Sasuke Chapter 87 Next... It's My Turn!

Kisame let out a low chuckle, breaking the silence.

"Enough of this, Itachi-san."

He slowly lowered the massive Samehada from his shoulder. All the bandages had turned to ashes in the aftermath of the flames, revealing the bizarre blade covered in sharp barbs beneath.

"The warm-up is over. Now, let me have a proper taste of him."

Kisame's fighting spirit was boiling over. He couldn't wait to experience firsthand just how ‘delicious’ this brat who could rival Itachi truly was.

However, in response to his impending step forward, Sasuke made an unexpected move.

He slowly sheathed Indra, with its ominous black flames, back into its scabbard.

"Hmm?" Kisame's movement halted slightly.

"To deal with you..." Sasuke raised his head, calmly staring at the shark-faced man before him, "This isn't necessary."

As his words fell, he gripped the other sword at his waist with a reverse hold.

A clear, sharp sound of unsheathing rang.

The pale blue blade cut a cold light through the misty air, with faint arcs of electricity quietly flowing along its surface.

Takemikazuchi.

Seeing this weapon with a completely different aura, a fierce grin spread across Kisame's face.

"Oh? More tricks? Brat, you really know how to keep surprising me!"

He wasted no more words, pushing off fiercely with his feet as he swung the massive Samehada down toward Sasuke's head!

Sasuke did not block head-on.

"Swift Thunder Form, Flash!" He shouted low, his entire body instantly transforming into a blur of lightning. As the enormous blade was about to descend, he closed in for a thrust!

Kisame's pupils constricted sharply. All he saw was a blur before his eyes as the brat's figure suddenly appeared right in front of him.

‘Is he seeking death?!’

He snorted inwardly, turning his wrist to crush this overconfident brat with the side of Samehada.

However, Sasuke's goal was never to thrust.

At the moment their bodies crossed, Sasuke's body sank at an impossible angle. A whip leg infused with massive Reiatsu accurately struck Kisame's right leg.

Thud.

Kisame felt a crisp sound from his knee as his body uncontrollably half-kneeled, the trajectory of his slash shifting accordingly.

Bang!!!

The massive Samehada smashed into the ground, creating a crater on the riverbank. Rocks and mud erupted into the air.

"You bastard..." Kisame struggled to stand, looking in disbelief at the figure that had already retreated several meters away.

"Your Taijutsu is impressive, brat!" Kisame's excitement was palpable, "But this alone isn't enough!"

Before his words faded, several kunai gleaming with firelight had already sealed Sasuke's retreat from another direction.

It was Itachi.

Faced with this pincer attack, Sasuke's expression finally turned serious.

Ding! Ding!

The Takemikazuchi in his hand transformed into streaks of lightning, precisely cutting down the incoming kunai.

Kisame laughed wildly, swinging Samehada in wide, powerful arcs.

Meanwhile, Itachi moved on the periphery, occasionally using Ninjutsu to interfere.

The more Kisame fought, the more astonished he became.

Sasuke’s swordsmanship were far more refined than he had imagined.

It was a true, purely lethal Kenjutsu!

Even more bizarre was his speed.

Every time it seemed Sasuke was about to be hit by Samehada, he would narrowly avoid it with hair's breadth precision.

His speed was so immense that only faint afterimages of lightning remained in his vision.

"It's not over yet!"

Dodging another heavy blow from Samehada, Sasuke leaped back to create distance. The Takemikazuchi in his hand erupted with violent black lightning.

"Raiko!"

Three condensed pillars of black lightning, arranged in a triangular formation, shot toward Kisame!

‘Another technique without Chakra?!’ Kisame's heart sank, not daring to be careless. He held Samehada horizontally in front of his chest, preparing to block.

However, the three lightning pillars suddenly dispersed just before hitting him, transforming into countless fragmented electric snakes that bypassed Samehada's defense from three different angles, coiling around his limbs!

It was a feint!

Kisame's expression changed drastically, but it was already too late.

An intense numbing sensation instantly spread throughout his body, causing his massive form to stiffen.

Sasuke's figure, using the cover of the lightning, closed in on him once again.

The Takemikazuchi in his hand thrust straight toward his heart!

However-

Just as the pale blue blade was about to touch Kisame’s chest, a hand accurately grasped Sasuke's wrist holding the sword.

It was Itachi.

Somehow, he had already appeared at Kisame's side. Those crimson Sharingan clearly reflected Sasuke's face, filled with astonishment.

"Your sword isn't fast enough." Itachi's voice rang out calmly.

Sszztt…!

A violent black-and-white lightning erupted without warning from Sasuke's wrist!

