#38

Mufasa floated beside Sasuke.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Mufasa warily.

Mufasa smiled slightly. "Looks like you're all healed up."

Sasuke gave a short nod. "Thank you for your help..."

Mufasa chuckled. "Just a 'thank you' for saving your life? That seems a bit cheap."

Sasuke hesitated. He was still young and had no money to offer. "I will repay you in the future."

"Why wait?" Mufasa leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "I have a favor you can do for me right now."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but listened as Mufasa gestured towards the bustling Sand Ninja Village product fair in front of them.

"Look at that crowd. Business is booming," Mufasa said. "But at the ninja gear booth? Barely anyone. It's like they've seen a ghost."

Sasuke observed the scene but remained silent, not sure where this was going.

"Do you know why?" Mufasa asked.

Sasuke shook his head.

"Shimura Danzo. That old man is pulling strings in the shadows, threatening ninjas so they won't buy from me."

Sasuke's expression darkened at the mention of Danzo.

"I need someone to break the ice," Mufasa continued. "Someone who isn't afraid of Danzo."

Sasuke scoffed. "I don't fear him."

"Good." Mufasa nodded in satisfaction. "Now tell me—do you desire power?"

A faint red glow flickered in Sasuke's eyes. His heart burned with the need for strength, for revenge, for the power to defeat his brother.

"Yes," he said, his voice steady but filled with intensity.

"Then I have something for you." Mufasa reached into his cloak and pulled out a sleek, slender blade.

Sasuke frowned. It looked like a simple ninja sword—nothing special.

Mufasa ran his fingers along the blade. "It looks ordinary, doesn't it? But this is no mere sword. It is a Zanpakuto. A weapon that molds itself to the wielder's soul. If your spirit is strong enough, it will unlock powers beyond your imagination."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "How strong?"

Mufasa smirked. "Strong enough to destroy the world."

Sasuke's grip tightened. "I want it."

"Then buy it."

Sasuke blinked. "What?"

Mufasa shrugged. "It's on sale. Ten ryo."

Sasuke stared for a moment before reaching into his pocket. "I have the money."

"Great!" Mufasa beamed. "Go ahead, then. Pick it up from the booth. And while you're at it, why not sign up for a membership?"

Without another word, Mufasa casually tossed the sword into the pile of ninja gear at the stall and floated away.

Sasuke exhaled and stepped toward the booth, his presence immediately drawing attention.

Temari, who had been overseeing the sales, perked up when she saw him. "Oh, Sasuke? Here to buy ninja tools?"

"Yeah."

Her face lit up. "Great! First sale of the day! Want to sign up for a membership? Recharge now and get a discount on future purchases."

Sasuke pulled out his wallet. "Will two hundred ryo do?"

"Absolutely!" Temari quickly processed his membership. Meanwhile, Sasuke walked to the booth and reached into the pile of weapons, his fingers closing around the Zanpakuto.

"Hey!" Choji Akimichi nudged Shikamaru. "Sasuke's buying ninja gear."

Ino gasped. "Oh no! Didn't he heard about Danzo?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome..."

"Well, do something!" Ino scolded him.

"No thanks," Shikamaru muttered. "I'm just here for the drama."

Nearby, Danzo's operative, Sai, scribbled something into his notebook. Other ninjas watched Sasuke in silence, their expressions uncertain.

Sasuke ignored them all. He had what he wanted.

He unsheathed the Zanpakuto. He could feel something... different. But how does he unlock its true power?

"How do I activate it?" he asked Mufasa.

Mufasa smirked. "Simple. Think of the person you hate most. Picture this blade as them. Imagine plunging it into them, letting all your hatred, pain, and sorrow flow into it."

Sasuke's grip on the hilt tightened.

Hatred surged in his veins. The image of his brother, Uchiha Itachi, filled his mind.

His Sharingan activated.

The sword in his hand began to tremble.

Inside Sasuke's mind, however, he was locked in battle against his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, in a vast, white void.

The air crackled with chakra as Sasuke unleashed his full arsenal.

Sharingan: Windmill Triple Blades.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu.

Demon Wind Shuriken: Shadow Windmill.

Lightning Style: Chidori.

The two clashed relentlessly, exchanging blow after blow, their battle raging from sky to earth and back again. Explosions of fire and lightning consumed everything around them, tearing through the void with violent force.

Sasuke was battered and bloodied. His body was covered in wounds, one arm hung limp, and blood streamed from his blinded left eye. Still, he stood his ground, panting heavily, his blade raised before him.

Across from him, Itachi remained untouched, his robes pristine, his expression calm.

