After the Sky Screen finished its digression on Amaterasu, the scene returned to the battle between the two brothers, Itachi and Sasuke.
Just as everyone held their breath, waiting for Itachi to unleash Amaterasu, he instead began forming hand seals at incredible speed.
Sasuke, naturally, wasn't just standing idly by and decisively deployed the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu.
The moment Itachi barely dodged the attack, Sasuke precisely seized the opening, triggered a pre-set trap, and heavily wounded Itachi in one fell swoop.
The entire tactical execution was undeniably impressive.
'That last shuriken did the job.' A satisfied smile curled at the corner of Sasuke's mouth, as if he had been in control all along, playing Itachi perfectly.
"How strange. There's no way Itachi shouldn't have been able to dodge something like that." Black Zetsu stared at the battle below, utterly perplexed.
Indeed, Itachi's eyesight had already deteriorated significantly at this point. And Sasuke noticed this as well, letting out a cold sneer: "Backlash from that earlier Tsukuyomi, huh? I like that."
Seeing Itachi on the back foot brought Sasuke a grim satisfaction.
And this was only a small taste of revenge—for his parents, for his clan.
"From the moment he broke Tsukuyomi, Sasuke has already taken control of the battle's flow. He's also managed to slow Itachi's movements. At this rate, Sasuke might actually win this fight," White Zetsu observed.
"No—it's still too early to say that." Having witnessed Itachi's ability to turn the tides, Black Zetsu refused to believe he would lose so easily.
At this moment, Sasuke didn't wait any longer and immediately launched a Great Fireball Jutsu toward Itachi.
Strike while the iron was hot; Sasuke wasn't about to waste the opportunity.
Itachi quickly jumped to evade, which was clearly within Sasuke's expectations, as he immediately followed up with a Chidori sweep.
In the nick of time, Itachi narrowly avoided the fatal blow, flipping out of the chamber and onto the rooftop, using Fire Release to cut off Sasuke's pursuit.
Sasuke, in turn, used the wings of his Cursed Mark State 2 to block the lethal damage.
The brothers' battlefield shifted from the chamber to the rooftop, and the true battle was only just beginning.
They both unleashed Great Fireball Jutsus simultaneously, and the two massive streams of fire collided mid-air.
But to everyone's surprise, in that pure head-to-head Fire Release clash, Sasuke came out on top.
Clearly, even though both brothers could be considered all-around fighters, Itachi was ultimately more specialized in Genjutsu.
What was even more surprising was that Sasuke, who had previously been shown to excel most in Lightning Release, with his Chidori mastery, was no less accomplished in Fire Release.
Just as everyone was marveling at Sasuke's talent in Fire Release, the tide of battle suddenly shifted.
Itachi infused his Fire Release with Amaterasu, instantly reversing the momentum and overwhelming Sasuke's flames. Ordinary Fire Release was utterly insignificant before a Dōjutsu of Amaterasu's caliber.
Just as the black flames were about to reach Sasuke, Itachi suddenly extinguished them of his own accord.
Sasuke was briefly taken aback, but quickly recovered and began moving rapidly, afraid of being locked onto by Itachi's Amaterasu.
Yet Itachi's aim seemed consistently just slightly off, only managing to catch the monstrous wing-like hand on Sasuke's body at the very last moment.
Sasuke let out a series of agonized screams before collapsing to the ground.
Itachi walked over step by step toward him, but Sasuke's body suddenly dissolved into a liquid mass. His real body had already escaped through a crack in the floor.
It was a specially designed Orochimaru-style Substitution Jutsu tailored specifically to counter Amaterasu; a series of intricate tactical maneuvers executed to perfection.
Even the most critical of viewers had to acknowledge Sasuke's seamless execution of this chain of countermeasures.
Clearly, Sasuke had thoroughly studied the fact that his opponent could use Amaterasu and had prepared adequate contingencies in advance.
He had been waiting for this very moment; he immediately entered his Cursed Mark State 2 and, facing an Itachi already ravaged by his terminal disease, launched a Fire Release without hesitation.
Dragon after dragon of flame howled forward, smashing through the roof and soaring into the sky, even causing large sections of the rooftop to collapse.
Yet even so, he still couldn't land a killing blow on Itachi. Even at this point, he was still one step short.
By now, both brothers' Chakra and physical stamina had been largely depleted.
It was clear from the earlier exchanges that even with Chakra reserves far exceeding ordinary Shinobis, neither could sustain such prolonged, high-intensity combat.
"That Amaterasu earlier seems to have taken quite a toll on you," Sasuke said between ragged breaths.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Land of Waves, Tazuna's House]
Naruto crouched on the ground, chin resting on his hands, watching in stunned silence: "Sasuke… you're that strong?! Fire Release, shuriken, Chidori—you almost beat that guy to the ground!"
Sasuke himself remained calm, hands in his pockets, watching the battered, breathless version of himself on the screen without any change in expression.
He mentally cataloged every move and Jutsu, analyzing Itachi's weaknesses and planning his strategy for the real battle to come.
Tsukuyomi required eye contact within five meters, Amaterasu had a wind-up and focusing time, and Itachi's stamina couldn't hold out for long—all of this intelligence was burned into his mind.
Kakashi leaned by the window, his eyes occasionally drifting toward the screen.
He sighed inwardly; this battle, whether it was Itachi or Sasuke, both fought brilliantly.
However, Itachi's holding back was too obvious.
Just what on earth was that man really thinking?
*****
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister