Purple flames burned with full force as Sasuke tore through the skies of a foreign dimension, slashing with the colossal blades of his Susano'o against the cursed Goddess who appeared at the last minute to make what was already bad worse, or perhaps better, depending on the point of view.
Kaguya was formidable, possessing a Chakra reserve that made the previous ten-tailed Jinchuriki look embarrassing in comparison. Her Rinnegan was certainly more powerful than his, something he named as Rinne-Sharingan, and she still had the Byakugan to help cover any gaps left behind.
Above all, this divine woman could exert control over entire dimensions and travel between them effortlessly, as well as being able to take others along with her.
An ability as annoying as it was deadly.
Being the original Chakra user, Kaguya was also almost immune to Ninjutsu, and attacking her with that was no different than throwing water into the ocean.
Regardless of those dangerous characteristics, Kaguya tended to be...stupid, for lack of a better description.
That black goo, Zetsu, was the one who dealt the cards and formulated the strategies for this incompetent Goddess.
That's why, perhaps, her appearance wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Uchiha Madara, on the other hand, lived up to the legendary name he carried. Sasuke recognized this truth, especially after being compared to this man countless times over the course of this past year, before finally meeting him face to face and having his heart pierced as a result.
An abundance of experience, and an unknown repertoire of combat techniques added to a cold and calculating mind... were just a few of the many attributes that made Madara far more dangerous than Kaguya.
Still, Sasuke didn't despise this woman. At least, not completely. She was dangerous in her own way.
Odiously speaking, Sasuke and Naruto should be dead if the goddess wasn't all sentimental and saw the image of her children reflected on them. Not to mention the insatiable desire for power that she had.
Kaguya didn't merely want to kill them because she resented her traitorous sons, but because she wanted every drop of Chakra they carried, which was a lot.
Naruto had so much Chakra that it came close to the levels shown by Obito when he was a Jinchuriki, which was also a problem. While large amounts of Chakra don't necessarily reflect on someone's overall power, it was nonetheless relevant. His friend had a bit of each Bijuu's power and an almost infinite reservoir of natural energy at his disposal.
After dealing with this... psychotic grandmother, Sasuke would have to kill Naruto. Unfortunately, considering all these resources at the annoying blonde's disposal, he would also have to resort to external factors to gain the power he needed.
I'll let the Bijuus live as long as they have some use. These things... they had no purpose in their existence other than to be used as weapons to empower someone else, and even Naruto took advantage of that power, so Sasuke would do himself a favor by getting rid of them. Yes, a favor to the world itself!
An impact rushed out and his sword leveled the uneven ground of this surrounding dimension. Kaguya came out unharmed, as expected, and Naruto was taking advantage of the gap created to make an onslaught.
Rinnegan and Sharingan could see the amount of Chakra Naruto could compress into his body and focus to perform effective physical attacks.
Inevitably, Sasuke envied that ability and deepened more and more the hatred felt for this brother of his. He couldn't do the same, not without externalizing Chakra in the form of his spirit avatar and only then demonstrating the power to force Kaguya to consider him a threat.
It irritated him.
Damn it! Sasuke grunted internally as he was thrown back with nothing but punches from the cursed goddess. Undoing his Susano'o, he would set out to attack using what he was really good at, disregarding pure raw power. I'll leave this to that idiot.
Exactly, Sasuke didn't even know why he was trying to compete in an area that was not his specialty. Surely, he didn't want to be inferior to his only friend in anything, regardless of what it was.
As expected, as soon as Sasuke abandoned brute strength and started fighting as he should, things changed.
Since always, he and the idiot had an abnormal synchronization, which could now be explained by the fact that they were reincarnations of a pair of brothers, managing to perform frightening teamwork for their enemies.
The new abilities of his left eye helped and greatly, reinforcing the belief that pure, raw power alone wasn't everything.
Switching places with a Naruto clone, Sasuke remade the same with the original and brought them face to face with the woman, one step away from being able to seal her.
Except that she still had other dimensions to go and they found themselves trapped in the middle of the ice.
Danger, Sasuke felt as he watched her use a portal to get out and leave them behind. His Rinnegan bled and black flames broke free of the ice.
Kaguya couldn't escape!
One Kunai was retrieved and the abilities of his eyes did the rest.
