The fireball was being crushed.
Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. Even his usually calm expression flickered with surprise. So his chakra output already surpasses mine?
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Sasuke, your progress truly exceeds all my expectations," he murmured under his breath. "But the gap between an ordinary Sharingan and the Mangekyō Sharingan isn't something that can be bridged so easily."
His left eye burned red as veins spread across it. A single line of blood tears trickled down his cheek.
"Amaterasu."
The world seemed to darken for an instant. Then, from Itachi's line of sight, black flames erupted into existence flames that devoured even fire itself.
The Great Fireball Sasuke had released was instantly consumed by those black flames. Amaterasu swallowed the ordinary fire like a living creature, spreading outward, racing toward Sasuke with the unstoppable hunger of a curse.
"So that's your other eye's power," Sasuke muttered, eyes sharpening. "A visual jutsu that manifests physical fire. Not bad."
He had been waiting for this. He'd forced Itachi to burn through his chakra until the elder Uchiha had no choice but to reveal his second Mangekyō ability.
Sasuke's lips curved upward. "Unfortunately for you, Itachi, my eye is designed to counter something like that."
The tomoe in his right eye rotated rapidly, changing shape until it glowed with a deep crimson light.
"The Eye of Ruin Ashen Reversion."
The name of his own secret jutsu echoed silently in his mind.
Where Amaterasu burned, his eye decomposed chakra itself reducing all elemental energy into its most primitive particles. Physical flame, illusionary energy, even spiritual fire none could withstand it.
Black fire met crimson aura.
For a heartbeat, the air between them warped and hissed. Then, to Itachi's shock, the black flames began to dissolve breaking apart into glittering motes that scattered like dust in the wind.
Impossible.
His Amaterasu, said to burn for seven days and seven nights, reduced to nothing in an instant.
Sasuke's voice was calm but his tone held a cruel edge. "You rely too much on your eyes, Itachi. That's your weakness."
He lifted his gaze to the darkening sky. Storm clouds were gathering. Lightning flickered faintly above the clouds like restless serpents.
"Almost ready," Sasuke whispered.
He dispelled his fire technique and leapt aside just as the remnants of Amaterasu scorched the ground he had stood on.
His hands moved rapidly through a new set of seals.
"Water Release: Raging Torrent!"
From the surface of the river, a vast surge of water rose, roaring toward Itachi like a living wave.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Itachi countered immediately, slamming his hand into the water. A swirling dome of liquid rose up around him, shielding him from the crashing waves. At the same time, he shut his bleeding eye.
Even the Mangekyō Sharingan came at a cost. Each use drained not only chakra but life itself.
That was exactly what Sasuke wanted to keep him burning his energy, second by second.
Through the steam and water spray, three silhouettes emerged.
Three Sasukes.
All of them charged Itachi simultaneously from different directions, blades glinting with lightning.
Itachi's mind analyzed it instantly. Shadow clones. He's hiding his real body among them to avoid direct eye contact and the risk of Tsukuyomi.
Smart. But not perfect.
Even weakened, his battle instincts were sharp. He could tell which one carried the heavier chakra signature.
"Water Release: Water Clone!"
In an instant, two water clones of Itachi formed and sprinted forward to intercept. The real Itachi stepped in himself, his left hand forming a knife-hand strike that cut through the rain like a blade of wind.
The nearest Sasuke clone barely reacted before Itachi's strike landed cleanly at its neck. The figure burst into white smoke.
"Tch." The second Sasuke clone let out a sharp breath and lunged, lightning crackling violently around his arm. "Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Itachi's clone moved to intercept but wasn't fast enough. The lightning lance pierced through its shoulder and exploded into water.
For an instant, the battlefield became pure chaos smoke, steam, and lightning all colliding.
Then, in that split second of distraction, Itachi made his move.
He stomped down, leaping into the air with a burst of raw strength, vaulting past the chaos in a diagonal arc.
He wasn't retreating. He was creating distance to reposition an opening to strike again.
But Sasuke's eyes followed him unerringly.
"So you're trying to escape the range?" His voice was low, cutting through the noise like a knife. "You won't."
Itachi's body was still midair when Sasuke's hands completed another brief, precise set of seals.
This time, he didn't aim at his brother.
He looked upward.
The sky had turned completely dark. Thunder rolled. From the heavy clouds above, arcs of pale lightning began to twist and gather.
"It's time."
Itachi opened his eye again, the Mangekyō spinning violently as he roared, "Amaterasu!"
The black flame burst toward Sasuke again, aiming to force him away before the technique in the sky could fully form.
But Sasuke didn't move. He didn't need to.
His Sharingan shifted once more three tomoe merging into six sharp, star-like points.
Blood trickled from his right eye as he whispered, "Ashen Reversion."
The black fire froze midair then disintegrated into glowing dust once again.
"What?!"
For the first time, Itachi's composure cracked. His expression trembled between disbelief and awe.
"You've awakened the Mangekyō too?" he breathed. "So you've reached that height already..."
If Sasuke had possessed such power all along, and still chose not to use it until now then this moment could only mean one thing.
He was preparing to end it in a single strike.
Itachi's instincts screamed. His body moved before his thoughts could catch up.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Five enormous dragons of pure golden fire burst from his mouth, roaring across the river toward Sasuke.
Reacting instantly, Sasuke weaved through the flames, his body flickering across the surface of the water.
But Itachi's shadow clone appeared beside him, grabbing his own body and hurling it away from the explosion range.
The fire dragons struck the ground. One clipped Itachi's arm, scorching it instantly.
The heat surged upward, crashing into the clouds above.
A brilliant light flooded the sky.
Like oil poured onto snow, the collision of heat and storm triggered an explosive reaction. The sky itself roared.
Thunderbolts the size of tree trunks ripped across the heavens, splitting the clouds apart. Blue and violet lightning danced wildly, weaving a tapestry of destruction.
Even miles away, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Kisame all paused mid-battle, stunned by the apocalyptic sight.
Rain mixed with the smell of burning ozone. Wind howled across the shattered battlefield.
"What is this?" Itachi thought, eyes wide. His Mangekyō saw clearly Sasuke's fire attack hadn't been aimed at him at all. It had been aimed at the sky.
Sasuke landed lightly on the water's surface.
He looked up at the storming heavens, his Mangekyō glowing with cold determination. In those six-pointed stars, lightning reflected like the edge of a blade.
His lips curved slightly.
"The Heavenly Thunder… has ripened."
His whisper was almost drowned by the rumbling sky. Then his gaze locked onto Itachi, who stood at the riverbank, breath uneven, cloak torn and smoking.
In that frozen moment, beneath the roaring heavens, the younger brother finally raised his hand toward the sky ready to bring down divine judgment.
And for the first time, Itachi Uchiha's eyes showed something other than calm something dangerously close to fear.
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