"Come on! Let's speak with our fists!"
"Let me feel your 'soul'! Roar of the Emperor: Thunder Bagua!"
Yamato roared as she leaped high into the air, Conqueror's Haki swirling around Takeru, smashing down toward Sasuke with earth-shattering momentum.
Boom!!
The blow missed… Sasuke barely dodged.
The rocky high ground that had withstood the gas explosion actually developed large spiderweb-like cracks under Yamato's strike, extending downward continuously.
"Seriously… don't dodge."
Yamato, now fully transformed into the Guardian Deity of Wano form, rested her kanabo on her shoulder, speaking with some dissatisfaction.
This wasn't exactly holding back against enemies and going all out against allies.
After all, the earlier condition when attacking Orochimaru was to capture him alive if possible, and Orochimaru's frontal combat ability was indeed too weak.
At least in Yamato's view, it was utterly unimpressive.
Whether Orochimaru was using Diamante's body or Monet's, both were as fragile as paper before the kanabo.
But Sasuke was different.
In that earlier 'controlled' state, Sasuke's fist had genuinely damaged Yamato's body.
-Even though that was probably because Orochimaru, the 'stand-in', had terrible skills, far from the original owner's level, preventing him from unleashing her true strength.
But this was still a display of power.
If it were one of the Sweet Commanders, like Smoothie or Cracker, even if Yamato stood still, they might not be able to break her defense.
Besides, that black flame Sasuke spat out later had even made her sense mortal danger.
If not for that, she wouldn't have 'taken over the account' mid-way, forcibly controlling her body to dodge.
And that ability, different from Conqueror's Haki but also capable of producing mental impact.
In short, there were too many things about Sasuke that interested Yamato.
"You, are you serious?"
Even though he dodged this [Thunder Bagua], the aftershock of the Conqueror's Haki-infused attack still scraped Sasuke's face painfully.
"Yes. So you better have the resolve to kill me. If you accidentally die under my Takeru, then I'll just have to take your corpse to Naruto-sama."
A fierce smile spread across Yamato's face. Just as Kaido had said thousands of miles away, after Naruto's influence, Yamato's 'willfulness' was no less than that of him.
This was evident enough from Yamato's Conqueror's Haki intensity, which could already match Kaido's.
"Tch…"
Sasuke clicked his tongue, but he still chose to draw Kusanagi Sword.
His meaning was clear.
"That's more like it!"
"Come on! Sasuke-boy, let's have a good, hearty fight!"
Facing Yamato's surging aura, Sasuke's figure abruptly vanished from his spot.
The next moment, five identical figures instantly appeared around Yamato, all swinging their swords simultaneously.
Body Flicker Technique, Shadow Clone Technique, plus the temporary enhancement from [Karma]… this combination created a 'certain kill' situation.
Looking at the approaching Kusanagi Sword, feeling the chilling aura that raised goosebumps, Yamato's smile didn't fade… it grew.
"As expected, you can use this move too."
She was referring to the Shadow Clone Technique, an ability she had pestered Naruto about for so long but still couldn't learn.
There's helping it… Since she's not from Ninja World, she couldn't refine Chakra, so she naturally couldn't perform Ninjutsu.
"I can't tell any difference at all."
Yamato's beast eyes quickly locked onto the five targets.
"In that case, I'll just beat them all up!"
"Fierce Tiger: Roaring Blast!"
Conqueror's Haki swirled around the kanabo as she struck out in all directions at blinding speed.
Continuous afterimages of the staff sealed off all the space around her.
Bang bang bang bang bang!
After a series of impacts, all five figures were smashed apart by Yamato's staff, turning into puffs of smoke.
"All fakes… not surprising!"
Just as Yamato's move ended, Sasuke's true body emerged from the shadows.
At this moment, he wasn't using Kusanagi Sword. Instead, he transformed into his hybrid form.
Fighting someone of Yamato's level with his still-unpolished swordsmanship would be looking down on her too much.
He was getting serious.
"Hasshoken: Wolf Penetration!"
If Chinjao were here, he would be astonished to find that the Hasshoken technique Sasuke was using now already carried the essence of the [Hasshoken Secret Art: Drill Dragon Nail].
This was something Sasuke had deduced himself through contact with various Hasshoken users these past days.
To some extent, it was already very close to the original Hasshoken secret art.
"Good move!"
Yamato simply released one hand from her kanabo, clenching a fist to counter.
Hum—
"...Can't hit!"
Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched his fist unable to make contact with Yamato's no matter what… thus, the Hasshoken vibrations couldn't transmit directly onto her.
This was a significant weakening for the Hasshoken.
The two remained locked for a few seconds, then a sonic boom erupted in the air.
The next moment, Sasuke's figure was sent flying, crashing heavily into the castle ruins.
"Not enough yet, Sasuke-boy."
Yamato looked at the burning flames on her hand, then casually blew them out with a breath of freezing air.
"At this level, I can't acknowledge your 'qualifications', you know."
Rumble!
The ruins were pushed aside by a powerful force. Sasuke stood up again, the Amaterasu flames on his body so dense they practically formed armor.
"Qualifications, capacity… and other things like that. Why do you people always like to say such things!"
Clearly, Yamato's words reminded Sasuke of a man he never wanted to mention again.
Black flame clouds stretched out into long trails in an instant.
Both the blue Calamity Flames and the glow of Chakra erupted from Sasuke's body.
[Eight Gates: Open!]
Yamato opposite him narrowed her eyes slightly, then gripped her staff with both hands, gathering strength throughout her body.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Almost the moment Yamato's voice fell, Sasuke's figure appeared before her as if teleporting.
"Hellfire Armor: Indra!"
The Conqueror's Haki-infused kanabo once again used distorted space to block Sasuke's fist, yet he showed no intention of retreating.
He wasn't just throwing a punch at Yamato… he was throwing a punch at that figure he could no longer take revenge upon, at his past self!
"Can you get even stronger?"
Yamato's gaze shifted from playful to serious.
She exerted full force with both hands; the wounds previously mended by white flesh even split open again from the excessive strain.
But Yamato paid it no mind now.
From Sasuke's fist, she not only felt that formidable power gradually surpassing her own but also sensed something else.
The soul of a true warrior!
"Hahahahaha! Yes! This is the feeling!"
"The fervor in your soul! I can feel it!"
Yamato laughed heartily, not caring at all that her kanabo was being pushed back.
In Sasuke's eyes now, the Mangekyo pattern of the Uchiha Clan also began to quietly undergo some kind of transformation.
Then, a raw yet incredibly resilient force erupted from Sasuke.
In that moment, Yamato also felt Sasuke's 'self-will'.
Not through a shortcut like the Sharingan, but a genuine, rock-solid, powerful sense of self!
Uchiha Sasuke's Conqueror's Haki had finally awakened!
Crack!
The kanabo finally seemed unable to bear the strain, developing numerous cracks starting from the head.