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On the flame-lit battlefield, the two Susanoo squared off.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The purple-red Sabichito Blade and the purple Tenken Sword collided with a dizzying frequency, unleashing terrifying shockwaves of sound!
Izuna laughed wildly. "Hahaha! I can't believe that bone of yours can withstand my Sabichito! What the hell is it made of?!"
His sword strikes grew even more ferocious!
To wield swordsmanship through the Susanoo so fluidly, as if it's an extension of himself… Sasuke thought, inwardly impressed. His own swordsmanship is incredibly profound, not inferior to mine in my previous life.
But… when it came to combat experience, Izuna fell far short!
In the midst of their fierce exchange, Sasuke deliberately left an opening!
CRACK!
The Sabichito Blade swept past, shearing off a chunk of shoulder bone from Sasuke's skeletal Susanoo!
"Hahahaha! Can't hold on, can you?!"
Izuna pressed his advantage, his great blade chopping down!
Sasuke maneuvered his Susanoo back a step, stabilized, then grasped both ends of the bone sword and raised it in a solid block!
CLANG——!!
The Sabichito struck the middle section of the bone blade.
A sharp glint flashed in Sasuke's eyes. His hand clenched.
Suddenly, the Susanoo folded the bone sword inward from both sides, trapping Izuna's great blade within its bony grasp!
"What?!"
Izuna was shocked. He tried desperately to pull his sword free, but the interlocking bone joints of the sword held it fast.
CRACK!!
Sasuke's Susanoo heaved. The Sabichito was wrenched cleanly from the grasp of Izuna's Susanoo, spinning high into the air.
SNAP!
Releasing one end of the bone sword, Sasuke's Susanoo let the tough, elastic weapon rebound and whip outward like a gigantic bone lash, smashing into Izuna's Susanoo and sending it staggering back.
Sasuke advanced, his Susanoo driving forward. The bone sword shot out—CRUNCH! A crisp sound of shattering armor. The bone sword pierced through the Susanoo and Izuna within, skewering him and lifting him clear from his spectral armor.
CLANG…!
Only then did the Sabichito, still spinning, slam into the ground some distance away.
Suspended on the bone sword, Izuna hung with his head bowed. His reincarnated body felt no fear, of course. But this feeling of being outmatched in his own area of expertise… it was infuriating.
"Besides my brother… I never imagined there would be a second person in a battle between Uchiha who could make me look this pathetic!"
Fine, then.
Izuna formed a hand seal before his chest.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "That seal…?!"
"This is a jutsu of my own creation!" Izuna declared.
— Spirit Transformation Technique!
WHOOSH…!
Izuna's soul detached from his body, ignored distance, and forcibly possessed Sasuke's form!
Taking control, Izuna drew the Kusanagi sword from Sasuke's hip and plunged it straight into Sasuke's own heart.
BOOM!
The skeletal Susanoo disintegrated. Sasuke dropped to one knee.
Watching Izuna's soul return to its own body, Sasuke rasped, "So the rumor… about the Spirit Transformation Technique of Tsunade's former lover, Dan Katō… that was your work."
Izuna sighed, disappointed. "Still not dead? Your vitality is disgustingly tenacious. But I won't give you another chance to stand up!"
He reached into the gaping tear across his own chest and abdomen—the wound from the bone sword—and pulled out a scroll. With a puff of smoke, he summoned a ninjato from it. His wound closed.
Locking Sasuke in place with the spatial confinement of his right eye's power, Izuna raised the new blade.
"I won't underestimate you again! Your raw strength is a match for my own! This time… this time, I'll take your head clean off!"
SWISH!
Izuna charged, sword in hand.
Sasuke pulled the Kusanagi from his own chest. The power of his curse mark flowed, mending the fatal injury.
Izuna was within ten meters.
Sasuke's mind raced. Last time, I could use a substitution technique to escape his spatial confinement because his Fire Release explosion momentarily blocked his line of sight, creating a gap in the lockdown. But this is different. It looks hopeless…
Stay calm. Every technique has a weakness.
Spatial confinement… think of it as being trapped inside a sealed box. For his sword to reach my neck, he must remove the box's barrier first.
Izuna was upon him!
In other words…
The moment his blade strikes, he must deactivate the power in his right eye!
And that… is my opening.
Izuna's blade swung down!
"Die…!!"
Now!
Sasuke dropped low, evading the slash aimed at his throat. Simultaneously, the lightning gathering in his palm shot forward, aimed at Izuna's now wide-open chest.
CRACKLE! Izuna's eyes flashed. In a blur of motion, he reappeared behind Sasuke, his sword slashing back!
— Uchiha Shunshin Slash!
Damn it! Sasuke thought. The heart wound isn't fully healed… I'm a split-second too slow!
— Shikotsumyaku!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Bones erupted from Sasuke's back, parrying Izuna's blade.
Izuna gasped. "This technique… it's the Kekkei Genkai of the Kaguya clan! Don't tell me you used this to reinforce your Susanoo?!"
CRACKLE…!!
Lightning sheathed Sasuke's Kusanagi sword. He whirled, striking back!
CLANG——!!
Izuna's ninjato shattered. Using a flickering body movement, he retreated rapidly.
Sasuke leaped in pursuit, closing the distance fast.
Izuna discarded the broken sword hilt and formed seals.
— Fire Release: Hiding in Ash and Dust!
BOOM…!!
A cloud of superheated ash erupted from his mouth, exploding into a dense, obscuring smog that filled the area.
WHOOSH…!
Sasuke dispelled the smog with an Eight Trigrams Air Palm.
There… the purple-red light had coalesced once more into the towering, formidable shape of a Susanoo.
This time, Izuna held nothing back. His burning chakra solidified, taking the ultimate form of Mangekyō power—the shape of the Tengu.
"I only used this form once while I was alive," Izuna mused, a touch of melancholy in his voice. "The strain on the eyes was too great. I couldn't recklessly expend my ocular power like my brother could. Now… finally, I have no such restrictions. But my brother is gone. The only living member of our clan is tainted by the Senju… A pity."
CRACK!
In the right hand of the Tengu-shaped Susanoo, the Sabichito blade ignited with spectral fire.
Izuna's cold gaze locked onto Sasuke in the distance. "Come on, then. Dance with that bone-reinforced skeleton of yours. Let's see if you can still move it!"
Sasuke observed Izuna's Susanoo through his Byakugan.
The 'armor' of his Susanoo in this Tengu form is different from others I've seen in this state. It's likely a specialized form of Susanoo chakra, like the Sabichito blade. Not quite a sacred tool, but its defensive power is certainly extraordinary.
He recalled his previous life's clashes with Madara.
Madara's Perfect Susanoo had superior offensive and defensive power compared to mine back then. It was probably because he inherited this 'Sword-and-Armor' system from Izuna…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The roar of explosions across the island was deafening.
My shadow clones are consuming too much chakra. Until their battles conclude, I'll have to use some tricks to deal with him.
Sasuke brought his hands together before his chest.
— Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!
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