"Pathetic, little brother," Itachi said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Do you think you can defeat me like this?" He tilted his head slightly. "There is only one way. Speak its name. Call forth your sword's true power. Do you even know it?"

His Sharingan glowed with contempt, fueling Sasuke's rage.

Sasuke let out a guttural roar, gripping his sword with both hands. His chakra was depleted. He had only his physical strength left.

With a final, desperate swing, he charged forward.

One swift movement from Itachi was all it took. His blade met Sasuke's mid-air and sent him crashing to the ground. His sword slipped from his fingers and lodged itself upright in the dirt beside him.

Sasuke gasped for air, his vision swimming. His entire body throbbed with pain. He could barely move.

Itachi approached slowly, staring down at him as if he were nothing more than an insect.

"Out of strength already?" he taunted. "Your dream of revenge ends here."

Sasuke could not even muster a reply. His one good eye was losing focus.

Itachi smirked. "Useless trash," he said, lifting his blade. "Die."

Outside, the real world remained unaware of the battle raging within Sasuke's mind.

From the stands, Ino Yamanaka noticed something was wrong.

"What's happening to him?!" she cried out.

Sasuke's body trembled violently. His breathing was ragged. Sweat dripped down his face. His fingers twitched against the hilt of his blade.

The most unsettling sight, however, was the thin trickle of blood escaping from the corner of his eye.

"Hey, do something!" Ino panicked, smacking Shikamaru on the back and snatching the dorayaki from Choji's hands.

Choji frowned. "There's no poison on the blade."

Shikamaru analyzed the situation, brows furrowed. "Yeah, definitely not poison."

Ino exhaled in relief—until Shikamaru spoke again.

"It might be something worse."

Both Ino and Choji turned to him, alarmed. "Worse?!"

"Maybe... some kind of cursed artifact?" Shikamaru suggested, eyeing Kazekage Mufasa suspiciously. "Who knows what kind of things he deals with."

Ino and Choji exchanged uneasy glances.

Meanwhile, Mufasa remained.

He glanced at Sasuke, watching him sway unsteadily on his feet.

Looking at him with a calculated gaze.

Ino, unable to take it any longer, moved to rush forward.

Mufasa flicked his fingers, stopping her in her tracks. "Stay back."

"But he needs help!" Ino pleaded, tears brimming in her eyes. "We have to get him to the hospital!"

Mufasa inhaled deeply, suppressing his own worry. "Trust him," he said firmly. "Give him time."

The wind howled.

Dark clouds rolled across the sky, casting shadows over the arena. The once-clear afternoon darkened as thunder rumbled overhead.

Lightning crackled through the sky.

The wind roared.

Sasuke's body trembled, caught in the storm's fury.

A bolt of lightning, thick as a tree trunk, crashed down upon him.

Back in the white void, Itachi smirked, his blade plunging downward.

Sasuke's right eye snapped open. His pupil contracted, blood-red Sharingan glowing with defiance.

His remaining hand shot up, gripping the blade by its tip. The metal sliced into his palm, blood trailing down the steel.

"Still struggling, little brother?" Itachi mocked, pressing down harder. "Your resistance is pointless. Just accept death."

The blade inched closer to Sasuke's heart.

And then, he smiled.

"You're not Itachi."

Itachi's smirk faltered slightly.

"I will not die by your hands," Sasuke growled. Lightning surged from his body, his crimson eye glowing with newfound power.

"Roar," he declared. "Kirin!"

A deafening crack split the heavens.

Lightning erupted from the skies, illuminating the world in blinding white.

Thunder resounded through the void, shaking the very fabric of existence.

Pure white space.

Sasuke's form flickered as he reappeared, his body trembling yet unyielding. His right hand clenched around the blade, while his broken left hand grasped a strange, newly awakened sword. The nearly one-meter-long weapon had a broad, thick blade with edges on both sides. Two hook-like protrusions jutted from the left, while one curved on the right.

This was Sasuke's Zanpakutō—Raiken.

It had finally awakened.

Uchiha Itachi, impaled by the sword, remained still for a moment before his lips curled into a small, approving smile.

"You've done well."

Then, his body disintegrated, scattering into fragments of white light.

Sasuke felt a rush of energy surge through him. His wounds closed. His broken vision returned. Even his tattered clothes reformed, as though none of the battle had ever happened. He exhaled, eyes locking onto Raiken.

"Time to go back."

He lifted his sword and slashed through the space, tearing his way out.

Outside world.

Naruto and Sakura rushed toward the market stalls, hurrying to check on Sasuke at the hospital. Just as they arrived, a massive bolt of lightning, thick as a tree trunk, struck down upon him.

