Madara stood to the side, deep in thought. Based on his understanding of Itachi, Itachi was a very calm and reasonable person; how could he easily get into conflict with someone?
Sasuke, on the other hand, was simply blinded by concern. He knew Yamato's strength; it was monstrous.
He was eager to get to the scene, but he was wrapped up like a mummy and could barely move, so he couldn't leave the ward at all.
This time, he didn't act arrogantly and directly looked to Madara for help.
Madara didn't waste any words. He grabbed Sasuke, hoisted him onto his shoulder, opened the window, and rushed out.
Of course, this was extremely painful for the injured Sasuke, but he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound.
As they approached the Uchiha Clan Compound, the two heard a loud bang.
Several red Tomoe were chasing after a figure leaping into the sky—it was Yamato.
Yamato grew impatient with being chased by these Tomoe, and swung his spiked club backhand, causing a series of explosions upon contact.
After the explosion, Yamato fell back to the ground from the sky, and the black color on his body slowly faded away.
Itachi's attack was quite powerful; Rear Admiral forced Yamato to use Armament Haki.
Itachi's current situation is similar to Obito's; he has also had some Hashirama Cells implanted in his body, so using Susanoo won't kill him.
However, he still felt pain; Itachi swayed. Sasuke, who had just arrived, witnessed this and, in a moment of panic, shouted...
"Elder brother!"
Itachi's body trembled; the sound of "brother" made his body go weak, and even his Susanoo seemed to become unreal for a moment.
Sasuke, seeing this, thought Itachi had reached his limit and anxiously shouted to Madara.
"Quickly, save Itachi! He's about to collapse!"
Ban, however, carried him to the ground, crossed his arms, and said,
"Why should I listen to you? Besides, this is Itachi's own battle; I won't interfere!"
Madara said that, but his eyes remained fixed on Itachi in the arena.
While Sasuke was talking to him, Itachi subtly shook his head at him, and he immediately understood. This must be a so-called self-inflicted injury ploy, the purpose of which was to provoke Sasuke.
To verify this idea, Ban even shouted it out to the crowd.
"Why isn't Senga here? Does he know about this?"
Before coming, Yamato had a general idea of the purpose of this battle, she replied.
"Don't try to scare me with Master! He's not here! Hmph! You want to help your younger brother get revenge, huh? You'll have to see if you have the ability!"
With that, Yamato swung his spiked club and slammed it heavily into Susanoo's abdomen, creating a dense network of red cracks.
Hearing that Senga was not there and Madara refused to help, Sasuke became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Especially after seeing Itachi's Susanoo cracked by Yamato, the weakened Sasuke activated his Sharingan again, though it was of no use.
Yamato brought down another heavy blow with his spiked club. Susanoo longer withstand it and dissipated into countless red specks of light. Itachi's body went limp, and he collapsed to his knees.
But he still didn't give up, saying through gritted teeth,
"You who hurt Sasuke, I will not let you get away with this, Amaterasu!"
Itachi, fearing that Amaterasu would hurt Yamato, deliberately feigned an Amaterasu, striking the ground next to Yamato.
Actually, it wouldn't be too difficult for Yamato, with her Observation Haki Yamato, to evade Amaterasu. She glanced at the burning black flames beside her, clicked her tongue, and said...
"Black flames? That looks pretty intimidating. How about trying mine?"
As he spoke, snow-white fur began to sprout from Yamato's body, his hair became fluffy, and his ears grew long and pointed, entering a Zoan transformation state.
Seeing Yamato like this, not only Sasuke and Madara watching from the sidelines, but even Itachi was stunned.
This was the first time they had ever seen such a "Ninjutsu," Sasuke murmured.
"She really is a monster!"
Yamato put down her spiked club, and wisps of white, freezing air rose from her mouth. She opened her mouth and exhaled a breath at Itachi.
"Unparalleled Ice Fang!"
A burst of almost solidified freezing air shot out from Yamato's mouth, instantly engulfing Itachi.
After the attack, Itachi had turned into an ice sculpture, with a look of astonishment still remaining on his face.
"Elder brother!"
Seeing this, Sasuke's eyes widened in fury, and Madara, sensing the opportune moment, quickly delivered the finishing blow.
"See that? It's all because of you! Because you're so weak, that's why Itachi turned out like this!"
At this moment, Sasuke also unleashed his potential. He broke free of the bandages on his body and, enduring excruciating pain, rushed to Itachi's side.
He unleashed a small Great Fireball in an attempt to melt the ice on Itachi's body, but the ice created by Yamato was far too strong for a Great Fireball to melt.
Yamato continued to deliver the finishing blow.
"You think your little flames can melt my ice? Don't be delusional. You'd be better off taking your brother outside to bask in the sun. Maybe after a couple of days, you'll be able to get him out, hahaha!"
Every word Madara spoke to Yamato felt like a sharp knife piercing Sasuke's heart. He knelt before Itachi, trembling all over.
"They're right, I'm just too weak! If I could unleash Amaterasu like Itachi, this level of ice would be nothing!"
A chilling aura emanated from him, and Ban, standing not far away, narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself,
"Is it finally time for him to awaken his Sharingan? This has been exhausting. I remember Obito jumped straight from the two- Tomoe Mangekyo back then, right?"
Madara silently complained in his heart, Sasuke suddenly raised his head. At this moment, his eyes had formed a six-pointed star shape, which was his Mangekyo.
"Big Mom Kiss! (Amaterasu)"
The moment Sasuke opened his eyes, blood flowed from his left eye as he unleashed Amaterasu.
Under the scorching heat of the black flames, the ice on Itachi's body melted rapidly. Just as the flames were about to reach Itachi's body, Sasuke used Kagutsuchi from his right eye to extinguish Amaterasu.
Actually, Itachi wasn't completely frozen. Yamato had held back. Itachi witnessed Sasuke's awakening of his Sharingan while inside the ice, and rushed out the moment the ice melted, embracing Sasuke tightly.
"Sasuke, you did it!"
Yamato jogged over, curiously examining Sasuke's Mangekyou Mangekyo, and said...
"It really has changed! It's amazing, but Master's eyes were still the most beautiful! Hmm!"
Madara appeared beside Sasuke in a flash, nodded, and commented.
"You Awakening Amaterasu like Itachi? Not bad, it wasn't a waste of Itachi's performance for you."
Sasuke looked completely bewildered, and he muttered to himself,
"Acting? You mean all of this is acted out?"
Yamato curled his lip and said,
"Otherwise what? Do you think you can just come out frozen and be perfectly fine?"
"So... that's how it is?"
Sasuke a bitter laugh, then his eyes went dark and he fainted.