Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Kimetsu no Yaiba. If I do, I would be filthy stinking rich.
Sasuke's horrid screams filled the room as Itachi impassively stared, still holding his arm above his head in restraint.
"Did Basuke just lose?!" Inosuke yelled, gripping the edge of his pants tightly. "This can't be it!"
"Did you see what happened?" Sanemi growled back. "The bastard just plucked one of his damn eyeballs, even if he isn't dead, his chances of winning has become slimmer than before. He's basically a cripple now!"
The statement shook Giyu to the core, knowing that the murder of his past family may not be given justice after all. He was about to say something when a voice interrupted him.
"It's too early to tell." The masked Hashira's voice thundered out. "I suggest we continue to watch and see what happens." The rest of the slayers nodded, with Muzan ignoring the irrelevant commotion.
"Humans, always so emotional." The black-haired demon sneered.
"That is why I told you." Itachi started condescendingly. "If you do not possess the Mangekyou Sharingan then you are nothing before these eyes of mine."
"Is the leap of power from a normal Sharingan to a Mangekyou really that big?" Tanjiro couldn't help but wonder. With Zenitsu pondering the same thing. "I mean so far, we've seen Sasuke-san keep up but he's not really fazing Itachi-san."
"If a Mangekyou could grant you abilities like Tsukuyomi, then the difference really is astronomical." The Flame Hashira answered. "So far we have seen what a normal Sharingan can do, so it would make sense that the Mangekyou far surpasses that."
The reasoning was sound, so there is really nothing they could reply to that.
"But if what you are saying is true, then does that mean Sasuke-san never stood a chance in the first place?" Mitsuri asked worryingly. Troubled by her fellow Hashira's statement.
"It's not," Urokodaki answered with the rest of the Hashira looked at him in confusion. "It's true that Itachi's eyes are superior to Sasuke, there is no doubt about that, however that doesn't mean that Sasuke himself is far behind. In the end, it depends on how one uses the skills he possesses. And this fight will show exactly just that." The Masked Hashira was sure that this was not Sasuke's limit, after all you cannot be a ninja by being just a one-trick phony.
Sasuke couldn't reply, still clutching the left side of his eyes in pain, gasping every so often.
The strange black and white creature was looking at the events in astonishment.
A series of text appeared on the scene.
The being known as Zetsu with a black and white half served as a spy for the Akatsuki with his invaluable ability to mend into the surroundings that not even the best sensor can track his Chakra signature.
"So this.. creature." Shinobu started, unsure about her feelings regarding Zetsu. "Isn't a fighter but rather their spy."
"If I'm right, in this era a ninja who is capable of tracking chakra are invaluable. This Zetsu would be a bloody security nightmare." Sanemi mused, thinking what disaster it could bring if this creature was under Muzan's control. It's bad enough that there are demons who can mask their presence to a degree but someone completely untraceable? That's bad news.
"Now for the other one…"
Sasuke grit his teeth in endurance before strange black markings started to appear on his face, Itachi's eyes widened in alarm before leaping away. Any second later and he would've been caught by the demonic hand-like wing that sprouted from Sasuke's right side.
"So that's the power of the cursed seal." Itachi mused silently, staring at Sasuke's hunched figure with the wing protectively coiled around his right side.
The rest of the audience was silent in shock, seeing Sasuke transform into what one could call a demon.
"W-what the fuck is that?!" Sanemi couldn't help but stammer, seeing the grotesque transformation that Sasuke just went through.
"Did he just transform into a demon?" The Insect Hashira wasn't faring much better, seeing the relatively normal Sasuke transform into a monster.
"Calm down." Urokodaki quickly interjected before the questions escalated. "I don't think Sasuke transformed into a demon." He continued with the barest hint of uncertainty, which only Giyu could detect. "Not like the demons that we know of anyway."
"What do you mean Urokodaki-san?" Giyu looked calm, but inside was a different story. He was mortified that Itachi's actions pushed Sasuke to the edge and undergo whatever demonic transformation this was. Right now he was about to cling to anything that will change that, and his master's words might just do it.
"Didn't we see Sasuke earlier walking in daylight?" The Masked Hashira's question shook the entire beliefs of the slayers. "If he truly were a demon, wouldn't he burn in the sunlight? So that means whatever that transformation is, it's not the human-eating demons that we know."
The statement alone alleviated Giyu's worries if only slightly.
"Oh thank goodness." The Love Hashira sighed in relief. "I really thought Sasuke-san became a demon."
"Oh? And what difference does it make?" A sneer came from Muzan who decided to voice out his thoughts. "Look at him, look at what he has become. The appearance speaks for itself. He may not burn in the sunlight but he's as a demon as the countless ones that you have slain." He openly mocked, spreading his arms in a flamboyant manner.
