Yugito had calmed down.
That was the problem.
A composed jinchūriki was something Sasuke couldn't afford to face head-on. Not yet.So he chose the other path.
He let a faint smile surface and brought Homura level before him, blade resting horizontally, posture relaxed to the point of arrogance.
"Still struggling?" he said evenly. "From where I stand, it's pointless."
His gaze swept over her without warmth. High. Distant. As if she were something beneath notice.
The message landed.
Yugito's pride snapped.
Her hair lifted sharply, chakra surging through it, whether from anger or power impossible to tell.
"I'll kill you," she said, voice tight with fury.
Chakra condensed violently in her palm.
Sasuke's expression cooled.
The crimson blade brightened, then darkened. Fire-aspected chakra began to vibrate along its surface at a pitch too fine to see, too fast to hear. The sunlight above them bent strangely, dimming as it neared the sword.
Light thinned. Heat drained.
It was as if the blade itself had become an absence, swallowing everything around it.
The ruins behind Sasuke remained sunlit.The space around him sank into shadow.
Even Yugito hesitated.
Inside her mind, a voice stirred.
Careful, Matatabi warned. That technique is dangerous.
Use more of my power. End this.
Yugito clenched her teeth.
Against a Leaf brat? No.
She locked eyes with Sasuke again, refusing to yield.
From afar, Yamato finally moved. "That's enough. We—"
He stopped.
A small figure ran into the battlefield.
"Stop! Please stop!"
A girl with short brown hair and a pink cat-ear ornament threw herself between them, arms spread wide.
"Ring?" Yugito blurted out, instinctively halting her chakra. "Are you out of your mind? Get back!"
"I won't," the girl said, shaking her head. "You won't hurt him."
Yugito ground her teeth. "Move. Now."
"If you're going to attack," Ring said quietly, "you'll have to go through me."
For a moment, Yugito was at a loss.
Then an elderly voice cut through the tension.
"That's enough, Yugito."
They turned.
The Cat Lady had arrived without sound, wrapped in a yellow-orange coat, a pipe resting lightly in her hand. Her expression was calm. Firm.
Yugito hesitated, then exhaled sharply. The gathered chakra dispersed.
"Tch."
She looked back at Sasuke. "This ends here. Only because of her."
She turned and walked away without another word.
The shadow around Sasuke faded. He withdrew the chakra from Homura and slid it back into its sheath.
"Yes, Granny," he said quietly.
Only then did he allow himself a breath.
The fight had stopped. That was all.
"Good grief," the Cat Lady murmured, studying Sasuke's eyes as the red faded to black. "You've grown, Sasuke."
"You flatter me," he replied, respectful, controlled.
She shook her head gently. "This was my failing. I should have planned better."
Naruto and Sakura finally reached them, faces tight with lingering tension.
The Cat Lady smiled, the edge leaving her eyes.
"Come along," she said. "Let's talk somewhere quieter."
The ruins fell silent behind them.
The battle was over.
But it was far from finished.