"Have a little faith in Sasuke."
Naruto walked over holding Kousei, completely ignoring Kisame who had already drawn his weapon.
That arrogant attitude made Kisame furious inside, but he couldn't vent it.
Because he knew that Naruto was clearly much more difficult to deal with now.
When they first met, Naruto had just returned from the One Piece World for the second time, his body having grown to roughly a fifteen-year-old's state.
At the same time, his power was only about one-fifth of its peak.
But now, just by being approached by that figure over two meters tall, every cell in Kisame's body seemed to scream in terror to run away.
Even the Samehada in his hand sensed a life-form level threat. Coupled with it seemingly recognizing Naruto as the terrifying guy who had 'eaten' it last time, its tail, which served as a handle, unconsciously wrapped around Kisame's arm.
"Is that so? Even you feel fear."
Kisame muttered to himself, then immediately planned to fuse with Samehada, entering his full combat mode.
Ssshhhk-
Kisame, who had only just begun fusing part of his body, was torn apart by a tremendous force.
An arm, along with Samehada, was ripped off together.
'When did he-!'
Kisame's small bean-like eyes flashed with an incredulous light.
He had thought he might lose, but he never imagined he would lose so quickly, so easily.
"It's not your scene yet. Keep us company watching Sasuke's revenge first."
Naruto's voice sounded behind Kisame, and at the same time, a large hand pressed down on Kisame's shoulder, forcing him to sit on the ground.
Kousei, who had somehow climbed onto Naruto's shoulder, also looked at the frighteningly ugly Kisame.
First, she earnestly gestured a fist at him to signal no moving around, then turned her head to look at Naruto.
"Dad, why is there a Fish-Man here too?"
Hearing this, Naruto casually tore off the severed arm, threw Samehada towards the forest, then turned his head and explained with a smile.
"Kousei, he's not a Fish-Man. He's just simply a bit ugly. You can't discriminate against him because of his looks."
"Oh, okay Dad."
Kousei nodded somewhat understandingly, then promptly lost interest in focusing any more attention on Kisame, turning instead to look at the battle of brothers on the other side.
The Samehada flying through the air finally landed in the hands of Zabuza, who walked out of the forest.
Samehada still wanted to struggle and rebel, to return to its master, but it was shocked limp by a sudden surge of imposing aura, and could only lie in Zabuza's hands, allowing the other to hold it.
"This sword is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's swords too, right? It's yours now."
Naruto didn't even turn his head, speaking directly.
This made the caretaker duo, who had just rushed over after abandoning their firewood-gathering mission upon hearing the commotion, pause.
They just went out for a bit, how come they came back and got another Ninja Sword?
Speaking of which, did it really take two Ninja to go out and gather firewood? These two always seem to find opportunities to be alone...
"Dad, who is Big Doggy's enemy?"
Kousei didn't seem good at remembering names. Apart from the caretaker duo she spent long periods with, she was more accustomed to calling people by nicknames.
While this was a bad habit, Naruto himself had a poor memory too, so it couldn't be changed for the time being.
"That's his older brother, and also the enemy who killed his entire clan."
Not avoiding the topic, Naruto's voice slowly answered his daughter's confusion.
Kousei only half-understood… her little brain couldn't process overly complex statements.
But she knew at least one thing: the guy fighting Big Doggy was definitely a bad guy.
...
On the brothers' battlefield, Itachi's figure hadn't even fully emerged from the Genjutsu Concealment before Sasuke's lightning assault reached him.
"It seems you've grown quite a bit during this time."
Saying this, Itachi sharply flung dozens of shuriken from his sleeve.
Each shuriken accurately traced its corresponding trajectory, adjusting their paths by colliding with each other, finally forming an airtight encirclement net.
"Is this ability your reliance?"
The next moment, Itachi casually formed hand seals, and the number of shuriken in mid-air doubled, completely surrounding Sasuke.
[Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique]
However, facing the shuriken that completely sealed off all escape routes, Sasuke didn't even blink.
Hum-
Black Armament Haki covered his entire body.
The next moment, a dense series of clinking sounds rang out around Sasuke.
Under Itachi's somewhat surprised gaze, Sasuke easily withstood the barrage of shuriken using just his physical body.
"You're more than just this level, right?! What are you waiting for? Uchiha Itachi!"
After blocking all the attacks, Sasuke actually stomped on the air mid-air once, successfully changing direction, then launched a powerful whip kick towards Itachi.
"This makes you complacent alre… Ugh!"
Using his Mangekyo Sharingan's dynamic vision, Itachi almost achieved an effect similar to Observation Haki, precisely dodging the whip kick.
But he forgot one thing.
Sasuke was no longer in human form now.
The tail, covered in Haki and hardened like a steel pillar, turned into a black shadow, swiftly following up after Itachi dodged the first strike.
Bang!
The iron tail struck Itachi directly. If he hadn't blocked with his arm at the last moment, that single strike would have been enough to break his ribs.
"Cough..."
Even though he blocked it, Itachi was still shaken up, his already somewhat afflicted internal organs suffering damage, causing him to cough up a small mouthful of blood.
At the same time, his arm hung limply, clearly fractured.
"Even now, you still hold such an underestimating attitude?"
After the strike, Sasuke stood straight again, speaking coldly to Itachi.
After experiencing battles and growth alongside Naruto, he was no longer like during the Chunin Exams, only capable of mindless rage.
Sasuke understood clearly that battles aren't won by emotion alone.
Training one's power, control over the battle situation and the opponent's mind, and the resolve to face death without fear are the key factors.
"If that's all, then you can go to hell and apologize to Dad and Mom."
As he spoke, lightning once again covered Sasuke's body.
"The one underestimating his enemy is you!"
Itachi suddenly raised his head, his eyes glaring at Sasuke.
The next moment, blood vessels spread across the whites of his eyes, and simultaneously, a trail of bloody tears flowed from the corner of his eye.
"Amaterasu!"
Not far away, Naruto, like everyone else, had sat down to one side to watch the battle.
But his perspective was 'further' than the others.
As if seeing something, a meaningful smile appeared on Naruto's lips.
'This really is...'
If he told Itachi that he had never intended to target him, he wondered if the other party would believe it.
Black flames, accompanying Itachi's shout, abruptly ignited on Sasuke's body.
"Not even dodging or avoiding it? How foolish."
Witnessing Sasuke completely forgo any evasion, directly enduring his Amaterasu flames, Itachi actually felt a hint of hidden anxiety in his heart.
He even began actively explaining his own ability.
"You... are already dead... The flames of Amaterasu are inextinguishable. Now your life is like a candle in the wind."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Itachi's words, a smile appeared on Sasuke's face.
The black Amaterasu flames burned wildly on his body, as if dressing the giant wolfman in a suit of 'flame armor'.
"Flames that never go out... how fitting for me."
The places scorched by the black flames only showed the slightest trace after a long while.
Huodou's innate resistance to fire determined that the threat of Amaterasu to him was almost negligible.
And the injuries that the black flames had painstakingly managed to burn were repaired the next moment by the Calamity Flames.
If described in terms of data...
Then Sasuke's health bar at this moment was constantly fluctuating up and down, while the [Karma] buff below the health bar was continuously stacking.