A threatening growl was heard. It was Nezuko whose nails had sharpened as her eyes turned into slits, glaring hatefully towards the one responsible for her family's demise.
"Oh, is there something you want to say little girl?" Muzan goaded. Purposely taunting Nezuko into attacking here.
Meanwhile, Shiki was just watching the spectacle in amusement. "Geez, I need to stop it before things escalate."
"Alright alright settle down now." The Otsutsuki's voice commanded. "Let's get back to business people, the more we watch the faster we get our answers."
"Yes of course, Otsutsuki-san." Muzan's respectful tone surprised the humans, seeing the almighty demon stand down in a civil manner was new to them.
"Or maybe he knows how outclassed he is so he is hoping not to get Shiki-san's ire. Shinobu couldn't help but think scornfully.
Without losing eye contact, he then proceeded to place the eyeball he ripped from Sasuke's socket into a glass container.
Sasuke just glared silently, as Itachi began to speak.
The humans tensed slightly, still aghast at how Itachi casually ripped Sasuke's eye.
"This is the difference in our power." A hand sneakily snaked around Sasuke's neck, before an Itachi clone put him in a chokehold. "And this is the difference in the power of our eyes."
The real Itachi slowly walked towards them as the clone tightened his hold. Sasuke began to panic as Itachi's still bloodsoaked fingers reached into his remaining eye.
Sasuke desperately spread the remaining curse mark as he transformed into some sort of a terrifying demon.
A pair of snakes sprouted from his back, impaling the clone making it dispel as reality started to become monochrome and break apart like glass.
"Huh? What the hell is happening?" Inosuke who was the most vocal out of all of them yelled. The rest of the audience however opted to stare at the scene in silence, not sure what to make of the situation. Seeing reality break (at least in Sasuke's perspective) can really be tripping.
The scene reverted back, with Itachi and Sasuke shown not to have moved from where they were moments earlier, still standing against each other. Sasuke was panting in exhaustion, his hand covering his left eye which was revealed to be still there.
"That's a relief." Shinobu thought for sure that Sasuke was done for. As someone who has medical expertise, having your eyeballs gouged out in the middle of the fight can be really painful and that is an understatement. Not to mention the mental stress accompanied by such a brutal move. It was honestly impressive how Sasuke was only disoriented and is not rolling in the ground in pain. His pain tolerance must be off the charts.
Sasuke fell down to his knees, arms supporting his weight as the exhaustion finally took its toll on his body.
"Oh no…" Mitsuri was worried, seeing Sasuke collapse to the ground while Itachi was still standing. This was getting way too intense for someone like her and that is coming from someone who fights demons almost on a daily basis.
The sound of thudding could be heard as Itachi himself collapsed onto his knees.
"Eh?!" Kyojuro gasped. "Itachi too?!" He was not sure what happened but seeing Itachi suddenly brought to his knees confused him.
"You… dispelled my Tsukuyomi?" Itachi gasped out in shock, staring at the keeled formed of his younger brother in bewilderment.
A smirk slowly formed in Sasuke's face as he slowly stood up, smugly staring at Itachi.
"Wait what?" The white half of Zetsu asked in confusion. "How could Sasuke get hit with Tsukuyomi, yet still get up?" Disbelief lacing his tone.
The confusion was shared by the rest of the audience, Tsukuyomi was a ridiculously powerful technique, so how was Sasuke still standing?
"No, it's because he didn't get hit by it. He managed to break through it." The black Zetsu connected the dots together.
"Breakthrough it? But how?" Giyu witnessed firsthand how dangerous the Tsukuyomi was, thinking that it was almost impossible to break out of unless you have a Mangekyou Sharingan.
"I get it now. So the phenomenon we witnessed earlier was Sasuke breaking out of Itachi's genjutsu under his perspective. And obviously that dealt a huge strain on his body. At the same time, for Itachi to use Tsukuyomi the strain must be as great if not greater." Tsukuyomi is nothing to scoff at, and it only made sense that the drawbacks would be insane. Kyojuro was thankful such an opponent did not exist in this era.
"What?! Someone with a normal Sharingan shouldn't be able to beat a Mangekyou Sharingan user!" White Zetsu exclaimed incredulously, eyebrows creased in confusion.
"Exactly, it is only natural that someone with the stronger power should win. Maybe there is something that we missed?" Sanemi was sure there was something else in play.
"Or maybe Sasuke-san is more powerful than we thought?" The Insect Hashira added.
"The Sharingan is just another weapon a Shinobi can use. A weapon is only as strong as the user who wields it. Even with just a stone, if the one throwing it is proficient enough, he could defeat a shuriken user with it. It boils down to their difference in skill." This was true in most cases, a lot of ninjas with bloodlines overly rely on their gift and completely neglected their own personal skills. If the Uchihas has the same mentality as Itachi did, then they wouldn't get slaughtered easily.