"SASUKE!"

Their screams echoed in unison.

Yamanaka Ino shrieked in horror. Even Mufasa, who had maintained his composed demeanor, nearly stepped in to intervene.

But then, something impossible happened.

Sasuke, who had been barely standing moments ago, straightened. His face was pale, but his eyes burned like twin stars. He raised his sword, the newly transformed Raiken, toward the heavens.

The lightning didn't consume him. Instead, it flowed along the blade's surface, crackling like a living stream. It gathered onto the right hook of the sword, forming a condensed sphere of raw electricity.

Gasps rippled through the gathered crowd. That was when they noticed—

Sasuke's weapon had changed completely.

Now fully materialized, the sword was nearly cylindrical in width, its shape more akin to a legendary relic than a simple ninja blade. The hooked protrusions pulsed with energy, particularly the rightmost one, where the concentrated lightning hummed and crackled.

Sasuke's grip tightened. With a powerful leap, he shot into the air.

"RAI!"

He swung Raiken, launching the gathered thunderball toward the sky. The moment it struck the clouds, an explosion of electricity erupted across the clouds.

BOOM!

A brilliant thunderclap resounded through the village. Golden streaks of lightning slithered across the sky like furious dragons, illuminating the darkness in a breathtaking spectacle.

The entire market fell into stunned silence.

Naruto and Sakura stared, their jaws slack.

"What… What the hell is that?!" someone finally managed to say.

"This is insane!" another ninja exclaimed.

Even Temari, standing nearby with Sasuke's fan club membership card still in hand, was speechless.

Sasuke wasn't finished. His eyes gleamed with excitement. He kicked off a nearby telegraph pole, launching himself into the air once more.

"RAI!"

His sword struck the sky again, calling forth another bolt of lightning. The energy surged into Raiken, forming yet another thunderball on the sword's rightmost hook.

With a swift motion, Sasuke hurled it skyward.

BOOM!

A second explosion of lightning shattered the storm clouds. The entire battlefield shook under the force, and the once-darkened sky gradually cleared, giving way to the sun's return.

Sasuke landed smoothly atop the pole, his sword reverting to its original form. He now fully understood Raiken's power.

It could summon electrons from the air, forming artificial thunderclouds. With it, he could guide and control the immense power of the storm itself.

And this was only the beginning.

Sasuke's lips curled into a grin as he glanced toward Mufasa.

"Kazekage, for 10 ryo, and I got a damn treasure."

Cheers erupted from the crowd below.

"SASUKEEEE!"

His fans screamed wildly, nearly fainting from excitement. The male ninjas, meanwhile, looked on with expressions of envy and disbelief. The sight of Sasuke standing amidst the storm, his sword commanding the very heavens, was something out of legend.

He looked like a true god of thunder.

Mufasa let out a relieved sigh. "Well… at least it worked. Otherwise, he'd be a vegetable by now."

Sasuke leaped down from the pole, landing back at the booth. Without hesitation, he reached into his pocket and tossed his wallet onto the counter.

"I'm buying this sword."

Temari blinked. "Wait, what? I—"

Mufasa cut in, nodding sagely. "We're an honest business. If the customer pays, we honor the deal."

Temari sighed in defeat. "Fine. Ten ryo. Deducted from his membership account."

Her tone carried the bitterness of someone losing a fortune.

Sasuke wasn't done.

"Here's two hundred and eighty ryo. Load me up with supplies."

If he was leaving the village, he needed to be fully armed. And with this fair offering massive discounts, now was the time to stock up.

Temari took his wallet. "Fine. Pick what you want and check out."

As she spoke, her gaze flickered toward the remaining ninja weapons on display. If Sasuke had found something this powerful, then what else was hidden among these blades?

The realization spread quickly. The surrounding ninjas suddenly turned toward the booth, their eyes burning with desire.

Then—

Chaos erupted.

"I'M BUYING!"

"I WANT ONE TOO!"

"I'LL TAKE EVERYTHING!"

A sea of ninjas charged the booth at full speed.

"Human Bullet Tank!"

Choji transformed into a rolling sphere, knocking competitors aside as he barreled toward the stand.

"TOOTH-AND-FANG!"

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS: PALM ROTATION!"

"LEAF WHIRLWIND!"

Techniques flew as Konoha's shinobi battled their way forward, desperate to claim any remaining weapons. The stall, once a peaceful vendor's stand, had become a war zone.

Mufasa merely chuckled, watching the madness unfold.

His business was about to boom.

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Word count: 2320 (Long chapter!)

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