Naruto had already withdrawn his finger and was quietly drinking his beverage.
Kurama glanced at him warily, snorted, and continued eating his meat.
Compared to Sasuke, it was more concerned with the beef on the grill.
The other girls naturally noticed that Sasuke's state was clearly off, but they trusted Naruto, knowing that Naruto wouldn't harm Sasuke for no reason.
Finally, a "Ah ah ah ah ah —!!!"
Sasuke let out a long cry, a mix of pain and relief, and suddenly lifted his head!
A line of blood tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.
A pair of brand new, intricately patterned, and demonic Mangekyo Sharingan had appeared in Sasuke's eyes.
Powerful ocular power spread uncontrollably, carrying endless sorrow and anger!
He was gasping for breath, his eyes hollow and confused, as if still immersed in that subversive illusionary truth, unable to extricate himself.
"Naru—..Naruto—"
"Was everything just now an illusion?"
Naruto put down his cup, looked at Sasuke's activated Mangekyo Sharingan, patted his shoulder, and said calmly: "What do you think?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment.
The answer was self-evident.
Only the echoing "Foolish little brother" was so clear, so real.
"Itachi—..—"
Sasuke clenched his fists.
"I will still find you to clarify everything, but before that—"
Sasuke suddenly looked up, his newly awakened Mangekyo Sharingan fixed on Naruto.
"Oh~ Do you want to fight me?"
Naruto implicitly guessed Sasuke's thoughts.
"Fine, I've eaten and drunk my fill anyway. I'll accompany you for some post-meal exercise. We'll meet at the back mountain."
Konoha's back mountain, a familiar training ground.
What was different from usual was that the atmosphere in the field was so heavy it almost dripped water.
Uchiha Sasuke stood proudly, having activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, and having defeated Uchiha Itachi in the genjutsu space, which brought an unprecedented sense of confidence and power to his previously frustrated heart.
He could clearly feel the immense ocular power contained in his eyes, dozens of times stronger than during the Three-Tomoe period!
That feeling of being able to control everything almost made him intoxicated.
Opposite him, Uzumaki Naruto was lounging, hands in his pockets, even a toothpick in his mouth, as if he wasn't there for a duel, but for a picnic.
"Naruto."
Sasuke spoke, his voice slightly hoarse from excitement and the powerful strength.
"Thank you for letting me obtain these eyes. Now, let me use them to properly measure the true gap between us!"
He craved a battle, a battle where he could fully unleash the power of his Mangekyo and ultimately test Naruto's true depth.
Sasuke wanted to break Naruto's invincible image in his heart!
To overcome this mountain!
Naruto spat out the toothpick from his mouth, waved his hand, and said, "Alright then, come on. But I'll say this beforehand, after the challenge, don't get an even bigger blow."
"Hmph! Don't be too arrogant!"
Sasuke's Mangekyo suddenly focused!
"Amaterasu!"
"Whoosh!"
A cluster of pitch-black, unquenchable flames instantly ignited on Naruto's body!
However, Naruto merely looked down at the dancing black flames on his shoulder, as if seeing something dirty, and casually swatted it away.
"Daikokuten."
The Amaterasu black flames, capable of burning everything to ashes, were instantly sucked into the "mini black hole" in Naruto's palm, as if they had met their nemesis, disappearing without a trace.
"What?!"
Sasuke's pupils constricted. The powerful ability he awakened with his Mangekyo Sharingan was dissolved so effortlessly?
"Black flames that can completely burn the 'target' to ashes? Unfortunately, your Amaterasu still has many weaknesses. For example, it's slow, and if your eyesight isn't good, you might not aim at the correct target. You can avoid it instantly with extreme speed, or use other things to block it, or seal it, or separate it. In short, it's too easy to break." Naruto commented indifferently.
"What?"
Sasuke's pupils suddenly constricted. His powerful new ocular Ninjutsu, in Naruto's words, was "full of loopholes"?!
"Damn it! Kagutsuchi!"
Sasuke was unwilling and immediately manipulated the form of Amaterasu. The black flames transformed into countless sharp arrows, shooting at Naruto from all directions, blocking all escape routes.
Naruto still stood in place, not even moving his feet.
He merely lifted his eyelids slightly.
"Buzz!"
An invisible psychokinetic barrier instantly appeared around him.
All the black flame arrows struck the barrier, as if hitting an insurmountable wall, and were bounced away, unable to even stir a ripple.
"Kagutsuchi, controlling flames, huh? Too bad it's still essentially Amaterasu. If Amaterasu can be broken, why fear Kagutsuchi? It's useless." Naruto commented again, his tone as flat as if he were evaluating a dish.
Sasuke's heart sank.
Indeed, as Naruto said, Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi posed no threat to him.
One move broken, all moves broken.
But he still had a trump card!
His Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly, and immense ocular power mixed with Chakra surged out!
"In that case—how about this move, Naruto, Susanoo!"
"Click, click, click—!!!"
Purple Chakra surged out from his body like flames, rapidly solidifying and quickly constructing.
First the ribs, then the spine, chest, head—
A gigantic, upper-body only, skeletal Susanoo suddenly appeared, protecting Sasuke at its center!
A powerful pressure spread, far exceeding any of his previous states.
"Oh? Now that's a bit more like it."
"Susanoo. Can you use it right after activating Mangekyo Sharingan? As expected of the reincarnation of Indra's Chakra. Three years of dormancy, exchanged for this current explosive growth."
Naruto looked at the "purple skeletal giant" in front of him, finally showing a slight hint of interest.
"Feel this power, Naruto!"
Sasuke stood inside the Susanoo, his confidence returning. He controlled the giant skeletal arm, clenched his fist, and with the power to crush mountains, he slammed it fiercely towards Naruto.
The power of this punch was enough to easily destroy a giant rock and blow up tall buildings!
Facing this terrifying giant fist, Naruto finally took one hand out of his pocket.
But he still didn't use any mode or Ninjutsu; he just slowly raised that hand, fingers spread, aiming at the incoming purple giant fist.
"Bang!!!"
A deafening roar came.
Large swathes of white air waves surged like a tsunami, and the shockwave exploded in a ring, blowing the surrounding trees askew!
However, incredibly, Naruto still stood in place, not moving an inch.
His seemingly tiny palm had effortlessly blocked Susanoo's massive fist!
At the point where the fist met his palm, there wasn't even a trace of blood or a single wound.
"What?!!"
The confidence in Sasuke's eyes instantly turned into horror!