The Battle of Two Uchihas

Yes, this should be the place.

The tomoe in Qiuyang's Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun incessantly as he delivered a heavy kick to the mountain rock before him.

He still had to return to Konoha after finding Orochimaru, and he had no time to carefully study where the mechanism for the entrance was hidden, so brute force was the most practical solution.

This chakra-infused kick shattered the entire slab of rock concealing the base, sending debris scattering into the hidden cavern within.

A loud boom echoed as a massive cloud of dust billowed up from the cave. Once it settled, the base guards swarmed out: "Who dares to be so bold?"

Qiuyang knocked the guards unconscious in a few swift moves and stepped into the cave.

There was only one path through this secret passage, which saved him the time of repeatedly confirming his location or searching for the right way.

However, at the only fork in the path ahead, Qiuyang unexpectedly ran into a figure who had likely been drawn there by the commotion he caused when opening the entrance.

"Uchiha... Qiuyang."

"Oh my, if it isn't Sasuke! It's been quite a while, how have you been?"

Qiuyang's mouth twitched involuntarily; he cursed his bad luck for running into the Second Pillar first.

Sasuke stared for a long moment at this clansman who "lacked the ambition to revive the Uchiha Clan" before speaking in a low, cold voice:

"What are you doing here? As a hero revered by Konoha, shouldn't you be in the village right now?"

Clearly, Sasuke was unaware of the shady dealings between Qiuyang and Orochimaru, hence the question. He even suspected that Qiuyang was an envoy sent by Konoha to persuade him to return!

"Uh, I'm actually here specifically to find Orochimaru for some personal business."

Qiuyang's answer clearly caught Sasuke off guard. After a long silence, he said:

"I see. Follow me."

The white-clad Sasuke spoke coldly, and without waiting for Qiuyang's response, he turned and headed down the left passage.

Good grief, this "cool guy" act of his is even more impressive than mine.

Qiuyang mused as he watched Sasuke's back.

His intuition told him that the place this guy was taking him to was definitely not where Orochimaru was.

Fine, I'm not in a rush anyway; let's see what he's up to.

With that thought, Qiuyang followed Sasuke's footsteps with great interest.

It wasn't until they were led to an open-air training ground halfway up the mountain that he roughly guessed what Sasuke intended to do.

He must want to familiarize himself with fighting against a Sharingan user in advance, to prepare for killing his brother in the near future.

Sure enough, once they reached the center of the arena, Sasuke turned around, activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and stared at the man following him:

"Before I take you to see Orochimaru, you're going to spar with me."

Qiuyang wanted to refuse, but then he realized that since he would eventually have to deal with Obito and his Kamui, a duel against a Sharingan user would actually serve as a useful reference.

Plus, he wanted to test the results of his own training over the past few years, so he feigned reluctance before agreeing:

"Let's agree on this: we'll stop once we've made our point. We are of the same clan, after all."

Qiuyang knew that since even Itachi's Tsukuyomi couldn't do anything to Sasuke now that he had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his own genjutsu—which was inferior to Itachi's—would likely be of little use.

Therefore, after taking his stance, he didn't intend to use his usual genjutsu attacks.

How do two Uchiha fight, then?

Naturally, it started with a barrage of ninja tools, which served to gauge the strength of each other's Sharingan in terms of perception and judgment.

Bang.

Sasuke lost his patience first. He rolled up his sleeve to release the seal inscribed on his wrist, and a dozen kunai and shuriken flew toward Qiuyang from all directions.

The trajectories of these tools were clearly designed to seal off all escape routes from every blind spot.

"Interesting."

No wonder they said the white-clad Sasuke had briefly surpassed Naruto during this period; just based on the combat experience Snake Auntie had force-fed him, Sasuke had reached at least the level of an elite jonin.

If he were to activate the second state of the Cursed Seal, he could barely touch the threshold of Kage-level.

But unfortunately for him, he ran into me.

Qiuyang didn't panic in the face of the incoming tools. In a flash, three shuriken appeared in his right hand, and he threw them with precise control—

These three shuriken collided with Sasuke's kunai, knocking them off course and causing them to strike the other incoming kunai and shuriken in a chain reaction.

Clang, clang, clang. The sound of metal striking metal rang out as Qiuyang neutralized Sasuke's first wave of attacks using only those three shuriken.

