Chapter 131: Sage Art Breaks Tsukuyomi
Just how strong was Itachi Uchiha when he got serious?
Perhaps no one knew!
Even though Sasuke Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha were extremely close, and the vines instantly grew into a tree to engulf him,
Itachi Uchiha, who was running on the water, instantly appeared behind Sasuke Uchiha.
Even Sasuke Uchiha's three-tomoe Sharingan didn't see his teleportation trajectory, only felt a gust of wind, and then heard Itachi Uchiha's calm voice behind him.
"You've become stronger. However, with such eye power, you don't seem to have obtained the same eyes as me yet. Wanting to kill me with half-baked Wood Release is too naive."
After speaking, Itachi Uchiha thrust a kunai towards Sasuke Uchiha's back.
Sasuke Uchiha curled the corner of his lips and sneered, "It's enough to kill you!"
His back wriggled, and several wooden spikes shot out, hitting Itachi Uchiha's body.
In an instant, Itachi Uchiha's body made "puchi puchi" sounds as forked wooden spikes grew out from inside his body, tearing through flesh and spraying blood. The scene was extremely gruesome.
Sasuke Uchiha only glanced at the corpse before turning his head to look in a certain direction, speaking to the air with a blank expression, "Is this the genjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan? Or is this the Mangekyo Sharingan's exclusive dojutsu?"
As Sasuke Uchiha's words fell, the horribly dead Itachi Uchiha slowly disappeared like a mirage.
In the direction Sasuke Uchiha was looking, a figure appeared—the unharmed Itachi Uchiha.
Looking at Sasuke Uchiha, whose face was no longer twisted but had returned to calmness, even excessive calmness, Itachi Uchiha calmly spoke his curiosity, "It seems you know quite a bit."
"Hmph, what I know is far more than you imagine," Sasuke Uchiha sneered. "For example, why you only spared me back then, why you kept tormenting me, and even told me the method to obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan by killing the person you cherish most... all of this is because you wanted to use me as a component to obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."
Hearing this, surprise finally appeared on Itachi Uchiha's face, while inwardly he was secretly delighted.
He had originally intended to use Tsukuyomi to tell Sasuke Uchiha the secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Now it seemed he didn't need to do so.
Sasuke had encountered a guide even better than himself.
On the surface, however, Itachi Uchiha said coldly, "Did Izayoi tell you? Your Wood Release was also obtained by transplanting his cells, wasn't it? After all, Konoha also conducted Wood Release experiments, and without exception, everyone who transplanted Hashirama's cells died. Only the cells of a Wood Release ninja who hasn't fully grown can allow you to also obtain half-baked Wood Release."
"Heh... whose cells don't matter, as long as I can obtain the power to kill you," Sasuke Uchiha said smugly. "It seems that in the face of this power, your Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu is nothing more than this."
"Now, let me give you a taste of genjutsu!"
After speaking, Sasuke Uchiha performed hand seals and shouted, "Genjutsu: Darkness Technique!"
In the next second, Itachi Uchiha's vision was invaded by darkness.
"He even knows this forbidden technique?" Itachi Uchiha thought inwardly with a hint of joy, confirming his guess that Izayoi, the future Sixth Hokage, had become Sasuke Uchiha's guide.
Izayoi had not only transplanted his cells into Sasuke Uchiha but also taught him the secret of the Mangekyo Sharingan, the forbidden-level Darkness Technique, and his original Storm Release secret art.
This meant that Izayoi highly valued Sasuke Uchiha and wanted to groom his younger brother into his right-hand man.
This was exactly what Itachi Uchiha wanted to see.
Sasuke Uchiha, who would kill him, avenge the clan, eliminate an S-rank rogue ninja for the village, and obtain his eyes to gain eternal eye power, would become a hero of Konoha and revive the Uchiha clan.
If Izayoi and Sasuke Uchiha became the new era's 'Hashirama Senju' and 'Uchiha Madara,' then Konoha, facing two wielders of the Sage's eyes, might even have a fighting chance.
At the very least, they would be able to survive.
However, looking at Sasuke Uchiha, whose chakra was still so conspicuous in the darkness, Itachi Uchiha thought inwardly.
Sorry, Sasuke, you haven't obtained the same eyes as me yet. To obtain more information, I can't die yet.
Itachi Uchiha sidestepped, as if dodging something, and at the same time threw a punch, immediately followed by a muffled groan of pain in the darkness.
Turning around and charging up a side kick, with a "bang," the blue chakra in Itachi Uchiha's vision was sent flying backward.
At the same time, a piercing scarlet light burst from Itachi Uchiha's eyes, and the ink-like darkness instantly dissipated.