Amaterasu and Chidori covered the metal, a combination that seemed to work well, and blood gushed out after teleportation.
Kaguya recoiled in pain, covering the cut on her face, dangerously close to her Rinne-Sharingan.
Although she could absorb Chakra, she couldn't do so instantly and physical attacks worked very well.
There was a gap that could be exploited and Sasuke cursed the fact that he didn't have a sword with him.
"Wow, Sasuke!" Naruto never thought he would be happy to see blood, even more from a wounded woman.
"Now, Naruto!" Sasuke ignored the words of someone whose voice alone was irritating to his ears and reminded the idiot of what mattered most. "Let's get it over with!"
Nothing more needed to be said and the two were already on top of the Goddess, inches away from sealing her once and for all!
"Do... You... Dare?!"
Sasuke felt goosebumps and grabbed Naruto to pull back just in time to avoid bones emerging from all over the possessed Goddess' body.
"What the hell... she's like that guy Orichimaru sent to pick you up that time, Sasuke," Naruto remembered and it wasn't a pleasant memory.
"Kimimaru..." Sasuke wouldn't have related someone he'd never seen in-person to a Goddess without that reminder.
Kaguya wasn't listening, all that had her attention was the blood on her hands. Her blood, of a Goddess, being spilled by a mere demigod...
History was repeating itself, she could see it. If it continued like this, she would be sealed again.
Everything would be taken from her a second time!
No! Kaguya ignored Black Zetsu's pleas and began to gather Chakra, an almost abysmal amount even for her. I will not lose! Even if I have to give up on the Chakra of these two!
To fulfill her desires, she would no longer hesitate to attack to kill!
"I think she got angry..." Naruto was having a really bad feeling about this. "You shouldn't have cut her face, Sasuke."
The pervert Sage always said that a woman's face is a temple that shouldn't be violated or something like that.
"Don't be an idiot. I was trying to destroy that eye on her forehead." Sasuke couldn't care less what he cut or failed to cut. If I had had my sword, maybe her head would have been snapped in half.
Unlikely, but it wouldn't hurt to dream. Even more so considering that the cut on her face healed completely in seconds and Madara was able to regenerate the lower half of his body.
"Be careful, Sasuke!" Naruto made some clones and warned as soon as he saw another of those insanely strong barrages of punches coming at them.
"Worry about yourself." Sasuke wasn't blind and could even see bone fragments inside each of those fist projections. Looking away, his only friend was about to clash head-on with Kaguya as he had done before. "Wait, Naruto!"
Reaching out with the desire to get this idiot out of the way, Sasuke's Rinnegan flickered and sent a repulsive wave at Naruto, throwing him far away. Although surprised, he didn't think about it and teleported away immediately afterward.
"What the hell, Sasuke!" Naruto thought that Pain had appeared because that was exactly what that main body used against him before. I had forgotten that was one of the abilities of that eye.
No one could blame him for not remembering. After all, Obito and Madara didn't use nearly one of the techniques that Nagato had previously demonstrated.
That aside, Naruto saw his clones counterattack Kaguya and... turn to ash!
Yikes! He swallowed dryly and was thankful that Sasuke was an insensitive bastard, or that could have ended really bad.
It wasn't long before Naruto noticed that Kaguya's Chakra buildup kept increasing and the fact that she had pressured Sasuke to stay away from him.
Dammit, she separated us! Naruto moved as fast as he could, and it didn't seem to be enough when he took into account that these crazy eye bearers could traverse space-time and teleport. Fortunately, he could sense that ominous purple-colored aura, as cold as the ice that surrounded him, even if Sasuke was in a completely different dimension.
If Naruto were to judge based only on what he felt, his best friend would definitely be the enemy.
"I will destroy the village and everyone who stands in my way!"
"I have decided to protect the village and become Hokage."
"Let it burn."
"It won't be you... The one who will discard the past will be me."
Sometimes, Naruto didn't know what to think about Sasuke. Worse yet, he had no idea what was going on inside his head, but he had a feeling he would find out later, whether he wanted to or not.
As for Kaguya, she was... strange. This woman had an absurd feeling of emptiness. Even when she showed emotional expressions, he couldn't feel anything, and it bothered him.
Not even when they exchanged attacks was he able to read her heart.
For that there were two possibilities: either he was much weaker than she was, or Kaguya no longer had an emotional heart beating in that chest.
