WebNovels

Chapter 39 - Sasuke vs Naruto.

"It's delicious as always."

Li Shang calmly savored the bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's counter. Steam rose before his face, mixing with the warm street air.

For a moment, the atmosphere seemed peaceful.

Until he stopped halfway through his next sip.

'Hmm? This energy...'

His gaze automatically turned north, towards the hospital. Violent waves of chakra clashed like muffled thunder. It wasn't training. It was a fight.

'Is someone fighting inside the village?'

Without hesitation, he left the money beside the bowl and disappeared.

On the hospital rooftop, chaos had already begun.

Naruto and Sasuke faced each other with an intensity that made the walls tremble.

Naruto, now more controlled, kept his body firm and his gaze focused. His training with Jiraiya had refined his instincts. He didn't waste chakra, didn't rush in blindly – every movement had weight and intention.

'It seems this little training with Jiraiya has improved the boy.'

Li Shang watched from a distance, a few meters above, his presence masked.

'His posture is different. No useless clones. Just a reinforced clone, saving energy and observing the flow of the fight... good.'

Naruto moved with unusual precision. The clone created openings, and the original took advantage of them without hesitation. Each blow was accompanied by a dense aura, an absurd physical strength for someone his age.

'The basic soul cultivation, combined with this physical body... even without the beast inside him, he would already be stronger than most genin. What a blessed boy.'

On the other side, Sasuke breathed with difficulty. Sweat ran down his face as the Sharingan spun frantically. The chakra in his body was unstable, the magatamas moving like enraged gears.

He shouted, lunging forward.

"Chidori!"

Electricity exploded in his arm, illuminating the rooftop. Naruto blocked the advance with a kunai and, in an almost simultaneous movement, the clone behind him dissipated, releasing energy to propel the original.

Naruto appeared beside Sasuke, landing a clean punch.

The impact sent the Uchiha crashing against the concrete floor, cracking the surface.

The Chidori's lightning chakra dispersed, and Sasuke fell on his back, gasping, his eyes still glowing intensely red.

'Something is affecting his mind... the spiritual flow is distorted. So the rumor is true – he faced Itachi and barely survived.'

Li Shang landed silently on the roof, a few steps from Sasuke.

Naruto glanced over and was startled.

"Neji?"

"It was a good fight, Naruto." Li Shang crossed his arms, his tone calm. "You've progressed very quickly."

Naruto gave a tired smile.

"Hehehe... thanks, but Sasuke is very strong. He almost tore off my arm."

Sakura, who had been watching the scene from afar, ran to them, her face pale.

"Neji, stop them! Sasuke isn't recovered yet!"

Li Shang looked at her, then at the fallen Uchiha. Sasuke's chakra flickered like a dying flame – but the magatamas in his eyes spun rapidly.

"Actually, he's fine, Sakura. I'll talk to him for a minute, okay?"

Li Shang knelt beside Sasuke, without waiting for an answer. In a blink, he disappeared.

Naruto's eyes widened, still trying to understand what had happened.

"Wow... he's faster than before!"

Sakura remained motionless, her hands pressed against her chest.

"Sasuke..." she murmured, worried.

The clearing was marked by debris and battle scars. Li Shang appeared there, carrying an unconscious Sasuke, and threw him to the ground unceremoniously.

He knelt and pressed a finger against the Uchiha's forehead.

At that instant, his consciousness was pulled elsewhere.

A cold wind enveloped him. When he opened his eyes, he was in the middle of a silent street, the Uchiha clan symbol on the walls of the houses.

But the scene was a nightmare.

Everywhere he looked, he saw blood. Bodies. Lifeless eyes staring into nothing. The massacre still pulsed in the boy's spiritual memory.

'This boy's mind is a mess.'

Li Shang walked slowly, ignoring the weight of the emotions trapped there. Each step he took made the ground deform, as if the illusion tried to hold him.

He closed his eyes.

