After chatting with Shikamaru and the others for a while, Yoruha managed to slip away from Ino.
He made his way to the Uchiha clan's compound, where Sakura navigated effortlessly into Sasuke's kitchen to busy herself. In the living room, Sasuke poured tea for Yoruha and Naruto.
The scene was quite domestic; Sakura and Sasuke really did seem like a family. By the afternoon, at the Uchiha clan's training grounds, Sasuke stood in front of Yoruha, holding a kunai.
Yoruha also held a kunai, a gift from Kakashi, as the two stood facing each other. Sakura and Naruto watched from the sidelines. A gentle breeze blew, rustling the leaves.
Suddenly, Sasuke moved. "Lightning Style: Lightning Body Flicker." A metallic clang echoed as their kunai clashed. Yoruha remained calm, effortlessly parrying Sasuke's strike.
Sparks flew as the kunai collided. "So fast," Naruto exclaimed, shocked by Sasuke's speed, which had increased several times over since before.
Sakura added, "He's much faster than before. Does the three-tomoe Sharingan really enhance Sasuke's speed that much?" Despite not landing a hit, Sasuke's eyes, with the three-tomoe Sharingan, spun wildly as he vanished from Yoruha's sight again.
Yoruha smirked slightly. "Impressive speed." Another clang and the sound of fists and feet colliding followed. Their exchange was so rapid that only afterimages could be seen.
The speed was incredible, and the shockwaves from their clash whipped up a strong wind. Sasuke was on the offensive, with blue lightning flickering around Yoruha. Yoruha remained composed, defending skillfully.
After a few minutes of intense combat, Sasuke and Yoruha separated by several meters, leaving a long mark on the ground. Sasuke crouched, one hand on the ground, the other gripping the kunai's hilt.
His eyes, with the three-tomoe Sharingan, remained fixed on Yoruha. "So strong!" Sasuke was internally shaken, feeling his own power had increased significantly. His dynamic vision had improved several times, making his Lightning Body Flicker much faster.
He felt he could defeat his former self within ten minutes. Yet, he still sensed a vast gap between himself and Yoruha, a gap whose end he couldn't even see.
Yoruha, calm and composed, looked at Sasuke and said, "Sasuke, your speed has improved a lot. Do you have any other techniques?" Sasuke smirked, "Of course, I do. How about trying my Chidori now?" With that, Sasuke began forming hand seals.
"Chidori." The sound of chirping birds filled the air. Yoruha watched Sasuke, his eyes unwavering. "You've become much more skilled." But it was just that—more skilled.
At this point, Sasuke's Chidori could almost be called a Lightning Cutter. "This will be the final strike," Sasuke declared, disappearing from Yoruha's sight in the next instant.
In a flash, Sasuke appeared before Yoruha, thrusting his Chidori forward. In the blink of an eye, Yoruha swung his right hand toward Sasuke.
"Rasengan." As Yoruha's hand neared Sasuke's Chidori, a golden Rasengan formed in his palm. The moment the two forces collided, a blinding light erupted. The light was as dazzling as the sun, impossible to look at directly.
Naruto and Sakura tried to see what was happening, but the brilliance forced them to squint their eyes shut.
"The power." "A clash between Chidori and Rasengan, huh," Sakura and Naruto said, covering their eyes.
The moment the two jutsus collided, a terrifying energy spread outwards.
Within hundreds of meters around them, the ground collapsed, fierce winds roared, and debris flew everywhere. The destructive energy obliterated everything within its range. After a long while, the storm finally subsided.
Sasuke stood before Yoruha, raising his right hand, which was already covered in wounds, blood slowly dripping to the ground. His hand was still trembling. Yoruha had already retracted his hand, looking calmly at the shocked Sasuke.
Sasuke was enveloped in a golden cloak. Without this golden cloak, the energy clash just now would have torn Sasuke's body apart. Naturally, this was Yoruha's lightning net.
Currently, Sasuke was still unable to withstand the tearing force from the collision of Chidori and Rasengan. As the storm calmed, a large crater formed within dozens of meters around them. Sasuke came back to his senses and looked up at Yoruha, who was smiling.
"The gap is huge!" Sasuke said seriously. There was no hope left, no hope of surpassing him.
Sasuke thought to himself. Yoruha patted Sasuke's shoulder, "You've improved a lot. That last strike almost got me." But as soon as Yoruha finished speaking, Sasuke shot him a glare.
In the past, he might have believed it. But now, if he believed it, he'd truly be a fool. "Indeed, I've gotten much stronger, but you almost couldn't handle it?"
"Do you really take me for a child?" Sasuke's words left Yoruha a bit embarrassed. He hadn't been serious with Sasuke earlier, after all, he wanted to test how much Sasuke's Sharingan had improved.
"You're about twice as strong as before," Yoruha analyzed. Sasuke nodded, "Indeed, I can now defeat my previous self in a short time."
"But I'm even more despairing now." Yoruha was about to nod in agreement, but Sasuke's next words left him puzzled. "Why are you more despairing?"
Sasuke smiled bitterly, "I feel like the gap between us has only widened." Yoruha sighed, "Why do you always compare yourself to me? You just need to be stronger than your past self, right?" "That's true, but the ever-growing gap is kind of ridiculous."
Sasuke smiled bitterly. Yoruha thought for a moment and said, "Don't forget what your goal is." Sasuke paused, then nodded, "I know."
"Right now, aside from the Mangekyo Sharingan, I feel like I wouldn't lose to Itachi, but my eyes are still no match for his Mangekyo Sharingan." "To deal with the Mangekyo, you need a Mangekyo." Sakura and Naruto, who had avoided the clash from hundreds of meters away, also joined them.
Looking at the surrounding devastation, the massive crater, and the shattered ground, it was clear how terrifying the power had been. Naruto's mouth twitched as he looked at Yoruha, "How is your Rasengan so much more powerful than mine?"
"And you can do it instantly, without the need to gather chakra." Naruto's single-handed Rasengan was quite weak, so he used shadow clones to help gather chakra. But Yoruha had done it instantly, effortlessly. Yoruha said, "Just practice more."
Naruto was speechless, "Is that something you can just practice?" Naruto didn't know that by the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, this kind of scene would be nothing. But Yoruha didn't want to explain too much to Naruto.
After Sakura healed Sasuke's injuries, Yoruha approached Sasuke from behind, looking at the curse mark on his neck. Sakura stood to the side, watching the two nervously.
Naruto was also a bit tense. Yoruha was about to deal with Sasuke's curse mark. They knew that within this curse mark was Orochimaru's soul imprint, which he could use to resurrect himself.
Both were very worried that Orochimaru might come back, but they believed Orochimaru was definitely not a match for Yoruha. He wasn't a match for Yoruha even when he was alive, so how could he be after being resurrected? However, the fear of Orochimaru still lingered in their hearts.
The memories he left with the three were just too profound.
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