Naruto roared back as he charged toward Itachi with a surge of new power and murderous intent. His speed had increased dramatically, and his assault became fiercer.
Sasuke stood frozen in place, watching everything unfold with wide eyes.
"So this is the Nine-Tails' power..."
Though Naruto's strength had grown immensely, Sasuke's worry for Itachi quickly followed.
After all, they had already driven Itachi into a desperate fight even before Naruto transformed. Now that Naruto wielded such overwhelming power...
No! This mustn't happen! He worried Naruto might truly cause irreversible harm to Itachi.
Leaping across rooftops, Naruto soared high into the air, looming over Itachi and Sasuke below while furiously gathering wind chakra in his hands.
"I'll finish both of you off with this move!" He gripped both hands tightly, preparing to unleash his strongest attack. [Wind Release: Wind God Fist]!
With his furious shout, a massive compressed blast of wind chakra shot from his fists, its force so intense that it warped and tore through the surrounding air.
Itachi and Sasuke looked upward at the devastating energy approaching, both thinking simultaneously: There's no way to evade this!
"Now, you've lost, Naruto!" Itachi said calmly, slowly closing his eyes as though he'd already seen the outcome.
Suddenly, his right eye snapped open, ablaze with black flames. "[Amaterasu]!"
In an instant, a torrent of black fire poured down from above, completely consuming Naruto's attack and engulfing him in a roaring inferno of black flames.
Watching the scene unfold, Sasuke felt a whirlwind of emotions inside.
Naruto is dead. There's absolutely no way he could escape Amaterasu's flames. Once someone catches even a trace of these ever-burning black flames, they would burn alive until nothing remained, not even ashes.
As endless waves of black fire filled the sky, Naruto's heart sank, forcing him to release the chakra cloak.
He glanced down at his left arm, focusing on a specific summoning tattoo.
That was a sealing formula he had intentionally chosen for emergency situations… and what situation could possibly be more urgent than now?
Naruto formed hand seals rapidly, ending with the Half-Tiger Seal, then extended his left hand forward, palm facing the black flames.
At this point, there was no other choice—he had to risk everything. "I love you, Tamako! [Sealing Technique: Eight Trigrams Sealing Style]!"
"What!?" Sasuke gasped aloud. That's impossible! No matter how powerful a sealing technique might be, there's no way it could seal one of the Uchiha clan's strongest jutsu in history!
"What!?" Itachi expressed shock as well.
Blood-tears streamed from his left eye due to overusing Amaterasu. Even if a sealing technique truly could suppress Amaterasu's flames—what exactly was happening? There was nothing there—no scroll or medium at all. How could he possibly perform a sealing technique?
A brilliant blue light erupted from Naruto's palm, steam rising from his surging chakra.
The sealing formula spread along the summoning tattoo across his entire arm, forming a massive swirling vortex that voraciously devouring the surrounding black flames.
Within just a few seconds, every trace of the black flames vanished. The sky cleared once more, bright and serene.
Naruto knelt on one knee, his right hand tightly clutching his left arm as intense pain forced a stifled groan from him.
He had never experienced such excruciating pain before—like his entire arm was being torn apart.
"This is impossible!" Itachi cried out in shock. "This defies all logic! There's absolutely nothing there that can seal Amaterasu! What did he do? There's nothing there! Nothing at all!"
Sasuke didn't even know how to react anymore.
On the one hand, Naruto was still alive, meaning he hadn't needed to use his last resort to escape Amaterasu.
On the other hand, Naruto had once again stopped his plan, and Sasuke had no idea how he'd done it. Could a sealing technique really suppress the power of Amaterasu without any cost?
"Aaaaaaah!" Naruto screamed in unbearable pain, curling into a tight ball as he clawed desperately at his left arm, trying to relieve the burning torment that seemed to burn deep within his soul.
The heart-wrenching scream stunned both Itachi and Sasuke. They had never heard Naruto cry out like this before, and likely never would again for the rest of their lives.
A fierce red glow radiated from the seal on Naruto's left arm, scorching hot.
Amaterasu's black flame was restrained by the sealing field, yet it brought Naruto agonizing pain.
"I shouldn't have sealed this damn thing inside myself!" he thought furiously. This burning sensation surpassed anything he'd ever endured—even flames he'd suffered before in his life felt mild compared to this.
He'd been burned multiple times before, but next to this pain, those experiences were nothing.
Right now, he actually longed for the sensation of being engulfed in Amaterasu's flames. At least then it would end quickly instead of enduring this torturous agony worse than death.
"Ah!! My arm's gonna be ruined!!" he shouted silently, tears of pain streaming from the corners of his eyes.
He had seen others perform this sealing technique before—it could easily seal any flame, so he thought applying it to himself would also be simple. He assumed once the seal was completed, everything would be over.
But he had never expected that sealing such an immense amount of flame within his body would bring such unimaginable suffering!
"Ero-Sennin and Tamako completed their [Sealing Technique] much faster when they used it!"
Unfortunately, neither of them had ever absorbed nearly as much fire, let alone attempted to seal away Amaterasu within their bodies.
Overcome with despair, Naruto let loose a furious, defiant roar that echoed through the gradually darkening sky.
Sasuke glanced at the agonized Naruto, feeling no trace of sympathy—only cold indifference.
"This is what happens when you try to steal our Sharingan and recklessly challenge our power," he thought, shifting his gaze toward Itachi.
Itachi was kneeling on one knee, coughing violently as blood continued pouring from the corner of his mouth. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, murder blazing fiercely within his heart.
"You will never be forgiven… I'll make you pay for the Uchiha clan with your life!" he said, his body entirely consumed by the Cursed Seal's power, transforming him into a hideous monster. "Itachi, your chakra must be nearly depleted, right?"
Itachi didn't respond. He only gave Sasuke a cold glare before slowly rising back to his feet.
Blood continuously streamed from his left eye and mouth, but he ignored it completely. His figure shimmered and disappeared from where he stood.
Sasuke assumed a combat stance. His wings flared violently as he lunged toward Itachi, who had reappeared behind him.
However, Itachi's body morphed into a swarm of crows, surrounding Sasuke entirely. He swung his wings to scatter the birds, only to be ensnared by countless chakra threads, completely immobilized.
He struggled desperately, but it was all in vain. These chakra threads were incredibly tough—impossible to break free from or sever using any weapon.
"It's over, Sasuke," Itachi's voice echoed from a distance. Turning his gaze, Sasuke saw Itachi forming hand seals, anchoring the chakra threads firmly to the ground, trapping him in place with no way to escape.
"This is your limit. There's nowhere left to run." [Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!] As he spoke, a torrent of roaring flames erupted from his mouth, surging along the chakra threads directly toward Sasuke.
The flames spread rapidly, nearly engulfing Sasuke in an instant.
In this critical moment, Sasuke summoned a massive serpent with the last of his strength, using its body to block the flames.
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