A Battle Between Two Uchiha

Yeah, this should be the place.

The tomoe in Qiuyang's Sharingan spun constantly. Then he kicked the rock face in front of him.

He still had to return to Konoha after finding Orochimaru, and he had no time to carefully search for the mechanism that opened the hidden base. So he might as well force his way in.

His chakra-charged kick smashed the entire slab of rock concealing the base. The chunks burst inward, scattering into the cave hidden behind it.

With a thunderous crash, dust billowed through the cave. When it cleared, the base's guards rushed out from within. "Who dares to be so bold?"

Qiuyang quickly knocked out several guards, then stepped into the cave.

There was only one path through the passage, which saved him the trouble of repeatedly checking his location and searching for the way.

But at the only fork in the path, Qiuyang unexpectedly ran into someone. The noise from when he opened the entrance must have drawn him over, too.

"Uchiha... Qiuyang."

"Well, well, Sasuke-kun! Long time no see. How have you been?"

Qiuyang couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth. What rotten luck—he'd run into Uchiha Sasuke first.

Sasuke stared for a long while at this clan member who had "no grand ambition to revive the Uchiha Clan," then continued in a low voice:

"What are you doing here? A hero as revered by Konoha as you are should be back in the village, shouldn't you?"

Sasuke clearly didn't know about the shady dealings between Qiuyang and Orochimaru, hence the question. He even thought Konoha had sent him as an envoy to persuade him to return!

"Uh, I came here specifically to find Orochimaru. I have some personal business with him."

Qiuyang's answer was clearly beyond Sasuke's expectations. After a long silence, Sasuke said:

"I see. Follow me."

The white-clad Sasuke spoke coldly. Without waiting to see whether Qiuyang agreed, he turned and headed down the passage on the left.

Wow, this dead-last's edgy act is even better than mine.

Qiuyang watched Sasuke's back and pondered.

His instincts told him the place Sasuke was taking him definitely wasn't where Orochimaru was.

Well, there was no rush anyway. He'd see what Sasuke was up to.

With that thought, Qiuyang followed Sasuke with interest.

Only when Sasuke led him to an open-air sparring ground about halfway up the mountain did Qiuyang begin to guess what he intended.

Sasuke must want to get used to fighting someone with the Sharingan, so he'd be prepared for killing his brother in the near future.

Sure enough, when they reached the center of the training ground, Sasuke turned around and activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, fixing his gaze on Qiuyang as he said:

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

Qiuyang wanted to refuse, but then he thought of how he'd have to face Obito, who possessed Kamui. A fight against someone with the Sharingan might actually be useful.

Besides, he wanted to test the results of his training over the past few years. So, after pretending to hesitate, he agreed:

"Let's make one thing clear: we'll stop at a draw. We're from the same clan, after all."

Qiuyang knew that even Itachi's Tsukuyomi couldn't affect Sasuke now that he had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. His own genjutsu, which was a little weaker than Itachi's, probably wouldn't be much use either.

So when they squared off, he didn't plan to use his tried-and-true genjutsu.

How else would two Uchiha fight?

Of course, they'd start by clashing with all kinds of ninja tools. That alone would show how their Sharingan compared in perception and judgment.

Clang!

Sasuke was the first to make a move. He rolled up his sleeve and released the seal on his wrist. A dozen kunai and shuriken immediately flew at Qiuyang from all directions.

Their trajectories had clearly been carefully planned, sealing off his escape routes from every angle.

"Interesting."

No wonder people said that white-clad Sasuke had briefly surpassed Naruto at this point. Just the combat experience Orochimaru had drilled into him through real fights had brought Sasuke at least to the level of an elite jonin.

If he activated the second state of his Cursed Seal, he'd just barely reach the threshold of Kage Level.

Too bad for him, he ran into me.

Qiuyang didn't panic as the weapons flew toward him. With a turn of his hand, three shuriken appeared in his right hand. He controlled his throws precisely and sent them flying—

When the three shuriken first struck Sasuke's kunai, they changed the kunai's trajectories, sending them into the other kunai and shuriken.

The clanging of metal rang out. Qiuyang had countered Sasuke's first attack with only three shuriken.

