Meanwhile, Sasuke easily dealt with the clones and shifted his focus toward the battle between Naruto and Itachi. Seeing his chance, he summoned two Fuma Shuriken and gripped one in each hand.
Sasuke hurled both shuriken at once, each aimed at Naruto and Itachi respectively.
Just as the two prepared to dodge, the shuriken suddenly split apart, revealing a second hidden shuriken inside each.
Naruto scoffed contemptuously—he had barely escaped the same trick from Deidara just hours ago.
He wouldn't fall for it so easily. But as he moved to evade, the Sharingan detected thin wires attached to the shuriken.
"Not this trick again," Naruto thought. He adjusted his stance and deftly dodged the attack, slicing through the wires with his blade.
Itachi also evaded the shuriken, but his weakened eyesight left him unable to spot the wires and was tripped to the ground.
Sasuke gave a derisive laugh. "Trying to use Tsukuyomi now, Itachi?" he taunted.
Suddenly, Sasuke felt a gust of wind behind him and swiftly sidestepped away.
Naruto sliced down toward Sasuke's neck with his blade, but Sasuke dodged sideways. Without hesitation, Naruto created a Shadow Clone which came down from above to strike Sasuke. Reacting swiftly, Sasuke supported himself with one hand on the ground, arched his body backward, and barely avoided the killing strike.
Right after, he lifted his leg and kicked Naruto away forcefully.
Sasuke's Sharingan locked onto Naruto's Shadow Clone with deadly focus.
As the clone prepared to attack once more, Sasuke drew his short sword and cut it in a single stroke.
At that moment, Sasuke spotted Naruto charging toward Itachi, who hadn't yet risen to his feet.
"Naruto! Itachi is mine!" He roared furiously, feeling the chance at revenge slipping through his fingers.
Never before had Sasuke craved battle like he did now. With incredible speed, he flung another shuriken straight at Naruto.
Naruto sharply turned his head—this time, the shuriken barely missed his scalp and left a blood mark across his cheek.
Taking the opening, Sasuke rushed forward and blocked Naruto's path with a sword slash.
"Naruto, your opponent is me!" he shouted furiously, and the two clashed violently once more.
Itachi had gotten back up. Watching the fight unfold before him, his gaze turned icy and sharp.
Trapped by Sasuke, Naruto couldn't break free. Fury surged through him as he swung his sword harder, trying to break through Sasuke's defense—without success.
Seizing an opening, Sasuke thrust his sword toward Naruto's abdomen. Naruto quickly jumped back, avoiding the strike.
The two exchanged fierce blows rapidly, their blades flashing so fast that they blurred to the human eye.
Fighting while slowly retreating, Naruto finally leaped onto an elevated platform.
Sasuke pursued closely, jumping up after him.
Trying to leverage the high ground advantage, Naruto swung downward with his sword, but Sasuke nimbly dodged and tried counterattacking. The Sharingan played a crucial role in the battle.
They clashed midair in fierce combat, perfectly matched and unwilling to yield.
Suddenly, Naruto seized upon one of Sasuke's openings. Slipping around Sasuke's flank, he guided his blade along Sasuke's sword and struck straight for his head.
Sasuke reacted swiftly, barely dodging the fatal blow. However, Naruto had sliced deep into Sasuke's thigh, and blood immediately began gushing out.
The two faced off again. As Sasuke looked at the wound on his leg, fury burned in his eyes.
This was the first time he'd been wounded in a fight against Naruto.
Suddenly, something streamed down from his forehead, blinding his left eye.
He wiped it off with his hand—it was blood.
Apparently, Naruto's attack had also grazed his forehead.
Sasuke glared at Naruto, who grinned proudly, as if taunting, "How's that? Pretty impressive, huh?"
Sasuke frowned but soon returned a smile of his own, answering Naruto's provocation.
Itachi observed the clash between the two youths, secretly taken aback.
Because his vision had deteriorated, he could only see two blurred figures. But from their movements and auras alone, he could clearly sense their strength.
Without hesitation, Itachi severed the steel wires wrapped around his body to prevent Naruto from exploiting the opening and striking a fatal blow at Sasuke.
Sasuke formed the hand seals at an astonishing speed, and Itachi mirrored him instantly.
In unison, they launched an attack at Naruto.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!]
"What the hell?!" Naruto shouted in shock, immediately launching himself into the air to dodge the blazing fireball.
Blazing flames roared past him, nearly engulfing him completely.
From within the fire, Sasuke charged forward. Lightning chakra surged in his right hand—his signature technique: [Chidori]!
"No way! This is *my* fight!" Naruto bellowed, sheathing his sword and channeling chakra into his right palm—[Rasengan]!
The two powerful warriors clashed fiercely, their explosive chakra waves reverberating violently across the battlefield.
The shockwave blasted both Naruto and Sasuke backward, sending them soaring into the sky.
At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted Itachi sprinting along the wall straight toward them—they were his targets!
Naruto held his breath, focusing intently, waiting for the perfect moment.
"Wait… just a bit longer… Now!"
The instant Itachi entered striking distance, Naruto added his other hand to the Rasengan and infused it with surging wind chakra.
[Wind Release: Rasengan!]
The sudden surge amplified the already volatile Rasengan, triggering a violent explosion that tore a massive hole through the roof. The shockwave sent all three fighters soaring into the air.
Sasuke landed on the edge of the rooftop. The Cursed Seal twisted half of his body into a monstrous form. One of the wings on his back was damaged, though otherwise he was unharmed.
"Tch, that was too close…" he muttered under his breath, noticing that most of the damage to his clothes and body were just minor scrapes. "His wind chakra strongly counters my lightning-based techniques… From now on, I have to be careful about elemental weaknesses in my ninjutsu."
Landing unscathed on the rooftop, Itachi shot toward Naruto, intent on ending the fight swiftly.
When Naruto realized Itachi had abandoned his usual genjutsu and was charging head-on, his stomach dropped.
["Shadow Clone Jutsu!"] As Itachi called out, countless clones burst into existence, encircling Naruto from all sides.
"No way!"
" Naruto let out a startled cry, barely had time to cross his arms in front of him as a shield, caught completely off guard by the sudden attack.
"Boom!"
A thunderous explosion erupted as the clones surrounding Naruto detonated, sending him flying.
As the smoke cleared, Naruto emerged, enveloped in a crimson fox-like aura forged from the One-Tail's chakra.
The explosion left him somewhat battered, but the wounds from Sasuke and other minor injuries had already healed.
One enraged tail lashed through the air furiously as Naruto glared at Itachi, his voice low and steady:
"Nine-Tails, keep your chakra under control. Don't act recklessly until I call on you. If he plans to use genjutsu, I don't want to risk pulling you into it again, so I need to stay ready to shift forms at any moment."
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