Naruto kept pushing forward, drawing ever closer to Itachi.
Sasuke could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded. He had no chakra left, and nothing capable of piercing the defense of Susanoo. He couldn't attack Itachi to fulfill his revenge.
Itachi was drawing on every last ounce, draining every drop of his chakra just trying to maintain Susanoo and the shield against Naruto's assault.
"You will not pass me today, Naruto! You will not touch Sasuke!"
The arm Naruto used for attacking began to convulse uncontrollably.
"No, hold on just a little longer!" Naruto pleaded silently with his body. "I'm almost there! Just a bit more!"
Using Rasenshuriken would injure Naruto's arm — this was unlike using the Rasengan.
Rasengan was a projectile technique, one that once launched no longer affected the arm — it didn't focus destruction as intensely as the Rasenshuriken does.
If he attacked Itachi with Rasengan, the move wouldn't penetrate — it would simply be batted aside.
Naruto could keep attacking with Rasenshuriken until it broke through the defense, but unlike other improved variations of Rasengan he'd developed, this attack carried serious risk.
Regular Rasengan only paralyzed his arm temporarily for a few hours. But prolonged use of Rasenshuriken would shred his arm from the inside out, causing cellular damage.
He had never pushed himself this far before — explaining why his arm had collapsed before achieving success in the past.
A massive shockwave slammed into Susanoo. The explosion was followed by a blinding flash of light that sliced through even the tiniest stones, turning them to dust.
From within the smoke of the explosion, Naruto's body flew helplessly backward, crashing into a distant mountain wall — the very valley where the Uchiha clan's stronghold had once stood.
His entire torso was riddled with tiny wounds from the backlash of the techniques and the strain of fighting against Susanoo.
Sasuke dropped to his knees, covering his face.
As the smoke from the battle between Itachi and Naruto cleared, he saw Itachi still standing there, his back to him, ponytail swaying gently in the breeze.
But this wasn't what caught Sasuke's attention.
What caught Sasuke's attention most was how the Wind Release chakra in front of Itachi quickly dissipated, along with the smoke left by both attacks and defenses. To Sasuke, only one thing mattered.
Susanoo was gone.
Itachi was now completely vulnerable, his protective spirit had vanished.
Sasuke stood up. Now, without Naruto blocking his path, without Orochimaru's lingering threat, and without Susanoo shielding Itachi, nothing stood in his way anymore.
He drew his short sword, gripping it in reverse stance, and staggered toward Itachi. His Sharingan remained tightly shut.
"It's time… Finally, we've reached this point. Are you going to steal my eyes, Itachi? I'd like to see how you do it. Not unless I'm dead…" He thought as he staggered forward, his vision blurring.
Itachi turned around, seemingly wanting to say something, to remind Sasuke.
Blood poured from every pore on his body; his entire upper torso bore wounds identical to Naruto's.
Sasuke pressed forward, lifting his blade weakly.
Itachi raised a hand, streaked with his own blood.
Sasuke let out a mocking laugh, thinking Itachi would beg for mercy or unleash his final move.
But when he stepped forward, ready to deliver the final blow, he flinched in shock as Itachi simply reached out and gently tapped his forehead—just like when they were kids.
Itachi's mouth moved weakly, trying to say something, but his voice had gone.
Staring in disbelief, Sasuke watched as Itachi collapsed against his shoulder, then rolled off onto the ground, landing face-down and motionless.
Sasuke stared at Itachi, watching blood drip from his hand and trail down his forehead.
At that moment, thunder rumbled again, and rain began to fall from the sky.
He gazed at Itachi for a long time, then lifted his head toward the heavens. Tears streamed from his eyes, mixing with the rain.
In anguish, he roared:
"Damn you, Naruto! This is all your fault! Why is it always you?! It should've been me… I should've been the one to end his life! Itachi was my prey!"
Kneeling on the ground, Sasuke pounded the earth with his fists—each strike weaker than the last.
"He was mine…"
He whispered. His Sharingan activated one final time, swirling in an unusual pattern, before his body suddenly slumped forward, face-down and completely still.
Sasuke and Itachi's bodies lay still in the rain for a long time until Madara Uchiha appeared—an orange-masked man wearing the Akatsuki cloak.
He stood beside the two brothers for several minutes without speaking, letting the rain soak him.
"You're too slow, Black Zetsu," he finally said.
From the ground, a humanoid plant-like figure emerged.
"We don't have your space-time ninjutsu," Black Zetsu sneered, staring at Itachi's corpse. "I can hardly believe what I'm seeing… Finally, I can observe him up close. The last Uchiha is finally dead."
"Did you record the battle?" Madara asked impatiently, clearly displeased with how things had turned out.
"Of course," Black Zetsu replied. "You'll find many interesting moments in this fight. Still, we should leave here soon, right?" he asked.
Madara nodded, pointing toward a distant hill several kilometers away.
"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki is there—"
He saw a single bird land on that hill, and shortly after, another flew over to join it before both soared away together. "Oops, looks like we came all this way for nothing."
***
Outside the Uchiha family stronghold, in a crater at the base of a mountain, Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He struggled to push himself up.
"I gotta stand up… I gotta stand up… Huh… Huh…" Crawling to the mountaintop, he looked toward the battlefield a kilometer away, where no signs of combat remained—no colossal Susanoo figures, nothing at all.
Naruto gasped for breath, rolling painfully onto his back. With his uninjured left hand, he touched the seal on his right arm.
"I gotta get in touch with Tamako… Let her know I'm alright."
Then he passed out.
As unconsciousness took him, he tried to figure out how to send the message. At that moment, he saw his teammate Sai flying overhead.
When Sai flew closer and landed beside him, Naruto spoke to him:
"The mission is complete. Return to the Land of Water, deliver the sword to them, and tell Lady Tsunade not to worry about me."
With that, he collapsed unconscious.
Seeing that Naruto had lost consciousness, Sai grabbed him with his claws and laid him across his back. Rain continued to pour.
"Good job, Naruto-senpai," he said, settling Naruto onto his back. Maki also flew over and sheltered Naruto from the rain with her body.
After confirming that Maki had secured Naruto safely, the two ink birds took off.
Sai circled above the battlefield and spotted the corpses of Itachi and Sasuke below.
He pulled out an explosive tag, tied it to a kunai, and hurled it down to destroy their bodies.
Just then, Tobi suddenly appeared beside the corpses.
Tobi picked up both bodies, looked up at him in the sky, and then vanished.
On Sai's other ink bird, Maki witnessed this and held Naruto tightly, as if afraid Tobi might snatch them away too.
Only when Tobi vanished did Maki finally relax her grip.
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