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The black flames of [Amaterasu] clung to Sasuko's monstrous hand like a parasite, devouring everything in their path. In an instant, the cursed fire spread across the appendage, impossible to shake off.
Behind her, entire swathes of the battlefield ignited wherever Itachi's gaze fell. A sea of black flames roared, sealing off any retreat.
His right eye throbbed with agony. Veins bulged around his temple, the Mangekyō Sharingan bloodshot and fraying at its limit. Itachi's face was streaked with blood, his breathing shallow and ragged as he forced the flames to obey.
He staggered toward Sasuko's fallen form and reached out only for her body to dissolve into charred wood.
A substitution.
Itachi froze, eyes narrowing. No ordinary substitution could escape [Amaterasu]. He doubled over, coughing violently, clutching his eye. His body had been pushed far past its breaking point.
The illness was consuming him, the years of medication he had only been holding himself together through sheer will.
From beneath the scorched earth, Sasuko erupted. She had shed her own flesh through the [Orochimaru-Style Substitution Jutsu], discarding the body consumed by black fire.
Her hands blurred into seals, lungs filling with air.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Flaming dragon heads surged forward, each one tearing through the rain-soaked sky. Itachi twisted away, dodging one, only to have a second sweep past him. Fire licked across his arm, leaving blistering burns.
High above, Neji hovered on his sky-bike, watching tensely. He clenched his jaw he knew what Sasuko was preparing.
On the ground, both combatants collapsed to one knee. Sasuko forced a weak chuckle.
"That's… probably the last of my chakra."
Dark storm clouds churned overhead, drawn by her jutsu. The first droplets of rain spattered across the battlefield.
Itachi lifted his head, his left eye still locked on her.
"The Sharingan can see chakra flows. Don't waste what little you have left, Sasuko. I know you're almost empty. Even that substitution of yours cost more chakra than you had to spare."
Sasuko tilted her head back, letting the cold rain wash over her face. Her voice was low, almost ethereal.
"You're right. I don't have much left. That fire technique drained everything I had…"
Her lips curled faintly.
"But when I said I had one last jutsu, I wasn't talking about that."
The rain intensified, thunder rolling across the heavens. Lightning flashed through the storm clouds, illuminating her determined face.
Her left hand rose slowly, a streak of lightning forming in her palm. "This jutsu… it summons the fury of the sky itself. I only have to guide it to you."
Her voice rang clear over the storm. "I call it… [Kirin]!"
Lightning exploded from her hand, racing upward. The storm responded, answering her call.
The clouds split open, a colossal beast of thunder and lightning coalescing, its fangs bared as it descended.
The heavens roared.
The thunder beast struck, crashing down with divine fury. The world went white, the ground torn asunder, the earth splitting apart under the impossible force.
Even Sasuko, the caster, was caught in the backlash, shielding her face as stone and flame erupted around her.
When the light faded, Itachi's body lay crumpled at the center of the devastation.
Sasuko's knees hit the ground. She whispered, voice trembling:
"It's finally over…"
But it wasn't.
The figure she had felled stirred, rising once more.
Her eyes widened in disbelief. Even [Kirin] had failed to finish him.
"Impossible…!"
Itachi's body bled power, his chakra surging into something unnatural. A monstrous skeletal frame materialized around him, towering and radiant with raw energy.
From above, Neji's gaze hardened.
"So… he finally reveals it. The era of giants begins."
Within the titanic ribcage of chakra, Itachi gave a faint, weary smile.
"If I hadn't used this… I'd be dead already."
His Mangekyō spun one last time, blurred and fading, blood still streaming from his eyes.
"You've grown strong, Sasuko. Truly. But now… let me show you my final trump card."
"[Susanoo]!"
Sasuko froze. The name meant nothing to her. But as the skeletal titan grew flesh, muscle, and armor, looming higher and higher, she understood instinctively this was the true power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Itachi's voice echoed through the storm. "Each Mangekyō eye holds a unique technique. But when both eyes are awakened together… they give birth to this—the ultimate guardian."
His voice dropped, chilling.
"If you've been holding anything back, Sasuko… now is the time. Because the real battle is only just beginning."
The clouds parted. Sunlight speared through the rain, glinting off the armored titan that loomed over the battlefield.
Sasuko's breath caught in her throat.
"So this… this is the true power of the Mangekyō Sharingan…"
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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