Looking at Sasuke Uchiha, who had fallen onto the water, clutching his stomach with a painful expression and disbelief in his eyes, Itachi Uchiha used a calm and disdainful tone, revealing the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan even more clearly.
"Your eye power has indeed surpassed the ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan, and you can even easily break free from my Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu. However, you don't have the same eyes as me, so you can't understand the power of these eyes at all."
"Any genjutsu is just a manifestation of Yin Release chakra. Your Yin Release chakra is too weak. Even forbidden-level genjutsu is insignificant in front of my Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Let me show you true genjutsu!"
Itachi Uchiha used the same tone as Sasuke Uchiha just now, glaring fiercely and whispering, "Tsukuyomi!"
Sasuke Uchiha's pupils instantly contracted, his expression blank.
But in the next second, purple eye shadow suddenly appeared at the corners of his eyes.
Then, both brothers immediately gasped for breath, drenched in sweat.
Itachi Uchiha even clutched the eye housing Tsukuyomi, looking at Sasuke Uchiha opposite him with disbelief in his eyes. "He... he actually broke Tsukuyomi? What power is that!"
In just a moment, Sasuke Uchiha, who had been subjected to a long period of torment in the Tsukuyomi world, was also breathing rapidly, but his face with the purple eye shadow was filled with smugness and disdain. "So that's the Mangekyo Sharingan's exclusive dojutsu? It seems it's nothing more than this!"
"Such chakra... it's natural energy entering the body. No wonder it can break my Tsukuyomi," Itachi Uchiha said with a slight realization, then asked疑惑ly, "Legend has it that there are three great summoning holy lands in the ninja world, where immortals who have mastered Sage Art reside. Is this the legendary Sage Mode? When did you learn it?"
"Sage Mode? It's not Sage Art, is it that difficult?" Sasuke Uchiha said arrogantly. "I learned it in a week."
"So that's it, is it because of the Wood Release?" Itachi Uchiha instantly analyzed, muttering to himself, "Is that why you created a shadow clone just now?"
Sasuke Uchiha didn't hear Itachi Uchiha's muttering but seized the moment to raise his hand and condense a Super Hurricane Consecutive Shot, looking arrogant. "Although it can only be maintained for three minutes, this Sage Art chakra is enough. This move was originally prepared for Izayoi, but now I'll let you experience a jutsu that even Izayoi doesn't know!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Super Hurricane Consecutive Shot in Sasuke Uchiha's hand rapidly increased in size, and the two energy balls inside also grew larger.
Immediately, the two energy balls quickly turned blue and white, then rotated and collided.
In an instant, in Itachi Uchiha's eyes, he only saw Sasuke Uchiha holding a white light ball the size of a person's head, then thrusting it towards him and shouting.
"Sage Art... Storm Release: White Dragon!"
"Roar..."
A thunderous roar echoed through the valley, reverberating across the surrounding mountain peaks.
Team Seven and Timothy, who had already started a three-on-one fight in the distance, and Kisame Hoshigaki, all turned their heads to look.
When they saw a huge white dragon soaring into the sky, transforming into a pillar of light that struck down like lightning, their expressions instantly changed drastically.
"Such powerful chakra, what kind of ninjutsu is that?"
"This is... Storm Release, has Izayoi arrived? Or is this Storm Release performed by Sasuke?"
"Naruto, is this also ninjutsu?" Timothy's eyes trembled, somewhat in disbelief, then his face showed a hint of joy. "No! I felt a familiar power, could it be Hyde-sama who made a move?"
The White Dragon was extremely large, but its attack speed was like lightning, and it also had the control ability of Storm Release, leaving no room for dodging.
Just like the original Lightning Release: Kirin, Itachi Uchiha didn't have time to use Amaterasu to burn it away. Crow Clone and Crow Body Flicker were useless.
Ordinary Body Flicker was even more meaningless against the White Dragon, which was extremely fast and had a tracking function.
Thus, Itachi Uchiha didn't hesitate at all and directly used the third power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Orange-red chakra surged out, instantly condensing to form a giant skeleton-shaped being, only the upper body visible.
The White Dragon struck the giant like a pillar, and the Storm Release attack formed by Sage Art chakra caused cracking sounds to come from the skeleton giant.
Itachi Uchiha's expression changed slightly, and he quickly increased the output of his Yin Release chakra, adding meridians and flesh to the skeleton, with a robe-like chakra covering the outside.
After entering the second form, the cracks caused by the White Dragon quickly disappeared. The Storm Release attack enhanced by natural energy could no longer cause any damage.
Even so, Itachi Uchiha was extremely shocked.
He hadn't expected Sasuke Uchiha to have such a trump card hidden, actually forcing out his Susanoo.
"Rebellious son, rebellious son!"
The Wood Clone, seeing this scene with its Tenseigan, cursed loudly while transmitting it to the main body in real-time.
