Sasuke Chapter 88 The Third Power!

The next instant, Sasuke, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly stiffened.

Then, in an extremely eerie manner, he rose to his feet inch by inch.

Kisame’s Samehada, which had been poised to strike, instinctively halted mid-swing.

He could clearly sense that the aura emanating from the young man before him had changed.

It was an unmistakable aura of destruction, completely unrestrained.

“Hm?”

Itachi's pupils contracted sharply.

Under the gaze of his Sharingan, the Chakra within Sasuke’s body, along with two unknown energies, was surging wildly in an unprecedented manner.

Sasuke slowly raised his head.

His jet-black short hair, as if infused with life, began to grow wildly, reaching down to his waist in an instant.

All color drained from his face, leaving it as pale as a corpse.

The most bizarre change occurred on his face.

A layer of bone-white, mask-like substance quietly emerged from the right side of his cheek, spreading rapidly before finally coalescing into a half-covered, ferocious mask.

The eye socket of the mask was pitch-black, and within its hollow depths, a golden, three-tomoe Sharingan, radiating a beast-like aura, slowly rotated, emitting an ominous glow.

With a soft sound, the Indra at his waist unsheathed itself and was gripped in his hand.

The pitch-black flames on the blade roared to life, casting an even more eerie light on his pale face.

Kisame's movement shifted from attacking to blocking.

“Boom!!!”

A dull, earth-shattering crash echoed.

He hadn’t even seen how the other party had attacked.

Kisame only felt an irresistible, terrifying force transmit through the blade. His massive body was sent flying uncontrollably, his feet plowing two deep furrows into the riverbank before he barely managed to steady himself.

“You bastard...”

Kisame shook his numb arm, a look of grave seriousness in his eyes.

However, Sasuke did not press his advantage.

He slowly turned around, his exposed crimson left eye and the golden right eye hidden beneath the mask both locking onto Itachi.

Itachi’s heart tightened at this moment.

‘What was this?’

‘This power... this form...’

In the distance, Kisame, having stabilized himself, watched the scene before him and let out a low, deep laugh.

He turned his head and spoke to Itachi in a hoarse voice.

“Itachi-san...”

“Your little brother is more of a monster than I am.”

No words were spoken.

The figure with waist-length hair and bone-like armor stood there silently.

Itachi’s Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly, attempting to discern the nature of this power.

Yet, he could see nothing.

The next instant.

Pfft.

An extremely faint sound echoed.

The figure shrouded in an ominous aura abruptly vanished from Itachi’s field of vision, right under the gaze of his Mangekyo Sharingan.

It wasn’t the afterimage left by high-speed movement, nor was it any high-speed movement technique he recognized.

It was as if a tear had been ripped open in space itself, only to instantly seal shut again.

‘It was almost like... a Space-Time ninjutsu.’

Almost the moment this thought flashed through his mind, a primal instinct made every hair on Itachi’s body stand on end.

Killing intent emanated from behind him.

There was no time to think, let alone dodge.

Itachi’s reaction was swift to the extreme, as a torrential surge of crimson Chakra erupted from within him!

Crack!

A thin, crystalline, red Chakra rib instantly materialized in front of him.

At the very moment this skeletal structure formed…

Boom!

A deafening crash resounded.

The long sword engulfed in pitch-black flames slammed heavily into the Chakra rib!

The advanced footwork of the Hollows and Arrancar, Sonido!

Itachi stumbled forward uncontrollably, the ground beneath his feet cracking and splintering.

As the dust slowly settled, a sinister crack was clearly visible on the crimson chakra rib behind him.

He wasn’t injured, but his mind was reeling with shock.

‘The Susano’o... had actually been shaken.’

The sheer force behind Sasuke’s almost instinctual strike was terrifying.

"Oh..."

In the distance, the relaxed, amused expression on Kisame Hoshigaki’s face had also vanished, “To force Itachi-san to use the Susano’o for defense in an instant... this is truly...”

However, before he could finish his sentence, ‘Sasuke’ moved again.

He didn’t press the attack but slowly raised his left hand, fingers spread, aiming in Itachi’s direction.

An energy even more violent than before began to gather wildly in his palm.

That wasn't Chakra.

It had no Shape Transformation, nor Nature Transformation… it was merely a mass of darkness continuously compressing inward.

Itachi’s expression grew extremely solemn.

From that energy, he sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar aura.

Familiar, because of its purely destructive, brutal nature born for annihilation.

Unfamiliar, because its energy composition completely surpassed his understanding.

Cero!

This was a technique only high-level Menos Grande and above could use, highly compressing their Reiatsu and releasing it from a part of their body to form a devastating energy shockwave.

‘This purely destructive aura...’

Itachi stared intently at the increasingly unstable black energy sphere, a thought so absurd even to himself surfacing in his mind.

‘Is it a Bijudama?!’

The next instant, the mass of dark energy transformed into a thick beam of light, roaring forth!

It was a darkness that seemed capable of devouring all light.

Where it passed, the earth was silently obliterated.

Itachi's eyes turned exceptionally grave at this moment.

The shuriken-like pattern in his eyes spun wildly, and crimson Chakra surged once again!

More Chakra bones spread from his body, rapidly constructing a more complete skeletal armor around his upper torso.

He crossed the massive skeletal arms in front of his chest, forcefully meeting the destructive black beam head-on.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Then followed an ear-splitting roar.

Under the impact of the black beam, the Susano'o let out a groan of strain, cracks spreading like a spiderweb.

As the smoke cleared, what appeared was a more solidified, crimson warrior-like Susano'o.

It no longer resembled mere bones but was now clad in samurai armor, wielding a spirit-emitting long blade and an ancient, massive shield… a half-bodied giant.

Its majesty and oppressive aura were several times stronger than before.

"Ooh... So this is Itachi-san's true power."

In the distance, Kisame gazed up at the colossal warrior, a look of near-fanatic admiration on his face.