"That made sense." Urokodaki said in realization. "While Itachi's powers are greater, Sasuke in his limited state was able to effectively utilize his skills in order to make up for the lack of power. And this is something that Itachi has overlooked."
"It would seem that Itachi has underestimated Sasuke's capabilities." The Flame Hashira was in awe, overcoming the difference in power with skill is not unheard of but not exactly easy to pull off.
"This just means that Sasuke's capacity has far exceeded what Itachi could see."
"Didn't I tell you already?" Sasuke asked with confidence. "You can use those eyes of yours all you want, but with just my hatred, I'll turn illusion into reality."
"Sasuke-san really is confident huh." Shinobu observed. "Let's hope that won't turn into overconfidence."
"If he is planning for years to face down Itachi, then I am sure he did not come unprepared." Giyu answered back after being silent for the majority of the memory. His eyes never leaving the scene, clenching his fists tensely.
"I do hope you're right." The Insect Hashira conceded.
"Turn illusion into reality huh?" Itachi slowly stood up. "Then allow me to throw those words right back at you." Sasuke said nothing in response as he coiled his body in preparation.
"Just now, you saw the illusion of your own eye getting plucked out during my Tsukuyomi. Now, I will allow you to experience the reality of that moment." Sasuke just narrowed his eyes in anticipation.
"Looks like Itachi isn't done either." Sanemi leaned forward in anticipation. While he may hate Itachi's guts he cannot deny that he is a powerful fighter and would no doubt mop the floor with him.
"The air around Itachi has shifted." White Zetsu gasped.
"I guess he's serious now." Black Zetsu replied in a somewhat excited manner. "With the way things are going, we may even get to see the Amaterasu."
"What? Amaterasu?! I can't wait! It was a good thing we came here then." Truly it was worth all the pain to travel here just to witness this legendary fight between the two brothers.
"Amaterasu?!" The rest of the humans barring Urokodaki blurted out in shock.
"Calm down." He chided to the rest of the slayers with Shiki watching them in curiosity.
"I don't understand, what is the significance of this name?" Shiki asked, not familiar with the planet's customs.
"Eh? How can you not know Otsutsuki-san?" Mitsuri asked back, finding it strange that someone in Japan is not familiar with the country's mythology. "But then again, he barely looks like a human much less Japanese."
"Let's just say I'm not from around here." The pale-eyed man answered cryptically, which really doesn't tell anything about him.
"Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, those are the names of Japanese Mythology Gods. With Amaterasu the Goddess of the Sun and Tsukuyomi the God of Moon. Urokodaki answered the Otsutsuki cordially.
"I think I'm sensing a pattern here."
"A pattern? What do you mean?" Zenitsu asked. The name sure was a shock but he still could not see anything Tanjiro's master could.
"That our history is not what it seems." With that, the masked Hashira focused back on the memory.
Itachi closed his right eye as he performed a two-handed seal.
"Fighting with Genjutsu isn't going to get them far. The minute Sasuke broke his Tsukuyomi, a genjustu fight became meaningless." The Black Zetsu deduced.
"From now on, they'll just start throwing ordinary ninjutsu at each other." White Zetsu was eager to see how Sasuke would play this out, considering the still large gap in power between them.
"As Itachi's left Mangekyou wields the strongest genjutsu, the right Mangekyou wields the strongest physical attack." Black Zetsu informed. "Amaterasu is said to be inextinguishable black flames, forever burning until its target burns to ash."
Everyone's eyes widened at this.
"An inextinguishable flame?" The Flame Hashira stuttered, clenching his fists. "That's a fearsome power."
"To think that this kind of power is being wielded by a human. The very thought itself…" Mitsuri trailed off, trying not to think about the monsters that are residing in Itachi's era. "If Itachi is already this much of a monster, how about the same people in his organization?"
"If something like that exists in our era, then is it enough to kill a demon without relying on the sun?" Shinobu asked, getting the attention of the rest of the humans and Muzan.
"A flame wielded by a human enough to eradicate demons? Impossible!" The demon raged, the idea itself ludicrous.
"Maybe." Giyu answered, breaking out of his silence. "The question is, how hot are these flames? We have no idea how these flames behave so for all we know it could be as weak as a lump of dying coal or as hot as the sun."
Everyone was silent after that, not knowing what to say.
Itachi suddenly crouched down and performed several hand seals, however Sasuke was a tad faster and quickly unsealed a huge shuriken from his bracers.
"He's fast!" He's not going to let Itachi form his seals!" The Black Zetsu exclaimed in awe.
Sasuke quickly flung the massive shuriken towards Itachi, who stopped midway from casting his seals as he ducked in an attempt to dodge a straight forward attack. His eyes widened in realization however when he saw another shuriken mirroring from below, making it impossible for him to dodge in his current position.
