Kaito looked at Sasuke's pair of three-tomoe Sharingan and said,
"At your age, to have already awakened the three tomoe? Truly impressive."
Sasuke frowned. He caught the mocking undertone in Kaito's words and asked,
"Who exactly are you?"
Kaito didn't respond, simply muttering to himself,
"So it seems that Itachi really was successfully brainwashed by the Third and the others. Hah! One after another… so stubborn!"
The moment he heard Itachi's name, Sasuke completely lost his composure. His voice involuntarily rose several notches.
"What did you just say!? You know Itachi!?"
"Of course I know him. He's an outstanding junior."
As he said this, Kaito deliberately glanced at Sasuke, then shook his head and added,
"Far more talented than you."
The words made Sasuke explode on the spot. With killing Itachi as the sole purpose of his life, how could he possibly tolerate someone belittling him in comparison to Itachi?
Fury surged. Lightning sparked wildly from the Kusanagi blade in his hand. He kicked off with full force, charging straight at Kaito.
Naruto moved as if to intervene, but in that instant a long blade appeared in Kaito's hand, glowing faintly with a purple sheen.
Kaito swung once, and his blade clashed against Sasuke's Kusanagi. A sharp crack split the air—and Sasuke's sword shattered. The broken tip embedded itself into the ground.
The shock left Sasuke reeling. He staggered back quickly, widening the distance between them.
He stared at the broken hilt in disbelief, his face written with shock.
Meanwhile, Kaito twirled his blade with a flourish, feigning surprise.
"Your weapon's quality doesn't seem that great."
Sasuke fell silent. His sword was no ordinary blade—it was one of the three remaining Kusanagi.
Not only was it far harder than common weapons, it could also channel chakra, providing him with a significant boost in power.
And yet, it had been severed so easily by an unfamiliar blade. Sasuke could barely process it.
Lifting his gaze toward Kaito's sword, Sasuke felt a chilling aura emanating from it. If he had to put it into words—it was ghostly.
He tossed aside his broken weapon and demanded,
"What's that sword called?"
Kaito raised the long blade before him, studying it for a moment before replying,
"This… this is one of the Supreme Grade Blades, the First Generation Kitetsu."
The First Generation Kitetsu had been entrusted to Kaito by the kimono Elder on his deathbed, to be passed on to Mihawk.
At the coronation ceremony, Mihawk had indeed come to Marine Headquarters. Kaito kept his word, attempting to return the First Generation Kitetsu and explain about the kimono Elder.
Mihawk silently gazed at the blade in Kaito's hands. Then, to Kaito's surprise, he bowed and said,
"So that's how it is… thank you for setting him free. As for this sword—it's your spoils of battle now. From this day forward, it belongs to you."
With that, Mihawk hefted the ice coffin carrying the kimono Elder's corpse and departed without another word.
As Mihawk turned, Kaito caught sight of a few glistening tears sliding down his face.
Remembering that moment, Kaito let out a faint sigh.
Sasuke, however, was completely lost. He had never heard of anything called the "Supreme Grade Blades."
Ignoring him, Kaito opened a Door Space before Sasuke's eyes and stored away the First Generation Kitetsu.
Naruto, watching from the side, finally realized where Kaito's sword had come from. He couldn't help but marvel at Kaito's methods.
Sasuke's eyes widened, his voice sharp with shock.
"That's space-time ninjutsu!?"
Then his expression hardened as he asked,
"Why are you putting your weapon away? Are you looking down on me?"
Kaito simply folded his arms across his chest again, his tone utterly dismissive.
"To deal with you, I don't even need my hands."
"What!?"
Sasuke trembled with rage, but quickly calmed himself, a familiar smirk tugging at his lips. To Kaito, that smile was all too familiar.
Sasuke chuckled darkly, eyes gleaming with the three-tomoe Sharingan as he declared,
"You just said you won't use your hands? Fine. Then I won't either. Let me show you the true power of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan!"
At those words, Kaito remained unmoved, but Naruto's expression grew… interesting.
Naruto knew full well that Kaito possessed a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan. For Sasuke to pit his three tomoe against them… Naruto almost felt like laughing.
But Sasuke didn't notice Naruto's look. He focused intently, unleashing genjutsu against Kaito.
Yet no matter how long he glared without blinking, Kaito's eyes showed not the slightest ripple. He looked at Sasuke as if watching an idiot.
Finally, Sasuke faltered. He blinked rapidly, muttering like he'd lost his mind,
"How… how is this possible!? My genjutsu has no effect on him at all!?"
At Kaito's waist, Orochimaru's serpent raised its head and regarded Sasuke with pity.
Forget your three-tomoe illusions—even if Itachi himself were here, he'd surrender!
After all, Kaito possessed the Rinnegan—and had awakened it under Orochimaru's very eyes!
Kaito studied Sasuke, who was drowning in self-doubt, and said softly,
"With just those Sharingan… how far can you really see?"
Sasuke snapped out of it—and froze.
He was staring into another pair of Sharingan. But these were different.
No tomoe circled within them. Instead, a flower-petal pattern unfolded, brimming with overwhelming ocular power.
As one who bore the Sharingan himself, Sasuke could sense it clearly: a power vast and unfathomable, greater even than what he'd felt from Itachi's Mangekyō.
The pattern was different from Itachi's, but Sasuke was absolutely certain—this was Mangekyō Sharingan.
What Sasuke didn't yet know was that beyond Mangekyō existed an even higher form: the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
And the pair in Kaito's eyes were exactly that.
They were the flowers that never withered, the embodiment of the Uchiha's ultimate power.
Sasuke stood transfixed, his mind blank before those monstrous eyes.
Kaito raised a brow at his stunned expression, wondering if Sasuke had really been scared stupid. In the anime, hadn't he faced Itachi's Mangekyō with much more guts?
But Kaito had underestimated the crushing effect of his Eternal Mangekyō on an ordinary Sharingan.
After all, he was the one who had awakened the Twelve-Tomoe Rinnegan. The power in his Eternal Mangekyō had already reached the pinnacle.
To Sasuke's three tomoe, this wasn't just a higher level.
It was annihilation from another dimension altogether.
...