Chapter 39

Even now, fighting Itachi still tired him out and still took effort, but it was no longer like at the beginning, when he had been pinned to the ground and ground down with no ability to fight back. "Right." Itachi nodded and picked up the thread. "I served in the Anbu. Some things really can't see the light of day, and can't be brought up in public. Even the Anbu are that stifled, so there's even less need to mention Root."

"Just these damn messes alone are enough to give the Third a headache."

Itachi was not stupid. Before, the Will of Fire had been pressing down on his mind. Now that shell had shattered, and the things he could see had suddenly multiplied. "Sasuke, those things you pointed out last time made us think a lot." Shisui shifted his gaze over. "What we need to consider next is the clan's affairs. Itachi, since you're back, why not come to the Police Force?"

What he could do alone was limited. With one more reliable hand, the situation would be much easier to stir up. "I'll discuss this with Father." After Itachi finished speaking, he tilted his head to look at Shisui. "Brother Shisui, about how we should arrange things next—"

The two of them just started chatting like that, back and forth, leaving Sasuke hanging at the side.

Sasuke curled his lip.

Fine. So this was what real brothers were like.

He bent down, gathered up the things scattered on the ground, got up, and left.

Back in his room, Sasuke sat cross-legged on the floor and began refining chakra.

Once his chakra was circulating smoothly, he gripped the magatama on his chest.

Susanoo immediately appeared in front of him. "Sasuke," Susanoo bent down, "are you hungry? I'll go make—"

"Wait, Mr. Susanoo." Sasuke stopped him. "This time, it's not about food."

Susanoo froze for a moment, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "I want to fight you." Sasuke's tone was very serious. "Find a place with no one around and battle you. At least five hours every day."

He paused, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face.

The Uchiha Clan really could protect his life, but they also made his movements completely devoid of privacy.

As a transmigrator, he had far too many secrets on him.

This was what truly gave Sasuke a headache.

Training with his clansmen, fighting Itachi... to put it bluntly, the other side would always hold back. Especially Itachi. He would never let him truly get hurt.

A Shadow Clone stayed in the room, while Sasuke's real body left with Susanoo.

As for Naruto and the others, if they had not mastered the Nine-Tails' power right now, then against Sasuke, they could only take a beating.

The other few were the same.

The gap among the Konoha Twelve had already grown too large. They simply could not be used as sparring partners.

Especially Sasuke's Armament Haki—it had been stuck at a bottleneck for ages without moving much. "Finding a hidden place isn't hard."

Susanoo raised a finger. "But if you want to leave the village, we may need to use a little trick."

"What do you need?"

Before Sasuke could react, he felt a huge chunk of chakra inside his body being violently drained away. "Whirlpool Soul Manifestation: Yasakani no Magatama!"

Susanoo grabbed Sasuke, and the two of them vanished from the spot in an instant.

Just after they left, Uchiha Itachi pushed open the door and came in. "Brother?"

Shadow Clone Sasuke looked up at him. "There was a very strong chakra fluctuation here just now, mixed with the aura of a powerful person." Itachi sized up his slightly tired-looking younger brother. "Forget it. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Rest well."

Seeing that Sasuke was perfectly fine, he did not think any further.

--

On the other side, Sasuke had already been brought to an empty clearing far from the village. "This... urgh..."

His face was as pale as paper, and he was lying by a tree dry-heaving.

At this kind of speed, his body simply could not take it. "All right, training starts now."

Susanoo walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

A warm current flowed into his body, and Sasuke's condition quickly recovered. "You can even do this?"

Sasuke's eyes lit up, and the way he looked at Susanoo was almost like he was looking at an all-purpose nanny—able to fight and heal. "As a close-protection-type Teigu, I should at least be capable of this much." Susanoo's tone was calm. "Since I can draw energy from my user, naturally I can also give it back. Even if your life is hanging by a thread, I can still share my life and pull you back from the gates of hell."

"Good!"

