After Kirin, all that remained was a scene of ruins and remnants, desolation and decay.
Rustle~
Sasuke Uchiha stood up, slowly raising his head. The distant scene came into view, and the smile that had just begun to form on his lips instantly froze.
At the center of the attack, a dark red, half-bodied skeleton, like a demon from hell, stood firm upon the earth.
And Itachi, whom he had thought would perish, was standing in the center of the Susanoo. Although his figure was somewhat disheveled, it was clear at a glance that his life was not in danger.
"Sasuke, your growth astounds me. You actually forced me to use this form of Susanoo," Itachi Uchiha's voice was clearly weak.
Evidently, enduring Kirin head-on was not as effortless for him as his outward appearance suggested.
As he stepped forward, the Susanoo advanced further. Sasuke felt the air around him frantically pressing in, making even breathing difficult.
"It seems that jutsu just now was already his limit for one use," White Zetsu said, looking up at the dark, ominous clouds that had already dispersed from the sky.
"Sasuke, use my power." Just then, a voice full of temptation echoed in his mind.
Sasuke Uchiha knew this was the chakra Orochimaru had sealed into his Heaven's Curse Mark a month ago.
He looked at Itachi Uchiha slowly approaching, or rather, at the Susanoo surrounding him. Chakra, resembling a network of meridians, condensed, extended, and wrapped around the thin skeletal frame.
After all the bones were entwined, the chakra meridians suddenly converged, and a Susanoo in the form of a half-bodied Great Tengu impressively appeared on the battlefield.
At this moment, he finally understood why Itachi Uchiha would call this ability 'God's Power.'
"What's wrong? Has the depletion of your chakra already left you helpless?" Itachi Uchiha asked.
"Come on! Give it to me!" Orochimaru's tempting voice continued to ring out.
"I can lend you my power… You need me, Sasuke… Don't you want revenge on Itachi?"
"Come on, unleash my power! This way your wish will…"
Gulp~
In his parched mouth, he managed to gather a mouthful of saliva. The feeling of moisture slowly trickled down his throat. The threat to his life finally made him decide.
"Come on!"
The moment he made his decision, his left shoulder bizarrely swelled and churned, as if something terrifying was gestating within.
Whoosh!
A great white serpent with eight heads and eight bodies, covered in white phosphorus scales, erupted madly from his left shoulder. In just a few breaths, the Yamata no Orochi grew to a size comparable to the Susanoo.
And Sasuke Uchiha, beneath the massive form of the Yamata no Orochi, looked like a beautiful maiden just rescued from a goblin cave by a hero, his eyes vacant, saliva uncontrollably dribbling from the corner of his mouth.
The Yamata no Orochi had a clear target. Its enormous body roared as it charged towards the Susanoo.
"This feeling… Orochimaru's Eight Branches Technique?" Itachi Uchiha adjusted his stance. The giant and the colossal beast clashed violently.
Thud!
The Susanoo raised the Yata Mirror in its left hand, blocking the Yamata no Orochi's charge. On its right, a giant arm instantly materialized, drawing a massive spirit sword from the Sakegari Gourd, swinging it out, and severing one of the serpent's heads.
The gushing blood from the severed head was like a call to charge. The two colossal figures frantically launched attacks at each other.
But facing the Susanoo wielding the great spirit sword, the Yamata no Orochi's menacing body appeared so frail.
In less than a minute, seven of its snake heads were severed. The headless bodies seemed to lose control, thrashing wildly, directly interfering with the last remaining body.
Seemingly understanding the futility of its offensive intent, the last head slowly ceased its movements, tilted skyward, and opened its blood-red maw wide.
Retch~
A man, bare-chested and covered in slime, appeared within the gaping maw.
"Orochimaru?" Upon seeing him, the anxiety in Itachi Uchiha's eyes slowly dissipated.
He finally appeared…
Retch~
Orochimaru tilted his head back and, amidst a fit of dry heaves, pulled a Kusanagi Sword from his throat.
"As always, spitting things out of his mouth… disgusting fellow," White Zetsu watched this scene with a look of disdain.
"But true to his name, as tenacious as a snake, isn't he?" Black Zetsu retorted.
"Itachi, didn't expect this, did you?" Orochimaru looked down at the man below him, laughing wildly and unrestrainedly.
Squelch!
The great spirit sword plunged directly into his body.
"You think an attack of this level can harm me?" Orochimaru didn't even glance at the great sword impaling his torso.
"Sasuke, what do you plan to do next?" Itachi Uchiha didn't spare Orochimaru a look, instead gazing at his younger brother behind the Yamata no Orochi.
"The Totsuka Blade?!"
A sudden sensation of being devoured came from the great spirit sword. Orochimaru looked at him in terror. "Why… why is this thing in your hands?"
But until his body was completely consumed by the gourd in Susanoo's hand, no one answered his question.
"That sword? What's going on?" White Zetsu stared at this scene in shock. When had Orochimaru become so easy to deal with?
"The Totsuka Blade, also known as the 'Sakegari Longsword,' is a sealing sword. It's said that anyone pierced by it will be trapped in a dream-like world of genjutsu, sealed away permanently. The sword itself is a Kusanagi Sword imbued with a sealing jutsu. Orochimaru seems to have been searching for this blade," Black Zetsu explained.
"Itachi is still more formidable," White Zetsu said with a sigh.
"Inform that fellow. The battle is truly over," Black Zetsu said.
Suddenly, a massive dark shadow swept over their heads.
"What was that?"
CRASH!
The dark shadow slammed heavily onto the ground. The shaking earth caused the few standing figures to stumble, nearly falling.
Everyone stared in shock at the colossal being that had appeared on the field.
"A Perfect Susanoo? How is that possible?!" For the first time, White Zetsu detected shock and utter disbelief in Black Zetsu's tone.
It wasn't just him. On the field, Itachi Uchiha, maintaining his Susanoo, stared at the mountain-like behemoth, his expression equally filled with shock and incomprehension.
In the shinobi world, besides himself, only that person could use Susanoo.
But the chakra of this Susanoo before them was not that person's at all.
"Looks like I made it in time." A steady male voice came from the top of the Great Tengu's head.
Future Sasuke looked down at the Susanoo beneath him, feeling that familiar chakra from his memories, and let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Itachi, dispel your Susanoo!" His tone was incredibly firm.
Hearing this voice, for some unknown reason, a feeling of complete trust in the speaker welled up in Itachi Uchiha's heart. He followed his instinct and dispelled his Susanoo.
"Get up here!"
The Great Tengu lowered its body, placing one of its massive hands in front of him.
Itachi Uchiha obediently leaped onto it.
"You too, get up here!" The hand then moved to rest in front of Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke Uchiha looked uncomprehendingly at the giant hand before him, and at Itachi on that hand. If this was his comrade, why didn't he just kill Itachi and take his eyes?
However, before he could think further, a pulling force drew him onto the giant hand.
Between the Great Tengu's brows, its flowing bangs once again covered the revealed Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan. Under Future Sasuke's control, the Great Tengu straightened its body again.
Shing!
A spirit longsword, far exceeding the Totsuka Blade in scale, was suddenly drawn from its waist. The Great Tengu's massive right hand swung fiercely, and a blade aura tens of meters long shot out from the sword.
BOOM!
Itachi Uchiha's and Sasuke Uchiha's pupils contracted.
On the earth below, a chasm, seemingly bottomless, had abruptly appeared.
And this, mind you, was just a casual swing…