Sasuke clearly knew he couldn't take Qiuyang down so easily. As soon as his first wave of shuriken and kunai was deflected, he launched a second and third wave in quick succession. The piercing clatter of metal instantly filled the entire sparring ground.

By the time Orochimaru arrived with Kabuto, alerted by the noise, the two Uchiha had begun their ninjutsu duel. Sasuke's attacking Great Fireball collided with Qiuyang's defensive Water Formation Wall.

The resulting steam swallowed the entire sparring ground. Neither Sharingan user was affected, and they began exchanging Taijutsu moves in the mist, invisible to the naked eye.

The two onlookers, Orochimaru and Kabuto, could only make out two ghostly figures repeatedly clashing and breaking apart in the mist.

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

Snake Auntie's eerie, slit-pupiled eyes gleamed as she began plotting something devious.

"If Qiuyang-kun starts to lose, Kabuto, see if you can capture him."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and agreed, watching the sparring ground even more intently.

"Oh, Lord Orochimaru, what were you two discussing capturing? Me?"

"??????"

How could Qiuyang's voice be coming from here???

Orochimaru and Kabuto both shuddered in shock and looked toward the doorway in the shadowy alcove on their left. Qiuyang was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, smiling at them.

He seemed quite pleased by their astonished expressions.

By then, the mist over the sparring ground had finally cleared. The two figures that had been entangled in combat immediately sprang apart. Sasuke was already panting, while Qiuyang looked as he had before.

Sasuke still didn't know that his opponent had been replaced by a Shadow Clone without him noticing.

When had he used the Shadow Clone Technique? Had Sasuke-kun, with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, really failed to notice?

And he'd even escaped the notice of Kabuto and me, only to appear so close by.

Orochimaru's gaze grew a little more wary as he looked at Qiuyang.

"Qiuyang-kun, it's been a few years. You've gotten stronger!"

Meanwhile, Sasuke had drawn the Kusanagi Sword from behind his waist. Using Lightning Release chakra nature transformation, he channeled Chidori Current into the blade and began fighting Qiuyang's clone at close range.

"Orochimaru, I didn't lie to you about our last deal, did I? How are you finding this body?"

"Better than I expected. It's restored much of the spiritual energy I lost during my previous reincarnations. I really should thank you for this, Qiuyang-kun."

Orochimaru didn't tell Qiuyang that after repeated research and experimentation, she had discovered that this body could also use simple Wood Release techniques.

That was how much she liked this body.

To put it this way, sometimes she wasn't even sure whether she should reincarnate into Sasuke, her intended vessel.

She was simply too reluctant to give up this White Zetsu body. If she chose to reincarnate into Sasuke's body in the future, it would only be because she wanted the Uchiha bloodline.

"Since our last collaboration went so well, I've come to discuss another deal with you."

Compared to their last, half-coerced collaboration, Orochimaru showed far more interest this time when Qiuyang said he wanted to work together again.

"Oh? Qiuyang-kun, you know that working with me comes at a steep price. What have you brought as a show of good faith this time?"

She was genuinely eager to see what surprise Qiuyang-kun would bring her next.

"Well, a deal isn't about what you want. It's about what I have."

That piece of sophistry from another world left Snake Auntie speechless.

You make a lot of sense. I have no idea how to argue with that.

"But..."

Qiuyang was only teasing. After all, he was the one who had come to her this time, so he needed to offer a tempting enough bait.

Otherwise, how could he get Snake Auntie to work hard for him?

"I really do have something that could convince you to work with me. It's about the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple..."

The moment Orochimaru heard the words "Mask Storage Temple," she could no longer keep her composure. She truly hadn't expected Qiuyang to know about something at that level.

If Qiuyang had heard what Snake Auntie was thinking, he probably would've said, "Nothing special. I just know the plot."

"Heh, so that's why I couldn't find it in the Uzumaki Clan's ruins. Looks like Qiuyang-kun got there first."

"Just tell me whether you think this deal is worth making. You give me what I need, and I'll give you the mask you need."

Qiuyang didn't say whether the missing masks of the Uzumaki Clan were in his possession. He only said that he would help find the mask that could release Orochimaru's hands and restore her soul.

He was sure no man would turn down the chance to restore his crippled hands—not even Snake Auntie.