Light and shadow interplayed within the Palace's vast, empty hall, and the ceaseless clash of metal rang out like a downpour beating against cold steel.
Two young figures darted through the hall at speeds barely visible to the naked eye, colliding, separating, then colliding again.
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, once comrades and now opponents, were locked in a fierce battle fraught with danger.
Naruto's swordsmanship was exquisite and his Wind Release razor-sharp, often allowing him to overcome strength with finesse and counter speed with speed.
Sasuke relied on the Sharingan's extraordinary motion perception and predictive abilities, combining them with his Lightning Release-enhanced Kusanagi Sword to launch attacks as swift as lightning, cunning and vicious.
Their blades traded blows as chakra surged and sword energy swept through the hall, carving countless deep gouges into the floor and walls and sending shattered stone flying.
Yet Naruto could never give the fight his all.
He had to devote at least thirty percent of his attention to watching that fathomless shadow, which swallowed the light and concealed a deadly serpent-Orochimaru.
That cold, sinister presence hung over his head like the sword of Damocles, ready to deliver a lethal surprise attack at any moment.
This invisible pressure consumed much of his attention, inevitably hampering him against an opponent as skilled as Sasuke.
With one side constrained and the other gaining ground, the scales of battle tipped decisively around their hundred and fiftieth exchange!
Clang!
The ordinary iron sword in Naruto's hand, which had accompanied him for so long and weathered so many battles, snapped in two after a head-on collision with Sasuke's Kusanagi Sword, charged with the full force of his Lightning Release.
Half the blade spun away and embedded itself in a distant stone pillar with a thunk.
Although coating a weapon in