A third alternative would be that Black Zetsu was barring any attempt of connection between them. In that case, there wouldn't even be a chance for redemption and only the sealing of the six paths could resolve this situation... before Sasuke became the next problem.
His best friend was fighting on his own again and he was strong, but not strong enough to be a real threat to Kaguya. Naruto could only remotely match her using the combined power of nine Bijuus, that and the Boil Release of Kokuõ, something that could only be used once or twice more. These Chakra fragments given to him were not the Bijuus themselves, so they didn't revitalize like Kurama, so it wouldn't take long for them to deplete along with the unique styles of each Bijuus.
Sasuke, on the other hand... generated such power on his own and Naruto felt a mixture of pride and envy for it. Likewise, he also recognized that this was what each of them represented.
Naruto was union, always seeking to connect and turn those bonds into power through mutual understanding between hearts, something he learned from Senjutsu.
Sasuke was... loneliness, the same as he had always been, drawing power from the pain that loss and dark emotions could offer.
No time to think. Naruto would do something about Sasuke later after everything was resolved. For now, he knew that something bad was about to happen and he needed to join the bastard before it.
Not far away, yet in continuous motion, purple and white appeared and disappeared to hold destructible encounters.
My eyes... are beginning to adjust. Sasuke dodged at least four of those deadly bones, coming from different portals. He was becoming able to see the fluctuations every time a portal was opened, helping him to better predict Kaguya's movements. He had experienced something similar when facing Obito. His Eternal Mangekyou was new, and his Rinnegan even more so. Little by little, his abilities, extensions, and limitations were showing themselves to him. If only I had more time...
Sasuke believed that his Rinnegan could be similar to Kaguya's Rinne-Sharingan and had as its principle the manipulation of space-time.
That way, could he do more than just teleport short distances? Who knows, he could even open dimensional portals on his own.
There was no doubt that if he had more time to train and experiment without fear of making mistakes, wasting Chakra, and possibly dying along with an entire planet... without that pressure, it would put him at a level where dealing with this Goddess on his own would be a reality.
Kaguya fired another barrage of Ash Bones and Indra disappeared again, reappearing just below encased in a rib cage covered in black flames.
Inferno Style! Sasuke focused on using only the first stage of Susano'o for protection and less Chakra consumption, giving him room to use other more effective abilities. Black Phoenix Flower Jutsu!
Dozens of Amaterasu flames took the broad shape of a dark flower, giving Kaguya no option but to retreat or receive this insignificant attack.
Diving forward and watching for the next place where Indra would resurface, Kaguya received the fire petals and grunted under the piercing pain that hit her.
A Jutsu was able to affect me?! Disbelieving, she looked at her own body and felt her anger rise. It wasn't the black flames that hurt her but metal stars hidden within that cunning attack. "Again, Indra! Do you dare to spill my divine blood?! A mere demigod like you should know your place!"
Indra and demigod? Just now, Sasuke was Hamura, so he didn't pay attention to the nonsense said by this woman about to be sealed for at least another millennium and never thought he'd be happy to see that idiot. "You took your time, Naruto!"
"Ashura?!" Kaguya immediately turned to where Indra's eyes focused only to see the same person. "What's the meaning of this!?"
"Who knows!" Sasuke pulled out more Shurikens and couldn't contain a small smile when the woman retreated instead of moving forward. Do it now!
"Behind you, Mother!" Black Zetsu got tired of trying to communicate directly with his mother's mind and shouted at her.
"Too late!" Naruto came flying from where Sasuke was previously, exhaling steam from all over his body by focusing much of the Kokuõ Chakra to use the Boil Release! "Swallow this!"
The fist was buried in her stomach and Kaguya spat out blood, being thrown directly into the double blades of a perfect Susano'o.
"Haaa!" Sasuke didn't hold back, attacking with everything he had. Even if he didn't kill her, he would break as many bones as possible to buy the time needed to seal her!
Knowing the imminent danger, Black Zetsu did the unthinkable and took control of his mother's body just enough to open a portal between her and the swords about to strike her before being overwhelmed by so much rage that it made him feel afraid.
"Damn it!" Sasuke cut through nothingness and managed the feat of hitting Naruto below with the absurd pressure of the resulting wind.
"Urgh!" Naruto was carried away and hit the ground hard, leveling a hill of ice.