Sasuke clearly knew it wouldn't be that easy to take down Qiuyang. As the first wave was blocked, he launched a second and third wave of ninja tools, and the piercing sound of metal instantly echoed throughout the arena.

By the time Orochimaru arrived with Kabuto, the two Uchiha were already in the middle of a ninjutsu duel—Sasuke's Great Fireball collided with Qiuyang's Water Formation Wall.

The resulting steam instantly engulfed the entire arena. The two Sharingan users, unaffected by the vapor, began to clash in taijutsu within the mist, invisible to the naked eye of an ordinary person.

Orochimaru and Kabuto, the two spectators, could only vaguely see two ghostly figures in the mist, constantly engaging and separating.

"Interesting. Let's see just how much the next vessel has grown under his own training."

Snake Auntie's eerie slit pupils were already churning with malicious schemes:

"If Qiuyang falls behind in a moment, Kabuto, see if you can capture him."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses in agreement, his eyes observing the sparring arena with even greater focus.

"Huh? Lord Orochimaru, what are you plotting to take? Taking me down?"

"??????"

How could Qiuyang's voice be here???

Orochimaru and Kabuto were both startled, looking toward the dark door frame on the left, only to see Qiuyang leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching them both with a face full of smiles.

It was clear he was quite satisfied with their shocked expressions.

At this moment, the mist in the sparring arena finally dissipated. The figures that had been entangled in the center instantly separated; Sasuke was already panting heavily, while Qiuyang remained as composed as before.

Sasuke still did not know that his opponent had been replaced by a Shadow Clone without him even realizing it.

This guy, when did he use the Shadow Clone Technique? How could he have completely evaded even Sasuke, who possesses the Three-Tomoe Sharingan?

Furthermore, he was able to slip past my and Kabuto's perception to appear this close.

The look in Orochimaru's eyes as he watched Qiuyang gained a few more shades of wariness.

"Qiuyang, it's been a few years, your strength has truly improved!"

On the other side, Sasuke had already drawn the Kusanagi Sword from behind his waist, using Lightning Release nature transformation to infuse Chidori Current into the blade, and began engaging Qiuyang's clone in close-quarters combat.

"Orochimaru, I didn't lie to you about our last deal, did I? How does it feel to experience this body?"

"Unexpectedly useful. The mental energy lost during my previous reincarnations has recovered quite a bit. I really must thank you this time, Qiuyang."

Orochimaru did not tell Qiuyang that, through his repeated research and experiments, he had discovered this body could even use simple Wood Release ninjutsu.

Just how much did he like this White Zetsu body?

Let's put it this way: sometimes he didn't even know if he should still reincarnate into Sasuke, his originally intended vessel.

He was truly reluctant to part with this White Zetsu body. If he eventually chose to reincarnate into Sasuke's body, it would only be because he coveted the Uchiha bloodline.

"Given how pleasantly we cooperated last time, I've come to you this time to discuss business as well."

Compared to the semi-coerced cooperation of the last time, Orochimaru showed great interest after Qiuyang expressed his desire to work together again:

"Oh, Qiuyang, you know the price for cooperating with me is very high. What sincerity have you brought this time?"

He was truly looking forward to what kind of surprise Qiuyang would bring him this time.

"As for this cooperation, it's not about what you want, but what I have."

This twisted logic from another world left Snake Auntie speechless, not knowing how to retort—

Your words make so much sense that I am actually at a loss for words.

"However..."

Qiuyang was just teasing; after all, since he was the one who sought him out this time, the bait he threw out had to be substantial.

Otherwise, how could he entice Snake Auntie to work properly for him?

"I do have a piece of news here that is enough to make you willing to cooperate, regarding the Uzumaki clan's Mask Storage Temple..."

Upon hearing the words "Mask Storage Temple," Orochimaru was completely unable to remain calm. He truly never expected that what Qiuyang knew had reached this level.

If Qiuyang had heard Snake Auntie's inner thoughts, he probably would have said, "Nothing special, I just understand the plot."

"Heh heh, no wonder I couldn't find them in the Uzumaki clan ruins. It seems Qiuyang got there first."

"Just tell me if this deal is worth making! You give me what I need, and I give you the mask you need."

Qiuyang did not clarify whether those missing masks of the Uzumaki clan were in his hands, but instead indicated that he would help find the mask capable of freeing his soul-sealed hands.

He believed no man would refuse the chance to restore crippled hands, and even Snake Auntie... was no exception.