Sasuke stood calmly atop the ocean's surface, his reflection rippling beneath him without a single misstep to break his balance. Days of relentless focus on this island had finally borne fruit. Stable waters no longer posed a challenge. His next step would be mastering the technique in wilder seas, against waves that tried to swallow him whole.
Outside of gathering intel, this was one of the few disciplines he had pursued seriously. The rest of his time was spent combing through the island's alien flora: strange herbs that burned on contact, flowers with paralytic pollen, roots that pulsed faintly with energy. Each discovery was catalogued in his mind, weighed for its usefulness.
Then there were the beasts. Towering, brutal things that ruled the island with raw power. At first, Sasuke had dismissed them as mindless monsters. But the more he fought, the more he realised many of them possessed intelligence.
Clashing with them had honed him in ways no spar or training exercise ever could. His footwork tightened. His jutsu, tested against hide and scale, became sharper, faster. He bled, he staggered, but each fight left him standing stronger.
He hadn't crossed blades with shinobi yet, but that hardly mattered. The island had given him blood, fear, and survival. When the time came to face ninja again, he knew his hands would not falter.
"Looks like that's the end of today's practice," Sasuke muttered under his breath.
The water rippled and then burst apart as massive tentacles shot upward, lashing at the air. They coiled around him before it vanished in a puff of smoke. A clone.
Sasuke didn't step foot in the open sea himself. He wasn't reckless. The ocean here was worse than the jungles, filled with things that could drag him under before he could blink. That was why he used shadow clones for water-walking drills, throwing them into danger again and again until their feedback sharpened his control. Meanwhile, the real Sasuke hunted in the forest, where at least the ground stayed beneath his feet.
He paused now, lightning crackling faintly in his palm. The Chidori. Back in Konoha, under constant surveillance, he had never had chance to use it. His growth had been shackled by watchful eyes. But here, with no one to restrain him, he had freedom.
Freedom to use it , refine it and to push it further.
Sasuke moved toward the cave he had claimed, muttering under his breath.
"It's not a bad idea to capture some specimens… test my poisons on them."
The cave had once belonged to a massive beast, a monstrous bear that stood nearly twenty-five feet tall. That was Sasuke's hardest battle so far. He had thrown everything he had into the fight, his body screaming and chakra drained until he finally collapsed unconscious after landing the finishing blow.
By sheer luck, no other predators had dared to approach while he was down. The cave carried the scent and marks of its former master, and even the hungriest creatures in the neighborhood hesitated to cross that line. If they had sensed weakness then, he would have been torn apart in his sleep.
But peace never lasts here.
Soon enough, the nearby predators noticed the absence of the so-called "Mad Bear." They tested the boundaries, creeping closer, waiting for a reaction. When nothing came, they grew bolder. To them, this territory was no longer untouchable. It was an opportunity.
Now Sasuke has no choice. To maintain his hold, he must hunt regularly. Each kill, each display of blood, is a message carved into the island itself. This cave is still claimed, and its master is far more dangerous than the last.
He halted mid-step. "Hmm… am I hearing things?" Sasuke muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing. Then his face grew serious. "No. I'm not imagining it."
He tilted his head toward the sky and activated his Sharingan. In the distance, he caught sight of something flying. Something that didn't belong here.
"That's a helicopter," Sasuke whispered, his lips curving into the faintest trace of excitement. It wasn't another oversized beast from this cursed island. This was different. This was from the outside world, from civilization.
But almost as quickly as the excitement came, his expression twisted with unease. "Wait… isn't this how it started in the movie? The soldiers came to the island and the first thing they did was drop bombs…"
His stomach knotted. Was this that moment? Or was he ahead of the timeline? He couldn't tell, but either way, the danger was real.
"I should keep tabs on them. If they drop anything… I'll run straight toward that monkey's territory," Sasuke muttered under his breath, making his decision.
With a flicker, Sasuke's body blurred and vanished, carried far across the jungle canopy. He wasn't running from fear. He was running to survive. The helicopter was heading straight for Kong's territory, and Sasuke had no intention of being caught in the middle.
Then it happened.
BOOM 💥 BOOM BOOM 💥 BOOM BOOM BOOM 💥 BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM 💥
The ground shook like the world itself was splitting open. Heat, dirt, and smoke blasted upward in waves. Sasuke froze on a tree branch, his Sharingan spinning as his mind tried to process what he was seeing.
This was human technology.
He had seen memories, fragments of modern weapons from movies, but witnessing it firsthand was something else entirely. The explosions tore into the land without mercy, gouging craters where life had stood only moments before.
Then the shadow fell.
A tree, roots and all, whistled through the air like a thrown spear. It smashed into one of the helicopters with a deafening crunch, tearing metal like paper. The machine spun out of control, fire spilling from its gut.
Sasuke's gaze snapped back and there he was.
A colossal ape, towering at least a hundred feet tall, bursting through the smoke and fire. Every step shook the jungle. Rage burned in his eyes, and the very air seemed to shudder with his roar.
"Kong," Sasuke muttered, his throat dry. The beast's fury was palpable, raw and personal. These intruders weren't just soldiers with weapons. They were trespassers in his home.
************
Why shadow clone returns memory not injury?