"Enough!" Kaguya was sick of this fight full of tricks and distractions! The portal she passed through opened just above Indra and was followed up by unleashing a storm of attacks on the Susano'o's back, destroying it completely! "This ends now!"
A pair of Ash Bones came down to finish Indra while he was incapacitated, but her attack was swallowed up by a sudden spiral and in the distance, she could see the three remaining insects she had decided to ignore earlier.
Sasuke felt some of his bones crack, muscles rupture and his consciousness wander for a moment and return under the effect of the tearing pain. All this was nothing more than the result of having his Susano'o destroyed and he didn't like to think about the damage he might have received if he had been hit full-on by this cursed Goddess.
Death was definitely one of the possibilities.
"Sasuke!" Naruto knew that a fall like that without protection could take even him out of the game and that couldn't happen under any circumstances, immediately went up to get his friend. "Hang in there!"
Due to the wind pressure, Sasuke couldn't hear what Naruto was saying, assuming Kaguya was launching another attack, and forced his injured body to turn to the opposite side and the damn thing was coming at him at full speed.
"Goddamn!" he cursed, immediately taking a deep breath as he did his best to ignore the pain of his broken ribs and weave hand seals. "Fire style! Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Ineffective or not, Sasuke needed to delay her even for a second!
"Futile!" Kaguya didn't make the same mistake and sidestepped the attack. "This time you won't escape!"
Aware of the distance support and the help coming from below, she wouldn't risk losing this chance. Byakugan was used to accurately trace all of Indra's Chakra points and Kaguya rained needles from her hair for the second time.
Sasuke's immediate reaction to that was to manifest Susano'o, however, his injuries were more severe than expected and affected his reaction time. Before the purplish bones of the spirit avatar could protect him, his arms and legs were struck as they were used to guard his chest, neck, and head.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Naruto managed to hold Sasuke and protect them with a giant Chakra hand but was sent back, fully aware that this wasn't good at all, yet certain that he could prevent the fall and heal Sasuke in time.
"Now!" Kaguya saw the opportunity she had been waiting for and used all the Chakra accumulated in her Rinne-Sharingan to open a portal just below them both.
Mother, this is the portal to a dimension outside your realms! Black Zetsu had no idea what Kaguya was doing by wasting so much Chakra! There's no point in sending them there!
"It doesn't matter!" Kaguya didn't care about anything else but getting rid of those two, the other worms that still crawling around, and continuing her plans without further interruptions!
Sasuke noticed the fluctuating manipulation of a portal and looked back, being graced with the sight of something he had come to hate during this fight.
A portal large enough to pass right through even with his perfect Susano'o.
"More attacks coming, Sasuke!" Naruto was focused on the relentless goddess above, sending another rain of supercharged Chakra punches. Kurama! We're going to have to go full power!
"It's about time!" Although watching the Uchiha brat get screwed was fun, Kurama was starting to get bored.
Attacks from above and a giant portal below... she's desperate to get rid of us. In mid-air, Sasuke was out of range of anything to get them out of this. To make matters worse, he had half his Chakra points sealed and Naruto was about to screw everything up by using Bijuu mode. Damn! this was his turn to curse as he grabbed the idiot's arm and used everything he had to throw him away.
"S-Sasuke!" Naruto didn't understand anything, almost startled by this sudden action when he finally noticed the portal waiting to engulf them. Before he could try to save the bastard from this possible second attempt of self-sacrifice, Naruto was caught in a momentary Genjutsu and received a message that told him to deal with everything until this bastard returned. "As if I had any choice, you idiot!"
Sasuke protected himself with the armored Susano'o, the best he could do at the moment, to defend himself from the attacks received from Kaguya and whatever else was on the other side of the dark portal.
His eyes focused on his only friend and the genuine concern, momentarily bothering him with what he would have to do with all this benevolence later.
Don't die Naruto, he practically said in a way that only they could understand each other. Closing his eyes, he added to himself, Not until I kill you myself!
Sinking into the darkness he had sought so much throughout his life, Sasuke couldn't be more displeased with the constant memory of the escort mission in the wave country. I did it again, didn't I?
Sacrificing himself without a second thought was the kind of stupidity that heroes do and that was something Sasuke would never be; he couldn't be.
After all, he was an Uchiha and they were all possessed by evil and would always be.