"

"No one." Sasuke replied as a plan was formulated in his mind. He just had to be faster than the eruption. As long as he could see it, he could always navigate his way around the flames.

"...Shun?" Itachi muttered in a query to both himself and Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded as lightning flashed around him for an instant. Itachi sidestepped for no reason allowing Sasuke to smile as he confirmed something.

'He can't see through it.' he thought. He has just used his second ability, the Arashi no Shinkirou, to attack Itachi. That was a mirage however, and from the looks of things, Itachi didn't see through it.

"At this point, what's the point in using clones?" Itachi asked, not understanding his little brother's reasoning behind that attack.

Although the speed behind this clone was remarkably faster than Sasuke's previous speed, Itachi attributed it to the lightning that flashed before the attack.

Itachi shook his head seeing Sasuke not replying and then smiled. "I'm afraid you're a bit too weak if you didn't lose anyone to get that eye."

"Is that so?" Sasuke frowned. He knew his brother was being unreasonable right now and only by being similarly unreasonable could he get through to him.

Crackle*

Lightning crackled in Sasuke's hand as the sky gradually turned darker, dark clouds gathered as thunderstorms began gathering in their magnitudes.

The previous flames as well as Itachi's flames had served to increase the temperature around their location, allowing the water particles in the air to evaporate and form the clouds that were currently covering them.

This was his first battle with the Mangekyou Sharingan, and although he would like to gain some practical experience from his brother, he didn't want it to be at the detriment of his sight.

Yes, he knew the disadvantages of using the Mangekyou Sharingan for an extended period of time and didn't want that to happen to him or anyone at all.

"It seems I'll have to use even more force before you can understand how strong I've become..." Sasuke said as he raised his hands to the skies. "Remember what I told you that night?"

Itachi could only look up in awe as he laid his eye on the build up of energy connected to his little brother's hands.

"I'll just have to surpass you, Nii-san." Sasuke said before bringing his hands down and locking the raging dragon head on his brother.

Itachi tore his eyes from the forming dragonoid head and looked at Sasuke in surprise. This was the first time Sasuke was calling him 'Nii-san' since they met.

Putting on a small smile, he looked back at the head as he prepared to bear the attack.

In the thundercloud that spammed nearly a kilometer, following the emergence of the dragonoid head, hoofs gradually formed, signaling that this wasn't a dragon but...

[Kirin!]

Sasuke said, and in an explosion that blinded everybody spectating the battle, the giant head shot towards Itachi.

The explosion came with a thunderous force that left a destroyed and scorched building and a crater in its wake. Only the wall Sasuke stood on remained standing as he observed the effects of his technique.

The battlefield's eerie silence revealed Itachi, battered figure lying on the floor without movements. Sasuke however, frowned at the sight of his downed brother.

The fact that he was still relatively unharmed despite the lightning should prove that he wasn't really affected by the technique.

Under the effect of the technique, Nothing should be able to survive. Similar to the pulverized building, everything should be obliterated.

And as though proving him right, Itachi slowly stood up began doing some push ups*** Ahem, wrong world.

Itachi slowly stood up, his previous akatsuki attire entirely destroyed under the previous attack. How his main clothes remained untouched was a mystery though.

Without saying anything, his head hanging low, he began taking slow steps towards Sasuke as a red aura wafted off of him and began taking form much to Sasuke's awe.

'The Susanoo.' Sasuke thought seeing the red skeletal figure form around his brother.