Sasuke took a deep breath, his gaze sinking. "Then let's fight."

The moment his words fell, Susanoo attacked instantly.

Sasuke had originally thought holding on for a few minutes would not be a problem.

Reality slapped him awake.

What level of existence was Susanoo? He could even smash through Obito's Kamui by force. Beating Sasuke was as easy as an adult beating a child.

Three minutes.

Just three minutes.

Sasuke was already lying on the ground, unable to move, and there was not a single spot on his body that did not hurt.

But in those three minutes, he had truly felt progress—

His Haki had begun to rise.

Susanoo walked to Sasuke's side and placed his palm on his shoulder. A warm force poured in and rapidly helped him recover his stamina to full.

This move was genuinely useful. Sasuke could feel the strength that had just been hollowed out inside him returning, like a cracked riverbed suddenly filling with water.

But the problem was also obvious—it only replenished stamina and did not touch chakra. "Chakra..."

Sasuke's mind turned, and a woman's face immediately surfaced.

Uzumaki Karin.

Come to think of it, Sasuke later relied on that woman quite a bit. To put it plainly, she was a mobile power bank, able to keep him alive wherever he went. Sasuke clearly remembered that back when he fought the Eight-Tails' jinchuriki, Killer B, if Karin had not been present, he would have been chopped in two long ago. "Sasuke, to be honest, I don't think fighting me right now is a good thing."

Susanoo's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a bit of seriousness in his tone. "I'm afraid I'll break you and damage your confidence to keep climbing upward."

"How about I change methods and do some targeted training with you, holding back a little so you can last longer?"

After Sasuke heard that, a row of black lines hung over his forehead.

Your way of comforting people is ** unique.

Although facing Susanoo's overwhelming level of power really did make it easy for someone to develop the illusion of, "Am I trash?" Sasuke knew clearly in his heart that the one before him was an SSS-rank final boss, and one that could be farmed infinitely and would not die.

On top of that, Armament Haki also had to be trained...

"Mr. Susanoo, don't worry."

Sasuke stood straight, his tone firm. "As a person, I can't say much for other things, but when it comes to willpower, I'm absolutely tough."

"Today, I'll fight you at least a hundred times. Once we're done, I'll leave."

His chakra was not full, but his stamina had recovered enough.

Sasuke calculated for a moment. For taijutsu and Armament Haki training, this much stamina was enough. As for chakra and ninjutsu, he could go back and find Uchiha Itachi for extra lessons. "All right."

Susanoo grinned. "Since you have that resolve, then let's do it."

"I can already feel that fire in you. Today, no one leaves until we've fought a full hundred times."

As soon as his words fell, Susanoo raised his hand and threw a punch. That fist was bigger than a clay pot, and it came smashing over with the sound of tearing wind. "Hey! I haven't—"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

This time, Sasuke lasted a full minute before falling face-first to the ground.

He lay there, and a thought surfaced in his mind—

At this pace, a hundred times... might not take that long?

The training that followed could only be described as brutal.

Every time his stamina was restored, it was immediately followed by a storm of fists. Sasuke was like a sandbag, beaten down, standing up, then beaten down again.

By the twentieth time. "Mr. Susanoo, how about... you make me something to eat first?"

Sasuke sat on the ground and looked up at him, his expression especially serious. "If we keep doing this purely through stamina recovery, I feel like my body won't be able to grow."

Susanoo shook his head. "No, it will. I can already feel your constitution improving."

"And I've already increased the force now, which means this training is effective for you."

By the thirtieth time. "Mr. Susanoo, I think I just had a bit of an enlightenment feeling. Let me slow down for a moment. I'll go ponder it."

Sasuke still had that solemn expression on his face.

Susanoo lowered his head to look at him. "Enlightenment?"

"Improving your constitution by getting beaten doesn't require enlightenment."

"After you finish today's hundred times, you can go back and think it over slowly."

By the sixtieth time. "Mr. Susanoo, I..."