"Eh?! Did the shuriken just double itself?" Inosuke blurted out confused as to how that happened.
"This is the Shadow Shuriken Technique." The Black Zetsu mumbled.
"Shadow Shuriken…" Shinobu tested the words in her mouth. "If I'm right, aside from multiplying themselves, they are also capable of multiplying things?" She said tentatively.
"I mean, it's not farfetched that they can do that." Sanemi replied. "If they can walk on walls and use elements, then multiplying stuff isn't that of a big leap."
"So far we have seen Itachi-san clone himself, that itself is already impressive if a bit terrifying, now imagine someone who could clone themselves hundreds of times. Isn't that crazy?" Zenitsu chirped excitedly.
"I don't know, it might be impossible." Tanjiro started deep in thought. "I don't know how Itachi-san compares to everyone in his era but he is already ridiculously strong yet he can only make one copy of himself. It could be that multiplying oneself, a clone that could think and attack independently would already be taxing."
"Still, it would be really cool if there is someone who can. Imagine a hundred me in a battle against demons, I would be unstoppable!" Inosuke fussed, raising his hands in the air with steam coming out from his nose.
Sasuke further amped the shuriken by coating it with his own Chidori, making sure that the hit would be fatal. Itachi narrowed his eyes in contemplation before leaping forward, positioning himself between the two projectiles.
"Amazing reflexes!" Kyojuro exclaimed, seeing Itachi successfully dodge the projectiles. "To be able to maneuver himself into that position in such limited time is just amazing!"
"Indeed, very few would be able to dodge that kind of attack especially in a limited time-frame." Urokodaki deduced, watching the exchange with a keen eye. He meant it when he said very few would be able to dodge the shadow shuriken, with the strength that Sasuke used to throw. The earlier exchange between Sasuke and Itachi with their shurikens already a hard proof of how lethal they can be with ninja projectiles so something like this would definitely be a death sentence.
The remaining Hashira wondered how well they would do in a fight against either Sasuke or Itachi, it's a shame that they will never experience it ever.
However, Sasuke wasn't quite done yet, seeing Itachi successfully dodge the Kage Shuriken, pulled his wrist back, revealing two thin ninja wires still attached from his bracers and onto the Shuriken.
"A rigged shuriken?!" Itachi though in shock as the Shuriken that went passed him exploded into a hail of blades, with one of them plunging deep into his thigh.
"Urkk!" Itachi grunted in pain as he fell down, making Sasuke smirk from his well thought plan.
The humans were silently gaping, witnessing Itachi fall down for real for the first time in the fight.
"Unbelievable…" The Love Hashira stuttered. "Sasuke-san outsmarted him!"
"A triple layered attack." "Shinobu started. "The concept itself is rather easy but the application itself is what's terrifying. In the heat of battle, every precious second counts. He lured Itachi-san into thinking that his real attack was the Shadow Shuriken, thus locking himself in the mindset that it was the dangerous attack he needed to evade. By the time Sasuke-san pulled off his last trick, it was too late to dodge, even if it was someone like him."
The rest of the humans were silent, deep in thought about what just happened. Sasuke didn't need to use something flashy or powerful, he just simple misdirection to turn the tides against Itachi.
"Those last shuriken worked well."
Itachi slowly got up, as he tried to pull out the blade, gritting his teeth in pain as he tossed aside the blood-soaked steel, his sight of Sasuke began to blur badly, his eyes constantly twitching as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.
"I see that the effects of the Mangekyou is finally taking its toll on his body." Giyu gazed at Itachi's weakened form. A slight satisfaction barely seen on his carefully stoic face.
"Feeling the backlash of the Tsukuyomi from before are you? That's just how I like it!" Sasuke smugly stated, watching the downed form of his brother.
"The minute Sasuke broke through Itachi's Tsukuyomi, he turned the tide of the battle." White Zetsu stated with a bit of excitement. "Not just that, but he managed to slow Itachi down. Sasuke might just win this."
"No, we don't know that yet." Black Zetsu quickly rebuffed.
Sasuke quickly formed several handseals before leaning back and expanding his chest, as if ready to breathe something.
"Eh? What is he doing?" Zenitsu pointed out Sasuke's weird posture.
"What do you mean?" Inosuke asked dumbly, scratching the back of his mask.
"Nevermind, let's continue watching." Zenitsu sighed at Inosuke's cluelessness.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" A massive fireball came out of his mouth, threatening to burn everything on its way as it quickly soared towards Itachi who barely had time to jump up.
"Whoah!" The Flame Hashira exclaimed in amazement. "They are capable of breathing fire as well!" Kyojuro was both equally amazed and jealous. "Oh I wish I could use fire like that too."
