Faced with Itachi's Great Fireball, Sasuke activated his Cursed Seal State. The two huge flesh wings on his back shielded him as he charged through the flames and reached the rooftop, where he confronted Itachi once more.
Naruto used an earth-escape technique to take Hinata and the others out of the flames. They emerged outside the Hideout and hid in a tree, watching from afar.
Sasuke's anger had flared. Whether he still meant to kill Itachi was unclear, but he wanted to defeat him first.
Sasuke formed Hand Seals, opened his mouth, and hurled a massive fireball at Itachi.
Itachi slowed his own Hand Seals and launched a fireball at the same time.
Yet somehow, Sasuke's fireball gradually pushed Itachi's back.
Itachi activated the Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye and released Black Flames. In the blink of an eye, they burned Sasuke's Great Fireball to nothing!
"He burned fire with fire! What an incredible Ninjutsu!" Minato Namikaze exclaimed from afar.
Seeing Itachi unleash Amaterasu, Sasuke began sprinting around him to avoid its attack.
But he still could not move fast enough to escape Itachi's gaze. Soon, Amaterasu's flames ignited on his body.
Sasuke screamed in pain, then collapsed face down and lay motionless.
In truth, he had cut through the roof with Chidori and escaped into the hall below using the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique. What lay on the rooftop was only an empty shell.
It was one of Orochimaru's life-saving Ninjutsu, much like a snake shedding its skin. It worked remarkably well, but it consumed a great deal of Sasuke's Chakra.
After absorbing Orochimaru's mind and Chakra, Sasuke had mastered the technique too.
The moment Itachi came forward to check on him, Sasuke, standing in the hall below, formed Hand Seals and fired Great Fireball Techniques at the roof