Escape

To evade Sasuke's attack, the distance between Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki widened.

Kakashi and Sakura seized the opportunity, attacking Kisame Hoshigaki simultaneously and forcing him to retreat further, creating a chance for the Uchiha brothers to duel one-on-one.

Sasuke did not look at the spot scorched by Amaterasu, instead turning to stare at a nearby tree: "Do you think a Substitution Technique can fool my eyes? Come out now, or I'm coming over."

Itachi emerged silently from behind the tree, no longer possessing that calm and collected air he had at the start.

"Susanoo is not something only you can use."

The pinwheel patterns in Itachi's eyes spun faster, the blood vessels in the whites of his eyes becoming increasingly prominent until he shed tears of blood. Immediately, orange-red chakra surged forth, enveloping his entire body and condensing into a humanoid figure over ten meters tall, holding a shield in its left hand and a sword in its right: "This is what Susanoo is supposed to look like, not that tiny little thing of yours."

With that, Itachi controlled the Susanoo to swing its sword, hacking toward Sasuke with the momentum of an army-sweeping force.

"You don't actually think my Susanoo is this small because of a lack of chakra, do you?"

Sasuke said this with a hint of amusement in his tone, raising his left hand to defend against the giant sword with the chakra armor on the back of his hand.

The orange-red blade was immensely powerful; the moment it was blocked, the erupting force shattered the ground and kicked up earth and stone, yet it failed to shake the purple armor in the slightest.

"!?"

Itachi's expression finally revealed a trace of surprise.

"The stronger the chakra, the larger Susanoo can be, but it doesn't have to be."

Sasuke looked at Itachi through the Susanoo: "If you don't even understand that, your grasp of this technique is nothing more than mediocre."

Itachi then noticed that the blurry outline around the Susanoo Sasuke was manifesting wasn't radiating chakra, but rather a double image caused by his own severely deteriorating vision: "Your Susanoo... has it already reached such power?"

"I don't know. Ever since I mastered this technique, it has been this way."

Sasuke asked: "Do you have anything else to say?"

"No, nothing left."

Itachi seemed to be smiling; his eyes shed tears of blood once more, and the orange-red Susanoo became even more solid.

Sasuke stopped talking. A black blade condensed on the other hand of his Susanoo, and he accelerated toward Itachi, both blades dancing in unison.

Itachi brought up the shield in his Susanoo's left hand, but the black blade failed to damage it.

"This feeling... it's not defense, it's nullification."

Sasuke surmised, dissipating the black blade in his right hand and shifting into a hand-blade stance, followed by an eruption of blue lightning: "Lightning Release: Chidori."

The hand-blade wrapped in lightning struck the orange-red shield, yet it still produced no effect.

"It was nullified as well."

Sasuke looked at the giant orange-red shield and said: "It seems the shield in your Susanoo's hand has the effect of nullifying ninjutsu."

"Yata Mirror. It can change its own attributes based on the attack, rendering it ineffective."

Itachi explained voluntarily: "If you want to defeat me, you must either drag this out until my chakra is exhausted or use brute force to break this shield."

"Isn't that simple enough?"

Sasuke's voice was somewhat joyful. The blades in his Susanoo's hands vanished, and clenching both fists, he began a barrage of strikes against the orange-red shield. The battle between the brothers fell into a state of attrition.

Kisame Hoshigaki's way of dealing with Kakashi and Sakura was simple: he drew the club-like weapon from his back and brought it down.

Kakashi dodged decisively, but Sakura chose to charge forward, slamming her fist into the weapon in Kisame Hoshigaki's hands.

Seeing that Sakura hadn't dodged but had instead thrown a punch, Kisame Hoshigaki was still gloating inwardly: Fool, daring to strike Samehada? Watch me shave off your right hand!

Thud!

Kisame Hoshigaki only felt a tearing pain travel up his arm, and Samehada was knocked clean out of his grip.

Kisame Hoshigaki realized he had underestimated his opponent.

Sakura's second punch successfully connected with Kisame Hoshigaki's chin.

The monstrous strength, completely inconsistent with her slender build, nearly scattered Kisame Hoshigaki's consciousness.

After rolling across the ground for over ten meters, Kisame Hoshigaki barely managed to maintain a sliver of consciousness, but with his chin struck, he couldn't stand up for the moment, so he lay on the ground and began weaving hand seals.

Kakashi had been a step slower than Sakura, so he opted not to close in, keeping his Sharingan fixed on Kisame Hoshigaki and ready to provide cover with ninjutsu. Seeing Kisame Hoshigaki weaving seals and judging that he wouldn't be able to stop him in time, he chose a counter-technique and began weaving seals himself.

Kisame Hoshigaki finished first: "Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

He opened his mouth and spat out a massive volume of water, as if a small lake had been poured out.

Kakashi pressed his hands to the ground: "Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"

Solid earthen walls rose up on all sides, surrounding the water Kisame Hoshigaki had spat out and turning it into a massive pool.

"What an astonishing volume of water! Kisame Hoshigaki... his chakra is almost catching up to Naruto's!"

Kakashi exerted himself to output chakra, feeling a sense of relief: "If it weren't for this headband Naruto gave me, I probably wouldn't have much chakra left after using this Earth Style."

"Kakashi-sensei, with the commotion you've made, the people from the village should be here any moment."

Sakura walked over, her brow slightly furrowed: "Where did that guy go?"

"..."

Kakashi silently pulled up his forehead protector, confirming Kisame Hoshigaki's chakra through his Sharingan, only to find he had already fled: "A miscalculation. He got away."

"What about Sasuke?"

Sakura looked around: "I saw him and Itachi Uchiha nearby just a moment ago."

"They ran off too."

Sasuke flew in from above the pool, retracting his Susanoo the moment he landed: "I had successfully suppressed him, but I didn't realize I was being lured toward that shark-faced man's position. Using this exaggerated Water Style as cover, that shark-face ambushed me, and then he and Itachi escaped together."

Kakashi: "Given the defensive power of your Susanoo, you shouldn't have let them get away, even with an ambush."

"That shark-face's weapon is a bit strange."

Sasuke: "My Susanoo was 'shaved' away in part."

"Ah, I forgot to tell you."

Kakashi provided the belated intelligence: "That shark-face is named Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure. The blade in his hand is called Samehada, a rather special ninja tool that can directly 'shave' away chakra and absorb it as well."

"No wonder it could shave away my Susanoo."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi: "Kakashi-sensei, I hope you can share such important intelligence before the battle starts next time."

"There is still time."

Kakashi looked in the direction where Itachi and Kisame had retreated: "Shall we pursue?"

"No need."

Sasuke suddenly plopped down onto the ground: "Maintaining the Susanoo in battle consumes more chakra than I anticipated."

"Then..."

Kakashi was about to say something when Naruto suddenly appeared, looking at the extra pool of water nearby and then at them: "Who were you fighting just now?"

"My brother, Itachi Uchiha."

Sasuke: "He and a rogue ninja from Kirigakure snuck in during the earlier attack by Sunagakure. They were hiding nearby, trying to capture you. But when they saw you use the Flying Thunder God Technique, they let their presence slip."

Naruto: "I see."

"Come to think of it, Itachi just said you were the legacy of the Fourth Hokage, and that you look a lot like him."

Sakura asked Naruto: "Are you the Fourth Hokage's child?"

"Yeah."

Naruto scratched his head: "Did I not tell you guys?"