"Eh?" The boar-headed teen's confused voice rang out. "I thought you are the Flame Hashira, couldn't you do that as well Bojuro?"
The Love Hashira snickered at the casual butchering of the Flame Hashira's name, but opted to answer his question.
"We already explained this earlier Inosuke-san. We Hashira's cannot use supernatural techniques like the demons do. Or at least not the way they use it. Some Hashira like Kyojuro-san and Shinazugawa-san may produce actual elements but not as easy as what is being shown infront of us right now. We only use the elements to visualize our attack, thus Sasuke's fire breathe is totally impossible for Kyojuro-san or anyone to do so. Unless of course you become a demon."
Sasuke was quick with the follow up, with lighting chirping from his hands, intent on plunging it onto Itachi's chest.
Itachi managed to dodge within a hairsbreadth, making the Chidori hit the ceiling instead, making a hole that Itachi jumped off to intending to relocate to an open area.
Forming his own handseals, Itachi spat out his own fireball towards Sasuke who quickly shifted into his initial Cursed seal form, shielding himself with his wings.
"Itachi can breathe fire too?" Kyojuro was less surprised this time. If Sasuke can breathe fire, it is no surprise that Itachi can too.
"So Great Fireball is not exclusive to one person, but I wonder. If Itachi-san can breathe fire like Sasuke-san did, can he do the Chidori?" Tanjiro wondered if anyone in this era is capable of using the same techniques.
"That's Impossible." A voice that has not been heard for quite some time echoed. It was Otsutsuki Shiki himself, Byakugan activated as he scanned Itachi's chakra network.
Everyone was startled by his sudden voice but the Insect Hashira quickly recovered.
"What do you mean by impossible Otsutsuki-san?" Shinobu asked in a melodic and respectful voice. The same question that everyone wants to ask.
"You see, my Byakugan can see chakra, and what type it is. The reason why Itachi can use fire the same way that Sasuke can is that his chakra is fire natured, while Sasuke has lighting and fire." Shiki was really intrigued with the way these people use chakra. To be able to convert it into a variety of attacks such as illusions and elemental projectiles. The Otsutsuki (that he know) mainly use pure chakra for attacks without ever modifying them, relying on sheer power alone. While these people barely had the amount of chakra to compare, they make up with it by creative effective attacks. "I have to hand it to these humans, they are really ingenious."
The smoke settled down, revealing the younger brother who was only singed with the fire, the massive hand like wings protecting him.
"Burns like this won't keep me down."
"So those wings are not only used for flying but are also durable that they can block a stream of fire with only a singe." Muzan was impressed. He himself in his current state will be hard pressed to take those flames head on but this Sasuke managed to hold his own against the deadly attack.
"I wonder what would happen if it was you instead." Once again, the Insect Hashira could not help herself but take jabs at the lone demon, confident in the fact that someone more powerful is holding him in a leash.
Muzan tried to calm the fury rising in his chest from being mocked by a lowly human, and pushed it deep down his chest in order not to earn the ire of the Otsutsuki. "I will not forget this, the first thing Im going to do once this is over is have my demons hunt down your miserable friends and kill them infront of you."
Itachi said nothing as he began forming a new set of handseals, which was quickly followed by Sasuke.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
The two massive fireballs collided in the middle, with Sasuke's own seemingly overpowering Itachi's.
The entire room lit up in bright orange light, making the audience shield their eyes.
"I know that this is just a memory but this is ridiculous." Sanemi grit out, forcing himself to see what was happening despite only seeing nothing but fire.
"If the heat is already this intense then I wonder how powerful Amaterasu is." A sweating Zenitsu nervously asked, which begged the question. Just how strong is Amaterasu when ordinary flames like these (for Sasuke and Itachi anyway) is already this strong enough to nearly obliterate anything on its path.
That was a terrifying thought.
"Sasuke has the upper hand! He may actually win this thing!" White Zetsu tittered excitedly.
Meanwhile, Itachi's right eye began to bleed., before opening it and directing his gaze towards Sasuke's fireball threatening to burn him to ashes.
"Amaterasu." The moment the word left his lips, a torrent of black flames materialized in front of him, effortlessly swallowing Sasuke's fire whose eyes widened in shock.
There has been a lot of shocking moments from what they have seen so far, but black flames that burn so hot, capable of eating up flames is another matter. The entire audience including Muzan were stunned. Eyes wide in daze and shock seeing the fabled technique right infront of their eyes.
"W-whoa…" The Flame Hashira was rendered speechless, seeing firsthand what Amaterasu was capable of. "So this is Amaterasu, truly befitting the name of a Goddess."
The rest of them wasn't faring any better, still at a loss for words.
"That… was terrifying." Mitsuri shakingly said. Even though she was not there at the battle herself and she is only viewing a memory, it was still more than enough to shake her to the core.
