"What... was that?" Sasuke muttered with difficulty. From the chakra giant in the distance, he felt a tremor rising from the depths of his soul.
"Cough... cough!"
Inside the illusory red skeleton, Uchiha Itachi coughed violently, blood seeping through his fingers. He looked as though he could collapse at any moment.
His chakra reserves had always been low. Coupled with the terminal illness brought on by years of depression, he had relied on medication every day for nearly a year. His strength had long since fallen to its lowest point, and in battle, his chakra was consumed far faster than usual.
"Sasuke, is this all you've got? If you still have any strength left, use it now. But before this Susanoo, any technique will be useless.
"This is the ultimate ninjutsu residing within the Mangekyo. Only those who have awakened the Mangekyo in both eyes can wield it. It is the ultimate power of the Uchiha Clan. Are you ready?"
As Itachi spoke, a powerful surge of chakra erupted from within him once more. Red veins began spreading across Susanoo's skeletal surface, like a human body's blood vessels and meridians.
In the sky, sunlight tore through the dark clouds. The torrential rain stopped, and bright rays once again spilled across the earth.
Itachi's Susanoo also fully assumed its complete form, resembling a giant clad from head to toe in armor. It held a gourd in its right hand, an illusory longsword extending from within it, while its left hand bore a shield engulfed in blazing flames.
Hmph...
Sasuke lay on the ground and let out a muffled groan. At the back of his neck, he felt a gloomy chakra stirring. Some malicious presence seemed ready to burst out of his body at any moment.
"Lend it to me." Suddenly, a