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Gulp…
Watching Kin, who was embedded into a tree trunk with her condition unknown—whether she was alive or dead—Dosu and Zaku couldn't help but swallow hard.
Upon closer inspection, one could see beads of cold sweat forming near their temples and on their faces.
They weren't frightened by Kin's miserable state—they were terrified by the jutsu Ryūsei had just used.
A… sealess jutsu!
And one with such terrifying destructive power, at that.
Dosu snapped out of his daze and, without hesitation, pulled out the scroll marked with the character for "Earth." He held it toward Ryūsei and said, "We surrender. Take this scroll. Will you let us go?"
"No. Your lives end here."
Another rapidly spinning sphere of energy materialized in Ryūsei's hand.
"Zankūkyoku— AAAAAHHH!"
Seeing that Ryūsei had no intention of negotiating, Zaku immediately clapped his hands together, preparing to unleash his strongest sound-wave attack.
But before he could even convert his chakra into sound waves, a bloodcurdling scream tore from his throat, his face twisting into an expression of pure agony.
Dosu was startled by Zaku's sudden shriek. There was no visible injury on him, yet his entire body convulsed violently, his face contorted in pain, and his eyes were bloodshot.
"Zaku! You're under a genjutsu! Break out of it!" Dosu shouted.
But Zaku didn't seem to hear him. He had already collapsed to the ground, writhing and screaming.
"AAAAHHH— IT BURNS! PUT IT OUT! PUT OUT THE FIRE!"
From Zaku's perspective, the surrounding forest had turned into a sea of flames, his entire body engulfed in scorching fire.
The agony of burning—one of the most excruciating ways to die—left him incapable of breaking free from the illusion.
This was the genjutsu—Shiranui (Phantom Flame).
"And you dare to look away?"
While Dosu was distracted by Zaku's screams, Ryūsei had already closed the distance in an instant, slamming the Rasengan directly into his chest.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted as Dosu was sent flying like a cannonball, his body spinning violently through the air, wreathed in a spiraling blue chakra vortex. He crashed into a massive tree with tremendous force, leaving a deep crater in the trunk.
Just like Kin, Dosu's body was embedded into the tree—his fate unknown.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Without the slightest hesitation, Ryūsei drew three kunai and hurled them with flawless precision, each one embedding itself into the skulls of the Sound trio, ending their lives for good.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
White light flickered around the three corpses.
As three beams of energy dissipated into the air, several white orbs of light floated above the ground near the bodies.
Ryūsei barely spared them a glance before turning and walking toward Sakura.
Sakura was currently sitting with her back to him, green healing chakra glowing from her hands as she tended to her injuries.
"Sakura, are you okay?" Ryūsei asked softly, reaching out to pat her head.
Sakura kept her head lowered, her glowing hands covering her face as she continued healing herself. "Ryūsei, don't look at me. I must look terrible right now."
"Nonsense. You looked amazing back there."
Ryūsei chuckled and ruffled her hair. "But healing yourself is too slow. Let me help."
"No! You have that camera! What if you take a picture of me like this?" Sakura protested in a half-whining tone. "Hinata told me you sneak photos of her all the time. I refuse to let you capture me looking like this!"
"I won't take any pictures, I promise. Seriously, why does Hinata tell you guys everything?" Ryūsei wiped imaginary sweat from his brow.
"Hm?"
Before Sakura could respond, Ryūsei's eyebrows suddenly furrowed as he turned his gaze toward the cave.
Sakura also stopped healing and looked up in shock toward the cave where Naruto and Sasuke had been resting.
"Sasuke's awake… but why does his chakra feel like that?"
"Sakura… who hurt your face?"
Sasuke's voice echoed out, cold and laced with something darker.
From the shadows of the cave emerged a figure wreathed in a sinister, violet-tinged chakra. His presence exuded malice.
Uchiha Sasuke—now with half his face covered in black curse marks—stepped forward, his Sharingan active, twin tomoe spinning slowly. His gaze locked onto Ryūsei and Sakura, immediately zeroing in on Sakura's bruised face.
"Enemies showed up earlier, but Ryūsei took care of them," Sakura explained quickly before hesitating. "Sasuke… are you okay?"
"Hah… I'm more than okay."
Sasuke looked down at his left hand, where the curse marks had spread. His voice was unnaturally exhilarated. "I feel incredible right now. Like I can do anything."
But his words only made Sakura more uneasy.
Then, Sasuke suddenly turned his gaze to Ryūsei, his lips curling into a smirk that could only be described as demonic.
"Ryūsei… how about a fight?"
"No. You're not in the right state of mind."
Ryūsei shook his head. "Whatever's happening to your body, this chakra isn't yours. Are you really going to abandon the Uchiha's pride and rely on some external power?"
"…Tch."
Sasuke's smirk faltered for a split second before his face twisted in pain. A low groan escaped his lips as his Sharingan reverted to black pupils. He clutched his neck and crouched down, trembling.
A few moments later, he weakly stood back up. The curse marks had receded from his face and hand.
Now back to normal, Sasuke glanced at Zaku's corpse, then at Kin and Dosu's bodies embedded in the tree. Finally, his eyes returned to Sakura, a hint of guilt in his voice.
"Sorry you got dragged into this, Sakura."
"I'm just glad you're both safe."
Relieved to see Sasuke acting like himself again, Sakura let out a sigh before sheepishly adding, "If anything, I'm the one who should apologize. I couldn't do anything to help."
"You stood your ground against enemies like that. That's more than enough."
Ryūsei pinched Sakura's cheek lightly, making her yelp in protest.
"Let me heal you properly. Your chakra's too weak right now."
He knelt down and began channeling medical ninjutsu into her face.
Sakura quickly shut her eyes, her cheeks flushing. "H-Hurry up! I can sense Hinata's chakra coming. I can't let her see me like this!"
"Hinata has the Byakugan. She's probably already seen you."
"It's different! The Byakugan only sees in black and white!"
"Fine, fine. You're impossible."
Meanwhile, Sasuke—still clutching his neck—walked over to Zaku's corpse, then examined the destruction left by Kin and Dosu's deaths.
More specifically, he was studying the aftermath of Ryūsei's attacks.
A few seconds later, as if remembering something, Sasuke suddenly turned his head. Ignoring the pain from his curse mark, he reactivated his twin-tomoe Sharingan and stared at Ryūsei, who had just finished healing Sakura.
A flash of shock crossed his eyes before being replaced by an intense, burning battle lust.
"This… this is your real power? To think you were hiding something like this all along…"
"Perfect."
A twisted grin spread across his face.
"Only someone like you is worthy of being my opponent. Only by defeating the real you… can I start prove the Uchiha's supremacy!"