"You can say that again." The Wind Hashira replied in a deceptively calm voice. "We have seen how hot those flames are if it is capable of swallowing Sasuke's own. Not to mention its inextinguishable, and its safe to assume that only Itachi can undo the technique."
"It's scary isn't it?" Shinobu joined the conversation, managing to recover from the earlier shock. "Now think about this. Itachi-san is terrifyingly strong. And he has joined a terrorist organization of some sorts. Obviously someone as strong as him would not join a weak group. This begs the question, if we assume that Itachi-san is one of their strongest, how strong are the rest of the members? Or better yet, how strong is the leader?"
This made them think, Itachi is powerful, there is no denying that however no matter how strong you are, someone will always be stronger. An example of this would be Uchiha Madara. The man capable of subduing the the Nine Tailed Fox itself and of course, this so called Fourth Hokage who managed to prevent such a thing. The very thought itself is giving Shinobu a headache.
"Hahahaha…" A slow chuckle was heard, it came from Zenitsu whose eyes shaking in distraught.
"Are you okay Zenitsu?" Tanjiro hesitantly asked, placing a hand on Zenitsu's shoulder.
"I'm just happy that we don't have to fight people like them." He hollowly answered back, his eyes now staring into the nothingness as his mouth still fixed in a shaky smile.
"To think that this kind of power, is in the hands of a human." A trickle of sweat rolled down the Masked Hashira's has been caught off guard a lot of times before, but he is not a vetaran Demon Slayer for nothing which is why no matter how many surprises he encounters, he quickly bounces back up and thinks with a rational head. He barely gets himself together seeing the capabilities of the humans of this era. With a mutated eye technique to controlling the elements themselves. But seeing Amaterasu in action left him dumbfounded.
He glanced at his former student beside him, whose shoulders were tense and fists clenched, barely holding himself together.
He was about to do something about it but someone else beat him to the punch. Giyu felt a feminine hand hold his own, revealing the owner to be Nezuko whose soft eyes gazing at him reassuringly. Absently, he gripped her hand tighter, silently grateful for the action.
Nezuko has been silent the entire time, with her unable to speak with the bamboo piece on her mouth. That and she has not attempted to speak ever since she became a demon. But this entire time, her thoughts had been in haywire. Seeing Giyu ,the man who had spared and trusted them to be affected this much; (and she understood why) she knew what she had to do.
Before the black flames could reach Sasuke, Itachi closed his eye, dispelling the surrounding flames.
"Incredible!" White Zetsu muttered. "He put out the flames with even more flames!"
"With that Jutsu, whatever his eye focuses on will begin to burn instantly. The flames materialize on that exact spot." Black Zetsu exclaimed with a bit of awe in his voice. "Then they continue to burn until the target is completely eradicated, even if the target is the fire itself."
It took Muzan everything he had to keep his composure, the slight trembling of his shoulders unnoticed by anyone other than Shiki himself. "Flames that cannot be extinguished by anything other than the wielder himself…" While he was confident the demons under his rule could take on the Great Fireball technique, it does not mean that they won't get out of it unscathed. Demon's advantage over humans is their ability to regenerate from even the most fatal of injuries granted that they do not get killed by sunlight or the accursed nichirin blades. However, this Amaterasu is a different story. Hotter than even the Great Fireball and will burn indefinitely until the wielder interrupts the technique. After all, no matter how strong a demon's regeneration is, they cannot get back from literally nothing.
"Calm down." He tried to assure himself. "Humans like that no longer exist in this era. If they do then they would have revealed themselves a long time ago." In his 1000 years of existence, he has never encountered people of this caliber. He may have had a run in with few interesting individuals but nothing compared to what is being shown in front of him right now.
Sasuke looked in bewilderment before a realization hit him. "That's right, he can't risk burning away my body because he needs my eyes intact." With that in thought, Sasuke began sprinting sideways.
"As if Itachi's going to let him go." Sanemi muttered, already realizing Sasuke's plan.
"Can Sasuke really outrun Itachi's flames?" Zenitsu was doubtful of Sasuke's action.
"It is not the flames that he needs to outrun but rather his eyesight." Sanemi pointed out. "Take a close look at Itachi.
Everyone else who was listening to the conversation followed, noticing Itachi's exhausted form. "We could assume that the first Amaterasu drained most of his stamina, if he is still currently at his peak then catching Sasuke within his eyesight would be childsplay, he would have to be careful not to waste his reserves.
The ones listening nodded at the logical assumption.
Itachi's gaze followed him, as black flames materialized within his sight, intent on incapacitating Sasuke. The flames begin to spread among the surrounding trees, starting a huge forest fire.