Sasuke opened his mouth, then his whole body slumped. "I'm done pretending."

"Please spare me. Let me rest for a bit."

"My body can still hold on, but my mind really can't take it anymore."

Being beaten sixty times in a row without even a chance to fight back—this training was truly too grueling.

Sixty times!

Had anyone called for a stop on his behalf?

Who knew how he had endured these sixty times?

"Is Lord Sasuke testing my resolve?"

"Please don't worry. Since I promised a hundred times, I absolutely won't go back on my word. No matter what you say, I will honestly carry out this training plan to the end."

As Susanoo spoke, he even gave Sasuke a thumbs-up.

Seeing this posture, Sasuke completely resigned himself. "Fine, bring it on!"

"Buzz—"

Sasuke gathered all the Haki in his body into his feet.

Since he could not win, he would run.

When it came to running away, he, Sasuke, had quite a bit of experience.

Susanoo sensed that strange energy fluctuation on Sasuke's body, and an appreciative expression appeared on his face.

After being beaten sixty times in a row, his fighting spirit still had not collapsed.

And this was only the first training session. For Sasuke to achieve this much already satisfied him greatly. "Come!"

Susanoo also assumed a stance to meet the attack.

He had already made up his mind. After he finished "educating" Sasuke this time, he would let him catch his breath first.

That willpower itself was worthy of reward. "Bang!"

The ground beneath Sasuke's feet exploded apart.

The next second, his figure vanished from the spot.

This was not the Body Flicker Technique. It was movement produced entirely by ** speed bursting forth. "Oh?"

Susanoo tilted that big head of his, revealing an odd expression. "Has he changed to another training method?"

"However, I do have some skill when it comes to finding people."

Susanoo slowly closed his eyes, sensing the traces of Sasuke's aura left in the air. "Whoosh—"

With a teleport, he also vanished from the spot.

This time, Sasuke's plan could be considered somewhat effective.

In every previous battle, it had basically ended in one minute.

This time, he forcefully dragged it out for four minutes.

Of course, the result was still the same—he was beaten until he could not move at all.

Ninety-nine times!

"Hahaha, hahahaha!"

"It's not as hard as I thought!"

"There's only one last time left and it's over. What's so great about this?"

"Even if we did another hundred times, I could still hold on!"

With only the final round left, Sasuke felt like he had come alive again.

This kind of training... was not that hard. "Is that so?"

"Then, Lord Sasuke, would you like me to add another hundred rounds?"

Susanoo looked at Sasuke with slight approval.

He could even feel the scalding blood surging inside Sasuke's body. "Thank you for your kindness, but let's stick to our original agreement."

"Everything has to be done step by step."

"As the saying goes, biting off more than you can chew is no good. I can't be too greedy..."

Sasuke's expression changed, and he immediately shook his head in refusal.

Sure enough, even after transmigrating into Sasuke's body, he still had to keep a low profile.

Every time he wanted to show off, lightning was bound to strike.

Before his strength was enough, it was better to be honest. "Neither impatient nor rash. You have the bearing of a great general."

"Good. Once this last round ends, I'll send you back."

"Prepare yourself."

As soon as Susanoo's words fell, he immediately made his move.

After the final training session (beating) ended, Sasuke showed an expression of relief and lay straight down on the ground.

Finally, at least for today, he did not have to be beaten anymore. "Sasuke, this time I won't help you recover your stamina."

Susanoo sat down on a large rock beside him, his tone flat. "For this round today, you can do it yourself."

"After those previous hundred recoveries, your body has long since remembered the feeling."

"In a little while, you'll discover something different."

Hearing this, Sasuke settled his mind and carefully sensed the condition inside his body.

Aside from his Armament Haki rising by a large margin, every aspect of his physical ability had also become much stronger than before.

And what surprised him the most was something else—

His recovery ability had changed.

That was right. It was because of Susanoo's hundred repeated treatments that Sasuke's body now seemed to have learned how to repair itself. And the speed was not exactly slow, either.