'I didn't come to heal traumas. I just need what's hidden here.'

He concentrated, and gradually, the scene dissolved. Everything darkened until only emptiness remained.

"Found it."

Li Shang opened his eyes again, now inside Sasuke's sea of knowledge – a chaotic spiritual space, full of memory fragments floating like broken glass.

In the center, a small ball of dark energy pulsed, vibrating irregularly.

Li Shang's smile was discreet.

"Hehehe... so this is where you hid, you worm."

He recognized that energy immediately – Orochimaru's soul fragment trapped in the curse mark.

'I didn't refine the mark on my own body because he would feel it. But here... he didn't care about the consequences.'

Raising his hand, chakra began to swirl around his fingers. The Heart of the Celestial Devourer activated, and an invisible force pulled the dark energy into his spiritual body.

The fragment struggled, hissing like a wounded snake, but there was no escape. The energy began to dissipate, fragment by fragment, until it was completely absorbed.

Li Shang opened his eyes again. The forest was absolutely silent.

The wind rustled the leaves, and only the distant sound of water broke the rhythm of heavy breathing.

'I really need to leave the village.'

He looked at his own hands, feeling the flow of energy run like liquid fire through his veins.

'Refining just one soul fragment... was equivalent to almost a month of cultivation.'

Satisfaction was evident on his face.

With a simple touch to Sasuke's chest, he channeled part of his refined chakra, stabilizing the boy's soul. The Uchiha's body trembled, and his eyes slowly opened.

Sasuke blinked, confused.

"Where am I...? Where's Naruto?"

Li Shang watched him in silence for a few seconds, evaluating every detail of his expression, every involuntary movement.

"You were completely defeated by him."

Sasuke froze, his eyes widening in shock.

"Defeated...?"

Li Shang kept his gaze firm.

"Yes. And tell me, Sasuke... why didn't you use the mark?"

The tone was neutral, but the question cut like a blade.

"I can't. It was sealed by Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke replied without looking directly at Li Shang. Frustration was evident in his voice.

"I see."

Li Shang stepped back a few paces, his gaze shifting towards a shadow hidden among the trees.

'So he really came.'

Kakashi was there, hidden, watching in silence since Li Shang had carried Sasuke out of the hospital, and Li Shang knew it.

He turned back to the Uchiha.

"Tell me, why are your eyes so different from your brother's?"

Sasuke froze. The question hit him like a blade.

For an instant, Itachi's words echoed in his mind, clear, cold, impossible to forget.

"When your eyes are like mine... come find me."

The air seemed to grow heavy. Sasuke's chakra wavered, his anger emerging along with the memory.

"I'll never be like him!" he shouted, clenching his fists. "And what does that have to do with you?"

Li Shang watched him calmly, without any reaction to the outburst.

'The anger is strong... but not enough.'

"I don't think you understood my question."

Sasuke frowned, breathing with difficulty.

"I brought you here for this," Li Shang continued. "On the hospital rooftop, your eyes changed. The pattern spun differently, as if it were undergoing a qualitative improvement. And your brother's... seemed even stronger."

Sasuke looked away, but curiosity forced him to listen.

Li Shang continued, his voice now slightly louder – enough for Kakashi's attentive ear to catch every word.

"As I am also a dōjutsu user, I recently experienced an advancement. But I still don't quite understand the process."

As he spoke, he pointed to his own eyes – an intense blue that shimmered under the moonlight, almost transparent.

The soft glow of the Tenseigan appeared for an instant, reflecting the ambient chakra.

Sasuke stared at him, intrigued, feeling a subtle pressure. The sensation was familiar, but different from what the Sharingan transmitted – it was as if Li Shang's eyes saw beyond the flesh, beyond the soul.

"Those eyes..." Sasuke murmured. "They're not from the Hyuuga clan."

Li Shang just kept his gaze fixed on him, with a slight smile. He turned to leave, leaving the Uchiha standing, torn between anger and confusion.

More Chapters