Slowly but surely, the flames from Itachi's sight are beginning to catch up to Sasuke who could only look back in apprehension. The flames caught the tip of Sasuke's wing, before quickly spreading onto the rest of his body making him collapse in extreme pain.
"Once you get caught by even the tiniest of singe, it's over huh." Kyojuro winced, seeing Sasuke quickly being engulfed by the black flames. Sasuke was able to block Itachi's fireball with and he was barely burned, but seeing Sasuke screech in pain answered his question the difference between an ordinary Fireball and Amaterasu.
Itachi ignored Sasuke's howls of anguish as he slowly moved towards his vulnerable form.
The humans looked horror-stricken, seeing Sasuke's partially burned body laid right in front of their eyes as Itachi was looming above his vulnerable form.
But out of all of them, Giyu was the one affected the most. "Is this it?…" He thought hopelessly. It was bad enough that once upon a time, he was this cold-hearted monster and now he's going to get his way after all the injustice he has done.
"How many times had Sasuke-san surprised us?" A sudden question echoed, snapping Giyu out from his state of despair. It was Tanjiro who spoke up. "Everytime we see him get hit by something or when we thought it was over, he still gets back up."
Giyu felt a sliver of hope rise in his chest. Tanjiro had a point after all. Numerous times they thought Itachi had Sasuke under his mercy, only for Sasuke to have something in his sleeve to outmaneuver him.
"This is not over yet." The Water Hashira thought resolutely.
"Huh, I guess Itachi is the victor." White Zetsu scoffed in disappointment watching the scene intently.
"He put a stop to his Amaterasu, and now he's going to collect the eyes." Black Zetsu added.
"Kami-sama…" Mitsuri started praying. "Please don't let this be the end." It may have only been bits of Sasuke's memory but she has witnessed what he had to go through. It was a surprise how he was able to function normally after that (or as normal as someone like him can be). Especially after seeing your entire family get over and over again. While she may not like murder (demons are another matter), this time she is really hoping that Sasuke would get the justice that he deserved. Even if it meant the death of Itachi.
Itachi knelt down to inspect Sasuke's body.
Everyone held their breath, silently hoping that Sasuke will pull of another one of his tricks. They were not disappointed.
But before he could reach him, the body melted into a pile of goo, surprising him. The remains of the puddle slid down the crack that Itachi was sure wasn't there before.
"Alright!" Inosuke cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. Causing a slight ruckus within his circle.
"Calm down Inosuke!" Tanjiro half-heartedly scolding him, as he was also feeling the same. "I was right. I knew Sasuke-san would get through this."
Beneath the dome, Sasuke stood triumphant, his body remotely unharmed as he let out a smug smile.
Giyu felt a huge relief washing over him, seeing Sasuke get out of that situation relatively unharmed.
"That's a relief." Mitsuri let out a sigh, placing her hand above her chest. Hearing and seeing what Amaterasu was capable of, Mitsuri was afraid for Sasuke. Even the strongest demons she has encountered would have never gotten away with that.
"It's a good thing I waited for him to use his Amaterasu before using a replacement technique otherwise I'm done for." The scene showed Sasuke making a crack with his Chidori before his body dropped down the ground.
"So he purposely let Itachi hit him with the Amaterasu in order to exhaust him. What a plan." Urokodaki was thoroughly impressed. Seeing someone as young as Sasuke using clever tactics instead of relying on sheer power alone. "I doubt someone with talent like this will be born again in a hundred years after this era."
"This is the chance I've been waiting for," Sasuke smirked in anticipation, the black markings spreading all over his body before transforming into the full Cursed Seal once again.
"He's trying something." The Flame Hashira anticipated seeing Sasuke transform again.
Muzan's eyes narrowed in interest, seeing Sasuke slowly transform in front of him once again. "That is certainly interesting. A transformation that looks like a demon but at the same time it's not." While Sasuke is not immortal like the demons, the power difference makes up for it. He cannot imagine what would happen if someone like him wields a nichirin blade and becomes one of those accursed demon slayers.
Meanwhile, Itachi was reeling in pain, clearly exhausted from the overuse of his eyes, coughing blood.
A slight feeling of satisfaction hit Giyu, seeing Itachi barely able to stand. He is almost sure that he has nothing left to give while Sasuke still has a bit in him. As hard as he tried, he could not stop the small smile from forming on his lips.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke's voice echoed out from below making Itachi's eyes widen in surprise as he quickly jumped back. Just in the nick of time too before a huge dragon-shaped fireball exploded just beneath where he was positioned mere seconds ago.
"Even after being exhausted to the point of collapsing, he still can move like that." Shinobu mused, seeing Itachi successfully jump away from the flames.
Sasuke's attack wasn't quite finished yet as several more fireballs erupted from the dome, with one of them singeing Itachi's hand. The fireballs continue to rise up, making the dark clouds even darker than they already are.