Izayoi, who received the information, also had a cold glint in his eyes.
If there hadn't been people around, a cruel smile would have already appeared on his face.
Good kid, you clearly learned Sage Mode long ago and even developed your own Sage Art: Storm Release, yet you kept it hidden from your godfather! You really need some discipline!
At the same time, Izayoi was also amazed by Sasuke Uchiha's talent.
Only two months had passed, and this guy had already learned Sage Mode and even created the Sage Art White Dragon, which was faster, more powerful, and had Water Release control capabilities, based on Storm Release: Judgment.
This was simply unbelievable.
Could it be that Sasuke Uchiha's Sage Art talent was as excellent as Naruto Uzumaki's Sage Body?
Or was it due to other reasons?
Thinking of this, Izayoi took advantage of no one looking his way, pulled up the hood of his cloak, and then activated the Tenseigan's farsight and X-ray vision to observe Sasuke Uchiha's current state.
At first, Izayoi didn't notice anything unusual.
Immediately, Izayoi seemed to have discovered something, his pupils suddenly contracted, his expression ecstatic.
If there hadn't been people around, Izayoi would have definitely shouted out loud at this moment.
So that's it! So that's it!
So that's what was going on!
If Sasuke Uchiha were in front of him, Izayoi would have definitely given him a big hug.
Good son, you've really helped a lot!
At this moment, a major doubt in Izayoi's mind was finally resolved.
Izayoi had always been curious whether Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode was learned from Shikkotsu Forest or naturally learned after developing the Sage Body to its limit.
Now it seemed to be neither the former nor entirely the latter.
The reason why Hashirama Senju could instantly enter Sage Mode and maintain it for the entire battle with such long endurance, even providing a large amount of Sage Art chakra to Uchiha Madara, was all because of his Sage Body and Wood Release.
The Sage Body had a max-level affinity for natural energy, while Wood Release had the characteristics of a weakened version of the God Tree.
The God Tree could absorb the energy of planets and bear chakra fruits.
And Hashirama Senju's Wood Release could absorb chakra, more accurately, the body energy and spiritual energy of humans.
Similarly, when his Sage Body could sense natural energy, it could also absorb natural energy.
Naruto Uzumaki still had to absorb with his body and simultaneously create Sage Art chakra.
Hashirama Senju directly used Wood Release to turn on a water pump, absorbing as much as he wanted and instantly fusing it into Sage Art chakra.
If it ran out, he would just absorb more. Coupled with his chakra, which was far beyond even the Tailed Beasts, Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode could be maintained for as long as he wanted.
At this moment, Izayoi once again felt the power of Wood Release.
In the hands of a Super Kage level ninja, the potential of Wood Release was limited. Even if it could pose a threat to Six Paths level powerhouses, it was definitely not a match for them.
But in the hands of a Six Paths level, more accurately, a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, Wood Release was the power of the God Tree, capable of working with Infinite Tsukuyomi to envelop the entire ninja world, a power at the Bloodline Limit Kekkei Mōra level.
At the same time, Izayoi also discovered the secret of this army.
"No wonder they can use power similar to ninjutsu, but my Tenseigan can't see their energy. So it's natural energy," Izayoi thought inwardly. "No wonder the woman who fought Sasori and Deidara could transform into a bat and use sound wave attacks. Isn't that Jugo's Sage Transformation?"
"However, their natural energy isn't absorbed by themselves but uses something as a carrier. It seems their attack on the Land of Wind was to find that thing," Izayoi recalled the information transmitted by the Wood Clone—the scene of Hyde holding a photo with a sinister smile on his face.
And on that photo was none other than the client of Team Seven's mission, whom Team Eight had glimpsed briefly at the village gate when they left Konoha a few days ago.
"It seems I need to change my target. The answer... might be on that old man," Izayoi withdrew his previous chess piece and issued new instructions.
As luck would have it, just as his chess piece was withdrawn, Nagato's chess piece landed on the original position of his piece.
The White Zetsu clone, carrying the ring and the wooden tag, appeared in the mobile fortress and then triggered the summoning jutsu inside, or rather, the storage jutsu.
With a "poof" of white smoke, the Animal Path's corpse lay on the ground.
In the next second, the Animal Path, as if connected to a signal, suddenly opened its eyes, instantly changing to the Rinnegan.
"Summoning Technique!"
The Animal Path performed hand seals and slammed its hands on the ground, shouting.
Another "poof," and in the white smoke, a handsome red-haired youth walked out.
"Thanks for your hard work, Zetsu."
After leaving these words, Nagato disappeared in a Body Flicker.
Not knowing if Otsutsuki Toneri was observing and lying in ambush in the dark, he had to seize every second.
(End of this chapter)
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