Itachi's pupils constricted sharply. A searing, piercing pain shot through his arm, causing him to instinctively release his grip.

His entire body floated backward, putting several meters of distance between them.

Itachi slowly raised his right hand. The sleeve on his arm had been torn apart by the lightning, leaving a charred burn on his skin. Subtle black-and-white arcs of electricity still danced uneasily over the wound, emitting an aura of annihilation.

He looked at his younger brother before him, a rare gravity appearing in his eyes.

‘Conventional combat methods were already struggling to gain an advantage against him.’

‘Moreover, if they delayed any longer and Jiraiya arrived, escaping would become difficult.’

‘More importantly...’

‘Sasuke's hatred had grown too ‘powerful’, too ‘confident’.’

‘This wasn't right.’

‘I had to use the cruelest method here to re-carve the brand of ‘weakness’ and ‘despair’ needed deep into Sasuke's soul.’

Thinking this, the last trace of reluctance in Itachi's eyes quietly faded.

He slowly raised his head, the three tomoe spinning rapidly before coalescing into a dark, shuriken-like pattern.

Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Sasuke." Itachi's voice was soft, "Look into my eyes."

Sasuke's heart clenched violently, ‘Those eyes...’

They were the nightmare of that night!

He instinctively tried to avoid them, but his body seemed nailed in place.

And the attraction originating from the depths of his bloodline made it impossible to look away.

The moment their gazes met, a faint, sharp pain flashed through Itachi's heart.

‘I'm sorry, Sasuke...’

Tsukuyomi.

Sasuke's vision went dark. When his consciousness coalesced again, he found himself bound to a blood-red cross, unable to move.

In the sky, the familiar, eerie blood moon was visible.

All around him lay the corpses of the Uchiha Clan’s people, scattered across the ground.

A tall figure slowly emerged from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, a long sword dripping with blood in his hand.

It was Itachi.

"I told you, Sasuke." His voice echoed through this dead world, full of mockery, "Your hatred is not enough."

Sasuke's pupils contracted violently.

The next second, that Itachi raised the sword in his hand.

Squelch"

The cold blade pierced his chest without resistance.

Extreme pain instantly spread throughout his entire body.

But this was only the beginning.

He watched that Itachi plunge the sword into his parents' bodies over and over again.

He saw his long-deceased clansmen rising from pools of blood one by one, their hollow eyes silently accusing him…

"Why are you the only one alive?"

Hallucinations, pain, whispers, torment...

Every second was like agonizing hell.

His spirit was being repeatedly torn apart, his soul howling in anguish.

If it were the him from a few years ago, he would have likely shattered completely in an instant, lost in this endless despair.

A roar suppressed with extreme pain erupted from Sasuke's throat.

He sharply raised his head, locking his gaze onto that Itachi endlessly repeating the slaughter.

‘Not enough!’

‘This level of pain is far from enough!’

‘This level of Genjutsu... this level of mental torture...’

‘Is not enough... to make me fall!’

‘Before you die...’

Sasuke's body trembled violently, his consciousness teetering on the brink of collapse.

His hatred for Itachi became the only pillar supporting him.

‘Before I kill you with my own hands...’

‘How could I... possibly... fall here!!!’

The world of Tsukuyomi shattered violently.

In reality, only an instant had passed.

Sasuke's body could no longer support itself. His knees hit the ground heavily, sending splashes of water flying.

He lowered his head, hands braced against the ground, his body shaking intensely as he gasped for air in ragged breaths.

But he did not fall because of it.

Those bloodshot eyes stared at the figure ahead.

Itachi stood silently. Beneath his bamboo hat, his face, for the first time, showed unconcealable shock.

‘How... is this possible?’

This was a first.

The first time someone had maintained conscious awareness after enduring his complete Tsukuyomi.

"Itachi-san, your brother is truly remarkable." A hoarse voice came from the side. Kisame walked forward with heavy steps, slowly approaching Sasuke.

"To maintain consciousness after enduring your complete Tsukuyomi... I've never seen that before."

Kisame slowly raised his massive sword, aiming it at the trembling nape of Sasuke's neck.

"But, this is the end, right?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

‘Can't fall yet!’

‘I haven't... killed him!’

With all his strength, Sasuke drove Takemikazuchi beside him fiercely into the ground, trying desperately to push his disobedient body upright.

Right at this moment of final struggle…

A low hum sounded abruptly from his waist!

It was the Zanpakutō that represented his very hatred…

Indra!

‘What... is this?’

‘Is it responding to my will?’

‘Urging for something?’

Just as Sasuke was confused, an arrogant voice resounded abruptly within his mind.

"Next..."

"It's my turn!"