"I'm more concerned about the technique Sasuke is using," Kyojuro replied, fascinated by the dragon-shaped attacks. "Look at it, those things are humongous, if I'm right those attacks were poured with everything he has. Yet Itachi was able to dodge. This better is not Sasuke's last resort or he's in big trouble."
The entire center of the roof collapsed, revealing Sasuke panting in exhaustion, while Itachi himself not faring better, as his right eye reverted into a dead state, the pupils glazed over.
"Looks like I'm right after all." The Flame Hashira grimly said, taking looking at Sasuke's current condition. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time before Itachi wins. But he has a feeling that Sasuke may still surprise them.
"Looks like that Amaterasu took a lot out of you." Despite in being brought down to one knee, Sasuke still managed to gloat out, with Itachi not saying a single word.
"But Itachi is also already at his limits, throwing those attacks took out everything he has so Sasuke is not at a disadvantage either." Giyu firmly stated, believing that Sasuke still has something up his sleeve.
"And what makes you sure about that Tomioka-san?" Mitsuri was also worried for Sasuke, but seeing Giyu's belief made her want to believe too.
"They're both completely exhausted. Aren't they out of chakra yet?" White Zetsu wondered.
"Looks that way." However to Black Zetsu, he somehow had a feeling that things are not quite over yet.
The black markings from Sasuke's Cursed Seal slowly receded, retreating back into the normal 3 tomoed seal placed onto the back of his head. Despite this, he still has his ace in the sleeve.
"I guess this next attack will be my last." He said in finality, a small smile forming upon his lips.
"Is Sasuke-san bluffing?" Tanjiro was sure that Sasuke was out of juice. He may not be knowledgeable in everything related to chakra but judging from Sasuke's exhausted form, that took everything he had.
"What do you mean Tanjiro?" His fellow rookie asked. Zenitsu finds it hard to believe that Sasuke is bluffing, considering how many times he thought he would die but managed to pull out in the end.
"He said that this will be his last attack, considering how strong Itachi-san was, I don't think this last attack will be smaller than those fire dragons he sent out earlier, so that means it will be a big one. But isn't he on his knees already?"
That made the rest of the audience think, if this indeed will be the finishing blow, it will have to be stronger than the attacks Sasuke dished out earlier, but how is he gonna do that?
Itachi however wasn't buying it. "I am sure you realize that the Sharingan can see chakra." He started, seeing Sasuke's almost empty reserves. "I can see that you are bluffing. I am aware of your lack of chakra."
"That Orochimaru-like replacement technique that you used to dodge my Amaterasu. Although it is difficult to detect, it consumes a lot of chakra." Itachi concluded, fully believing that Sasuke has nothing else to show.
"Oh that's right, Sasuke absorbed Orochimaru didn't he?" White Zetsu suddenly remembered the resemblance between Sasuke's replacement technique and Orochimaru's.
Yet another name to remember for later. Who is this Orochimaru and what significance does he have with Sasuke.
The name has a striking resemblance, once again to a name in the Japanese mythology. The Yamata no Orochi, so whether this Orochimaru has any connection to the myth will be seen soon enough.
Black Zetsu seeing the sky darken and grumble however had a different realization. "So that's how it is." The idea was just pure ingenious.
"What?!" Inosuke grunted. "What's Basuke gonna do?"
It was not just Inosuke either because all of them are in the dark of his plans.
"It's true that I'm out of chakra. I used it all up in that last fire technique." The sky flashed with lightning, illuminating Itachi's weakened form as drops of rain started to fall.
Everyone's eyes narrowed. If he really did exhaust everything that he has then why does Sasuke still act confident?
"However, did you really think I'd come here to kill you unprepared?" As if agreeing with his statement, the sky continued to howl with lighting and thunder, threatening to drown the surroundings with its roar.
Urokodaki's eyes widened in realization. He was about to speak up but held himself. "No, it's too early to tell. And if he really does what I think he will do then…"
"Just like Amaterasu, this technique will be instantaneous. It's impossible to avoid!" Sasuke declared, fully confident in his victory. "Now, it's time to turn my vision from before into reality. The vision of your death that is."
AN: Hey everyone! I apologize for the late update. I have been busy with juggling college and work at the same time.
When I say "The rest of the humans." I am including Nezuko. She may be physically a demon but her heart is still that of a human. Also it is a way to easily categorize demons from humans because I might add more characters in the future or not. It depends on the difficulty. Also Nezuko has little to no reactions; for now. I'm planning something special for her and Tanjiro later on. So far I'm excited as to where this story is going as I have many plans for this in the future. The next chapter will be the end of the Itachi/Giyu Phase 1. I think you can guys can already guess who the next character is and I'm excited about that. A helpful review will be much appreciated.
