Itachi Uchiha clutched his left eye and staggered. Blood seeped through his fingers, dripping onto the dust-covered floor with soft patters.
The backlash from forcibly breaking Tsukuyomi was far more violent than he had expected. His vision doubled for an instant, and his brain felt as though someone were viciously stirring it with a red-hot iron rod.
"Physical Awakening Mechanism..." Itachi repeated the term quietly, his voice carrying a trace of incredulous absurdity. "To break Genjutsu, you actually attacked your own nerve center with high-voltage electricity?"
"It hurts, but it works."
Sasuke rolled his neck, and a plume of white cooling vapor sprayed from the joints in his neck armor. His black hair stood slightly on end from the electrical stimulation, and his eyes held a chilling viciousness.
"That bastard Naruto once said that as long as the physical pain is intense enough, it can anchor you to reality." Sasuke raised his Power Sword, its tip aimed directly at Itachi's heart. "Your Tsukuyomi constructs a mental world, but my armor is linked to my pain receptors. The moment the system detects abnormal brainwaves, it gives me a hard jolt. Itachi, you can't control my pain."
"I see." Itachi lowered his hand. His bloodshot left eye slowly closed, leaving only his right eye fixed coldly on Sasuke. "Handing your body over to a machine—is that what you call capacity?"
"This is power!"
Sasuke roared, and the stone slabs beneath his feet shattered instantly.
This time, he did not use the Body Flicker Technique. He relied purely on the explosive thrust of the boosters on the back of his Power Armor.
Boom!
Blue exhaust flames streaked through the dim hall. Sasuke moved so fast that the naked eye could barely follow him, brutally tearing apart the air with a piercing howl.
Itachi's